<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Based on recent research (Alderson, 2005; Khalifa and Weir, 2009), this study focuses on three areas of reading comprehension necessary for a successful academic career: general L2 EFL reading skills, more specific academic reading skills and critical thinking and reading. The study presents an analysis of quantitative research conducted in 2020, based on a sample of Slovak undergraduate students reading an academic text in English as L2 in EFL CLIL-formatted classes in humanities.</p>
<p>The respondents’ general reading skills were analysed in the context of their critical reading skills and academic preparedness. When tested for general reading skills, respondents were asked to identify implicit and explicit information and the gist of the text. Academic abilities were tested via the ability to identify the attributes of an academic text, such as the system of references, rational and logical language and causeeffect type of argumentation, which indicated the author and genre of the text. In order to evaluate participants’ critical skills with a focus on the social aspects of the text, respondents were asked to identify the importance of the text for themselves and for their community and life. The participants’ mean scores and differences in their performances on each task type were compared using descriptive statistics, and multiple analysis of variance. The results suggest that the general reading skills of university undergraduates in Slovakia are adequate, however, more difficulty was encountered with implicit, rather than explicit, tasks. Students also need to improve their critical reading skills and reading for academic purposes. The research outcomes highlight the need to hone the education of future linguists to the new needs of a more text-based society.</p>
</abstract>

Based on recent research (Alderson, 2005; Khalifa and Weir, 2009), this study focuses on three areas of reading comprehension necessary for a successful academic career: general L2 EFL reading skills, more specific academic reading skills and critical thinking and reading. The study presents an analysis of quantitative research conducted in 2020, based on a sample of Slovak undergraduate students reading an academic text in English as L2 in EFL CLIL-formatted classes in humanities.
The respondents’ general reading skills were analysed in the context of their critical reading skills and academic preparedness. When tested for general reading skills, respondents were asked to identify implicit and explicit information and the gist of the text. Academic abilities were tested via the ability to identify the attributes of an academic text, such as the system of references, rational and logical language and causeeffect type of argumentation, which indicated the author and genre of the text. In order to evaluate participants’ critical skills with a focus on the social aspects of the text, respondents were asked to identify the importance of the text for themselves and for their community and life. The participants’ mean scores and differences in their performances on each task type were compared using descriptive statistics, and multiple analysis of variance. The results suggest that the general reading skills of university undergraduates in Slovakia are adequate, however, more difficulty was encountered with implicit, rather than explicit, tasks. Students also need to improve their critical reading skills and reading for academic purposes. The research outcomes highlight the need to hone the education of future linguists to the new needs of a more text-based society.

The need for integration of reading, critical thinking and academic reading skills: a quantitative analysis of Slovak undergraduates’ reading performance

Journal of Language and Cultural Education

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Based on recent research (Alderson, 2005; Khalifa and Weir, 2009), this study focuses on three areas of reading comprehension necessary for a successful...

The need for integration of reading, critical thinking and academic reading skills: a quantitative analysis of Slovak undergraduates’ reading performance

Publié en ligne: 14 déc. 2021

Pages: 12 - 29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2021-0002

Mots clés
academic reading skills, critical thinking, motivation, reading comprehension, reading performance

© 2021 Jana Javorčíková et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The need for integration of reading, critical thinking and academic reading skills: a quantitative analysis of Slovak undergraduates’ reading performance

Publié en ligne: 14 déc. 2021

Pages: 12 - 29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2021-0002

Mots clésacademic reading skills, critical thinking, motivation, reading comprehension, reading performance

© 2021 Jana Javorčíková et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
academic reading skills, critical thinking, motivation, reading comprehension, reading performance