Selecting Reading Texts for University Iranian EFL Students

Abstract

Selecting appropriate reading texts is very important and teachers shouldn’t do it randomly. This research examined the importance of criteria involved in selecting reading texts and the extent these criteria used in Iran universities. The sample consisted of 82 male and female university Iranian EFL students from some governmental and nongovernmental universities in Tehran. This procedure was adopted due to the accessibility of the participants. For the sake of the best answers from students, a questionnaire was constructed.  The analysis of the data revealed that the students’ interests, topic, appearance of the text, students’ needs, exploitability, and relevance are the most important criteria involved in selecting reading texts. However, teachers do not consider some of these criteria while selecting reading texts. The findings imply that for effective academic reading course, process of text selection needs some changes. If teachers consider all of these criteria and select an appropriate reading text fit for the readers, reading courses in Iran universities will improve significantly.