The Effects of Reading Skills on the Development of Language Proficiency: Case of 1st Year EFL Students. University of Tlemcen.

Abstract

This work tries to investigate the effects of reading skills on the development of language proficiency and attempts to disclose the roles of reading in improving language skills. Besides, it tends to reveal the obstacles that cause poor reading and endeavours to suggest an adequate reading instruction for first year EFL students. For this reason, a case study was conducted in the department of English at the University of Tlemcen. Based on the results obtained from the two questionnaires and the classroom observation, this study revealed that reading plays important roles in improving language skills. Both classroom and extensive reading have abundant language learning benefits. Still, the results showed that the lack of motivation and language competence are the main obstacles that cause EFL students‟ poor reading. Besides, this investigation argued that an extensive reading programme is compulsory for EFL students as it leads to copious language gains.