To read or not at tertiary level? An EFL overview from the perspective of communicative competence

Abstract

This article explores the manifold benefits students at tertiary level can get from developing a passion for reading and handling a variety of strategies to retrieve, above literal meaning, a valuable asset of extra-linguistic knowledge that will entitle them to become effective users of English in a variety of communicational contexts. Communicative competence is not limited to linguistic competence and reading is the best way to ensure its development by gaining knowledge from various contexts about what is appropriate and what is not in a given situation.