Developing reading strategies in elementary EFL classrooms

International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 2018

This study investigated the relationship between Iranian elementary EFL learners' reading strategy instruction and their performance on different reading comprehension test types. In addition, it studied the differences among these learners' reading strategy preferences based on their personality types. A total of 60 Iranian EFL learners at the elementary level within the range of 15-30 years old were selected from among 100 participants. The participants were then divided into two groups of control (n=30) and experimental (n=30). Subsequently, reading strategies were taught to the experimental group during ten sessions. The findings indicated that reading strategies instruction had a significant impact on reading comprehension of the participants in the experimental group at the end of the treatment. These participants of different personality types did better in posttest of CL-test and multiple-choice test. Additionally, analysis of the results showed that participants tended to use metacognitive reading strategies more than cognitive and support strategies.

The Effect of Reading Strategies Instruction on EFL Learners' Reading Performances, 2021

This study, using pretest-intervention-posttest, investigated whether instructing English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' in the use of reading strategies when they read English passages affects their English reading performances. The participants were 51 Turkish learners of English, who were at elementary level of language proficiency,based on the results of the Oxford Quick Placement Test. The whole treatment/control period lasted for 20 sessions during 10 weeks on a Reading course. The experimental group (n = 26) received instruction in reading strategies (i.e., previewing, finding the main idea, scanning, identifying examples, identifying definitions, identifying time and sequence words, reading numerical tables, making inferences, reading statistical tables, distinguishing fact from opinion) and the control group (n = 25) received instruction based on traditional teaching methods (i.e., reading, paraphrasing, translating, and answering the exercises).Data were collected via a reading proficiency test. The result of the independent samples t-test showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control one.

Reading in a foreign language, 2002

The present study investigates the reading strategies of Turkish EFL students in Turkish and English and the possible effects of reading instruction on reading in Turkish and English. The study addresses the following questions: a) Does strategy instruction in EFL reading affect EFL reading strategies and reading comprehension in English? b) Does strategy instruction in EFL reading affect reading strategies in Turkish? The participants consisted of 8 Turkish students enrolled in a pre-intermediate level class of a one-year intensive English course offered at a Turkish-medium technical university. The data came from think-aloud protocols, observation, a background questionnaire, a semi-structured interview and the reading component of the PET (the Preliminary English Test). The results indicated that strategy instruction had a positive effect on both Turkish and English reading strategies and reading comprehension in English.

Instructional Science, 2012

This study explored the impact of explicit teaching of reading strategies on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students' reading performance in Iran. The study employed a questionnaire adapted from Chamot and O' Malley's (1994) cognitive and metacognitive strategies framework. To test the effects of explicit teaching of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies on reading performance and strategy transfer, the study has a quasi-experimental design involving a contrast group and a treatment group, with whom an intervention program was implemented. The treatment group achieved significantly better results than the contrast group after four months of strategy-based instruction. Results of paired-sample t-tests and independent t-tests and effect size showed that reading comprehension and reading strategy use improved with strategy instruction. Moreover, SPANOVA analyses showed that the participants in the treatment group performed better than those in the contrast group in reading comprehension and reading strategy transfer. Results also showed that strategy instruction contributed to autonomous reading behaviors. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

The intent of this quasi-experimental study is to investigate the impact of explicit metacognitive reading strategy instruction (RSI) on Moroccan English as a foreign language (EFL) university learners' strategy use and reading achievement. It reflects whether this sort of instruction can make of learners strategic and critical readers. In this regard, a pre-post-test design involving the administration of reading comprehension pre-and post-tests to both the control and the treatment group was used. Two research questions were addressed: To what extent does explicit metacognitive reading strategy instruction influence Moroccan EFL university learners' strategy usage? To what extent does explicit instruction in metacognitive reading strategies impact Moroccan EFL university learners' reading achievement gains? A total of 113 participants were targeted in an attempt to reveal the perceived correlation exiting among the variables of strategy training, strategy use and reading achievement. The elicited data were collected by means of the reading comprehension texts, 'self-report questionnaire' and reading comprehension tests (e.g., pre-test, post-test). The findings unveiled that, through exposure to reading strategy training, as an effective medium of enhancing the learners' reading potential, the experimental group (N=63) reflected a more significant improvement at the level of strategy usage and reading performance than their counterpart, the control group (N=50), did at post-testing. Finally, the study concludes with some recommendations relatable to pedagogy and research.

