BARRIERS TO READING COMPREHENSION Elley (1984) exploring the reading difficulties of second language learners in Fiji supports more books in schools and an instructional approach that encourages students to read even much more than that taught in the schools. A reading program that is based on high interest stories in order to encourage reading by primary school students is also suggested by him. The major difficulties in reading comprehension have been identified by various researchers and can be summed up as follows: ANXIETY Anxiety is a basic human emotion that consists of fear and uncertainty. According to Deutsch (2005) there are many variables that cause difficulties in ESL/EFL learning to read. He observed that junior and high school students experience problems while taking reading comprehension tests. Reading in a foreign language causes anxiety and poor language achievement in conjunction of buy my house students levels of reading anxiety and general foreign language anxiety. Unfamiliar scripts, writing systems, and unfamiliar cultural material are some factors that cause ESL/EFL reading anxiety. Low language proficiency and teacher diversity cause an emotional block to reading in students when they take a reading comprehension test. There are many irrational beliefs also that cause anxiety among foreign and second language students. Foreign language anxiety only increases students problems with decoding the text and actual processing of textual meaning (ibid.). Deutsch observed ESL/EFL students with Hebrew as their first language, lacking the skills to cope with reading comprehension tests. It is difficult to get students to take an interest in reading inside or outside the EFL classroom. There are several reasons for this, which all stem from one general problem deep rooted fear of reading in English.
