A Cognitive Analysis of Advance Student-Teachers’ Reading Performance in an ESL Context

Reading, a literacy skill with fundamental contribution to intellectual development, is cognitively ignited, propelled and actualized. For nearly a century, scholars have concerned themselves with exploring the cognitive basis of reading in order to improve comprehension performance. In Nigeria where English is a Second Language (ESL), worries have been expressed that student-teachers in Colleges of Education, like other categories of learners, are poor readers. The problem has been attributed partly to poor cognitive skills, and it has implication for teacher preparation: it may have adverse effects on the future of secondary school learners who are supposed to be taught by the student-teachers after the latter might have graduated from the colleges. In this paper, an attempt is at identifying, quantifying and evaluating the cognitive components of the comprehension performance of the advance student-teachers with a view to showing how such components may be enhanced in teacher preparation program for greater national development and progress.