Málfríður - 15.10.2008, Page 17

MÁLFRÍÐUR 1
Introduction
My  aim  in  this  study  was  to  attempt  to  lay  the 
foundations  for  a  theory  on  comparative  reading 
ability in English from the perspective of reading in 
Icelandic. The main objectives of this study were a) 
to  explore  the  connection  between  reading  ability 
in  Icelandic  and  reading  ability  in  English  among 
Icelandic  high-school  students,  and  b)  to  attempt 
to understand better the difficulties facing students 
of English with poor reading skills. I also sought to 
investigate students’ own perception of their read-
ing  skills  in  English  and  their  experience  of  read-
ing English in class and at home. My study took a 
different  approach  from  many  others  on  foreign-
language  reading  in  that  I  compared  the  reading 
comprehension  in  Icelandic  and  in  English  of  the 
same group of students using the same material.
The  words  quoted  above  express  one  student’s 
feelings about the difficulties of reading in English. 
The  contradiction  inherent  in  these  words  is  that 
“simply” implies a level of simplicity about achiev-
ing proficiency  in reading  in English and also  that 
vocabulary  is  the  crux  of  the  problem.  For  many 
upper-secondary  school  students  in  Iceland,  how-
ever,  reading  in  English  involves  a  multitude  of 
skills and competences and, not  least,  interest and 
motivation on the part of the reader.
Background to the study
During  the  20  years  I  have  been  teaching  English 
in  Iceland  I  have  often  been  impressed  by  young 
Icelanders’ ability to speak English. Grammatically 
correct  and  authentic-sounding  sentences,  clear 
pronunciation  and  confident  delivery  characterise 
many teenage Icelanders. Faced with a short story, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  passage  in  a  textbook  or  the 
first  chapter  of  a  novel,  the  confidence  of  some 
seems  to  drain  away.  Cries  of  “So  many  pages?”, 
“What,  now?”  or  “It’s  boring”  imply  that  super-
human demands are being made.
The  seeming  disparity  between  students’  oral 
and  reading  ability  disturbed  me.  It  seemed  pos-
sible  that  Icelanders’  often  good  understanding  of 
the spoken language might give them a false sense 
of security about the extent of their vocabulary. On 
the  other  hand,  it  was  also  possible  that  students 
were  insufficiently  acquainted  with  the  grammar 
and syntax of written texts and that this might con-
tribute to weaker reading skills. One group of stu-
dents who have problems with  reading  in English 
are  those  with  dyslexia.  However,  there  are  many 
students without a formal label of dyslexia who are 
poor readers in English. 
English in Iceland
Reading is important, as a means of gaining know-
ledge  and  understanding.  Reading  in  English,  for 
Icelanders today, is a skill that nobody can afford to 
be without in terms of study, work, travel, business 
and pleasure. 
During the first two to three terms at high-school 
Icelandic students work towards a level of proficiency 
in English designated by the Ministry of Education, 
This article is based on
my M.A. thesis in par­
tial fulfilment of an M.A.
in Educational Studies
(kennslu­fræði) submitted
to the Department of Edu­
cation of the Faculty of
Social Sciences, University
of Iceland.Anna Jeeves
Anna Jeeves
“Some words are simply
very difficult”
Sum orð eru einfaldlega mjög erfið