PREPARATION FOR ACADEMIC READING IN ENGLISH FOR HIGHER EDUCATION: AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING CURRICULUM DESIGN AND PROCEDURE

The purpose of the present study was to determine how well the Malaysian Lower Secondary English language curriculum prepares students for academic reading in English at the upper secondary and tertiary levels. The data in this study were in the form of comprehension reading passages in the government mandated English language textbook as well as other passages that teachers used in the classrooms for their English language reading comprehension lessons. In this study, reading instructional design in the English language textbook was analyzed in terms of types and the length of passages with regard to grade-level. The types of texts analyzed were narrative and expository. Leslie and Caldwell's (2004, 2006) Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI 3 & 4) was used for coding the grade-level of reading comprehension passages in the Form Three English language textbook. The findings of this study show that the English language reading comprehension instructional design and procedure in the Malaysian Form Three English language textbook and classroom implementation, as part of the English language reading curriculum, only partially prepares the lower secondary school students in meeting the content area reading demand involving English at the upper secondary and tertiary level.