The Reading Development of Swedish L2 Middle School Students and Its Relation to Reading Strategy Use

Abstract

This two-year longitudinal study investigated Swedish L2 middle school students’ reading development and its relation to reported strategy use. Reading comprehension was measured on three occasions and strategy use was examined using the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) scale. The results show that student reading comprehension scores develop significantly over the last two years of middle school (grades 5–6). As expected, second-generation immigrant students score higher than first-generation immigrants, but the differences are not statistically significant. The study shows no gender-related differences in relation to reading strategy use. Boys and girls use strategies to a similar extent. However, good readers reported using all types of reading strategies, particularly global strategies, to a greater extent than poor readers. Interestingly, the reading achievement of boys was strongly correlated to the reported use of global strategies, while the reading achievement of girls was not correlated to strategy use at all. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.