Effectiveness of In-House Materials on Academic Reading Proficiency of College-Level Omani Students

Abstract

Most preparatory students studying at the universities of technology and applied sciences in Oman demonstrate a low proficiency in academic reading. As a result, most students stop their studies at the certificate level without pursuing a higher qualification. Given this issue, this study was conducted to promote level three preparatory students’ academic reading proficiency. This study may inspire reading instructors who teach in EFL contexts and depend on commercially produced materials to develop in-house materials appropriate for their students. The research question this study attempted to answer was whether the application of in-house materials helps tertiary-level EFL students to perform better in a standardized reading test (Cambridge Reading B2 First). The study consisted of two treatments and two comparison groups (N = 84), instructed using in-house materials (treatment groups) and the prescribed textbook (comparison groups) for one semester. At the end of the intervention, the data were analyzed using descriptive and paired-sample t-tests to determine whether the intervention affected the performance of the treatment groups in the post-test than the comparison groups. The findings indicated a statistically significant (p < .001) difference in B2 First Cambridge English Reading Test between the pre-test and the post-test for the treatment group showing a significant improvement in reading proficiency. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that in-house materials are more effective in helping English Foreign Language tertiary level students improve their reading proficiency than commercially produced textbooks in EFL programs in Omani technological education.