Reading apprehension among high school students: experiences since practicum-a theoretical bibliographic review.

Abstract

This theoretical bibliographic review examines reading apprehension in Ecuadorian Basic General Education (B.G.E.) English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) settings. In this study, reading apprehension is used as a pedagogical label for avoidance, frustration, boredom, and low willingness to engage with reading; it is not treated as a standardized clinical construct or as interchangeable with reading anxiety. A corpus of 25 peer-reviewed publications was selected from 214 initially identified records. The synthesis addresses antecedents, learning consequences, and pedagogical responses. Evidence supports a contextual model in which learner beliefs, text demands, instructional climate, and prior literacy experiences interact. The strongest practical implication is not a universal remedy but the design of supported, meaningful, and choice-aware reading experiences. Because no reviewed study directly tests the proposed model in Ecuadorian B.G.E. classrooms, the article presents theoretical propositions rather than testable hypotheses. The review contributes a structured synthesis of current evidence and a context-sensitive agenda for teacher preparation and future Ecuadorian research.