Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners

Critical reading is an important ability to acquire particularly among college or university students. This study investigated the level of critical reading skills among Malaysian ESL learners at the tertiary level. The motivation for conducting the study is due to the increasing number of claims b...

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Main Authors: Zuhana Mohd Zin, Wong, Bee Eng, Shameem Rafik-Galea
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2014
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7214/1/4635-16800-1-PB.pdf
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author Zuhana Mohd Zin,
Wong, Bee Eng
Shameem Rafik-Galea,
author_facet Zuhana Mohd Zin,
Wong, Bee Eng
Shameem Rafik-Galea,
author_sort Zuhana Mohd Zin,
collection UKM
description Critical reading is an important ability to acquire particularly among college or university students. This study investigated the level of critical reading skills among Malaysian ESL learners at the tertiary level. The motivation for conducting the study is due to the increasing number of claims by employers and educators that most graduates lack the ability to read and think critically. Among the required reading and thinking abilities necessary to read a text critically are the analytical and inference skills. Specifically, this study examined the ESL learners’ analytical and inference skills when they read two expository texts. A self-developed critical reading comprehension test (CRCT) was used to measure their analytical skills in identifying the writer’s purpose and the main ideas in the text. The findings indicated that the students lacked the required critical skills, in particular, when they are required to identify the writer’s purpose and the main idea in the text which support the observation and experience of many Malaysian educators and researchers. This has direct implications on reading development in Malaysia.
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spelling ukm.eprints-72142016-12-14T06:43:25Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7214/ Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners Zuhana Mohd Zin, Wong, Bee Eng Shameem Rafik-Galea, Critical reading is an important ability to acquire particularly among college or university students. This study investigated the level of critical reading skills among Malaysian ESL learners at the tertiary level. The motivation for conducting the study is due to the increasing number of claims by employers and educators that most graduates lack the ability to read and think critically. Among the required reading and thinking abilities necessary to read a text critically are the analytical and inference skills. Specifically, this study examined the ESL learners’ analytical and inference skills when they read two expository texts. A self-developed critical reading comprehension test (CRCT) was used to measure their analytical skills in identifying the writer’s purpose and the main ideas in the text. The findings indicated that the students lacked the required critical skills, in particular, when they are required to identify the writer’s purpose and the main idea in the text which support the observation and experience of many Malaysian educators and researchers. This has direct implications on reading development in Malaysia. Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2014 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7214/1/4635-16800-1-PB.pdf Zuhana Mohd Zin, and Wong, Bee Eng and Shameem Rafik-Galea, (2014) Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 20 (2). pp. 43-54. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/index
spellingShingle Zuhana Mohd Zin,
Wong, Bee Eng
Shameem Rafik-Galea,
Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners
title Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners
title_full Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners
title_fullStr Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners
title_full_unstemmed Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners
title_short Critical reading ability and its relation to L2 proficiency of Malaysian ESL learners
title_sort critical reading ability and its relation to l2 proficiency of malaysian esl learners
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/7214/1/4635-16800-1-PB.pdf
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