EFL Learners' Multiple Documents Literacy: Effects of a Strategy‐Directed Intervention Program

Abstract

There is a substantial body of L2 research documenting the central role of strategy instruction in reading comprehension. However, this line of research has been conducted mostly within the single text paradigm of reading research. With reading literacy undergoing a marked shift from single source reading to multiple documents literacy, little is known about the role of strategy instruction in readers' performance in this emerging type of literacy and the likelihood of readers' effective transfer of strategies from the single text‐dominated reading in instructional programs to the multiple texts‐dominated reading within academic knowledge societies. This study was conducted to begin to address this gap. 76 EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: ST/−SI (single text/no strategy instruction), ST/+SI (single text/strategy instruction), MT/−SI (multiple texts/no strategy instruction) and MT/+SI (multiple texts/strategy instruction). Pretests of reading comprehension and self‐reported reading strategy use confirmed that the four groups performed at similar levels. They were then taught for 10–90‐minute sessions and were tested for multiple texts comprehension and strategy use. The results revealed the significant effects of strategy instruction on the participants' multiple documents comprehension and strategy use and the more positive effect of task‐relevant strategy instruction on multiple documents comprehension.