Pedagogy for Meeting the Challenges of Tackling Reading amongst University Students

Abstract

Being effective readers provide university students the onset to follow through their academic pursuit successfully. Nonetheless, reading academic materials pose challenges to many tertiary level students, particularly to the second-language speaker of English. Unfamiliarity with the text content and lack of vocabulary to tackle a variety of text types may impede students’ understanding of materials read. Thus, the role of the instructor is to arrange and design suitable pedagogical instruction to facilitate the students to become effective readers. This paper explores a pedagogical approach which comprises both the cognitive and human science approach in facilitating students to become effective readers. The approach focuses on understanding students’ comprehension of texts by listening to their voices as well as activating their cognitive ability in tackling the nuances of academic reading materials. Data was gathered qualitatively. Discussion will centre on the hows and whys of the approach, as well as the feedback component in terms of instructor's as well as students’ responses. Implications for policy, curriculum development and practice will be drawn.