Engaging students in reading permits students to experience reading in a more meaningful manner as well as develop their identity as effective readers. Currently, the teaching of reading does not allow students to experience reading in an engaging and meaningful manner because the process of retrieving the required information at the end of the reading text has hindered them from experiencing reading in this manner. This exploratory study presents an approach to facilitate students" reading engagement through the employment of epistolary writing. The purpose was to explore the employment of epistolary writing in facilitating ESL students" reading engagement. The students wrote their understanding and interpretation of printed texts in the form of a letter to their instructor. Three third year students participated voluntarily in this case study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documents such as students" letters, instructor's reflective notes, and pre-teaching and postteaching questionnaires. Findings showed that the students appreciated that their voices were being considered throughout the teaching and learning process. They also described how relating their ideas through epistolary writing contributed to personal changes of viewing reading as an active process. The research highlights the value of including students" voices in the teaching and learning process. Allowing students to voice and share their learning experiences with their peers and the instructor, enabled the instructor to construct a better instructional approach to assist the students in their progress as engaged readers. In addition, this study extends knowledge that writing plays a key role in L2 tertiary level academic literacy development.
Reading academic texts requires learners to use a variety of skills and strategies. Among the main types of academic reading are (a) reading for quick reference, (b) reading for pleasure and also (c) critical reading. Students who have just left high schools, reading academic text may post some problems. Hence, readers face challenges when they read academic texts. Different readers face different difficulties when they read different types of texts. Some readers face linguistics challenges while some face non-linguistic challenges when they read academic texts. Fortunately, many academic readers have their own way to cope with the difficulties in reading. This study explored the problem readers face when they read academic texts. This study also investigates show readers use schemata and socio affective strategies to help them cope with difficulties when reading academic texts. The instrument used is a five Likert scale survey with 33 items. Data is analyzed using SPSS version 26 to reveal frequency of responses. Findings bear interesting pedagogical implications to the teaching and learning of academic reading.
Contribution/ Originality:This study contributes to the existing literature on reading difficulties that learners face when they read academic texts. In addition to that, this study documents some coping strategies such as using the schemata and socio-affective strategies that readers can use.
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