Abstract
The pre-diploma English language preparatory course is a course offered in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) which caters for students at risk of educational failure. The main aim of the course is to upgrade the English proficiency levels of disadvantaged Malay and Bumiputera students to not only help them further their studies at diploma level but also to equip them with literacy skills required for innovation societies in the twenty-first century. Literacy skills, particularly reading skills, are of utmost importance in the twenty-first century which places a premium on the exchange of information. Hence, tertiary students should have good reading skills to help them gain knowledge as well as to be successful in the twenty-first century. This paper investigates ESL students’ reading performance in the Pre-Diploma English course. The study involved a total of 255 students from three UiTM branch campuses, namely Kelantan, Seremban and Melaka. The students were required to sit for a validated and reliable Diagnostic English Language Test to assess their reading performance. Results indicated that close to half of the students failed the test i.e. they obtained grade bands of ‘C−’ and below. The results also show that there is no significant difference in students’ performance based on their gender. However, there is a significant difference in their performance based on language proficiency levels, discipline and locality. The findings show that the majority of these students have low proficiency and need more support and strategy training so that they can master reading skills necessary for innovation in the twenty-first century.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alderson, J. C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bernhardt, E. B. (2005). Progress and procrastination in second language reading. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 25, 133–155.
Bernhardt, E. B., & Kamil, M. L. (1995). Interpreting relationships between L1 and L2 reading: Consolidating the linguistic threshold and the linguistic interdependence hypotheses. Applied Linguistics, 16, 15–34.
Block, E. (1992). See how they read: Comprehension monitoring of L1 and L2 readers. TESOL Quarterly, 26(2), 319–343.
Bråten, I., & Olaussen, B. S. (1998). The relationship between motivational beliefs and learning strategy use among Norwegian college students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 23, 182–194.
Carrell, P. L. (1991). Second language reading: Reading ability or language proficiency? Applied Linguistics, 12, 159–179.
Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society: The information age: Economy, society, and culture (Vol. I). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Chamot, A. U., & O’malley, J. M. (1987). The cognitive academic language learning approach: A bridge to the mainstream. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2), 227–249.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Grabe, W. (1999). Developments in reading research and their implications for computer adaptive reading assessment. In M. Chalhoub-Deville (Ed.), Issues in computer-adaptive testing of reading proficiency (pp. 11–47). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grabe, W. (1988). Reassessing the term interactive. In P. L. Carrell, J. Devine, & D. E. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second language reading. Cambridge: CUP.
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Greaney, K. T. (2004, September 14–18). Good decoders but poor comprehenders: Why the discrepancies? Paper presented at the BERA conference, Manchester. Retrieved August 10, 2005, from http://education.massey.ac.nz/PDF-Files/greaney/Bera_paper.pdf
Hellekjaer, G. O. (2009). Academic English reading proficiency at the university level: A norwegian case study. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(2), 198–222.
Koda, K. (2005). Insights into second language reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Koda, K. (2007). Reading and language learning: Crosslinguistic constraints on second language reading development. Language Learning, 57(1), 1–44.
Kouder, M., & Reichard, C. A. (2002). Assessing students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(2), 249–259.
Laufer, B. (1997). The lexical plight in second language reading. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp. 20–34). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lesaux, N. K., & Siegel, L. S. (2003). The development of reading in children who speak English as a second language. Developmental Psychology, 39, 1005–1019.
Slavin, R. E. (2003). Effective reading programs for English language learners: A best-evidence synthesis. Report No. 66. Publications Department, CRESPAR: Johns Hopkins University.
Sun, J. W., Nam, J. E., & Vanderwood, M. L. (2010). English language learners (ELL) and response to intervention (RTI): Information for K–6 educators. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
Urquhart, S., & Weir, C. (1998). Reading in a second language: Process, product and practice. London: Longman.
Van Keer, H., & Verhaeghe, J. P. (2005). Effects of explicit reading strategies instruction and peer tutoring on second and fifth graders reading comprehension and self-efficacy perceptions. The Journal of Experimental Education, 73(4), 291–329.
Vaughn, S., Mathes, P., Linan-Thompson, S., Cirino, P., Carlson, C., Pollard-Durodola, S., et al. (2006). Effectiveness of an English intervention for first-grade English language learners at risk for reading problems. The Elementary School Journal, 107, 153–180.
Acknowledgment
This project was funded by the UiTM VCSP (Vice Chancellor Special Project) Excellent Fund under the Research Management Institute, UiTM. The team members of the project were Gurnam Kaur Sidhu (Lead Researcher), Lim Peck Choo, Chan Yuen Fook, Fazyudi Ahmad Nadzri (Co-Researchers) and Siti Hajar Aishah Mohd Azkah (Research Assistant).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this paper
Cite this paper
Peck Choo, L., Sidhu, G.K., Fook, C.Y., Nadzri, F.A. (2016). Innovating Learners Through Reading: Investigating ESL Students’ Reading Performance. In: Fook, C., Sidhu, G., Narasuman, S., Fong, L., Abdul Rahman, S. (eds) 7th International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2014) Proceedings. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-664-5_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-664-5_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-663-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-664-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)