Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL
Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
Ya-Li Lai, Yu-Jung Tung, Shu-Ying Luo
Taipei Municipal University of Education
Abstract
A number of studies maintain that English language learners’ comprehension can be
improved by fostering awareness of reading comprehension strategies. The findings for
this study revealed two EFL adult learners’ utilization and understanding of reading
strategies during reading. The first case indicates that a prolonged, regular, and constant
reading strategy instruction is needed and more efforts need to be made regarding how to
help struggling readers use more metacognitive strategies to comprehend English texts.
The second case suggests that teachers should choose reading materials that are slightly
above students’ current English proficiency level in order to stimulate students to adopt
more reading strategies to deal with more challenging English texts. In addition, students
are often unconscious about their utilization of reading strategies; therefore, it is teachers’
responsibility to make students “visualize” the process of their own thinking. Teachers’
demonstrations of think-aloud while reading can assist students in better understanding how
to use reading strategies. The findings of this study could potentially become a reference
for in-service teachers in Taiwan or for similar case studies investigating EFL students’
understanding and utilization of reading strategies.
Keywords: Reading, Strategies, Case Studies
Introduction and Background of the Study
Rationale of the Study
Educators face a serious situation because many second or foreign language
learners are struggling to read well. In the elementary classroom, students may have
different educational backgrounds, language proficiency levels, cultures, and prior
experiences (Ediger, 2001). However, all of them have a need for gaining knowledge
through reading because reading is a fundamental and critical skill for students to achieve
academic success. If students can’t read well, the door towards the path of learning will
most often be closed before them.
A number of studies (e.g., Brown, El-Dinary & Pressley, 1996; Fisher, Frey &
Williams, 2002; Wold, 1996) maintain that comprehension strategy instruction has positive
effects on students’ reading comprehension. Teaching comprehension strategies, both
explicitly and directly to language learners, helps them become more thoughtful and
proficient readers. Booth and Swartz (2004) state the following:
All children need effective comprehension strategies to become independent
readers . . . . Comprehension is about thinking and understanding, and is affected
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by each person’s knowledge, experience, and purpose for reading a particular text.
Proficient readers are aware of the strategies involved in making the most possible
meaning with print; they make predications, make inferences, see images in their
minds, draw conclusions, and revise hypotheses about the text. (p. 22)
For second (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) learners, reading is an even more
complicated process because they usually don’t have enough language background and
knowledge that they can bring to the task of acquiring literacy as do first language learners.
Therefore, reading comprehension strategies must be taught directly with modeling to
reveal how reading tasks can be accomplished by a proficient reader. A well-planned
comprehension strategy for instruction that involves directly teaching reading strategies is
especially recommended for second or foreign language readers (Ediger, 2001).
Numerous studies on learning strategies maintain that teaching strategies can
facilitate students reading comprehension (Cohen, 1998; Chamot, 1999). Researchers also
believe that using strategies well can foster and lead to students’ autonomous learning,
especially for students who performed less well on academic fields. Caverly, Nicholson,
and Radcliffe (2004) indicate that developmental students showed significant improvement
in a teacher-made reading comprehension test and a standardized reading test, as well as a
significant growth was found using cognitive, metacognitive, and affective strategies in
their study. Moreover, Caverly et al.’s study (2004) revealed that developmental readers
who received strategic reading instruction over four years outperformed the control group
on a standardized test, suggesting that these developmental readers can transfer strategic
reading skills to a future curriculum course. Consistent with Caverly et al.’s (2004) study,
Radcliffe et al.’s study revealed that students who received strategic reading instruction
outperformed the control group on the abilities of textbook reading. Furthermore, several
research done in Asian context indicated that the training in reading strategies could
enhance reading proficiency (Song, 2003; Shang, 2007).
According to Oxford’s (1990) explicit instruction model, several major features such
as the explicit explanations, teacher modeling, scaffolding and self-regulated use of
strategies are provided by the teacher to enhance students’ reading comprehension. Lapp,
Fisher, and Grant (2008) also suggest the need for teachers to share guided reading through
a gradual plan, which enabled students to be able to independently monitor their own
reading comprehension.
