Students’ Voices on Literacy Enhancement at a Tertiary Level

Abstract

The development of reading literacy at an early stage is a determining factor for students at the later stages. A review of studies that are related to this issue indicates that some students are still underperforming in reading English texts even at the tertiary level, hence unsuccessful to meet the expectancy of literacy skills needed to progress accordingly. This paper aims to investigate students’ literacy skills in reading at the tertiary level. Adapting an interpretivism paradigm approach, the students’ reading background before tertiary education was explored through a focus group interview. Ten undergraduates of non-English majors from the English for Social Sciences class were interviewed to elicit their attitudes and perspectives towards the course. The interview involved continuous questioning and comparing in reflecting on how these factors would cater for the needs of undergraduate students. The findings indicate students’ negative perceptions towards the course as most of them had difficulties coping with academic reading at the tertiary level. This study highlights the need in providing suitable course content and academic support for the students in catering sufficient reading literacy to suit the students’ needs. The findings suggest students’ voices should be given some consideration when planning to improve the course contents and the mode of delivery of reading materials, especially for the tertiary level.