PSZ 19:16 (Pind. 1/07)

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF THESIS / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT PAPER AND COPYRIGHT

Author’s full name : Date of birth : Title :

NGU MEE SING

15 FEBRUARY 1985

THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL READING SKILLS

Academic Session : I declare that this thesis is classified as : I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows :

1. The thesis is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2. The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for the

purpose of research only. 3. The Library has the right to make copies of the thesis for academic exchange.

Certified by :

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR (NEW IC NO. /PASSPORT NO.) NAME OF SUPERVISOR

Date : 29 APRIL 2009 Date : 29 APRIL 2009

CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972)*

RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organisation where research was done)*

OPEN ACCESS I agree that my thesis to be published as online open access (full text)

2008 / 2009

PM DR ZAIDAH ZAINAL850215-13-5238

√

AMONG STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGIMALAYSIA

NOTES : * If the thesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from the organisation with period and reasons for confidentiality or restriction.

“I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my opinion this thesis is sufficient in

terms of scope and quality for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Science with

Education (TESL).”

SIGNATURE : …………………………….

NAME OF SUPERVISOR : PM DR ZAIDAH ZAINAL

DATE : 29 APRIL 2009

THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL READING SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS OF

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

NGU MEE SING

A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

MAY 2009

ii

I declare that this thesis entitled “THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL READING

SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA” is the

result of my own research except as cited in the references. The thesis has not been

accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other

degree.

SIGNATURE : .............................

NAME : NGU MEE SING

DATE : 29 APRIL 2009

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To my beloved parents,

Thank you for your love and continuous support.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation towards

everyone who had contributed to the completion of this thesis. Firstly, I wish to express

my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Zaidah Zainal for her

continuous support, encouragement and consistent guidance throughout the completion

of this study. Besides sharing her wide knowledge and thoughts, she had never failed to

provide moral support for me to complete this research.

I also wish to extend my appreciation to Associate Professor Dr. Zubaidah

Awang and Dr. Nor Aireen Ibrahim for their valuable insights and suggestions for this

study. Their constructive feedback had been a useful guidance towards the completion of

this research.

I am grateful to the students of Faculty of Science in Universiti Teknologi

Malaysia who enrolled for the subject “Reading for Specific Purposes”, for their

cooperation and time spent to do the protocol and questionnaire. Lots of thanks to my

coursemates (final year TESL students) who had spent time checking the clarity of

questionnaire and inter-rating the protocol data.

Besides, I would like to extend my special thanks and appreciation to all my

family members for their continuous encouragement throughout this study. Their loving

support had indeed increased my motivation to complete this study.

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ABSTRACT

With the huge amount of reading materials available nowadays, it is crucial for

readers to be able to make use of their critical skills while reading. This research sets out

to investigate the performance of critical reading skills among students of Universiti

Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). For the purpose of this research, four critical reading skills

were studied, namely making critical response, expressing agreement and disagreement,

stating advantages and disadvantages and giving inferential opinion. Ten undergraduate

students from Faculty of Science participated in this research. They were required to

read four texts representing all these four skills. During the administration of each

protocol, they were instructed to read a passage and answer a question. Critical Reading

Categorization Scheme used to present protocol data analyzed was adapted from the

strategy profile used by Sugirin’s (1999). Questionnaire was also administered to

provide supplementary information for the protocol data. The results showed that UTM

students were able to perform all the four critical reading skills investigated. It was also

found that a number of sub-skills were used by students, among them which were

consistently used include providing explanations for opinion stated, stating opinion

regarding the topic discussed, using background knowledge to support argument,

extracting information from reading text and using examples to support argument.

