Perspectives of EFL Students towards Reading Strategies

Abstract

This descriptive study describes the perspective a group of students had about reading and vocabulary strategies in EFL. This research included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the participants ‘responses. The participants were 50 students, 27 males and 23 females; eighth, ninth, tenth graders, and one university student whose ages ranged from 11 to 18 years old. The instrument applied in this study was a survey which was designed to collect information on how the students feel when reading short and long texts in EFL. According to their responses, most of the participants read in English, however, they present several problems when reading long texts, especially when they do not understand the meaning of words which causes them anxiety and boredom. At last, they also identified reading as one of the most important skills since it helps them to improve their vocabulary and comprehension skills. These results should be considered by other EFL teachers to plan their lesson plans and take into consideration the importance of reading in their classes.