Building Better Readers: The Power of Active Reading in English Language Learning

Abstract

Active reading is a conscious, cognitive process which helps learners to form a meaning of the texts, not only by decoding words. Active reading skills are very critical in the case of undergraduates whose academic performance is very much dependent on the capability of reading huge amounts of complex reading materials. It, unlike passive reading, is linear in that the exposure to the text is not reflected upon, and active reading entails prediction, questioning, summarization, annotation, and metacognitive monitoring. These tactics assist understanding, memorization as well as critical analysis of scholarly material. Students who use active reading strategies have been found to do better on comprehension tests and have enhanced abilities in synthesizing knowledge in different disciplines.

Nevertheless, a significant number of undergraduates join college or university without being taught on how to read actively. Research indicates that students tend to rate their reading comprehension abilities too highly and they apply to simple techniques such as highlighting or re-reading, which has little effect on deeper learning (Teaching strategies which involve active reading skills (e.g., reciprocal teaching, preview, question, read, reflect, recite, review, and Cornell note-taking) have shown positive results in academic outcomes. This paper will discuss the theoretical bases of active reading, summarize empirical data about its effectiveness among undergraduates, and suggest instructional strategies that lead to the adoption of those strategies. It claims that active reading is not inborn but acquired with the help of a scaffold, feedback and practice. It presents the future research directions, which entail the necessity to transform the active instruction of reading to digital and multimodal texts that define modern academic settings.