Student Insights: Challenges in Acquiring Critical Academic Reading Skills

Student Insights: Challenges in Acquiring Critical Academic Reading Skills

Anealka Aziz, Tuan Sarifah Aini Syed Ahmad, Suryani Awang, Roslina Abdul Aziz, Siti Nurshafezan Ahmad, Nurul Afifah Binti Azlan

Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.809081

Received: 27 August 2024; Accepted: 03 September 2024; Published: 02 October 2024

ABSTRACT

Acquiring critical academic reading skills is crucial for university students, as the skills enable them to evaluate texts effectively. Despite exposure through university courses, many students struggle to attain these skills. This study aimed to identify the necessary academic reading skills deemed challenging by the students and the underlying reasons for these difficulties. A mixed-methods approach was employed, using a questionnaire with a Likert scale ranging from “strongly confident” to “not at all confident”, and open-ended questions, were conducted on 229 respondents at one public university in Malaysia. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively, while content analysis was employed to categorize the reasons. The results revealed that a small percentage of the respondents felt completely confident with all the skills, while some partially mastered the skills and others doubted their skills. The most challenging skills were making inferences, analysing context, detecting assumptions, and evaluating arguments. The reasons for these challenges included linguistic factors, such as limited vocabulary and insufficient language proficiency, and non-linguistic factors, like confusion, lack of confidence, and inability to comprehend text. The findings indicate that critical thinking should be taught separately to help students focus on these specific skills, emphasizing the importance of targeted strategies to overcome these issues.

Keywords: Academic challenges; critical academic reading skills; critical readers; critical reading abilities; critical thinking; pedagogy.

INTRODUCTION

Critical academic reading is an essential skill for university students, as it enables them to engage with complex academic materials, comprehend arguments, and construct coherent and well-supported responses (Lundberg, 2022). The relevance of these skills extends beyond the academic domain, with a positive impact on future employability, as supported by research from Raitskaya and Tikhonova (2019) and Ergün and Şeşen (2021). Higher-order critical reading skills needed include enhancing vocabulary and language understanding, identifying main ideas and supporting details, formulating topics and providing evidence, making inferences and identifying implied main ideas, recognising types of support and employing reasoning, evaluating arguments and examining statements, and conducting contextual analysis and detecting underlying assumption, which are considered as higher order thinking skills (Arifin, 2020; Choon et al., 2014; Edward et al., 2021; Facione, 1990; Haromi, 2014; Sari et al., 2019; Teoh et al., 2015).

However, despite the inclusion of these skills in university courses, many students, particularly English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, continue to struggle to master them. Previous research on critical reading skills challenges could be seen in studies including by Sidhu et al., (2016) who identified analysing and deciphering textual content as a struggle among postgraduate students, Shahida et al. (2021) who found students lacking in determining the author’s message, distinguishing fact from opinion, identifying and implying the main ideas, guessing the meaning from context, or making inferences, Zin et al., (2014) who discovered students’ deficiency in the ability to analyse and evaluate them, suggesting lack of ability to read critically, and Velayati et al., (2017) who revealed that students faced challenges in getting in the same perspective as the author’s stand, identifying the author’s stand-in factual texts and compromising the authors’ opposing views. These challenges are often combined with linguistic factors, such as limited vocabulary and insufficient language proficiency, and non-linguistic factors such as confusion, lack of confidence, and difficulties in comprehending text (Velayati et al., 2017). Despite these findings, there is limited empirical research that directly addresses which specific skills students find most difficult and the underlying reasons for these difficulties. Such a gap calls for more experiential findings on specific challenges and reasons when acquiring critical reading skills. This study will create a more insightful look into critical academic reading skills the learners will perceive as most challenging based on their learning experience, as well as detailed reasons for the challenges. The findings could spark possible solutions and empirical impact for more improved acquisition of critical reading skills.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to:

1. To identify which critical academic reading skills students perceive as the most challenging and
2. To explore the reasons behind these difficulties.

