EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH SHORT STORIES ON READING COMPREHENSION OF UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract

The present study examines the perceptions of ESL learners towards conventional reading material and English short stories as reading material at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Shaheed Benazirabad, Pakistan. The quantitative research design was
employed in this study to collect and analyse the data. The data was collected by using a questionnaire. The participants of the study (n=50) were BS.English second year students of department of English, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University. The data was analysed by
using SPSS version 25. The findings of this study suggest that English short stories, due to unique characteristics, have great influence on the perceptions of ESL learners for reading comprehension and they feel more comfortable, confident and develop connection with the content of the short stories. Whereas the participants showed less interest in conventional reading material due to less familiarity, strange context and difficult vocabulary. The present study suggests that English short stories may be included in the reading courses
since it is a genre that most of the students like since their childhood. This study also confirms the findings of previous studies acknowledging English short stories as an effective resource for developing reading skill.