The Intertwining of Time and Text Readability on Undergraduate Reading

Abstract

Undergraduates are often lagging in their ability to adapt to the demand of college reading tasks. This is further compounded when the task involved a shorter duration and lower readability level texts.  Consequently, the objectives of the present study are two folds: first,  investigate how the intertwining of time and text readability affect reading performance and second, identify the preferred reading activities when dealing with time and text readability factors. A sequential explanatory design was employed since quantitative data from the reading performance was extracted before qualitative data on the reading activities.  Meanwhile, a  3x3 factorial design was employed to develop the reading performance tests. Fifty-seven non-English major undergraduates were identified as the participants who were tested using nine different measures of reading performance. They were also required to reflect on the preferred reading activities used during the tests. Results showed some patterns in the reading performances of the participants associated with the degrees of the intertwining of time and text readability. Patterns in the choice of reading activities can also be observed. Pedagogical implications were also discussed.