Fostering reading comprehension skill among ESL tertiary level students through discourse engagement

Abstract

This exploratory study presents how ESL tertiary level students' reading comprehension skill can be fostered when students were given the opportunity to share their thoughts in reading through discourse engagement. The purpose was to explore how by considering discourse as a strategy to facilitate the student's reading comprehension skill. The students were given opportunities to share their understanding and thoughts as they pen their ideas in a form of a letter with their peers. A class consisting of 20 third year degree students participated in this qualitative case study. Data were collected through class observations, semi-structured interviews and documents. The data were analyzed using the constant-comparative method. Findings showed that the students appreciated the opportunities to interact with the printed texts with their peers and the instructor. The experience does not only facilitate the student's reading comprehension skill but also enable them to strengthen their identity as readers. The research highlights the potential value of considering discourse engagement as a strategy in fostering student's reading comprehension skill.