Perspectives of EFL Students about Reading: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

This descriptive research looked for describing the reading difficulties that EFL learners in a technological institute in Portoviejo, Manabi – Ecuador, present during their classes. The researcher obtained the information through the data collected from a specific instrument. The participants were fifty adults with different English proficiency levels. Their ages ranged from 19 to 56 years. The instrument implemented for the study was a reading survey focused on collecting and analyzing data about difficulties in the EFL context applying reading strategies and perspectives toward the study. Main findings demonstrated that 56% of students read. Moreover, most students understand singles phrases when reading, obtaining a mean of 2.32. Most of participants observe punctuation pauses when reading, with a mean obtained of 2.68. On the other hand, learners struggle with the skimming strategy use with a mean of 3.32. Finally, it is demonstrated that lack of vocabulary and low English knowledge cause anxiety in 26% of the group, and an 18% of participants mentioned that summarizing is impossible for them. Educators and researchers could consider this research to guide learners during their learning process before using it in real academic implementation.