Students’ Attitudes About Factors Affecting English Literacy - A Case Study of Undergraduate Students at the University of Tetova

Generally speaking, the ability to read and write successfully and at the same time, to understand and communicate fluently in any language is considered a matter of literacy. When learning a foreign language, there are many factors that can affect a student's overall literacy. In terms of this, the purpose of this research is to explore the attitudes of undergraduate English language (EFL) students at the University of Tetova, their perceptions and experiences on factors that affect English literacy. As far as the theoretical part is concerned, this study will rely on other studies dealing with literacy in order to come up with the usual factors that influence the literacy of EFL students. The author initiated this research to provide a comprehensive insight of Albanian students’ attitudes towards factors that influence English literacy. Qualitative research data were collected by administering a well-structured questionnaire to 64 students of English as a foreign language at different academic years. The data gathered reveals demographic information, learning factors, and their estimated impact on English literacy by undergraduate English language students. The final results suggest that students perceive the impact of different factors differently as far as English literacy is concerned, and some of these factors reflect positively or negatively on students’ English literacy if used incorrectly.