TEACHING ACADEMIC READING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES: MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY

The global community seems to be progressing towards a knowledge society based on information technologies, innovations with the increasing role of cognitive capital, human development and knowledge sharing [1] [2], which requires preparation of a highly qualified human capital. The paper explores the implications of a knowledge-based society for teaching academic reading skills for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners at university level. Although education researchers are unanimous that reading comprehension is key competence within knowledge-based societies, there is still little consensus as to the reading strategies that ESP students require in order to cope with academic reading of texts of different formats (print, online, multimodal, non-linear) with different sign systems (verbal and non-verbal). The emergence of new formats of digital literacy requires new reading skills and strategies [3]. Moreover, academic reading in Social Sciences provides even more challenges for ESP learners due to its emphasis on rhetoric and persuasion and the variety of genres and styles in the academic discourse. The research objectives included the analysis of contemporary approaches and methods for foreign language reading skills development, such as the use of mo dern information technologies [4], the Critical Pedagogy approach [10] [11] the feminist and gender approaches [6] [7] and the application of critical discourse analysis [8]. The analysis of literature as well as the long-standing teaching practice has made the author to put forward a hypothesis that the efficient methodology for the development of ESP academic reading skills in Social Sciences could be based on the application of principles of Critical Pedagogy (CP) in a computer-networked environment. The research methodology included the pilot training focusing on observation and analysis of students' academic performance and behavior. Two homogenous groups of ESP students of Social Sciences took part in the experiment. The control group was engaged in traditional academic activities. The experimental group had CP strategies instruction in a computer-networked environment. In the course of the instruction both groups were interviewed about their experiences, reading comprehension abilities and motivation to read. In the end of the course a reading comprehension test was administered to learners. Students of the experimental group performed better than the control group. The results indicate that the Internet-integrated instruction of CP strategies might have a positive impact on learners' reading comprehension and could contribute to ESP academic reading skills development in Social Sciences.