Research Questions

The research questions of the study are as stated below:

1. Which critical academic reading skills are perceived as difficult for students to acquire?
2. What are the causes of difficulty faced by students in acquiring these skills?

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Ya’acob et al., (2020), possessing proficient reading skills is deemed essential in comprehending, acquiring, and utilizing pertinent disciplinary knowledge. Knowledge and literacy form the basis for developing intellectual and communication skills. Critical reading skills in an academic context include various sub-skills that, when combined, promote independent and critical thinking skills among learners.  These sub-skills are the ability to focus on vocabulary, identify main concepts and supporting details, establish topics and provide evidence, make inferences, identify implied main ideas, recognise various types of support and reasoning, evaluate arguments and statements, and analyse context to detect underlying assumptions. Teaching these skills follows the top-down and bottom-up processing model, which represents the cognitive processes involved in reading.

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processing in Critical Academic Reading

Top-down and bottom-up processing are two cognitive approaches in critical reading to comprehend written text (Niculescu & Dragomir, 2023). Bottom-up processing focuses on decoding the basic building blocks of language, such as individual words, phrases, and sentences, to construct meaning, while top-down processing relies on the reader’s prior knowledge, experience, and expectations to interpret the text (Nadea et al., 2021; Niculescu & Dragomir, 2023), Top-down skills include predicting the topic using pictures or titles, matching headings with different sections of the text, inferring relationships between characters, guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases, and creating mental images of the text’s content (Nadea et al., 2021; Niculescu & Dragomir, 2023).

These skills can be applied to seven aspects of critical academic reading: understanding the meanings of words, identifying main ideas and supporting details, formulating topic and provisioning evidence, making inferences and formulating implied main ideas, determining types of support and reasoning, evaluating authors’ arguments, analysing contexts, and detecting the author’s assumptions. In practice, readers often use a combination of top-down and bottom-up processing when they read texts critically, drawing on their prior knowledge and expectations while engaging directly with the text to extract specific details and construct meaning.

Critical Academic Reading Skills

The first sub-skill focuses on vocabulary, where understanding of specialized vocabulary is crucial for comprehending challenging texts, particularly for ESL learners. ESL undergraduates who acquire this skill can independently interpret unfamiliar terms, improving their understanding of the given academic material.

Secondly, identifying main ideas and supporting details is considered an essential skill in critical reading, especially for ESL students as proficiency in this area allows them to extract important information from texts and distinguish it from less imperative details. These skills can promote independent thinking by enabling students to focus on significant concepts and arguments, helping them develop their own perspectives and evaluate the reading material more effectively (Nguyen, 2020; Stevens et al.,2019). Nguyen (2020) found that students who completed the reading course demonstrated increased confidence in their reading proficiency, successfully identifying and summarising main ideas, engaging in meaningful textual discussions, and articulating their arguments more convincingly.  Similarly, Steven et al. (2019) suggest that guidance on identifying main ideas and summarising can enhance struggling readers’ ability to identify main ideas and improve their reading comprehension.

The third skill involves formulating topics and providing evidence, allowing critical readers to identify the central topic of a text and assess the evidence stipulated to support it. This skill could encourage independent thinking by prompting students to assess the validity and sufficiency of the evidence, construct logical arguments and formulate their own hypotheses (Al-Ghadouni, 2021; Kintsch, 1998; Paige et al., 2024).

The fourth set of skills involves making inferences and identifying implied main ideas, demanding students to delve beyond the surface meaning of a text. Being excellent in these skills empowers ESL undergraduates to independently conclude implicit information and establish connections between ideas. This, in turn, nurtures critical thinking as students acquire the ability to question assumptions and uncover immersed implications of textual material. Shamida et al., (2021), mentioned that the acquisition of these skills is deemed imperative for the purpose of deducing, contrasting, discriminating between empirical information and subjective viewpoints, and discerning the writer’s ultimate objective.