English language learners in an EFL context, such as Taiwan, do not have much
exposure to foreign language use. Therefore, reading English texts plays a vital role for
Taiwanese students to improve their English skills as a whole. Some students in Taiwan
have the misconception that reading well means to recognize every word and figure out its
meaning from the printed text, hence they look for every unfamiliar word up, and translate
sentences word-by-word. With this misconception, struggling foreign language readers,
often “make little sense of what they have been reading, or they choose to ignore
meaning-making completely and give up in frustration” (Booth & Swartz, 2004, p. 22).
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Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
Research maintains that reading is actually a complex mental and cognitive process that
requires more than just deriving meaning from the text. It may involve the reader’s both
bottom-up process of analyzing textual information word by word and top-down processing
of using prior knowledge to comprehend the text (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990). Teachers
of English language learners (ELLs) in Taiwan should seek out more effective ways to help
students use strategies to comprehend a text. O’Malley et al. (1990) also claim that there
is a need for teachers to provide students with self-report strategies use so that students can
understand and apply them into the language tasks.
The Think-aloud Approach
Researchers studying reading strategies have used the “think-aloud protocol” in their
study, in which subjects verbalize their thoughts while involving in a cognitive activity to
probe how language learners process text while reading (Parera, 2006; Feng & Mokhtari,
1998; Abraham & Vann, 1987). Meanwhile, the think-aloud approach has also been used
as an instructional strategy in classrooms to demonstrate how skilled readers construct
meaning from text (Smith, 2006; Walker, 2005; Migyanka, Policastro & Lui, 2006; Oster,
2001; Wilhelm, 2001). During think-alouds, teachers present how they interact with text
by verbalizing what they are thinking while reading.
Numerous studies have evidenced that the think-aloud approach plays an essential
role in enhancing English as a first or second language learners’ reading comprehension
abilities, especially for struggling readers. Smith (2006) devised a productive technique,
ThinkAloud Mysteries, similar to the think-aloud approach, for teaching comprehension
strategies to struggling readers in elementary or even middle school. In addition to
think-aloud methods, Walker (2005) utilized self-evaluation sheets to make think-aloud
processes more explicit among middle school students who had a passive stance on reading
for several summers in a reading center. Migyanka et al. (2006) also enriched three
primary grade students’ utilization of reading comprehension strategies by using think-aloud
methods.
The think-aloud approach is not only a practical research tool to investigate
language learners’ reading strategies but also an effective instructional technique to benefit
students’ reading comprehension. One noteworthy problem with think-alouds is that few
studies directly examined the relationship between text-difficulty and think-alouds.
Caldwell and Leslie (2003) emphasized that, “the link between thinking aloud and
comprehension improvement may be affected by variable other than the strategy itself.”
Hence, the effects of text difficulty when conducting the think-aloud approach are also
discussed in the second case study below.
Definition of Terms
Comprehension strategy instruction. Comprehension strategy instruction is a
method of direct and explicit teaching of comprehension strategies in order to help students
become more proficient readers with the ability to apply a set of effective and
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research-proven reading strategies to increase their understanding and thinking and to
monitor and repair their own comprehension. In comprehension strategy instruction,
teachers explicitly teach comprehension strategies and reading skills through mental
modeling, scaffolding, thinking aloud, and application. By learning comprehension
strategies, most readers know how to use certain skills and approaches to make a text more
comprehensible, meaningful, and memorable. In the historical context, comprehension
strategy instruction is referred to as “reading comprehension strategies instruction” or a
shorter term is “comprehension instruction” or “strategy instruction.”
EFL. EFL is the abbreviation for English as a foreign language.
ELLs. ELLs is the abbreviation for English language learners.
ESL. ESL is the abbreviation for English as a second language.
Reading comprehension strategies. Reading comprehension strategies are “an
intentional plan that readers use to help themselves make sense of their reading. Strategies
are flexible and can be adapted to meet the demands of the reading task. Good readers use
lots of strategies to help themselves make sense of text” (Tovani, 2000, p. 5). The precise
number of comprehension strategies in reading research is unknowable (Cramer, 2004).
Method
Case Study 1: Strategies Used by a Struggling EFL Reader
Subject
Wang, the participant of this study, was an EFL college student aged 22 with a
low-level of English proficiency. Wang has learned English since he was in fifth grade
and has learned English for more than ten years. However, he showed little interests in
English and was defined as a poor English learner and reader by his English teacher. In
the first two years at college, he got about 60~65 scores in English performance tests.
Instruments
The instruments in the data collection of case study one include pre- and postreading comprehension test, reading strategy instruction, and the think-aloud approach.
