Critical Reading With Undergraduate EFL Students in Colombia: Gains and Challenges

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the gains and challenges experienced by an interdisciplinary group of English as a foreign language students who participated in the implementation of a critical reading unit taught within a reading comprehension course at a university in Medellín, Colombia. To do this, video-recordings of all lessons, samples of students’ work, and students’ reflections were collected. Results show that students experienced several gains but also had some challenges related to aligning with the author’s position, seeing positionality in factual texts, and taking middle positions. These results suggest that even though it is not only possible but beneficial to do critical reading with undergraduate English as a foreign language students, there are some specific areas in which these students need additional support.