The fifth skill set involves understanding types of support and reasoning, emphasizing on evaluating arguments in texts critically. Proficiency in this ability enables ESL undergraduates to recognise different forms of evidence and reasoning to develop a critical-thinking mindset. Additionally, the skills also allow the students to evaluate the strength of arguments, identify weaknesses in reasoning, and assemble their identifiable well-reasoned arguments. Ngu and Zainal (2017) suggested that inductive reasoning is a valuable tool for astute readers to construct rational generalizations or hypotheses in the face of heterogeneous textual information and data. Additionally, they highlighted that critical readers employed their cognitive abilities to evaluate and establish the coherence between their propositions and the textual data. It is crucial that they can discern and correlate the data presented by the author via rationales, contentions, or validating data.

The next skill set involves the evaluation of arguments and statements, requiring critical readers to be skilled at evaluating the validity and credibility of arguments and statements exhibited in academic texts. Proficiency in these skills enables ESL students to independently evaluate the reliability of resources and the coherence of arguments. Simultaneously, it can assist in upholding independent thinking as students learn to establish well-founded judgments and views based on evidence and reasoned analysis. Velayati et al., (2017) also emphasised the crucial aspect of evaluation, as, in essence, it involves the capacity to assess the credibility of an argument by analysing the logic and substantiating evidence presented. This evaluation process encompasses scrutinizing the veracity of statements concerning an individual’s perception, experience, judgment, belief, or opinion (Velayati et al., 2017).

One important sub-skill of critical reading skills is contextual analysis and assumption detection, which involves considering the broader context in which a text is situated, including the author’s background and the societal context. Assumption detection requires recognising implicit assumptions underlying the arguments. ESL undergraduates who excel in these skills can critically assess texts by considering their context, uncover hidden biases, and challenge assumptions, thereby cultivating a more independent and critical perspective. Proficient critical thinkers possess the capability to effectively analyse and interpret the existing information, generate suppositions, vigilantly scrutinize the consequences of their decisions, evaluate diverse perspectives and contextual frameworks before formulating any appraisal, and most importantly, discriminate between rationalized judgments and subjective responses (Sobkowiak, 2016).

In short, it is widely held that the construct of critical thinking encompasses a multitude of constituent abilities, primarily consisting of the abilities to scrutinize arguments, formulate inferences through the application of either inductive or deductive reasoning, assess or evaluate, and arrive at resolutions or preparations for difficulties (Lai, 2011). The cultivation of critical academic reading skills and their respective sub-skills serves as a fundamental basis for fostering independent and critical thinking among ESL undergraduates. These proficiencies bestow upon students the ability to engage with academic texts in a discerning and intellectually rigorous manner, thereby stimulating them to think autonomously, question preconceptions, appraise evidence, and construct well-reasoned arguments. As ESL undergraduates acquire and refine these aptitudes, they not only enhance their reading capabilities but also augment their knowledge, perception, and critical thinking abilities, positioning them to navigate the complexities of higher education and beyond effectively.

Challenges in Developing Critical Academic Reading Skills Among ESL Undergraduates

In the pursuit of mastering critical reading skills, challenges encountered by ESL undergraduates extend beyond Malaysia’s borders. Arifin (2020) emphasises the importance of incorporating critical reading in formal education, for university students, despite the uncertain reliability of information sources like newspapers, periodicals, and internet-based materials. Proficiency in critical reading empowers learners to extract meaningful insights and enhance their critical thinking capacity through interpretation, inference, and deriving insight from texts (Arifin, 2020).

Furthermore, Velayati et al. (2017) found that students faced multiple challenges in applying critical thinking skills while reading. These included a lack of practice, inadequate language mastery, difficulty grasping implied meanings, deficient background knowledge, and limited vocabulary. The study also revealed struggles in aligning perspectives with authors, discerning authors’ stances in factual texts, and reconciling opposing viewpoints. This warrants additional support for students and highlights the importance of instructors implementing effective teaching practices (Castano-Roldan & Correa, 2021).