The reading comprehension tests were used to elicit the subject’s use of reading strategies
through the think-aloud approach. Reading strategy instruction was conducted by the
researcher and lasted for three weeks. The reading strategy instruction integrated the
following three categories of strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, and testing strategies, to
enhance the student’s English reading comprehension. In addition, the reading sections of
the Far East General English Proficiency Test were selected as the teaching material. The
objective of this course was to explain and model a series of strategies through the
researcher’s lecturing.
Results and Discussion
Before Reading Strategy Instruction
In order to examine Wang’s existing strategy use before the reading strategy
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Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
instruction, he was asked to take a reading comprehension test with time limit, and the test
was composed of two articles (length from 80~85 words), followed by some multiple
choice questions. These two articles were excerpted from the Far East General English
Proficiency Test (beginning level), which was a little beyond Wang’s current level.
The result of Wang’s strategy use before reading strategy instruction indicated that
Wang, as a struggling adult EFL learner, had basically some awareness of strategies and was
able to use them when reading English texts. In the test, he used more cognitive strategies
than testing and metacognitive strategies. Cognitive strategies, which accounted for 77.77
% (almost 78%) of his strategies use, involved word-by-word translation, meaningful
translation, underlying keywords, guessing meaning from the context, word association, and
inferring, while metacognitive and testing strategies, accounted for 2.78 % (almost 3%) and
19.45 % respectively, involved self-correction, eliminating unrelated answers and looking
for main points in details (see Table 1 and Figure 1).
Table 1 Frequency count of reading strategies through thinking aloud (pretest)
Strategy types
Cognitive
strategies
Strategies
Times
Percent
1. word-by-word translation (literal)
2. meaningful translation
3. underline keywords to highlight the
importance
4. Guessing meaning from the context
6
4
7
16.67 %
11.11 %
19.44 %
7
19.44 %
5. Word association
6. Inferring meaning from text clues
3
1
8.33 %
2.78 %
28
77.77 %
subtotal
Strategies used in
answering questions
1 (2), 4 (2), 17(1), 13(1)
1 (1), 2 (2), 4(1)
3 (1), 4 (1), 6 (1), 10(1),
11(1), 15(1), 18(1),
1 (1), 2 (1), 4 (1), 6 (1),
8 (1), 13(1), 18 (1)
1 (1), 2 (1), 10(1)
7 (1)
Metacognitive
Strategies
7. self-correction
subtotal
1
1
2.78 %
2.78 %
18 (1)
Testing
Strategies
8. eliminating unrelated answers
9. look for main points in details
subtotal
5
2
7
13.89 %
5.56 %
19.45 %
6 (2), 12(1), 18 (2)
7 (1), 18(1)
36
100%
total
Figure 1 Percent of Frequency count of reading strategies through thinking aloud
Strategies usage (Pretest)
19%
3%
Cognitive
Metacognitive
Testing
78%
After Reading Strategy Instruction
After three weeks reading strategy instruction, Wang was asked to take another test
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from the Far East General English Proficiency Test from the section of the same level and
his use of reading strategies during the test was also elicited by the think-aloud approach.
In the post-test, the most common strategies used remained cognitive strategies,
which accounted for 73.91 % (almost 74%) of his strategy use. Strategies added to the
previous list after the strategy instruction were chunking context with vocabulary words and
chunking context with discourse markers. Chunking context with vocabulary words
means that the student used the words he knew to understand the context. For example, in
the sentence “When you go to the bank to open an account, the bank teller will ask you to
fill out an application form,” Wang didn’t know the meaning of “account” and “application
form,” but he used his already known words such as “bank, open, fill” and inferred that the
context might be 去銀行開 “戶”，要填 “單子” 之類的意思. Another similar strategy
he used to comprehend the relationship between sentences was chunking context with
discourse markers, because Wang was told that making a good use of discourse markers
(e.g., however, because, so, but) could help him comprehend the text better even with
limited vocabulary size.
Compared the results to Wang’s strategy use before reading strategy instruction, the
number of meaningful translation increased, and the number of word-by-word or literal
translation decreased in the post-test. This indicated that after receiving the strategy
instruction, Wang began to integrate all information in the texts, figure out the meaning, and
get the gist of the text. In the post-test, the new added strategies such as chunking context
with vocabulary words, chunking context with discourse markers, time-monitoring
strategies, and skimming for questions first were strategies taught explicitly by the
researcher during the strategy instruction (see Table 2 and Figure 2).
