Andragogical focus to enhance reading skills in university students

Abstract

Reading can definitely be affected by some personal factors such as formal educational background, frequency of reading, types of texts used, attitude of the reader, among others. However, it still has to be integrated to daily classes, especially when learning a new language. This research work aimed to enhance reading comprehension in intermediate level students of English as a foreign language in the 18-40 age group, at the Languages Center - Universidad Técnica De Ambato. Teaching reading strategies with a focus on andragogy to university students is valuable because while being appreciated as adults, they can participate and co-exist in work groups where their learning will evolve through sharing experiences with their peers and their teacher. Two groups were observed: one experimental and one controlled. The instruments used in this research allowed us to measure the effect and importance of using class-time with the use of tools and reading strategies with the above mentioned focus. Finally, this type of analysis allowed us to conclude that after intervention, the experimental group obtained better results in reading comprehension tests, applying the andragogical approach; therefore it can be stated that this was found to be effective, therefore applicable in the future.