Syntactic Problems In English Language Essay

3.1.2. Syntactic Problems

Syntax is one of the foundational skills of reading and speaking. In English, word order is important for establishing the relationship of meaning between words and sentences.

Successful readers, need to be able to recognize the grammatical forms that indicate when information has been embedded, conjoined, or moved within a sentence. Syntactic ties also provide a means to indicate how information is related across the boundaries of sentences( Halliday and Hasan, 1976).

Having said so, syntax is likely to be a source of comprehension difficulties for many EFL students long sentences and difficult syntax can block comprehension even when vocabulary is familiar (Nuttal,1991). Faced with long complex sentences,

Reading Problems Related to Lack of Prior Knowledge

Stevens (1982) defines background knowledge quite simply as what one already knows about subject. It is called schema, relevant background knowledge, or just plain experience. When students make connections to the text they are reading, their comprehension increases. Good readers constantly try to make sense out of what they read by seeing how it fits with what they already know. Ellin Oliver keene and Susan Zimmerman in Mosaic of Thought (1997), have identified three major types of connection learners make as they read: a)-text to self , b)-text to world, c)-text to text

However, students are not encouraged to activate their prior knowledge that leads to major difficulties in connecting with the text. So the presented text is simply rejected because of its content which contains unfamiliar information.

Moreover, the cultural background may be a source of comprehension problems for many students. As Carrel and Eisterhold (1983) demonstrate that reading comprehension is culturally based and culturally biased. Meaning that when students read culturally familiar texts, their understanding of the text is better than when they read texts that are culturally

Consequently, any child who is exposed to such environment fail to build up any linguistic competence and language skills that will be more important when he/she begins formal instruction. Therefore, whether a child becomes a proficient reader is dependent on the environment in which he/she is raised.

Conclusion

This chapter has dealt with some of reading problems that EFL learners face. We have noticed that students with insufficient knowledge of vocabulary and sentence structure are likely to face comprehension problems, because those two components represents the basic steps for comprehending any reading material handled to them. Also students who cannot relate with the text by activating their background knowledge are the ones who lose focus and got lost in the cultural