Abstract

Critical reading has consistently been documented in the literature as a central competency in post-secondary education, with university instructors expecting students to demonstrate higher-order reading skills—such as analysing, evaluating, synthesising, and identifying authorial bias—upon entry into tertiary contexts. Despite widespread agreement among faculty and institutions regarding the importance of critical reading for academic success, many students struggle to engage with texts at a critical level. The present study investigates the use of anaphoric resolution as a pedagogical strategy to enhance university students’ critical engagement with academic texts in India. Adopting a mixed-methods design, the study employed a pre- and post-test to measure quantitative gains, followed by semi-structured interviews to capture qualitative insights into learners’ experiences. The findings indicate that explicit instruction in anaphoric resolution contributed positively to the development of students’ critical reading abilities. The qualitative responses indicate that learners’ awareness of anaphoric resolution as a strategy for understanding complex expository texts was particularly beneficial. The study highlights the relevance of using anaphoric resolution as a pedagogical tool to support learners’ critical engagement with texts.

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