Language Teaching Research, 2021

This article reports findings from a larger research project which aimed to promote learner autonomy among Thai secondary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) through strategy-based instruction (SBI). The study involved 30 learners from an intervention class and 32 learners from a comparison class. Nine strategies were introduced to the intervention class learners over a semester with the purpose of helping them develop essential skills for strategic and autonomous language learning. This article focuses on examining how explicit teaching of strategies in class affected learners' reading scores and approaches to reading. It also observes the effects of SBI on learners' perceptions of their ability to read English. Findings from the pre-, post-and delayed reading tests and think-aloud reading sessions showed significant increase in the intervention class learners' reading test scores and their enhanced strategic approaches to reading. Group interviews further revealed learners' positive attitudes towards English reading and increased confidence in their ability to manage their reading process independently. This article argues that explicit strategy instruction can help language learners develop essential strategic skills to process English texts. It also discusses how SBI can be effectively implemented in language classrooms.

This study investigates the effects of strategy-based reading instruction on the reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategy awareness of Pakistani Undergraduate Business Administration students of a private sector university in Karachi, Pakistan. A quasi-experimental design was adopted and two intact groups of students were assigned to a control group (31 students) and an experimental group (31 students). The reading comprehension levels and metacognitive reading strategy awareness of both the groups were measured through a pre-test of reading comprehension and Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) questionnaire. The control group was taught through teacher-centred traditional reading instruction, whereas the experimental group was taught through strategy-based reading instruction for eight weeks through 2-hour long weekly sessions. The experimental group was trained to use 30 reading strategies (18 Cognitive, 7 Metacognitive, 3 social/affective, and 2 Test-taking strategies) during the intervention following the Cog-nitive Academic Language Learning Approach and using Reciprocal Teaching Procedure Activities. At the end of the reading intervention, the post-test of reading instruction and the measure of metacognitive reading strategy awareness (SORS) were re-administered. The data were analysed through descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA. The results revealed that the experimental group students had scored significantly higher than the control group students on reading comprehension post-test and had also shown significantly higher improvement in metacognitive reading strategy awareness than control group students The study recommends strategy-based reading instruction to be an effective option for teaching reading comprehension skills at the university level in Pakistani universities and in the contexts which share similar characteristics.

Rastros Rostros, 2015

Introduction: Explicit instruction in reading strategies has been recommended to improve reading comprehension in both l1 and l2 formal educational settings for over 20 years. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a proposal for teaching reading strategies explicitly to efl students, in terms of strategy recognition and performance in reading comprehension tasks. Methodology: The research is conducted to solve language learning problems and follows a mixed-method approach since both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analyzed through questionnaires, reading tests and tasks. Besides, purposive sampling was used to select participants, and both qualitative and quantitative data was collected through questionnaires, reading tests and tasks. Results: After the sixteen-week training, the participants reported wider reading strategy repertoires and higher scores in the reading comprehension Exit Test. Conclusions: Explicit instruction in reading strategies is effective to improve reading comprehension. Further research is suggested to test the effectivity of the model with other students and to find out if learners in this study continue using the reported strategies consistently and autonomously.

2017

The objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of Strategy-based Reading Instruction (SBRI) on improving Students' Reading Proficiency. It also has a purpose to examine the students' Perception toward the implementation of the Reading Instruction. The model of strategy-based instruction that can help students to read more effectively and become independent learners was suggested by Chamot (2008) namely Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CAL-LA). There are five phases of the instructional sequence, namely Preparation, Presentation, Practice, Self-evaluation and Expansion. The study involved one class which consists of 28 students. The instruction was carried-out for 12 meetings with one meeting each week. There were two instruments for collecting the data namely: reading comprehension test and a questionnaire of students' perception toward the instruction. The finding of the study shows that the students' reading proficiency increases. The mean score of the experimental group is 66.46 as it is the good level, while the mean score of the control group is 61.4 as it is in the sufficient level. The inferential statistics shows that the t-test is 2.27 higher than the t-table 2.00 with the significant level 0.027 (< 0.05). The students found that Strategy-based Reading Instruction was helpful and practical for solving reading comprehension difficulty.

2019

The current study aimed to investigate the impact of utilizing reading strategy instruction (RSI) taught through extensive graded reading (EGR) on Egyptian EFL secondary stage students’ comprehension skills. Two first grade EFL secondary stage students (n = 63), randomly assigned to two groups, the regular group (n=31) was introduced to EGR for eight weeks, and the intervention group (n=32) received an eight-week experimental intervention of EGR integrated with RSI. The researcher used a quasi-experimental design, and the data collected were statistically treated to compare the two groups and track the effect of the experimental intervention on the participants’ comprehension skills. The results of data analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the scores of the two groups in the pre-test, but the mean scores of the post-test for the intervention group was higher than theirs in the pre-test and outperformed the regular group in the post-test. These results wer...