Reading and writing at University: An experience from a non instrumental conception

Abstract

This article deals with the reading and writing difficulties that undergraduate students experience nowadays. It presents the research results of an investigation that was undertaken in 2015 at EAN University, in Bogota. During the study, some strengthening strategies were designed for two basic reading and writing courses for students across all the disciplines, as well as a pre-test and a post-test. These research activities were created from a noninstrumental point of view of reading and writing skills. The article supports this conception, and focuses on the consciousness of habits, practices, critical reading tools, and the  characteristics that academic writing constitutes a basis for the development of critical thinking and argumentation skills of undergraduate students.