Assessing Reading Comprehension Level for Fourth Year English Department Undergraduates at a Libyan University

Abstract

This study is an assessment of the reading comprehension level of fourth year English Department Students
at Benghazi University. The first aim of the study is to assess their reading comprehension level by means of
a standardized reading test while the second aim is to examine the type of reading employed by Libyan
undergraduates when they perform on the same test. Using the mixed-method approach, the study revealed
that reading comprehension level of fourth year students was intermediate although the course description of
the English Department classified them as advanced learners of English. Furthermore, the study revealed that
students with high and low scores employ different types of reading ranging from careful and expeditious
reading at local and global levels. Finally, the researchers suggested further research to be done to
investigate the cognitive processing the Libyan University learners of English need to activate when they
perform on reading comprehension tests.