Understanding the reading process of first-year students through reading activities
List of Authors
  • Brigitte Lenong

Keyword
  • reading process, reading model, reading, first-year students

Abstract
  • More emphasis in Higher Education has been on developing first-year literacy skills, especially reading and writing. Reading is a process of recognition of letters on printed material and development of meaning and has also been described as a thinking and communication process. The study was conducted at University of Technology and aimed at understanding the reading process of first-year students when developing their reading ability. In order to fulfil the aim of the study, the researcher used a mixed methods design to understand the reading process of first-year students in improving their reading ability and skills. A group of first-year students was given a questionnaire and at a later stage focus group interviews were conducted. The study provides understanding that first-year students should be made aware of the knowledge and theory about the reading process and reading models in reading activities or lessons to improve students’ reading ability. A significant positive difference was found in the mean of the report on how students felt about the reading process and models from pre-test to post-test which they viewed as effective in improving the reading ability and influences reading fluency and comprehension. The article concludes with suggested ways to apply reading process to enhance students’ reading ability.

Reference
  • 1. Bell, J. 2008. Reading interpretations: Indian and Bangladeshi postgraduate students’ use of extratextual framing and metacognition. The Reading Matrix 8(1):43-63.

    2. Bharuthram, S. 2012. Making a case for the teaching of reading across the curriculum in higher education. South African Journal of Education 32:205-214.

    3. Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage Publications.

    4. Creswell, J.W. & Plano Clark, V.L. 2007. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

    5. Dechant, E., 2013. Understanding and teaching reading: An interactive model. Routledge.

    6. Erten, I.H. & Karakas, M. 2007. Understanding the divergent influence of reading activities on the comprehension of short stories. The Reading Matrix 7(3): 113–133.

    7. Grabe, W. 1991. Current developments in second language reading research. TESL Quarterly 25(3):375-406.

    8. Grabe, W. 2004. Research on teaching and reading. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 24:44-69.

    9. Grabe, W. & Stoller, F.L. 2002. Teaching and Researching Reading. Harlow: Longman.

    10. Lenong, B., 2020. Engaging University students in reading projects to enhance their learning. International E-Journal of Advances in Education, 6(16), pp.124-130.

    11. Luke, A. 2000. Critical literacy in Australia: A matter of context and standpoint. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 43(5):448-461.

    12. Manzo, V.A. 1994. Teaching Children to Be Literate: A Reflective Approach. London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

    13. Maree, K. 2007. First Steps in Research. Pretoria: Van Schaik .

    14. McCormick, K. 1994. The culture of reading and the teaching of English. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    15. Niven, P.M. 2005. Exploring first year students’ and their lectures’ constructions of what it means to read in a humanities discipline: A conflict of frames? South African Journal of Higher Education 19(4):777-789.

    16. Ngwenya T 2010. Correlating first-year law students' profile with the language demands of their content subjects. Per Linguam 26, 74-99.

    17. Pretorius, E.J. 2000. What they can’t read will hurt them: Reading and academic achievement. Innovation 21:33-41.

    18. Pretorius, E.J. 2002a. Reading ability and academic performance in South Africa: Are we fiddling while Rome is burning? Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Southern Africa 33:169-196.

    19. Pretorius, E.J. 2002b. Reading and Applied Linguistics - a deafening silence. South African Linguistic & Applied studies 20:91-103.

    20. Pretorius, E.J. 2003. The reading skill of undergraduate students. Psychologia 29:100-111.

    21. Smith, F. 1994. Understanding reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    22. Zorn, R.L. 1991. Speed Reading. New York: First Harper Perennial.