Using reading to teach English as a foreign language

Generally, teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) at elementary, secondary, and university levels in Ecuador focuses primarily on applying teacher-centered approaches or on merely following up on the English textbooks’ scope and sequence. There is much emphasis on developing grammar skills, practicing isolated concepts, and studying different realities depicted in commercial textbooks while neglecting students’ real interests and needs. These traditional practices have created conscious and unconscious conditioning in students, and a significant number of instructors think that English learning is contingent upon grammar rules and the repetition of irrelevant and unnecessary notions, which results in low student academic performance. This descriptive study proposes the use of reading as an educational tool for improving the English teaching and learning process. The researchers applied five reading comprehension tests, three related to General English and two to Academic English, and a confidence level in reading comprehension questionnaire to 37 A1/A2 English third-level university students. Measures of central tendency and variability were used for data analysis. Results show significant improvements in understanding and analyzing texts, high confidence levels for reading in English, and better overall language learning. We suggest making replicas of these didactical practices in other courses offered at the university level.