Reading Learning Strategies Research Articles

Learning Strategies in Reading and Writing: EAP Contexts

Presently, the importance of culture and context is becoming a significant feature of research in the field of learning strategies. To date, there has been little research into learning strategies utilized for reading and writing in Asian EAP (English for Academic Purposes) contexts, and in particular in the Thai context. With this in mind, this research investigated learning strategies employed by undergraduate students at a Thai university studying EAP reading and writing courses. The research aimed to identify the most frequently used strategies and different strategy use between ‘successful’ and ‘less successful’ learners. Learning strategies were classified following Oxford’s (1990) six category taxonomy and an additional category of negative strategies. The results revealed metacognitive, cognitive and compensation as the most frequently used strategies overall. Differences in strategy use for successful and less successful readers and writers were also demonstrated. A number of affective and social strategies were identified in the quantitative analysis which needed further investigation. Furthermore, various strategies investigated in earlier learner strategy research seemed, based on this research, to be culturally inappropriate in the Thai context.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Elementary School Students' Achievement Goals in Literacy Activities

The authors examined the temporal stability of elementary school students' (N = 432) motivation goals (task-mastery, performance, and work-avoidant) for literacy activities in the classroom. Task-specific assessments of students' goals were collected in the fall and spring of Grades 3, 4, and 5. Stability coefficients indicated a reasonable degree of consistency in students' goal responses over time, even though goals were initially assessed in relation to a specific learning assignment. However, there were also significant mean-level changes in students' goals within the school year and significant linear declines in task-mastery and performance goals over time. Changes were consistent across gender groups and across ability levels. Additionally, changes in task-mastery goal ratings explained variations in students' reported use of active learning strategies in reading and writing activities. The important implications of this study for future research are discussed.

Effects of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies in Reading with and without Training in Elaborated Help Giving

In this study we examined how preparation in elaborated help giving affects students' helping behavior and learning in reading. Primary- (grades 2 and 3, n = 15) and intermediate- (grade 4, n = 9) level classrooms were assigned randomly to a contrast treatment or to collaborative reading activities with or without preparation in elaborated helping. Teachers conducted training and implemented treatments for 21 weeks. From each class we pre- and posttested the reading comprehension performance of 3 students representing points on the achievement continuum, and we coded helping behavior during classroom observations. Across grade levels, students who prepared for elaborated help giving corrected more errors and engaged in more elaborated helping; across treatments, intermediate students demonstrated more correcting and more elaborated help giving than did primary counterparts. In reading comprehension, intermediate students improved more with elaborated helping, but primary students improved more without ela...