If one takes into account that in higher education, reading is learning (Taraban et al. 2000:284), I am of the opinion that role players need to know more about undergraduate reading Background: Reading is a functional academic literacy ability needed by students in higher education. In the South African context, inadequate reading ability is one of the reasons for high undergraduate attrition rates. It seems that role players within this sector are of the opinion that students have reading 'problems' that need to be 'fixed', often by generic reading courses. This article differs from the perception of reading 'problems', as reading is viewed from a lifespan developmental perspective. According to this perspective undergraduate students do not have reading 'problems' but experience reading barriers hindering their reading development and in effect their academic literacy.Objectives: This study aimed to uncover some of these barriers by means of an empirical study conducted at the North-West University (NWU). Method:The setting of this study was the Potchefstroom campus of the NWU. A qualitative methodology was chosen whereby 14 individual interviews and 7 focus group interviews were used. The purpose of these interviews was to better understand lecturers' and students' perceptions about the variables of the reading process, namely the reading ability of the reader, the text to be read, the task, and the socio-cultural context. Results:Lecturers and students perceived a number of reading barriers within each variable, namely students' non-compliance and lack of abilities, elements of the textbook and availability of lecturer notes, the format of the task, throughput pressures, and lecturers' assumptions. Conclusion:Knowledge of these barriers and knowledge of the interconnectedness of the reading process could enable role players to collaboratively rethink undergraduate reading support, in which the lecturer has a crucial role to play.

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For students to formulate a well-supported academic argument, proper source integration skills need to be applied. This depends on a student’s ability to quote or paraphrase sources and adhere to referencing styles’ technical requirements. Academic writing teachers need to investigate which aspects of source integration students fail to master. By utilising the multilevel, multi-genre, multi-language learner corpus of South African languages for academic purposes compiled on behalf of the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), we performed an error analysis of typical referencing errors and the frequency of specific kinds of referencing errors in the academic writing of first-year students. This error analysis enabled us to move beyond “having an idea of what errors they make”, to an in-depth investigation of recurring errors, in order to be able to offer focused academic writing support. Findings include, firstly, consistently recurring technical errors with citation format. Secondly, students struggle with formatting reference lists as per the required referencing style. With this paper, we wish to initiate a discussion on the importance of teaching the mechanics of referencing and other pedagogical inferences to inform course and syllabus design, focused on source integration.

As a lecturer at a higher education institution in South Africa, the author is conscious of an emphasis placed on multimodal resources as part of the globally experienced shift to teach remotely due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In this autoethnographic study, she critically reflects on her experience in planning and executing the implementation of a custom-made multimodal resource called WIReD. WIReD is an acronym for writing, information literacy and reading development. She situates academic literacy and WIReD within the theoretical framework of multiliteracies, and thereafter provides background in terms of the study context and gives a brief description of WIReD. The methodology section includes the data used, a brief discussion on validity, reliability, and the reflexive process. The data analysis led to two broad categories of implementation inhibitors, namely inadequate resources and collaboration. These hindrances highlight broader issues with regard to institutional management, lecturers, and the needs of students in the South African higher education context.