The efficiency of reading in content-based topics vs. reading in variety of topics

Abstract

The article studies the impact of the selection of reading materials on the quality of students’ reading skills. The role of readingskills is discussed. Then a quantitative study is presented in order to compare the efficiency of application of content-basedreading to reading in variety of topics. Teacher-centered instruction of reading does not involve any selection on the students’part. It is also textbook and syllabus driven. Students have no say in it, they just fulfill what they are told. In this article I callthis approach content-based. Student-centered approach to reading should not simply take into consideration students’ needs,interests’ and knowledge background, but also make student an active learner: let him select topics of reading texts. This iswhat I call in this research variety of topics. The study was held at Ishik University, Iraq. It is concluded that the possibility for thestudents to select topics for their reading texts increases the level of reading skill development. The article should be interestingfor both language (reading) teachers and language teaching researchers.