Table 2
Strategy types
Cognitive
strategies
Frequency count of reading strategies through thinking aloud (posttest)
Strategies
Times
1. word-by-word translation
4
8.7 %
1 (1), 9 (1), 11 (1), 12 (1)
2. meaningful translation
8
17.39 %
1 (1), 2 (1), 3 (1), 4 (1), 12
(1), 13 (1), 17 (1), 18 (1)
3. underline keywords to
highlight the importance
6
13.04 %
1 (2), 3 (1), 11 (2), 13 (1)
4. Guessing words from the
context.
2
4.35 %
3 (1), 12 (1)
5. Word association
5
10.87 %
1 (2), 2 (1), 11 (1), 16 (1),
6. Inferring meaning from text
clues
2
4.35 %
7 (1), 18 (1)
7. Chunking context with
vocabulary words
4
8.7 %
1 (1), 2 (2), 4 (1)
8. Chunking context with
discourse markers.
3
6.52 %
3 (1), 4 (1), 11 (1)
158
Percent
Strategies used in
answering questions
Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
subtotal
Metacognitive
Strategies
Testing
Strategies
34
73.91 %
9. self-correction
1
2.17 %
6 (1)
10. Time-monitoring
1
2.17 %
9 (1)
subtotal
2
4.35 %
11. eliminating unrelated
answers
4
8.7 %
6 (1), 8 (1), 17 (1), 18 (1)
12. look for main points in
details
1
2.17 %
7 (1)
13. skimming questions first
5
10.87 %
6 (1), 7 (1), 8 (1), 17 (1), 18
(1)
subtotal
10
21.74 %
total
46
100
Figure 2
Percent of Frequency count of reading strategies through thinking aloud
22%
4%
Cognitive
Metacognitive
Testing
74%
Case Study 2: Strategies Used by a Proficient EFL Reader
Participant
Ling, the participant, has been learning English over thirteen years since her first
year in the junior high school. She is 24 years old and holds a bachelor’s degree of
English Language and Literature from a university in northern Taiwan. Ling was fond of
learning English and appreciated American or British culture through watching English
movies or browsing English picture books in the library. Her English proficiency has
achieved the high-intermediate level in the GEPT. In the interview, Ling mentioned that
her purpose of learning English before was for preparing for English tests while after
graduation she felt a strong need to use and improve her English.
Instruments
The instruments used in the data collection of case study two include an interview
guide for pre- and post interview and two English articles for the think-aloud tasks. For
the interviews, the researcher invented 22 questions altogether to serve as interview
questions when conducting semi-structured interviews. The materials used in the
think-aloud tasks consisted of expository passages varying in different levels (less/more
difficult) in English. Two English articles were selected from the Reader’s Digest. The
first article was less difficult that contained 156 words while the slightly difficult one
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contained 194 words. Both reading materials were authentic and the first article was close
to the level of a high-intermediate English learner while the second one was more advanced.
Both topics in the two articles selected were related to the subject’s daily life to control the
effect of one’s prior knowledge
Procedures
In Step one, the researcher interviewed Ling to understand her English learning
background, motivation to learn English, and perceptions on the use of reading strategies.
In Step two, the researcher demonstrated how to do the think-aloud task when reading a text
“True Colors,” selected from the Studio Classroom. After the researcher had done the
think-aloud task for the first paragraph in the article, the participant was asked to practice
thinking-aloud while reading the second paragraph. In Step three, two English articles,
“Take Control in the Supermarket” and “Keep Out Keyloggers” were used for formal data
collection. Ling was required to read those two passages with think-aloud. During the
reading time, the researcher noted the questions and used an MP3 player to record the
think-aloud protocols. In Step four, an oral post-interview was conducted, in which the
researcher asked Ling about her perceptions on these two reading materials and how she
used reading strategies during reading. The recorded data of the subject’s think-aloud in
reading two English articles were both transcribed verbatim.
Results and Discussion
In the study of case two, the objective is to investigate the differences of reading
strategies perceived by Ling in the pre-interview and actually used by her during reading.
