"READING COMPREHENSION DIFFICULTIES AT TERTIARY LEVEL IN BANGLADESH: IMPLICATION FOR PEDAGOGY "

Abstract

It is common knowledge that along with the other macro skills reading is considered as an active skill plays an important role in the process of teaching and learning language. It is affirmed by Carrel (1997) “for many students reading is by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly English as second or foreign language.” In term of language proficiency, reading skill has greater importance. It usually known that in the process of developing reading skill some aspects like materials, ways of teaching and students interest have greater importance. This study investigates an important area of reading skill at tertiary level in Bangladesh. It examines the present situation of teaching reading skills of English, the problems students encounter during reading an English text and the learners’ proficiency level of reading skills when they are at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. It also examines the reading materials used at the tertiary level. The methods for empirical investigation in the study include students’ questionnaire survey. Reading components of the syllabus and the reading materials are also evaluated. The thesis consists of 5 chapters: Chapter 1 introduces and establishes the topic focus, outlines the objectives, highlights the problems in the field of study and discusses the significance of the study. Chapter 2 describes literature review in which it has been described different studies inside and out side of the country on reading skill. Chapter 3 briefly discusses the methods usually used in ELT research of this type, and the methods used in the present study. It discusses the instruments used for questionnaire survey, interview, and tests of reading skills. It also presents sampling plans for each method. Chapter 4 presents the results and analyses the data. It includes the results collected through the empirical investigation. Chapter 5 presents a summary of the findings, discusses the implications of the findings and makes some recommendations for improving the reading syllabus, materials and pedagogy in Bangladesh. It includes a general conclusion. The findings show that students’ present level of reading is not up to the mark; the reading pedagogy used in the country is also in most cases backdated.