Exploring Reading Challenges Experienced by Pakistani Undergraduate Students: A Case Study of Sukkur IBA Computer Science Students with Proposed Suggestions

Abstract

This study attempts to explore the reading challenges faced by Pakistani EFL undergraduate students. The main purpose is to identify the reading difficulties encountered by students in reading and how those difficulties can be addressed. The study is qualitative in nature. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective diaries from ten students enrolled in the first semester of Sukkur IBA University. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis and personal interpretation techniques to explore the challenges experienced by students. The results showed five major challenges experienced by the learners: a lack of required vocabulary to understand the text, weak grammatical knowledge, which hinders sentence comprehension, a lack of motivation, a lack of consistency in reading, and issues with reading material. The study recommends that the above challenges can be tackled by providing free choice to students for selecting reading material, and more exposure to reading multiple genres of reading. Based on the findings. To achieve this, the teacher's role is predominant in developing their reading abilities of the students