investigating reading comprehension difficulties encountered by algerian EFL learners

Abstract

The primary focus of the present research is to investigate reading comprehension difficulties encountered by Algerian third-year students at Saadi Tahar Harat secondary school in Constantine and the reasons behind these difficulties. Moreover, it seeks to investigate the extent to which the official English textbook New Prospects participate in addressing third year secondary school students’ reading comprehension difficulties. In order to answer these questions, a teachers’ and a students’ questionnaires were designed and administered .The students’ questionnaire was designed and submitted to sixty four third year secondary school students at Saadi Tahar Harat secondary school in the wilaya of Constantine. The teachers’ questionnaire was designed and implemented to thirty three EFL teachers from different secondary schools in Constantine. The findings reveal that the most common reading comprehension problems faced by third-year students are related to insufficient lexical and syntactic knowledge in general and lack of ability to recognize text structure. Besides, it is found that the major causes of students’ poor reading comprehension are lack of reading culture, inadequate vocabulary knowledge, and insufficient time for practicing intensive and extensive reading inside the classroom. The results also show that the selected reading materials introduced in the official textbook New Prospects and teachers’ poor knowledge of teaching reading comprehension under the Competency-Based approach have a negative impact on students’ reading comprehension competence. Finally, this research has been concluded with some suggestions and recommendations on teaching reading comprehension to EFL learners.