From the analysis of the data it is easily discernible that while some of the established principles of teaching and learning reading skills in classroom environment are observed, and other important ones are not. Among the positive sides of the affair are the facilities of the classroom and the supplementary materials available. Although there are teachers (24%) who either always or never use L1, 76% ‘judicious’ of them use both L1 and L2 in the class (see Table 5). Besides, the teachers are humane and care for the students’ feelings (see Table 6) though they do not fake steps promptly enough to satisfy some of the students.
But the things which the reading class lacks miserably are many in number and very serious in nature. Firstly, pre-reading activities in the reading class are not given their due importance. According to 43.33% of the respondents, these are never done (see the analysis under Table 1). Thought-provoking prompts and schema-building supplementary materials or discussion, which have been proved to be very important by so many studies, are hardly ever used in the class.
Secondly, the most alarming finding is the types of materials used in the class. The learners are not exposed to authentic materials: the materials are mostly commercial or predigested (see Table2). They are not varied in their types either (see Table 3). As for the level of input, the materials are unsuitable for at least 22% of the students (see the analysis for question 6). Since they are not adapted, the materials do not relate to the subjects the learners are studying. In consequence, they are neither interesting not effective.
Thirdly, the types of questions which the students deal with in the class are also flawed (see Table 4 and 5). The sorts of questions which require the learners to infer, interpret, predict, in short to use their cognitive faculty, are not given adequate attention. The teachers give too much attention to grammar and they hardly try to make the class activities interesting (see Table 5). Besides, the class is teacher centered. The teachers are the ultimate authority (see Table 6).
Finally, the learners are not all happy about the courses. Their motivation is mainly instrumental and extrinsic in nature. 30% of the learners do not enjoy the class at all and 66% only a little (see Table 7). Furthermore, their attitude towards their teachers and the materials is negative in most cases, which is a very big barrier in the way to the desired success. As many as 70% of the respondents like neither their teachers nor the materials used in the class (see Table 8).
Thus, efforts to implement the existing knowledge in this regard are hardly noticeable in the class. Therefore, it is not very difficult to realise why many of the BBA students, who complete the courses to improve English reading skills, do not really develop the skills on a remarkable scale.