The characteristics of struggling university readers and instructional approaches of academic reading in Malaysia

Many university students are struggling readers when they have to read academic texts. Thus these students are not able to comprehend academic texts which hinder their success academically. These students are forced to sit for Reading for Academic Purposes in order to improve their academic reading skills. This paper is a reflection of the authors’ experiences teaching reading for academic purposes at a local higher learning institution in Malaysia. In order to improve struggling readers’ reading abilities, the authors examine the ways struggling readers transacted with their academic reading demands. This paper examines reading strategies and characteristics of struggling readers. It also suggests a reading instructional approach for struggling readers and their instructors.