Reading strategies used for text comprehension in ESP

Abstract

Reading as a complex cognitive process, which consists of several skills, involves bottom-up and top-down processing of information, as well as strategic reading in top-down processes. This paper provides insight into the characteristics of the reading process, strategic reading and reading instruction through investigating reading strategies that students of English for Specific Purposes use, as well as the specific procedures that contribute to text comprehension or, more precisely, students' metacognitive awareness of the use of certain strategies. Data for the analysis were collected by means of Survey of Reading Strategies (Mokhtari & Sheorey 2002) that investigates students' metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. At the same time, reading comprehension test was administered for the assessment of students' reading skills, as well as determining possible correlations of test results with strategies, which would help ESP teachers in taking the necessary steps to improve reading instruction as a part of English for Specific Purposes instruction.