The transcripts from the recorded data of the subject’s think-aloud were analyzed and
categorized into fifteen kinds of reading strategies. In addition, Ling’s perceived reading
strategies that were identified in the pre-interview data were categorized into ten kinds of
reading strategies, in which five strategies overlapped with those identified in the
think-aloud.
The Subject’s Perceived Reading Strategies
In the pre-interview, Ling mentioned ten types of reading strategies in her reading
experiences. Her ten reading strategies were classified into three categories: memory
strategy, cognitive strategy and metacognitive strategy.
Examples for the perceived reading strategies by the subject excerpted from the data
during the pre-interview were as follows: for using imagery, Ling mentioned that she
usually imaged settings that were related to the topics of the reading texts while reading.
For representing sounds in memory, Ling memorized English vocabulary by sounding out
the word. For the repeating strategy, Ling reread a certain English paragraph when she
couldn’t comprehend the passage. For the taking notes strategy, Ling usually took notes
while listening to lectures during English courses in school. For the highlighting strategy,
Ling expressed that she usually underlined the keywords in English texts to capture the
main ideas of the texts. For the self-evaluating strategy, Ling would practice grammar
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Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
exercises in her textbooks or workbooks to evaluate her understanding of English
grammatical rules.
Reading Strategies Actually Used by the Subject
In two think-aloud tasks, fifteen strategies actually used by the subject were
identified. These reading strategies were categorized into four categories: memory
strategy, cognitive strategy, metacognitive strategy and social-affective strategy.
The following examples for the reading strategies utilized by Ling were excerpted
from the recorded data. For associating/elaborating strategy, Ling said, “You’ll head
straight for the checkout when it starts to get heavy. 嗯，這是個好方法，之後買東西要注
意。” In this case, Ling associated the reading text with her daily life. For using imagery,
Ling said, “不曉得 Keyloggers 是什麼東西，可我看到圖，就猜是類似監視器那種東西。＂
For repeating strategy, Ling said, “要再看一次.” For translating strategy, Ling translated,
“Pick up a basket. 先拿籃子.” For reasoning deductively, Ling mentioned, “Websites
hosting spyware such as malicious keyloggers has also increased from 260 to 2157 in the
past year. 他在講這種好像受到監視的問題，去年已經惡壞了，可是從兩百六到兩千一
百五十七，他沒有單位，我就覺得什麼意思，很奇怪。” For self-monitoring, Ling
guessed, “Websense, revealed that more than half of companies surveyed reported spyware
infestation. 我這就有點要猜，因為看文法看不懂，這一句他好像有一些被監視的一些
病毒感染，他好像是在講監視病毒感染的問題。” For the strategy of listening to your
body, “嗯，(這個) 聽起來蠻可怕的。” These examples reveal parts of the subject’s
reading strategies in the two reading tasks from two think-alouds.
Comparisons of Reading Strategies Perceived and
Actually Used by the Subject
Table 3 illustrates the differences of reading strategies perceived and actually used
by the subject. Apparently, the types of perceived reading strategies in sum are five less
than reading strategies used in the think-aloud tasks. In memory strategy category, the
perceived reading strategies didn’t include associating/elaborating while reading strategies
in the two think-aloud tasks didn’t include representing sounds in memory. The strategy
using imagery was both perceived and used by Ling. In cognitive strategy category,
reasoning deductively, analyzing expressions, translating and using linguistic clues were not
included in the perceived reading strategies, while practicing naturalistically, using sources
for receiving and sending messages and taking notes were not used in the two think-aloud
tasks. Perceived and actually used strategies included four same types of reading
strategies in cognitive strategy category: repeating, getting the idea quickly, highlighting
and using other clues. In the metacognitive strategy category, the perceived reading
strategy didn’t contain self-monitoring while the reading strategies during the two
think-alouds didn’t indicate self-evaluating. As for the social-affective strategy category,
none of the perceived reading strategies belonged to this category while the reading
strategies during the think-aloud tasks contained four more reading strategies: taking risks
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wisely, listening to your body, asking for clarifying/verification and asking for correction.
Both perceived reading strategies and strategies actually used in the two think-aloud tasks
indicated that Ling tended to use more cognitive strategies. The findings suggest that
proficient English learners may unconsciously use more reading strategies than they are
aware of while reading English texts.