Nguyen (2020) explored the challenges students face in comprehending authors’ arguments, identifying main ideas, and deciphering text structures. Similarly, De-la-Pena and Luque-Rojas (2021) found that while university students demonstrated proficiency in literal comprehension, their performance was less optimal in inferential, critical, and organizational reading levels. Silalahi (2018) identified a lack of requisite knowledge in interpreting and critiquing texts, as well as an absence of awareness regarding potential difficulties in critical reading. Par (2018) supported these findings by revealing that most tested EFL students exhibited “low critical reading ability,” likely due to inadequate training.

The challenges faced by ESL undergraduates in developing critical academic reading skills are not limited to Malaysia, as students across various countries face similar concerns.  Arifin (2020) highlighted the importance of integrating critical reading into formal education, for university students, acknowledging that despite the abundance of information from numerous sources, the reliability of such materials remains uncertain. The shared obstacles identified by Velayati et al., (2017), De-La-Pena and Luque Rojas (2021), Silalahi (2018), and Par (2018) include deficiencies in practice, language mastery, implied meaning comprehension, background knowledge, vocabulary, and critical reading skills, as well as low awareness of potential difficulties and limited training. These challenges extend beyond geographical boundaries.

In summary, the challenges in developing critical academic reading skills among ESL undergraduates are not exclusive to a particular region. The shared obstacles emphasise the universal need for targeted interventions and effective teaching strategies to promote these essential skills.

METHODOLOGY

This study employed a mixed-method approach. It combines quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. 229 Malaysian public university students were selected, based on purposive sampling, responded to a questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed based English for Critical Academic Reading Skills course syllabus consisting of critical reading skills to be learnt by university students. There are three sections in the survey: Section A is on the respondents’ demographic profile, Section B is on the respondents’ perceptions of difficult critical academic reading skills, and Section C is open-ended questions on reasons for the perceived difficulties. The respondents indicated their level of perceived difficulty based on statements on critical reading skills with the 5 Likert Scale of: “Completely Confident, “Fairly Confident”, “Somewhat Confident” “Slightly Confident” and “Not at all Confident”. Then, the respondents provided their reasons for the perceived difficulty in the open-ended question section. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) to identify challenging academic reading skills. For the qualitative data, content analysis was used to categorise reasons for perceived difficulties, utilising Bryman’s (2012) four-stage analysis process to systematically analyse the open-ended responses. Data on the respondents’ level of perceived challenges were then reported in a summary of percentage form, and the percentages of the perceived difficulties were interpreted to reflect the challenges. Reasons for the perceived difficulty were reported in a form of frequency of occurring coded themes.

Table 1: Coding Guideline – Four Stages of Analysis (Bryman, 2012)

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The study was interested in determining which critical academic reading skills were perceived as difficult for students to acquire. A survey was administered a week before the students’ critical reading skills test to see the students’ mastery of the skills. The survey covered seven aspects of critical reading skills, namely understanding the meanings of words, identifying main ideas and supporting details, formulating topic and provisioning evidence, making inferences and formulating implied main ideas, determining types of support and reasoning, evaluating authors’ arguments and analysing contexts and detecting assumptions of the author. Table 2 shows the overall respondents’ claim of confidence regarding the seven aspects of critical reading skills.

