The Weakness of Iraqi Islamic High Schools Students During Reading Comprehension Activities in English , the Reasons and Remedies , Intermediate Grade as a Model

Nihad Mohammed Jasim Al Zubaidi

Al Muhajjareen Islamic Secondary School

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.4.4.33

Keywords: Weakness, reading, comprehension, Islamic high schools, students, EFL


Abstract

This study aims at figuring out The weakness of Islamic High Schools Students in Iraq during reading comprehension activities in English as a foreign language, The Reasons and Remedies, intermediate stage as a model”. The study examines the effect of teachers' variables (gender, qualification, and years of experience), In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher developed a data collection instrument: a questionnaire developed in English for the teachers. It consisted of two parts. The first one is demographic questions and the second consisted from 14 questions. The researcher conducted this study on the intermediate stage students who are learning English as a foreign language and their teachers of English of Islamic High School in Iraq by using a stratified random sample. The whole population consisted of (140) teachers, (68) males and (72) females. The results of the present study showed that reading difficulties faced by students in learning English resulting from students' reading behaviors were high. In addition, the content (textbook), teaching aids and teaching methods had a significant effect on the reading difficulties. In the light of the findings of the study, the researcher recommended holding training courses for the teachers to provide them with sufficient experience to teach their students the reading skill in the right way besides Attention distraction, lack of motivation, difficulty in academic content, feeling of making mistakes in front of colleagues, lack of a library concerned in English language in the school and lack of resources in the English language, insufficient time to read during the lesson , their speed of reading is very slow, their efficiency in understanding the meaning of a text is very poor and there are other reasons mentioned in this study. .