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ABSTRAK

Dengan adanya bahan bacaan yang banyak yang boleh didapati pada masa kini,

adalah penting bagi pembaca mempunyai kebolehan menggunakan kemahiran kritikal

semasa membuat pembacaan. Kajian ini bertujuan menyelidik kemahiran pembacaan

kritikal di kalangan pelajar Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Bagi tujuan

penyelidikan ini, empat kemahiran membaca secara kritikal, iaitu menghasilkan reaksi

kritikal, menyatakan persetujuan, menyatakan kebaikan dan keburukan, serta membuat

kesimpulan pemikiran dikaji. Sepuluh pelajar sarjana muda dari Fakulti Sains

mengambil bahagian dalam kajian ini. Mereka diminta untuk membaca empat teks yang

mewakili keempat-empat kemahiran tersebut. Semasa setiap protokol dijalankan,

mereka disuruh membaca satu petikan dan menjawab satu soalan yang disertakan. Skim

Pengelasan Pembacaan Kritikal yang digunakan untuk mempersembahkan data protokol

adalah disesuaikan daripada profil strategi yang digunakan Sugirin (1999). Soal selidik

pula dijalankan untuk membekalkan maklumat tambahan kepada data protokol.

Keputusan kajian menunjukkan pelajar UTM mempunyai keempat-empat kemahiran

pembacaan kritikal yang dikaji. Keputusan juga menunjukkan bahawa beberapa sub-

kemahiran digunakan oleh pelajar. Antaranya termasuklah sub-kemahiran yang

digunakan secara konsisten seperti memberi penjelasan bagi pendapat yang dinyatakan,

menyatakan pendapat berkenaan isu yang dibincang, menggunakan pengetahuan sedia

ada untuk menguatkan hujahan, mengekstrak maklumat daripada teks dan menggunakan

contoh untuk menguatkan hujahan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES xiv

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Background of Study 3

1.3 Statements of Problems 4

1.4 Research Objectives 6

1.5 Research Questions 6

1.6 Significance of the Study 7

1.7 Scope of Study 8

1.8 Definition of Terms 8

1.8.1 Critical Reading 9

1.8.2 Critical Thinking 9

1.8.3 Schema 9

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1.8.4 Tertiary Level of Education 10

1.8.5 Secondary Level of Education 10

1.8.6 Protocol 10

1.8.7 Skill 11

1.8.8 Sub-skills 11

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 12

2.1 Introduction 12

2.2 Theories of Reading Process 13

2.2.1 Top-Down Models 14

2.2.2 Bottom-up Models 15

2.2.3 Interactive Models 18

2.3 Schema Theory 19

2.4 Overview of Critical Reading 20

2.5 Steps in Critical Reading 22

2.6 Skills of Critical Reading 23

2.6.1 Analyzing Facts 24

2.6.2 Reasoning 25

2.6.3 Analyzing Arguments 26

2.6.3.1 Expressing Agreement and 27

Disagreement

2.6.3.2 Stating Advantages and 27

Disadvantages

2.6.4 Making Inferences 28

2.7 Extensive Reading 29

2.8 English for Academic Purposes (EAP) 30

2.9 Critical Thinking 31

2.9.1 Concepts of Critical Thinking 31

2.9.2 Critical Thinking Framework 33

2.10 Critical Reading in Tertiary Level 38

2.11 Protocol in Research 38

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2.12 Previous Research Used as Guideline in this Study 40

2.13 Previous Research Related to Critical Reading 41

2.14 Summary 44

3 METHODOLOGY 45

3.1 Introduction 45

3.2 Subjects of Study 46

3.3 Instruments 46

3.3.1 Protocol 46

3.3.2 Questionnaire 47

3.4 Research Procedure 48

3.5 Data Analysis 49

3.5.1 Analysis of Protocol Data 49

3.5.2 Analysis of Questionnaire 52

3.6 Reliability and Validity of the Research 52

3.7 Summary 53

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 54

4.1 Introduction 54

4.2 Findings for Making Critical Response 55

4.3 Discussion for Making Critical Response 58

4.4 Findings for Expressing Agreement and Disagreement 62

4.5 Discussion for Expressing Agreement and Disagreement 65

4.6 Findings for Stating Advantages and Disadvantages 69

4.7 Discussion for Stating Advantages and Disadvantages 71

4.8 Findings for Giving Inferential Opinion 75

4.9 Discussion for Giving Inferential Opinion 78

4.10 Findings and Discussion of Questionnaire 81

4.11 Summary 87

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5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 88

