Reading is a necessary skill to be successful in life. People with
high reading abilities seems to have principles that lead them to succeed.
On the other hand, according to Richek, etal. (1996), a child who is poor
in reading often suffers from low self-esteem, and as this child matures,
he/she finds that the doors to personal enrichment and career
opportunities are closed.
Similarly, reading skills are important for students to complete
their study; however, not every student succeeds. The reason for students’failure is not that they want to fail. In fact, all students want to finish their
studies because they have invested their money and time. Like all
students, the ones with the lowest ability want to complete their education
as soon as possible. However, they need to read well to complete their
studies successfully. As Johnson (1994: 2) points out, high reading ability
is the advantage that helps students to succeed in their college education.
To succeed in their studies, students majoring in English require
higher reading abilities than other students because they have to read in
English. Moreover, their departments assume that the students admitted
possess adequate reading abilities in English because they passed the
school and university entrance examinations. However, as Alderson (2000:
1) states, despite this specific need for reading in English, it is common
that most students fail to learn to read adequately in English. Very
frequently, students reading in English seem to read with less
understanding than one might expect them to have, and to read
considerably slower than they reportedly read in their first languages.
Some students majoring in English can learn to read in English
when they pass on into colleges or universities, where they are plunged
into new reading situations. However, many of them cannot; they fail in
their attempt to cope with their reading problems. As Alderson (2000: 1)
says, they naturally cannot adjust to the increased and varying demands
of reading on the higher levels. Some are even without adequate facilities
in the mechanics of reading (word recognitions); others possess this but
have not acquired such skills as finding the topic of the reading passage.
Others may have acquired the fundamental reading skills but have never
had training or practice in the efficient use of them. Because of these
deficiencies, remedial or corrective instruction is necessary in order to help
students succeed in their studies. However, before finding a method to
help them, their abilities and their problems need to be known.
Unfortunately, in Thailand reading abilities and problems of
English Reading Abilities and Problems...
Supaporn Yimwilai
วารสารวิชาการคณะมนุษยศาสตร์และสังคมศาสตร์
ปีที่ 4 ฉบับที่ 2 ก.ค. - ธ.ค. 2551 134
English-major students are rarely studied. Most researchers focus on
teaching reading. For example, Tangmeteekul (2004) compared students’
English reading comprehension, interpersonal relations and inquiry
behavior before and after being taught through KWLH Instruction via
E-learning. Recently, Koohawan (2005) studied English reading ability of
the first year undergraduate students by using authentic texts with
a communicative approach.
As a reading instructor, the researcher would like to study reading
abilities and problems of English-major students in the Department of
Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University. The
result of this study can help reading instructors improve their teaching
methods.
Objectives
The objectives of this study were:
1. To study reading abilities and problems of all English-major
students in the Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities,
Srinakharinwirot University.
2. To study reading abilities and problems of English-major
students in the BA program, the Department of Western Languages,
Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University.
3. To study reading abilities and problems of English-major
students in the B. Ed program, the Department of Western Languages,
Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University.
4. To compare BA students’ English reading abilities with B.Ed
students’.
5. To study causes of reading problems of English-major students
in the Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities,
Srinakharinwirot University.
English Reading Abilities and Problems of English-major students are rarely studied. Most researchers focus on
teaching reading. For example, Tangmeteekul (2004) compared students’
English reading comprehension, interpersonal relations and inquiry
behavior before and after being taught through KWLH Instruction via
E-learning. Recently, Koohawan (2005) studied English reading ability of
the first year undergraduate students by using authentic texts with
a communicative approach.
As a reading instructor, the researcher would like to study reading
abilities and problems of English-major students in the Department of
Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University. The
result of this study can help reading instructors improve their teaching
methods.