English

Sarjit Kaur,Lijuan Li

doi:10.17576/gema-2014-1403-01

Abstract

Research studies on reading strategy use among ESL/EFL readers are increasingly becoming one of the most attended topics for researchers and educators. This study investigated the reading strategies used by 290 Chinese EFL second year undergraduates and examined the relationship between their reading strategy use and reading test performance. The participants reported their use of reading strategies through the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) in three categories: global reading strategies (GLOB), problem solving strategies (PROB) and support reading strategies (SUP). Students’ reading test performance was measured by using the national College English Test Band-4 (CET-4). Results showed that students used overall reading strategies at a medium frequency level. They used PROB strategies most frequently (at a high level), followed by GLOB strategies (at a medium level). The least frequently used were SUP strategies (at a medium level). The most frequently used individual strategies were re-reading, regaining concentration and guessing the content of the text. The least frequently used strategies included reading aloud, questioning, paraphrasing, and translating. There was no significant relationship between students’ overall reading strategy use and their general reading test performance. However, significant relationship was found between some individual reading strategies and different test formats. Students’ banked cloze test performance was positively correlated to GLOB strategies. SUP strategies were negatively correlated to students’ skimming and scanning performance. Most PROB strategies were related to student performance in fast reading either positively or negatively. Pedagogical implications are discussed in relation to the Chinese EFL context. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/GEMA-2014-1403-01

Highlights

Reading in English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) for the overwhelming majority is “the dominant global literacy” (Bernhardt, 2011, p. 8)
A close examination of the use of individual strategies suggests that students still used some reading strategies while taking the test their general reading test performance and overall reading strategy use was not significantly related
This study investigated the reading strategies used by Chinese EFL tertiary students when reading textbook passages and the relationship of these strategies to students’ performance in the reading comprehension test exemplified by a national examination

Summary

Introduction

Reading in English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) for the overwhelming majority is “the dominant global literacy” (Bernhardt, 2011, p. 8). In the context of ESL/EFL reading, analysing students’ critical reading ability and reading strategy use has increasingly become the centre of attention in view of the fact that such studies help promote students’ reading comprehension ability and proficiency (Pressley, 2006; Grabe & Stoller, 2011; Zuhana, Wong & Shameem Rafik-Galea, 2014). Reading strategies are “deliberate, goaldirected attempts to control and modify the reader’s efforts to decode text, understand words and construct meanings of text” Compared with the unskilled readers, skilled readers flexibly employ a variety of strategies in their reading process, attaining more effective reading comprehension (Pressley, 2006; Cubukcu, 2007; Grabe & Stoller, 2011). Investigations about reader’s reading strategy use help to shed light on ways to help readers to become more capable and effective

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