This study aimed to investigate the enhancements of Self Directed Learning (SDL) on tertiary-level students' English reading skills in a private university context and their perceptions towards it. Thirty-eight first-year English-major subjects participated in a 6-week experiment. A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used…

After several years of study, many English as a foreign language (EFL) learners have a large enough vocabulary and sufficient reading fluency to silently read English stories and books outside class. Once students have reached this threshold, teachers can introduce and encourage independent reading in EFL courses, as there is rarely time in class…

This case study reports on critical consciousness development of a female school graduate in a reading comprehension course. Critical pedagogy (CP) principles were adopted in the course during which the participant was encouraged to read a set of passages critically and write critical journals. In addition, after reading each passage, she…

Reading, understanding, analysing, and synthesising texts in English are skills all French university students in humanities and social sciences are expected to develop. "Research and Storytelling" is a pedagogical project funded by Sorbonne Paris Cité that aims to help Master of Arts (MA) students in the humanities become better readers…

This study examined the extent to which graded readers vis-à-vis scaffolded silent reading (ScSR) resulted in increased vocabulary, reading comprehension, and a positive attitude toward reading. A mixed-methods study was administered to two upper-intermediate adult ESL classes at a community college in southwestern Arizona. Both groups took The…

This study examines how international graduate students in a Malaysian public university perceive and overcome academic reading difficulties. The target population included all graduate students from Yemen, an Arab country, studying at Universiti Sains Malaysia. Data were collected using questionnaires, focus group interviews, and journal writing.…

This article reports on a study developed in order to help a group of six limited-proficient students of English (newcomers) to improve their reading comprehension of English novels by designing storyboards, a type of graphic organizer that condenses both images and scripts. The investigation was carried out in a public school in the state of…

This study is a report on the learning processes and outcomes of a reading course with a critical literacy orientation. Twenty-seven BA freshman English literature students (four males and 23 females) at the age range between 18 and 21 participated in a "Reading Comprehension 1" course at Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran. Throughout…

This article relates aspects of my investigation into the effects of two differing approaches to teaching comprehension of narrative texts on students' task engagement and text enjoyment, and comprehension. The results demonstrate a complex relationship between engagement and comprehension. They highlight that academically weaker students can be…

This action research project examines the impact of reading stories aloud on the development of children's reading and critical thinking strategies as well as on the improvement of English as a foreign language. Analysis of journal entries and transcriptions of recordings of the sessions were used to gather the information. Data collected revealed…

Extensive reading motivates learners to read a large number of texts on a wide range of topics because the students themselves select the reading material based upon its relevance to their interests, knowledge, and experience. Students read texts that match their language level, and they choose the time and place to read. Extensive reading "is…

This article presents the results of a study on utilizing stories for teaching English as a foreign language to children in first, second and third grades. It was carried out in a Colombian public elementary school in Bucaramanga, Colombia. The proposal was initiated by a group of student-teachers at Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Seccional…

This article reports on an action research project conducted in a public school in Bogotá, Colombia, with tenth grade students. We decided to develop it because of the students' needs as well as the em phasis of the PEI (Proyecto Educativo Institucional = School Institutional Project), which is based on the requisite of improving reading…

This study investigated the effect of dialogue journal writing on the writing quality, reading comprehension, and writing apprehension of college freshmen studying English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) in a Korean university. Subjects were 207 students in four intact reading sections of a freshman English reading course. For a 10-week period,…

This study investigated the effects of two instructional components, literature logs and instructional conversations, on the story comprehension and thematic understanding of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Subjects were 5 teachers and 116 fourth- and fifth-grade students; slightly over half were ESL learners in their first or second…