Abstract
The current quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of metacognitive reading strategies on the reading comprehension and attitudes of Omani EFL foundation-level students. The sample of the study included two intact classes (N=45) and was selected based on the students’ results in the midterm reading comprehension exam and their responses to the metacognitive strategies survey (MARSI). One class functioned as the experimental group, which received instruction relating to the metacognitive reading strategies. The other class was the control group which received conventional reading instruction. Two instruments were used to collect data: a pre-post reading comprehension test to measure the students’ performance in reading and an attitude questionnaire to investigate their attitudes towards metacognitive reading strategies use. The results of the study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the learners’ reading comprehension in the experimental group and the control group in favor of the experimental group as a result of metacognitive reading strategies instruction. Results also showed that students in the experimental group held positive attitudes towards using metacognitive reading strategies use. In the light of these findings, implications and recommendations for practice were put forward.
Highlights
Due to its intimate relationship with knowledge transmission and expansion, reading has become an indispensable skill in academic settings (Al Seyabi & Tuzlukova, 2015)
Studies have demonstrated that when readers who are competent in their first language read in a second language, they become ‘text-bound’ and fail to successfully utilize the reading strategies that they use when approaching a text in their first language (Lau & Chan, 2003)
This result is consistent with the results of several other studies (Auerbach & Paxton, 1997; Kangli, 2002; Iwai, 2011; Wichadee, 2011; Takallou, 2011; Ismail, 2014; Pei, 2014) which have determined that teaching metacognitive reading strategies is useful in enhancing the students’ reading comprehension performance
Summary
Due to its intimate relationship with knowledge transmission and expansion, reading has become an indispensable skill in academic settings (Al Seyabi & Tuzlukova, 2015). In various EFL and ESL settings, concerns have been raised about students’ unpreparedness to meet college reading requirements, especially where the medium of instruction is dominantly English (Al Seyabi & Tuzlukova, 2015; Cahyono & Widiati, 2006; Moss & Bordelon, 2007; Sivaraman, Al Balushi, & Rao, 2014). Prior research in second language acquisition has shown that most ESL readers tend to have problems with using effective reading strategies either due to a lack of knowledge of these strategies or because of inappropriate use (Yore, Craig, & Maguire, 1998). Studies have demonstrated that when readers who are competent in their first language read in a second language, they become ‘text-bound’ and fail to successfully utilize the reading strategies that they use when approaching a text in their first language (Lau & Chan, 2003)
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