Article Sidebar

Download
pdf
Statistic
Read Counter : 8 Download : 13

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Main Article Content

Abstract

This research investigated how EFL undergraduate thesis writers engage in and perceive literal reading when working with academic English texts. An explanatory sequential mixed-method design was employed, involving questionnaire data from 38 undergraduate thesis writers and follow-up interviews with seven purposively selected participants. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative data were examined using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that students actively engage in literal reading strategies such as scanning, highlighting, and translation and report strong confidence in locating explicit information, identifying main ideas, and recognizing cohesive ties in academic texts. However, interview data revealed that their reading performance is frequently constrained by limited vocabulary and the structural complexity of academic texts, leading students to rely on compensatory rather than fluent reading practices. Overall, the findings suggest that literal reading remains a foundational yet insufficiently developed component of academic literacy among EFL undergraduate thesis writers. This research contributes to the literature by highlighting the gap between students’ perceived literal reading competence and the actual lexical and structural demands of academic English, underscoring the need for explicit instructional support in vocabulary development and literal reading strategies in higher education contexts.

Keywords

Academic text; EFL undergraduate students; Literal reading; Mixed method

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Resyadi, H., Syam, F., & Uswatunnisa. (2026). Literal Reading in Academic English Texts among EFL Undergraduate Thesis Writers: A Mixed-Method Exploration. Eduvelop: Journal of English Education and Development , 9(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.31605/eduvelop.v9i1.5849

References

  1. Al-Jarrah, H., & Ismail, N. S. B. (2018). Reading comprehension difficulties among EFL learners in higher learning institutions. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(7), 32-40. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n7p32
  2. Alderson, J. C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  3. Anwar, I. W., & Sailuddin, S. P. (2022). Academic reading difficulties in higher education. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 10(2), 309–314.
  4. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  5. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). London, England: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315456539
  6. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  7. Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  8. Dardjito, H., Rolls, N., Setiawan, A., & Sumekto, D. R. (2023). Challenges in reading English academic texts for non-English major students of an Indonesian university. Studies in English Language and Education, 10(3), 1290–1308. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v10i3.29067
  9. Day, R. R., & Park, J. S. (2005). Developing reading comprehension questions. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17(1), 60–73.
  10. Diana, R., & Sepyanda, M. (2022). The analysis of strategies used by the English teachers in teaching reading comprehension. ELP (Journal of English Language Pedagogy), 7(2), 30–42.
  11. Edelia, A. D., & Maharsi, I. (2022). A survey on translation as a learning strategy by EFL higher-education students in English learning. Pedagogy: Journal of English Language Teaching, 10(2), 111-122. https://doi.org/10.32332/joelt.v10i2.4809
  12. El Garras, H., Ghaicha, A., & Oufela, Y. (2025). Enhancing EFL learners’ reading comprehension through explicit instruction of formulaic language: An experimental study. Canadian Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 5(3), 93–111. https://doi.org/10.53103/cjlls.v5i3.213
  13. Eriksson, L. (2023). Difficulties in academic reading for EFL students: An initial investigation. Language Teaching, 56(1), 149–152. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444822000246
  14. Fahmi, F., & Arjulayana, A. (2023). Digital translation literacy of undergraduate EFL students. Metathesis: Journal of English Language, Literature, and Teaching, 7(2), 240–252. https://doi.org/10.31002/metathesis.v7i2.561
  15. Febriani, H. (2022). The effect of metacognitive strategy on students’ reading comprehension of academic text. Journal of Social Work and Science Education, 3(3), 276–282. https://doi.org/10.52690/jswse.v3i3.388
  16. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
  17. Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  18. Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2019). Teaching and researching reading (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315726274
  19. Hamra, A., & Syatriana, E. (2010). Developing a model of teaching reading comprehension for EFL students. TEFLIN Journal, 21(1), 27–40.
  20. Hyland, K. (2019). Second language writing. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  21. Isma, A., & Nur, S. (2023). Examining the reading performance and problems among students in Indonesian higher education. Seltics Journal: Scope of English Language Teaching, Literature, and Linguistics, 6(1), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.46918/seltics.v6i1.1763
  22. Jeon, E. H., & Yamashita, J. (2014). L2 reading comprehension and its correlates: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 64(1), 160–212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lang.12034
  23. Jupri, J., Rahman, A., Hassan, A. J., & Manu, S. M. T. (2024). EFL Learners’ Translation Strategies: A Semantic Bridge in Two Languages. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 12(3), 1298–1311. https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v12i3.9081
  24. Martin, L., Suraiya, L., & Chan, A. (2023). Automatic analysis of lexical complexity: Evaluating the linguistic performance of national and international publication. Modality Journal: International Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.30983/mj.v3i1.6280
  25. Nation, I. S. P. (2022). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  26. Nurjanah, R. L., & Putri, S. R. (2022). The effect of literal comprehension on the higher levels of comprehension in reading skill: A longitudinal case study. English Language and Literature International Conference (ELLiC) Proceedings, 5, 471–476.
  27. Pahrizal, N., Vintoni, A., Sotlikova, R., & Ya’akub, H. Z. (2025). Metacognitive reading strategies and their impact on comprehension: Insights from rural EFL learners. Indonesian Journal on Learning and Advanced Education, 7(1), 18–36. https://doi.org/10.23917/ijolae.v7i1.23908
  28. Saadatnia, M., Ketabi, S., & Tavakoli, M. (2017). Levels of reading comprehension across text types: A comparison of literal and inferential comprehension of expository and narrative texts in Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 46(5), 1087–1099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9481-3
  29. Safitri, A., Ramadhani, S. A., Ramadaniati, N., & Syahid, A. (2025). The impact of reading English academic articles in the development of vocabulary among EFL students. Register Journal of English Language Teaching, 14(2), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.24114/reg.v14i2.64393