Reading Needs Analysis of EFL Learners in the Saudi Context: Identifying Needs and Deficiencies

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to do a reading needs analysis of preparatory-year students in the Saudi context. The scope is to identify the reading needs and deficiencies of EFL learners at King Abdulaziz University. The instrument used is a paper-based questionnaire that was distributed among the participants. A total of sixty-three female students participated in the study. The questionnaire is adapted from the needs analysis questionnaire for non-English learners (Gravatt, Richards & Lewis, 1997). Two open-ended questions were added in order to get in-depth data from the participants. The statistical analysis was utilized for the quantitative data via SPSS whereas the open-ended questions were analyzed thematically using NVivo. The results demonstrate that EFL learners in the Saudi context have deficiencies of some reading strategies such as reading speed and reading to respond critically. However, they do not have difficulties with general comprehension of reading texts and they are able to read slowly in order to understand the details of the text. Regarding preferences, they mostly like to read works of fiction such as stories or novels but they do not prefer to read long texts. Based on the findings, this study was able to draw a number of implications and propose several recommendations.