Abstract:
In recent years more emphasis has been given to
the reading skill as it is the skill which continues
with the student after leaving school . However , a large
number of teachers still teach reading using the obsolete
method of teaching i.e. getting pupils to read and repeat
in a parrot like way without comprehension . Therefore,
the purpose of this study was to develop the reading
skill of the pupils at the intermediate stage, especially the
first year pupils .
To achieve this purpose objectively , the researcher studied the reading skill in depth so as to find out the causes of the deterioration in the reading skill of the first year pupils in a bid to arrive at the solutions which might help teachers of English to improve the reading skill of their pupils .
The subjects of the study were 119 pupils, 54 girls and 65 boys. They were given two reading comprehension passages as a test to measure their reading comprehension skill and an affective questionnaire to measure their psychological attitude towards reading in English.
The researcher also made personal contacts with university professors , supervisors of English and old hand EFL teachers to know the causes and the solutions of the decline in the reading skill of first year pupils.
The study found that girls ' scores were higher than boys' scores in reading comprehension and that girls like reading in English more than boys .The differences were of statistical significance. The researcher attributed the decline of the weak pupils to many factors ,the most important of which is transfer . Pupils who are weak in English make a negative transfer from L1 (Arabic ) to L2 (English), whereas pupils who are good at English pupils make a positive transfer fromL1toL2.
It is recommended that teachers must try some techniques to develop the reading skill of their pupils, such as the TAR ( Tape Assisted Reading ) and the Guided Reading techniques . They must vary their techniques and activities according to the standard of their pupils .They must also cater for individual differences among their pupils . Above all they have to love their pupils and be loved by them.
