The effect of using authentic reading materials on the reading comprehension of ninth-grade EFL students in Jordan and on their attitudes towards reading

Abstract EN

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using authentic reading materials on the reading comprehension of Jordanian ninth-grade EFL students and on their attitudes toward reading.

The subjects of the study were thirty-three students at Um Tufail Secondary School for Girls (Amman) who comprised the control group, and twenty students at Jordan University Model School who comprised the experimental group.

Three instruments were used: Eight authentic reading passages, a reading attitude questionnaire, and a reading comprehension test.

Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

The results showed that using authentic reading materials significantly improved the reading comprehension and reading attitudes of students in the experimental group.

Therefore, the researchers recommended that more authentic reading materials be included in ninth-grade textbooks, and teachers introduce students to different sources of authentic reading materials, such as magazines, brochures, and the Internet.

(Keywords: Authentic reading materials, Reading comprehension, Attitudes towards reading, EFL, Jordan).