5.1 Conclusion 88

5.2 Limitations of the Study 90

5.3 Recommendations 91

5.3.1 Recommendations for Critical Reading in

Teaching 91

5.3.2 Recommendations for Future Research 92

5.4 Summary 93

REFERENCES 95

Appendices A – J 103 - 163

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 A Short Taxonomy of Critical Thinking Skills 36

3.1 Texts Used in the Written Protocol 47

3.2 Example of how a set of data was analyzed 50

3.3 Example of Critical Reading Categorization Scheme 51

4.1 Number and percentage of occurrences of sub-skills used in

Making Critical Response 55

4.2 Categorization of protocol sentences for the skill of Making

Critical Response 57

4.3 Number and percentage of occurrences of sub-skills used in

Expressing Agreement and Disagreement 63

4.4 Categorization of protocol sentences for the skill of Expressing

Agreement and Disagreement 64

4.5 Number and percentage of occurrences of sub-skills used in

Stating Advantages and Disadvantages 70

4.6 Categorization of protocol sentences for the skill of Stating

Advantages and Disadvantages 71

4.7 Number and percentage of occurrences of sub-skills used in

Giving Inferential Opinion 76

4.8 Categorization of protocol sentences for the skill of Giving

Inferential Opinion 77

4.9 Initial Eigenvalues of Variables 82

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4.10 Factor Loadings for Principal Components and Varimax

Rotation of Six Factors 83

4.11 Factor 1 – Expressing Agreement and Disagreement and

Stating Advantages and Disadvantages 85

4.12 Factor 2 – Giving Inferential Opinion 85

4.13 Factor 3 – Making Critical Response 86

4.14 Factor 4 – Making Critical Response 87

xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Gough’s (1972) Model of Reading 16

2.2 Rayner and Pollatsek’s (1989) Model of Reading 17

2.3 Rumelhart’s (1977) Interactive Model of Reading 18

2.4 Zechmeister and Johnson’s (1992) Model of Critical Thinking 35

4.1 Sub-skills Used in Making Critical Response 56

4.2 Sub-skills Used in Expressing Agreement and Disagreement 64

4.3 Sub-skills Used in Stating Advantages and Disadvantages 70

4.4 Sub-skills Used in Giving Inferential Opinion 76

xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Text and Question for the Protocol of Making

Critical Response 103

B Text and Question for the Protocol of Expressing

Agreement and Disagreement 107

C Text and Question for the Protocol of Stating

Advantages and Disadvantages 110

D Text and Question for the Protocol of Giving

Inferential Opinion 113

E Critical Reading Skills Categorization Scheme 117

F Data Analysis for the Skill of Making Critical

Response 121

G Data Analysis for the Skill of Expressing

Agreement and Disagreement 132

H Data Analysis for the Skill of Stating Advantages and

Disadvantages 140

I Data Analysis for the Skill of Giving Inferential

Opinion 147

J Questionnaire 160

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

The skill of reading is introduced to every learner as early as they start schooling.

Some people might have been exposed to basic reading skills even before their

schooling process begins. As they move to higher level of education, their reading skill

develops gradually to a more complex phase.

Generally, reading refers to the activity of looking and understanding the

meaning of written or printed words or symbols (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary,

2000: 1096). However, many people perceive reading as an “all-encompassing activity”

(Rayner and Pollatsek, 1989: 22) that takes place in various forms such as proofread a

newspaper, looking at a map, looking at a document on a computer screen, reading a

novel and browsing through a thick academic book.

Although reading has always been known as passive or receptive process, it is

recently been viewed “psycholinguistically” as an active and cognitive processes

(Goodman, 1967, and Smith, 1971 in Silberstein, 1994: 6). Based on this idea,

competent and critical readers will not only need to understand the meaning of text, but

also develop predictions about its content.

