چكيده به لاتين
Despite a large body of research on academic reading, it appears that there has been no significant research exploring the predictors of academic reading comprehension. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the contribution of the general and academic vocabulary knowledge, the breadth and the depth of vocabulary knowledge, and the academic reading attitude to academic reading comprehension. It also explored the students’ attitudes and problems in academic reading comprehension. One hundred and twenty two undergraduate Engineering students at the Iran University of Science and Technology participated in this study. The Vocabulary Levels Test developed by Schmitt, Schmitt, and Clapham (2001), the Word Associates Test developed by Read (1993), a reading section of an academic IELTS sample, and Isakson Survey of Academic Reading Attitude (ISARA) developed by Isakson, Isakson, Plummer, and Chapman (2016) were the instruments of our study. The results of the study showed that (a) the global value the students placed on academic reading was the most frequent factor in their attitude towards academic reading; (b) the general and academic and the breadth, and depth of vocabulary knowledge were the significant contributors to academic reading, while academic reading attitude was not found to be the significant contributor to academic reading; and (c) ‘weak vocabulary knowledge’ was the most frequent problem reported by the Engineering students. This study recommends EGAP instructors to increase students’ awareness about the significance of academic reading and help them improve their knowledge of vocabulary and other factors contributing to positive attitude towards academic reading.
