Addressing Eap students' reading-skill needs through textbook supplementation

Much is expected of the second language (L2) reader in academic contexts. English for Academic Purposes classes can prepare students for the reading challenges that await them by supporting the development of crucial component skills of reading, including vocabulary knowledge, strategic reading, discourse-structure awareness, main-idea comprehension, reading fluency, motivation, and the ability to read extensively. Because textbooks are often the primary resource with which these component skills are addressed, their comprehensiveness, or lack thereof, can have a considerable influence on the development of the L2 reader. With a textbook-evaluation tool that features specific questions about the extent to which reading component skills are addressed, teachers can more efficiently evaluate the efficacy of their reading textbooks. After gaps in the textbook have been identified, teachers can create supplementary materials, in a principled way, to augment instruction. A case study provides an illustration of textbook evaluation and supplementation processes in addition to numerous suggestions for supplementary activities that target reading-skill development.