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As readers move to higher level of reading, there is the need to develop critical

reading skills which enable readers to evaluate an article’s worth in terms of its

“accuracy, fairness, relevance and significance” (Spears, 1999: 249). Besides, critical

readers are expected to read carefully as well as thoughtfully. Taylor (1994: 43)

describes critical reading as a process of reader’s “tasting, swallowing and then

digesting” the ideas presented in the text. These illustrate the process of understanding,

interpreting, and remembering what is read from the passage.

Furthermore, the ability to relate new ideas presented in the reading text with

pre-existing knowledge is also crucial in critical reading. Active interaction between

reader and content facilitates the construction of underlying meaning based on author’s

thoughts written either directly or indirectly in the text. Moreover, it allows readers to

bridge the content presented with their prior knowledge or schemata.

Critical reading does not only demand higher level of reading skill, but also

requires critical thinking like making inferences, reasoning, analyzing and making

arguments, forming or identifying assumptions, et cetera. Although many people may

take reading skill for granted, readers especially professionals and college or university

students are expected to read critically in order to comprehend, evaluate and extract

ideas in reading materials.

In critical reading, sub-skills refer to the smaller skills which are embedded in

the skills of critical reading such as making critical response, stating agreement and

disagreement, et cetera. It is the processes or actions that readers engaged in to show

how they react to the reading materials. The sub-skills used in the critical reading

process will also reveal readers’ ability or skill to read critically.

Thus, in this research, the focus will be put on the critical reading skills of

university students which are mainly used for academic purposes. Critical reading skills,

which perceived as crucial skills in tertiary education will be examined through the

strategy that is carefully selected.

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1.2 Background of Study

Critical reading is an important skill that all tertiary students should have as it is

needed throughout their study to accomplish tasks like doing revision, completing

assignments, thesis, et cetera. Undeniably, professionals like engineers, lawyers, doctors

and computer programmers are also expected to possess critical reading ability to

complete their professional tasks.

Hence, realizing the importance of critical reading, Malaysian Secondary School

Integrated Curriculum (KBSM) incorporated critical and creative thinking in the

learning outcomes of English language. The move is to ensure that learners are given

chances to develop and polish their ability in analyzing information, making decisions,

solving problems and expressing themselves accurately and creatively in language

through critical reading (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2000).

Therefore, having been acquainted with critical reading skills which are included

in Malaysian Secondary School Integrated Curriculum (KBSM) syllabus in their

secondary school learning process, learners are expected to be critical readers when they

step into tertiary level education. However, many graduates are reported to have lack of

these aptitudes in handling their professional task. Graduates or undergraduates are

expected to have the ability in critical reading because it is assumed that they

consistently used the skill to accomplish their task as university students. Therefore, this

phenomenon has indeed served as the stepping stone to further investigate

undergraduates’ ability in performing critical reading skills.

Critical reading skills are important for tertiary level students because they are

being served with masses of books and other reading materials that might be relevant or

irrelevant to them. Being fed with a wide variety of reading sources, they should be

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acquainted with critical reading skills to enable them distinguish between facts and ideas,

language and reality as well as to determine valid and reliable resources. But, the reality

is, not many of them possessed these crucial skills even after they graduated. Thus, the

research seeks to know the critical reading skills that undergraduates possessed to enable

them making critical judgment over the materials read.

Besides, in line with the development of information technology whereby

information is available at hand effortlessly, the importance of critical reading grows

rapidly especially in higher learning institutions. As a result, it is important that learners

at secondary and tertiary levels are taught and provided with critical reading skills.

Hence, through this study, it is hoped that measures could be taken to ensure that

students and undergraduates are equipped with critical reading skills.

However, possessing the skills will not be helpful and adequate if students are

not encouraged to practice critical reading consistently throughout their learning process.

