Difficulties in Forming English-Language Reading Competence Among General Secondary Education Students

Abstract

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the growth of intercultural communication in modern post-industrial society, as a result of which there is a need to change views on the development of foreign language competence among students of middle school age for its effective improvement and further use in professional activities. The purpose of the study is to determine the features of the development of English-language competence in reading among general secondary education students and to search for methods to overcome difficulties in the process of mastering a foreign language. In the course of the research, the author used general scientific theoretical methods, including methods of analysis, synthesis, generalisation, and classification. The study describes the main views on the development of foreign language competence, in particular in reading, among high school students, based on the results of research by Ukrainian and foreign scientists. The term "reading" was defined and its main categories were considered, such as types of reading, levels of text comprehension, general skills of the individual in reading in a foreign language, and so on. It has been identified that the main difficulties in the development of English-language reading competence among general secondary education students are linguistic ones, in particular spelling, and psychological, based on the lack of motivation to learn the language. The study presents tips for English language teachers, focused on improving the development of English-language reading competence among students, including the use of authentic materials, information technologies, as well as the use of practical exercises that help improving reading aloud. The prospects for further research consist in the empirical substantiation of the methodology for overcoming the difficulties of forming English-language competence among high school students

Keywords

• foreign language reading competence
• skills
• abilities
• knowledge
• communication ability
• stages
• exercises
• means
• control