ABSTRACT

The utilizations of English reading materials at the university level have become one of the toughest challenges for university students who have low proficiency in English. This study attempts to find out the problems faced by selected non-English major students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in reading English materials. This study involved 35 non English major students mainly from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSK), Faculty of Islamic Studies (FPI) and also from the Faculty of Education (FPEND).  This study is a quantitative study and used a questionnaire to obtain data from selected students. The data have been analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences version 13.0 (SPSS 13.0) and the findings of this study show that the respondents do faced many problems in reading English materials mainly due to the lack of vocabulary because most of them have difficulties understanding English words which cause them to read and used English materials lesser than it suppose to be. They also have problems in selecting the best English materials that they can refer to. Because of this situation, there are some respondents who are putting a lot of effort to correct their problems in reading English materials.

 

ABSTRAK

 

Penggunaan bahan-bahan berbahasa Inggeris pada peringkat universiti telah menjadi salah satu cabaran yang sukar bagi pelajar universiti yang mempunyai kecekapan berbahasa Inggeris yang rendah. Kajian ini cuba mengenal pasti masalah-masalah yang dihadapi oleh pelajar-pelajar tertentu bukan major dalam Bahasa Inggeris di UKM dalam membaca bahan-bahan berbahasa Inggeris. Kajian ini telah melibatkan seramai 35 orang pelajar bukan major dalam Bahasa Inggeris terutama dari Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan (FSSK), Fakulti Pengajian Islam (FPI) dan Fakulti Pendidikan (FPEND).  Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif di mana soal selidik telah diedarkan kepada pelajar-pelajar yang tertentu. Data-data telah dianalisis menggunakan Statistical Packages for Social Sciences versi 13.0 (SPSS 13.0) dan hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa responden-responden sememangnya mempunyai banyak masalah dalam membaca bahan-bahan berbahasa Inggeris yang disebabkan oleh kurangnya perbendaharaan kata dalam Bahasa Inggeris kerana kebanyakan mereka mempunyai masalah untuk memahami perkataan tertentu dalam Bahasa Inggeris yang menyebabkan mereka kurang membaca dan menggunakan bahan-bahan berbahasa Inggeris berbanding yang sepatutnya. Mereka juga menghadapi masalah untuk memilih bahan-bahan berbahasa Inggeris yang terbaik untuk dirujuk. Berikutan itu, terdapat di antara mereka telah mempergiatkan usaha untuk mengatasi masalah-masalah mereka dalam membaca bahan-bahan berbahasa Inggeris.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I would like to express my gratitude to Allah S.W.T and also to all the respondents for this research because I might not be able to finish this research without them. As for my supervisor and all other helpful kind lecturers, I felt that I was indebted to them for my entire life for they have given me the support and motivation since I step my feet in UKM.

           

I also would like to give my appreciation to Miss Wong Fook Fei from School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, my supervisor who has been so patient with me all the time and who has given me the most valuable guidance and supervision in finishing my project paper.

           

My big and humble appreciation also goes to all good and helpful staff of School of Language Studies and Linguistics (SOLLS), all my fellow course mates, my friends and my family. There are too much people who get involved in my research and if I were to mention it here, it will be too many of them. All of them have been giving me moral support and financial support as well.