This research therefore aims at four crucial skills of critical reading that tertiary level

students are supposed to master. Those skills are making critical response, expressing

agreement and disagreement, stating advantages and disadvantages and lastly, giving

inferential opinion (the name of these four skills are bolded throughout the write-up of

this study).

1.3 Statement of Problems

In this era of advancement of technology where information is ready at one’s

fingertips, the need to instill critical reading in young readers especially students of

higher learning institutions is crucial. This is because the increasing number of World

Wide Web with its strong influence resulted in information overload. Thus, students of

tertiary level education tend to resort to this new means of information search through

the internet which they believe are faster and more convenient. However, information

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available in the internet may not be relevant, accurate and updated. Moreover, tertiary

level students may not have acquired critical reading skills which are important for them

to evaluate and judge wisely the materials accessed based on their relevance, usability

and reliability.

In addition, Rogers’ (1960, in Olson and Ames, 1972) study of high school

sophomores and seniors reports that high school graduates are no longer “inclined to

interpret meanings or to react with sound judgement” compared to students in

elementary level. This has been a major concern as both academic and job markets

require students and workers to be proficient in critical reading. So, it is high time for

graduates to furnish themselves with critical reading ability so that they are able to

secure themselves with a preferred job in their professional field.

Moreover, tertiary level students are expected to have the ability to react actively

and critically to reading materials by asking questions, judging, evaluating and

identifying information which are relevant to them. Conversely, in many situations,

students in colleges and universities have the tendency to accept whatever information

given in reading texts and regard them as facts without further questioning the accuracy

and validity of the information presented. Based on his experience teaching Malaysian

university students in 1991 and 1995, Crismore (2000: 3) reveals that Malaysian

students are not competent in reading critically academic and electronic texts. Realizing

this fact efforts need to be taken to equip Malaysian students with critical reading skills

so that they are able to assess reading materials critically.

Additionally, many students may lack of critical reading skills as they are used to

being spoon-fed in primary and secondary school years. This is true as Crismore (2000)

says that many tertiary students were not exposed to critical reading and critical thinking

during their primary and secondary level of education. However, they were mostly being

spoon-fed in their learning process which results them to be less critical and competent

in higher level of reading.

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In conclusion, the issues highlighted above have been the main concern of people

all over the world. So, it is now time to wake up the younger generation especially

students and undergraduates, and make them realize about their own ability of critical

reading as well as to raise their awareness on the importance of these skills in their life,

regardless of whether it is for academic or work purposes.

1.4 Research Objectives

This research seeks to achieve the following objectives:

1. To investigate reader’s ability in responding critically to the text issue.

2. To examine whether readers are able to express agreement and disagreement to

the text issue.

3. To determine whether readers are able to state advantages and disadvantages to

the text topic.

4. To find out whether students are able to give inferential opinion to the text issue.

1.5 Research Questions

This research is conducted to seek answers to the following research questions.

1. What are the sub-skills of critical response employed by readers in critical

reading?

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2. What are the sub-skills of expressing agreement and disagreement that readers

used in critical reading?

3. What are the sub-skills of stating advantages and disadvantages used by readers

in critical reading?

4. What are the sub-skills of giving inferential opinion used by readers in critical

reading?

1.6 Significance of the Study

According to Crismore (2000: 3), based on his experience teaching Malaysian

university students in 1991 and 1995, most Malaysian students “are not yet competent

readers of academic and electronic texts”. Therefore, it was hoped that this study will

help raise college and university students’ awareness regarding their ability to read

critically. This issue is crucial as critical reading skills are important in both academic

and professional world.

Besides raising their awareness towards critical reading, this study attempts to

provide insights on the importance and benefits of critical reading to Malaysian students

especially in secondary and tertiary level. Secondary stage, being the transition period of

primary to tertiary education level, is the crucial time to introduce critical reading to

students as they move gradually towards more advance language learning and skills.

Alongside with current aim of tertiary education to produce graduates who are

competent and capable academically, this research also sought to produce students who

are talented and are able to read critically in the future.