Using the Collaborative Strategic Reading Strategy To Improve Seventh Graders’Reading Comprehension in Arabic

Abstract

In Lebanon, a great number of students hold a negative attitude towards reading comprehension in Arabic and are inadequately prepared to face the challenges of reading in middle school, due to the traditional unchallenging instructional approaches and the demanding nature of formal Arabic among other factors. The Collaborative Strategic Reading strategy was used in this study with a group of seventh grades at a private elitist school in Beirut. Results showed that when this new technique which involves cooperative learning and metacognitive thinking is systematically applied, it showed considerable improvement in test scores in the experimental group relative to the controls. Also, questionnaires and interviews that were used with Arabic teachers of seventh grade indicated that they were aware of the reading comprehension problems and their students’ negative attitudes towards independent reading in Arabic, but do not seem to be willing to initiative any changes in either their instructional approach or motivational strategies.