Towards improving the teaching of critical reading skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) tertiary classes in Indonesia: an analysis of a reading curriculum

This study focuses on the teaching of English as a foreign language to tertiary students in Indonesia. More specifically, it examines the reading curriculum of Widya Mandala Catholic University to determine its effectiveness in improving learners' critical reading skills. It argues that the results of such an analysis can give a valuable insight into how to improve the reading skills of tertiary learners in other higher education institutions in Indonesia.

A review of the literature on critical reading in tertiary EFL classes showed a lack of research in this area, but a significant amount of research in areas closely related to the topic. An exploration of these areas led to the development of a conceptual framework that drew together important elements of the critical reading process from the literature. The framework was used to provide a structure for the research methodology of the study. Two subjects from the reading curriculum were analyzed using a process of content analysis. Elements of the curriculum including the goals and objectives, the content, teaching strategies and evaluation items were analysed. The results of the content analysis revealed that the curriculum did little to improve the critical reading abilities of learners. On the contrary, the restrictive nature of the curriculum in general and the reading material in particular, combine to reinforce a dependence on lower order thinking skills or rote learning.

Using the results of the content analysis in conjunction with the conceptual framework developed from the literature, the study offers a critique of the present reading curriculum and offers suggestions for the short and long term improvements to the teaching of critical reading skills to EFL tertiary students in Indonesia