Abstract

Reading skills though considered passive skill but play significant role in developing speaking and other skills among ESL learners. However, in the developmental process of reading skills, researchers have investigated the reading barriers that affect the learners’ reading comprehension. Most specifically, the lack of using effective reading teaching strategies for the enhancement of reading skills are common in early age students. Therefore, this study validates the significance of reading skills, investigates reading hurdles, examines the reading strategies used by teachers, and manipulates the role of the Oxford Reading Circle book grade 8 in the development and enhancement of reading proficiency among ESL learners. The experimental design is applied for this research on randomly selected 50 students. Furthermore, descriptive framework was adopted to obtain teachers’ perspectives about the textbook used as treatment in the experimental phase. The research tools developed for this study were questionnaires and tests. The obtained data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics technique and paired sample t-test in SPSS. The findings of current study demonstrate the importance of reading skills for ESL learners; explore the reading hurdles that learners have to face and determine the significant role of ORC book grade 8 on the enhancement of reading skills. The findings recommended that the teachers and English teaching contents both play crucial role in developing reading proficiency of ESL learners. It is also suggested that teachers should make use of effective pedagogical practices to develop reading skills habits and enhance reading proficiency among ESL learners.