Abstract:

In many settings, which English is not the native language, students at the higher education level are often faced with difficulties when reading in their academic areas. The purpose of the present study was to determine how well the Malaysian Form Three English language textbook prepares students for academic reading in English at the upper secondary and tertiary levels. The data in this study were in the form of comprehension reading passages in the government mandated English language textbook as well as other passages that teachers used in the classrooms for their English language reading comprehension lessons. In this study, reading instructional design in the English language textbook and reading comprehension lessons were analyzed in terms of the types and length of passages with regard to grade-level. The types of texts that analyzed were narrative and expository. Leslie and Caldwell’s (2004, 2006) Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI 3 & 4) was used for the coding of the grade-level of reading comprehension passages in the Form Three English language textbook and the other passages that teachers used in the classrooms. The findings of this study show that the English language reading comprehension instructional design and procedure in the Malaysian Form three English language textbook and classroom implementation, as part of the English language reading curriculum, only partially prepares the lower secondary school students in meeting the content area reading demand involving English at the upper secondary and tertiary level.

Keywords:

Higher education, reading comprehension instruction, reading curriculum, textbook, instructional design, ESL, lower secondary, expository texts.