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Additional difficulties arise from unfamiliarity with cultural and academic conventions. The article analyzes how these obstacles undermine reading performance and argues for faculty involvement at the prereading stage. It introduces three activity menus that support activating prior knowledge, analyzing text features, and developing vocabulary, with each activity accompanied by description and rationale for classroom use.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/academic-prereading-activity-menus-to-support-international-esl-students-in-higher-education/598161/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/academic-prereading-activity-menus-to-support-international-esl-students-in-higher-education/598161.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Mafia Boss","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What are the main barriers international ESL students face in academic reading?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"They often struggle with English proficiency, vocabulary knowledge, complex syntax, and limited ability to map meaning across languages. They may also face challenges from unfamiliar academic conventions and learning practices.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"Why is the prereading stage considered critical?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"The article emphasizes that faculty support during prereading helps establish critical groundwork before students begin course readings. This improves the chances of academic reading success.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"What do the three activity menus in the article focus on?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"The menus target activating prior knowledge, analyzing text features, and developing vocabulary. 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Often the main hurdles are a lack of language proficiency, critical-reading skills, or background knowledge. Also, unfamiliarity with cultural and academic conventions plays a role. Even with intensive English-language training, reading success remains elusive without the support and participation of faculty, especially at the critical prereading stage. This article examines the obstacles that negatively affect student reading and elaborates on the importance of faculty intervention by incorporating effective prereading strategies in their classrooms. Specifically, 3 activity menus are provided that contain a selection of strategies to help with activating prior knowledge, analyzing text features, and developing vocabulary.  \nWhy do international students in higher education struggle with  \nreading? It is complicated. Understandably, if academic reading  \ncan be demanding for native English-speaking students, then it is likely to be even more so for students for whom English is not their native tongue. They are not only required to adapt to the literacy demands of another language, but also to a new academic culture and discipline. While it maybe common for international ESL students to undertake a foundation or intensive English program before or during their studies, this alone may not be enough to meet their diverse literacy needs. College and university faculty can do more to help international ESL students navigate course readings. This is especially true when students first come into contact with a reading. It is here, at the prereading stage, that critical groundwork can be laid to prepare students for academic reading success.  \nBased on recommendations in the second language (L2) reading literature and the author’s own experience as an EAP instructor, the aim of this  \nThe CATESOL Journal 31.1 • 2019 • 1  \narticle is to provide prereading strategies for faculty to support international students in their classes. These strategies are presented in the form of activity menus divided into three distinct categories: activating prior knowledge, analyzing text features, and developing vocabulary. A description and justification for each activity are provided. Depending on the context, these activities can be either selected individually or else combined during theprereading phase to help international ESL students become more adept readers.  \nBarriers to Reading Success  \nIt takes time for international ESL students to develop academic reading skills. However, a lack of English proficiency can greatly impede their progress (Phakiti, Hirsh, & Woodrow, 2013) . Students may find reading comprehension disrupted because of unfamiliarity with English vocabulary, a weak understanding of complex syntax and multiple-meaning words, and a lack of equivalent words between English and their native language. Even when these students are considered proficient readers of English at an advanced level, they may display different reading processes when dealing with the complex input of a second language text as compared with their native English-reading peers. However, while language difficulties are of obvious concern, academic experiences, expectations, and differences in learning and teaching practices also create problems. For example, international students with little experience of academic texts are often staggered by the large volume of required reading (Wilson, 2003) . The amount and complexity of academic reading demands more time, much rereading, and perhaps an overdependence on dictionary use (Cheng, Myles, & Curtis, 2004) . In the end, if readings take international students longer to complete, then meeting assignment deadlines is a struggle (Zhang & Mi, 2010) .  \nMisunderstandings can also occur in terms of the","cbCaisfv3BdRNXMN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisfv3BdRNXMN","pdf",155156,12,"English","# Why do international students in higher education struggle with reading?\n## Barriers to Reading Success","[{\"question\":\"What are the main barriers international ESL students face in academic reading?\",\"answer\":\"They often struggle with English proficiency, vocabulary knowledge, complex syntax, and limited ability to map meaning across languages. They may also face challenges from unfamiliar academic conventions and learning practices.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is the prereading stage considered critical?\",\"answer\":\"The article emphasizes that faculty support during prereading helps establish critical groundwork before students begin course readings. This improves the chances of academic reading success.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the three activity menus in the article focus on?\",\"answer\":\"The menus target activating prior knowledge, analyzing text features, and developing vocabulary. Activities can be used individually or combined during the prereading phase.\"}]","Academic Prereading Activity Menus to Support International ESL Students in Higher Education | PDF"]