Reading for Independence

Reading authentic texts, especially those associated with their subject-matter courses, poses continuing difficulty for ESL university students. One way to help these students develop efficient, independent reading skills is to develop their strategic competence. This article outlines a direct teaching approach which aims to teach students to efficiently and effectively apply their knowledge of the English language and of good reading behaviour to the second language reading task. In this approach, students are introduced to procedures that require them to apply language and skill knowledge to solve such second language reading problems as unfamiliar words or an inflexible reading style. Through the experience of using these procedures, it is hypothesized that students will develop their own routines for making effective use of the knowledge sources available.