Developing Reading Skills in Higher Education: Highlighting Critical Reading
Introduction "In higher education critical reading is a common requirement" (Richardson, 2004, p.508) and generally accepted as a skill that university students need to acquire (Wilson et al., 2004). While it is important for students to develop critical reading skills, they are not always easily learned (Hayford, 2001). Some students may have deeply held beliefs that slow the process of developing these skills (Shannon, 2017, p.161) while other will have developed reading habits which focus entirely on the literal meaning of texts ( Murillo Rojas & Zúñiga Vargas, 2017, p.321). As a result, before students undertake critical reading, they may need spend some time thinking about what it is. The following exercises are ones that I have used to help students think about critical reading before undertaking any exercises. The aim of each is to raise awareness of features of critical reading. So, those who have deeply held beliefs might realise that they need, as a minimum