Study and analysis of the level of reading literacy of the students of a pedagogical university

Introduction . Modern society places high demands on the level of reading literacy of future teachers, since they are the ones who form the key competencies in the younger generation that are necessary for successful academic and professional activities. Reading literacy is a complex multicomponent phenomenon that includes not only the ability to find and extract information from the text, but also the ability to interpret, critically evaluate and apply the acquired knowledge in various situations. Purpose setting . The purpose of this research is to study the level of reading literacy of students of pedagogical universities. Methodology and methods of the study . To achieve the set goal, the following methods were used: theoretical analysis, including a review and generalization of scientific research on the problems of functional and reading literacy, as well as an analysis of regulatory documents and international studies (PISA, PIAAC, TIMSS); a testing method, which involves measuring the level of students’ reading literacy using specially developed tests; methods of quantitative and qualitative data analysis focused on processing and interpreting the test results. Results . Pedagogical diagnostics showed significant differences in the level of development of students’ reading literacy. The greatest success was achieved in the component «finding and extracting information», however, significant difficulties were revealed in the components «integrating and interpreting information» and «evaluating the content and form of the text». A particularly low level was shown in critical evaluation of the text and in the use of information to solve practical problems, which requires additional attention in pedagogical practice. Conclusion . The research prospects include the analysis of factors influencing students’ reading literacy, the development and testing of methods for its formation, as well as the study of the dynamics of this competence development at different stages of education.