Rets, I., Astruc, L., Coughlan, T., & Stickler, U. (2022). Approaches to simplifying academic texts in English: English teachers’ views and practices. English for Specific Purposes, 68(C), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2022.06.001
Reading academic texts in English might be difficult, particularly when English is not the learner’s first language. Suggestions have been put forward in various teaching settings that teachers should be able to adapt the content of the class according to the learners’ English level. Such adaptation would involve reducing the complexity level of the texts to make them a better match to the target learners’ English proficiency level. However, existing teacher training programmes do not offer courses aimed at equipping teachers with effective text adaptation strategies, research on academic reading instruction is still limited, and most studies with teachers on this topic are based on verbal classroom discourse. This study explored the strategies that experienced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers use when intuitively simplifying written English academic texts – that is relying on their own beliefs of comprehensibility – for learners at lower English proficiency levels. The study identified 15 key strategies that EFL teachers used to adapt English academic texts and provided examples and rationale for the use of each strategy. The study also suggested that a text adaptation task can enhance teachers’ reflection skills and called for more language teacher training programmes to introduce such practice into their curricula.
Despite this reliance on subjective approximations of comprehensibility, there is a shared understanding among experienced EFL teachers from diverse language backgrounds as to what constitutes a more accessible academic
text in English.
Download the summary here: https://oasis-database.org/concern/summaries/1g05fc20p?locale=en
How to cite this summary: Rets, I. (2022). What makes an academic text in English more accessible? OASIS Summary of Rets et al. (2022) in English for Specific Purposes. https://oasis-database.org