Table 3
Differences of Reading Strategies Perceived and Actually Used by the Subject
Category
Memory Strategy
Strategy
Perceived Reading
Reading Strategies used in the
Strategies (n=10)
Two think-aloud Tasks (n=15)
◎
Associating /elaborating
Using imagery
◎
Representing sounds in memory
◎
◎
Cognitive strategy Repeating
Practicing naturalistically
◎
Getting the idea quickly
◎
Using resources for receiving and
◎
◎
◎
◎
sending messages
Reasoning deductively
◎
Analyzing expressions
◎
Translating
◎
Taking notes
◎
Highlighting
◎
◎
◎
Using linguistic clues
◎
Using other clues
◎
◎
Metacognitive
Self-monitoring
Strategy
Self-evaluating
Social-affective
Taking risks wisely
◎
strategy
Listening to your body
◎
Asking for clarifying/verification
◎
Asking for correction
◎
◎
P.S. The symbol “◎” in the column indicates the utilization of the reading strategy.
The Least and the Most Reading Strategies Utilized by the Subject
As we can see from table 4, Ling utilized overall eighty-three times of reading
strategies in two think-aloud tasks. The most frequent used reading strategy category was
cognitive strategy, which contained forty-four times in the two think-aloud tasks. On the
other hand, the least frequent used reading strategy category was metacognitive strategy,
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Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
which contained only ten times of the reading strategy use in the think-aloud tasks. The
most frequent reading strategy used was translating while the least ones were highlighting
and asking for correction. The findings demonstrate that the subject tended to use more
translating to assist her in making meaning from English texts and further interacting with
the texts.
Table 4
Frequency Use of Reading Strategies in Two Think-aloud Tasks by the Subject
Category
Memory Strategy
Strategy
Article 1(Frequency of Article 2 (Frequency of Total Frequency Use in
Use) Less Difficult
Use) More Difficult
Each Strategy
Associating /elaborating
7
6
13
Using imagery
1
1
2
8
7
15
Repeating
1
3
4
Getting the idea quickly
3
1
4
Reasoning deductively
1
3
4
subtotal
Cognitive strategy
Analyzing expressions
0
4
4
Translating
9
5
14＊
Highlighting
1
0
1
Using linguistic clues
4
2
6
Using other clues
2
5
7
21
23
44 ＊
5
5
10
5
5
10
5
subtotal
Metacognitive
Self-monitoring
Strategy
subtotal
Social-affective
Taking risks wisely
2
3
strategy
Listening to your body
0
2
2
Asking for
2
4
6
0
1
1
4
10
14
38
45＊
83
clarifying/verification
Asking for correction
Subtotal
Total
The symbol “＊” represents the most strategies used
The Effects of Text Difficulty That Influence the Subject’s
Use of Reading Strategies
Table 4 illustrates that in two think-aloud tasks, the overall frequency use in reading
article two (forty-five times) outnumbered that in reading article one (thirty-eight times).
The findings indicate that Ling utilized more reading strategies while reading the more
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difficult and challenging article. This result suggests that proficient English readers may
be inclined to utilize more reading strategies while reading English materials that are
slightly difficult above their current English proficiency level. The thinking-aloud time
while reading article two lasted for seven minutes, which was much longer than that of
reading article one, four minutes and thirty-seven seconds. The results suggest that more
difficult reading materials are both linguistically and cognitively demanding than less
difficult ones and the former might elicit more strategy use from the reader. Regarding the
post-interview about the subject’s perceptions on the two English reading materials, Ling
felt that article two was more intriguing than article one. Even though Ling was not sure
of some computer technical words in article two, she found that this slightly difficult
English text provided her practical computer information that she didn’t know before.
Ling thought that it was quite boring to read article one since she already had the common
sense discussed in the text. The findings concerning text difficulty evidence that
information gap and background knowledge in English materials play a vital role in
stimulating proficient English readers to interact more with texts to explore unknown
information.
Conclusion and Reflections on the Two Case Studies
In conclusion, the reflections on the first case of this study are, first, the reading
strategy instruction did help the struggling reader Wang to use reading strategies better;
however, the short period of reading strategies training (i.e., three weeks instruction) was
not long enough to offer the student much input and help him internalize the strategy use.