Table 2: Overall Respondents’ Claim of Confidence in Mastering Critical Reading Skills

Most of the respondents rated themselves as Somewhat Confident to Fairly Confident in all the seven aspects of critical reading skills. Some rated themselves as Completely Confident, and very few rated themselves as Slightly Confident or Not at all Confident. Based on the results, it could be said that the respondents had some mastery of the seven skills. However, only a small percentage of the respondents claimed they were completely confident with all seven skills. Out of the seven skills, 15.9 per cent of the respondents claimed they were completely confident with the skills to identify main ideas and supporting details. This was followed by the skills to evaluate the authors’ arguments (13.7%), the skills to determine types of support and reasoning (13%), the skills to analyse contexts and detect assumptions of the author (8.5%), the skills to formulate topic and provision evident (8.4%) and the skills to understand the meaning of words in contexts (8.0%).

In terms of skills, 48.8 per cent of the respondents said that they were fairly confident in their skills to understand the meaning of words, followed by the skills to identify main ideas and supporting details (47.7%) and the skills to determine types of supports and reasoning (46.7%). The other four skills were perceived as with slightly lower confidence; the skills to formulate topic and provision evidence (44.3%), evaluate author’s arguments (43.1%), analyse contexts, detect assumptions (41.2%), and make inferences and formulate implied main ideas (41.0%).

What concerned the researchers were the respondents who claimed that they were Somewhat Confident with the seven aspects of critical academic reading skills. About one-third to a quarter of the respondents expressed a certain level of doubt when they claimed somewhat confident about the skills they needed to acquire. Making inferences and formulating main ideas (48.2%), analysing contexts and detecting assumptions (48.1%), formulating the topic and provisioning evidence (45.4%) and evaluating the author’s arguments (41.6%) were the skills of concern. The remaining skills which were equally important were determining types of support and reasoning (39.4%), understanding the meaning of words (38.4%) and identifying main ideas and supporting details (34.9%).

Despite many of the respondents feeling positive towards their vocabulary skills, it is also interesting to note that there was a substantial percentage of them who felt on the lower end of their confidence (43.2%). This reflects that many of them still found figuring out meaning based on context a challenging skill to master. This resonates with a finding from interviews with students who were reported to be facing difficulty in having limited vocabulary (Velayati et al., 2017).

Main ideas and supporting details are viewed as easy skills to master. However, despite a considerable number feeling highly positive in their ability to identify main ideas and supporting details, a notable finding mirrored a substantial number of respondents who placed their confidence level on a lower end (36.3%), indicating a possible challenge in mastering these skills. This finding is echoed in Par’s (2018) study, which identified a significant number of students who showed “low critical reading ability” in mastering main ideas, among other higher-order critical reading skills. This contrasts with the common perception that main ideas are easy to identify, as established by Nguyen (2020) and De-la-Pena and Luque-Rojas (2021).

A similar pattern is also observed when a substantial number of the respondents expressed a lower perception in formulating a suitable topic (47.3%). This suggests that the skill is challenging or not fully mastered. This is also evident in a study by Alghail and Mahfoodh (2016), who reported identifying supporting details or examples as one of the five major difficulties. Similarly, a substantial percentage of the respondents expressed a lower perception of mastering the skills of inference and implied main ideas. This could reflect that many of them still felt these skills were also somewhat challenging for them. This is reflected in a study by Shamida et al., (2021) that listed inference and implied main ideas as challenges in critical reading. Difficulty in identifying main ideas could mean challenges in grasping a topic.

While many of the respondents expressed positive feelings towards mastering types of support and reasoning, a considerable percentage were also found to be on the lower end of the confidence level in mastering the skill (40.2%). This could reflect that they felt that these two skills were challenging for them to master well. This aligns with the results shown in Alghail and Mahfoodh’s study (2016), which listed supporting ideas as one of the major difficulties when reading critically. A similar challenge faced by students was also mirrored in Nguyen’s survey (2020) who listed deciphering text structures as challenging. Thus, a complication in knowing the structure of a text was reflected in not being able to identify what constituted specific details to aid the reader in grasping the types of reasoning in a text.

