Abstract

The study investigated the reading difficulties of undergraduates in South-West Nigeria. Eight hundred and thirty-four undergraduates accidentally sampled were used from seven (7) universities in South-West Nigeria through stratified randomly sampling technique. The instruments used were Vocabulary Difficulty Questionnaire (RDQ), Content Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ), Reading Flexibility Questionnaire (RFQ) and Study Method and Problem Solving Questionnaire (SMPSQ). It was established from data analysis that 48% of undergraduates have some level of vocabulary difficulties while reading, 50% of them have difficulties in content analysis, 45% of them have difficulties in reading flexibility, while 39% of them have difficulties in study methods and problem solving. It was also established that there was no significant difference between the reading difficulties of male and female students. It is recommended that literature text across literary genres should be included in the Use of English programmes, since literature is a language bank. By this, the reader will acquire enough vocabulary to boost his reading efficiency, and acquire more knowledge, and facts from reading texts. More so, every Nigerian University and Colleges should be encouraged to establish reading clinics where diagnosis and remediation of reading difficulties are to be carried out. Lastly, the undergraduates should be exposed to more study methods and problem solving techniques for effective reading and comprehension.