For teaching implications, a prolonged, regular, and constant reading strategy instruction
will be needed; comprehension strategy instruction requires a long-term engagement from
both teachers and students. For the consideration of long-term strategy use, it is also
necessary to investigate the delayed recall of strategy use of the subject. Second, this
study also suggests the importance of an effective reading strategy instruction, that is, the
tenets of Roehler and Duffy’s (1984) Transactional Strategies Instruction (TSI) need to be
promoted in classrooms (Grabe & Stolles, 2001; Pressley, 2002): teachers need to coach
students to use strategies as needed. Mini-lessons can sometimes be given where teachers
teach when and where it is appropriate to use certain strategies, how and why these
strategies are used. Students should be reminded of and discuss frequently the proper use
of strategies. Comprehension strategy instruction must include applying the reading
strategies to multiple texts and different content subjects. Third, although the increasing
strategy use after the strategy instruction suggests that Wang was trying hard to comprehend,
it is obvious that he reported few metacognitive strategies no matter in pre- or post reading
comprehension test. Metacognitive strategies involve thinking, planning and monitoring
one’s own learning process, and it has been considered as a kind of strategy often utilized
by advanced learners during reading. A number of studies on strategies suggest that
metacongivtive strategies can help poor learners’ reading comprehension (Wong, 1987).
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Theory of Reading Strategies and its Application by EFL Learners: Reflections on Two Case Studies
Therefore, the suggestion is to explore how to help poor learners like Wang use more
metacognitive strategies to comprehend the English texts.
For the second case, drawing on findings and discussions of this study, there are
some implications for teaching reading strategies to EFL students at high-intermediate
English proficiency level like Ling. First, teachers should select reading materials that
contain information gap in order to motivate students to utilize more reading strategies
when interacting with texts. In addition, teachers can choose reading materials that are
slightly above the students’ current English proficiency level as Krashen’s (1982) term “i +
1,” so as to stimulate students to adopt more reading strategies to deal with challenging
English texts. Third, students like Ling are often unconscious about how they would
actually utilize reading strategies. It is the teachers’ responsibility to make students
“visualize” the process of their own thinking while reading English texts by adopting
think-aloud activities. Teacher’s demonstrations of think-aloud while reading can assist
students in better understanding how to use reading strategies.
Last but not the least, this study suggests that some research-based principles and
guidelines regarding effective teaching methods of strategies need to be provided for
improving students’ reading comprehension (Center for the Improvement of Early Reading
Instruction [CIERA], 2004; Graves, Juel, & Graves, 2004; Keene & Zimmermann, 1997;
Pressley, 2004): students should be encouraged to coordinate and synthesize the use of
various strategies; good reading comprehension instruction should involve appropriate
teaching materials such as various types of texts, genres (e.g., narrative, expository, poetic),
and school subjects (e.g., social studies, science, literature). In this study, Ling mentioned
in the interview that none of her English teachers ever taught students English learning
strategies directly and explicitly. She said, “If I had been taught English learning strategies
at that time, I would have saved a lot of effort and time in learning English.” She hoped
that English teachers could teach learning strategies to students in order to help them learn a
new language more efficiently and creatively. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “A
student is like a piece of blank paper on which teachers leave a mark.” Teaching EFL
students in Taiwan how to master comprehension strategies to overcome the English
reading difficulties and become life long and avid readers would be one of the best marks
teachers and educators could leave on students in their lives.
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龍華科技大學學報第二十六期,2008.12
閱讀策略理論與應用:兩個英語學習個案之省思
賴雅俐、董毓蓉、羅舒穎
台北市立教育大學英語教學系
摘要
相當多的研究支持英語學習者經由學習閱讀策略可以增進他們的英文閱讀理解
能力，本研究為兩個台灣成人學生閱讀策略的使用與理解情形。第一個研究為閱讀能
力低的英語學習者,研究的啟示為閱讀策略課程需要長時間持續與經常的投入，才能有
較明顯的效果；此外，低能力的英語學習者需要更多後設認知策略來幫助他們增進閱
讀理解能力。第二個研究為閱讀能力稍高的英語學習者, 此研究的啟示為，老師應選
擇稍高於讀者閱讀能力的教材，以激發英語學習者運用更多的策略來讀懂更有挑戰性
的文章。另外，學生經常不暸解自己本身策略的使用情形，因此，老師有責任讓學生
「透視」自己的思考過程，經由老師在閱讀時放聲思考演示過程，可以協助學生更容
易理解如何使用閱讀策略。此研究希望能提供台灣在職老師或想研究閱讀策略的教育
工作者之參考。
關鍵詞:閱讀、策略、英語學習個案
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