Despite a fair percentage of the respondents feeling fairly confident of their ability to evaluate the author’s arguments, a fair percentage also felt less confident, indicating a perceived difficulty in mastering this skill (43.1%). Interestingly, this correlates with a study by Zin et al., (2014), which revealed that students could not analyse and evaluate the texts. Based on this current study, when a substantial number of students had lower confidence in evaluating the author’s argument in determining validity and low perception of their actual ability to determine a false or true statement and provide their own opinion on the issue being discussed, this means they had low ability in analysing and evaluating skills. Interestingly, more respondents highly perceived their actual ability to determine whether a statement is true or false and provide their own opinion on the issue being discussed, probably due to them feeling that these two skills were more manageable than evaluating arguments. Saidalvi et al., (2022) expressed concern that as challenging texts were used at the tertiary level, it increased the degree of problems already faced by students, and their competency in more direct texts did not help in strategising and learning more critical and difficult materials. This phenomenon is expected among undergraduates, and it is not surprising to find that many respondents of this study expressed lack of confidence to analyse and evaluate texts.

A substantial percentage of the respondents placed themselves at the lower end of confidence in doing contextual analysis and assumption detection (50.3%), indicating a possibility that many of them felt they were facing a higher degree of difficulty in grasping these skills. In terms of contextual analysis, many expressed a more positive perception of their ability to classify ideas as main ideas and major or minor supporting details. This was probably due to more respondents of this study who felt that they could grasp this skill as they might perceive these skills as easier to be applied. However, this finding contradicts the results shown in a study by Alghail and Mahfoodh (2016) in which supporting ideas were reported as a major academic reading difficulty.

To understand why the respondents rated specific academic reading skills as such, a total of 21 open-ended questions were posed in the questionnaire to determine the reasons they perceived the skills as challenging to acquire. These questions corresponded to the academic reading skills students had learned and were assessed on. Only 169 out of 229 responses were recorded and categorised into two major categories: linguistics and non-linguistics. The remaining 60 respondents did not provide any response at all.

Within the linguistic domain, it was further dissected into sub-themes, specifically Language Proficiency, encompassing facets such as vocabulary size, language proficiency, and text complexity, and Analytical Skills, which delves into abilities such as grasping implied meanings, interpreting, evaluating, analysing, and other critical thinking skills.

In the realm of non-linguistic aspects, the analysis revolved around three key themes: Psychological Factors, including elements such as confusion, lack of confidence, fear of inaccurate interpretation, and perceived apprehension when dealing with texts; Contextual Factors, encompassing aspects like a lack of background knowledge, exposure to unfamiliar topics, and insufficient prior practice; and finally, Cognitive Factors, which involve issues like a slow reading pace, difficulty in comprehending text, and a limited understanding of the text’s surface structure. Table 3 displays the reasons respondents claimed certain critical academic reading skills were difficult for them to acquire.

Table 3: Reasons for Perceived Difficulty

Within the linguistic category, two main themes emerged: language proficiency and analytical skills. Based on the responses received, students’ perceived difficulties within the language proficiency category were primarily attributed to limited vocabulary knowledge (8.9%). This finding was consistent with the studies conducted by Velayati et al., (2017) and Rahmat et al., (2020), who also reported a lack of vocabulary knowledge as one of the major contributing factors to academic reading difficulties.

Students’ limited vocabulary knowledge not only affected their ability to answer questions related to vocabulary (e.g. Because there are many English words that i don’t know, I have a limited vocabulary.), but also affected their ability to formulate the topic of a paragraph (e.g. I don’t know what word should be used) and to discern the implied main idea of a given paragraph (e.g. Sometimes I think too far and somehow difficult to find the correct words for the implied main idea). These questions required students to construct their own sentences rather than simply lifting from the text, and this requirement posed challenges for students with limited vocabulary knowledge.

Within the analytical skills theme, lack of ability to interpret (5.9%) and lack of critical thinking skills (5.3%) pose more significant challenges compared to other themes. It was observed that the responses revolved around questions related to making inferences, identifying types of reasonings, detecting assumptions, and making conclusions. The following extracts are samples of responses obtained for this category:

I don’t have a good thinking

Because sometimes I just don’t know how to connect the topic to make an inference

Because sometimes I don’t know what the inferences that can be made.

Similarly, Shamida et al. (2021) reported a low mean of 2.65 for overall critical reading skills among postgraduates in their study. According to Silalahi (2018), students in her study were unaware of the importance of critiquing and interpreting in academic reading, suggesting that these skills were not employed and not acquired by the students.  In the present study, students seemed to be aware of the skills but professed deficiency in them.

As shown in Table 3, non-linguistics appeared to be the major causes of perceived difficulties, and it was mainly attributed to psychological factors, specifically confusion/lack of confidence (23.7%). Students expressed confusion about the answers they should provide, lacked confidence in their responses, felt fear of giving wrong answers and were afraid of dealing with academic texts. Among the responses received include:

I am confused sometimes

Because I am confused

Scared if it is wrong (referring to the answer given)

I’m not confident enough with my answer.

Another recurrent theme within the non-linguistics category was students’ inability to comprehend the reading texts used in the reading test administered. Approximately 11.8% of respondents reported difficulties in comprehending academic texts. Among the responses expressing this challenge include:

I cannot understand well to find the right answer

Sometimes I don’t understand well the text in the paragraphs

Because sometimes it hard for me to understand the text

The finding is consistent with Sidhu et al., (2016), who found that students struggled to comprehend textual content. This issue may be intertwined with students’ lack of proficiency, limited vocabulary, and complexity of the texts.

Based on the qualitative analysis administered, students’ perceived difficulties are attributed to several interconnected factors. Limited vocabulary appears to be a significant challenge, affecting not only the ability to perform vocabulary-related tasks but also tasks requiring students to formulate their own sentences such as formulating topics and discerning main ideas. Students’ lack of ability to interpret and critical thinking skills also emerge as the main contributors to perceived difficulties. These skills are essential for tasks involving making inferences, identifying types of reasoning, detecting assumptions, and drawing conclusions, all of which are crucial components of critical reading.

The findings that suggest psychological factors such as confusion, lack of confidence, and fear, strongly influence students’ performance in academic reading tasks. These feelings could be due to a lack of academic reading skills, but this cannot be confirmed based on the analysed responses. To obtain a deeper understanding of the underlying causes, in-depth interviews with students would be necessary, which is beyond the scope of this aspect that students’ ability to read critically and perform well in academic reading classes. In addition to teaching academic reading skills, it is important to provide students with strategies to overcome confusion and fear and boost their confidence when dealing with academic texts.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of challenges in acquiring critical reading skills, a considerable percentage also express doubts about mastering these skills, even at the lower level involving vocabulary and main ideas. This suggests that many students lack full confidence in their ability to acquire critical reading skills, with the perception of difficulty increasing when it comes to higher-order critical reading skills.

Identifying the types of critical reading skills perceived as difficult and understanding their reasons can help educators address the issue effectively.  Students claimed to experience significant confusion and lack of confidence when dealing with texts that required critical thinking skills. Particularly, confusion and lack of confidence which are non-linguistic aspects of language skills, appeared as the primary reasons for students’ difficulties in acquiring critical reading skills.

To assist students to become critical thinkers, critical thinking should be taught separately to focus students’ attention on specific skills. Improving language proficiency only may not be adequate to enhance students’ critical reading skills. Although suitable textbooks on critical reading skills can assist students stay focused, educators should be mindful of the types of texts they assign.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors acknowledged the financial support from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) FRGS/1/2022/SSI07/UITM/02/46. This research has also obtained approval from the UiTM Research Ethic Committee: REC/03/2023(ST/MR/60).

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

It is confirmed that there are no conflicting interests and that the research was conducted impartially and ethically. The conclusions presented in the manuscript are solely based on the analysis of the data collected during the study.

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