Improving 10th graders’ reading comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training an action research project at a high school in hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

BUI THI HONG

IMPROVING 10TH GRADERS’ READING COMPREHENSION
THROUGH COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY TRAINING:
AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN hanoi
(Cải thiện việc đọc hiểu của học sinh lớp 10 thông qua việc luyện tập chiến lược
đọc hiểu tri nhận: Nghiên cứu hành động tại một trường cấp 3 tại Hà Nội)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 8140231.01

Hanoi-2020


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

BUI THI HONG

IMPROVING 10TH GRADERS’ READING COMPREHENSION
THROUGH COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY TRAINING:
AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI
(Cải thiện việc đọc hiểu của học sinh lớp 10 thông qua việc luyện tập chiến lược
đọc hiểu tri nhận: Nghiên cứu hành động tại một trường cấp 3 tại Hà Nội)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 8140231.01

Supervisor : Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa

Hanoi-2020


DECLARATION
I hereby state that I – Bui Thi Hong, being an M.A. candidate of the
Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authority of the
study entitled “Improving students’ reading comprehension through
cognitive reading strategy training: An action research at a high school in
Hanoi”. This thesis is the study of my own research and the substance of the
thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other
universities or institutions.

Hanoi, 2020

Bui Thi Hong

Approved by

SUPERVISOR
(signature and full name)

T.S. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa
Date:...........................................

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude and love to my
supervisor, Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, for her guidance, comments and
especially her sympathy throughout the whole research process.
I am also grateful to all lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies,
ULIS, VNU, whose lectures and guidance have contributed to my
understanding of the problem and led to the completion of this thesis. My
words of thanks would also go to the examiners who will spend their time
reading and commenting on this thesis.
Especially, I wish to show my appreciation to my students of class 10X1
at a high school in Hanoi, who were really helpful and cooperative in the
implementation of the study.
Last but not least, I would also like to take this opportunity to send my
love to my family who aslo encourage and support me whole-heartly.

ii


ABSTRACT

Reading in foreign language is considered one of the most challenging
and difficult tasks that most of EFL learners face. Due to the complexity of
this skill, many students suffered from reading for their failure in the
achievement of reading comprehension. For the reason, this action research
aimed at improving reading comprehension among 10th graders at a high
school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy training. After a
preliminary investigation had been carried out, the cognitive reading
comprehension instruction course was designed, and then implemented in the
first semester of the school year 2019-2020 with the participation of 43
students from a class of grade 10 at a high school in Hanoi. The data collected
through the pre-and post-questionnaires, pre-and post-tests and semi-stuctured
interviews revealed that the cognitive reading comprehension strategy course
resulted in a slight improvement in the students’ reading comprehension, but
the students also encountered some obstacles in applying the strategies.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION .............................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................... iv
ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................... viii
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1
1.1. Rationale of the study................................................................................. 1
1.2. Aim of the study ......................................................................................... 2

1.3. Scope of the study ...................................................................................... 3
1.4. Significance of the study ............................................................................ 3
1.5. Research method of the study .................................................................... 3
1.6. Organization of the study ........................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................... 5
2.1. Teaching and learning reading skills in foreign language teaching and
learning .............................................................................................................. 5
2.1.1. The importance of teaching and learning reading skills ......................... 5
2.1.2. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension ................................ 7
2.1.3. Reading comprehension difficulties........................................................ 9
2.2. Reading comprehension strategies ........................................................... 12
2.2.1. Definitions of reading comprehension strategies.................................. 12
2.2.2. Categories of reading strategies ............................................................ 13
2.2.3. The importance of reading strategies .................................................... 13
2.3. Classification of cognitive reading strategies .......................................... 15
iv


2.3.1. Deduction .............................................................................................. 15
2.3.2. Imagery.................................................................................................. 16
2.3.3. Getting the Idea Quickly ....................................................................... 16
2.3.4. Elaboration ............................................................................................ 16
2.3.5. Guessing the meaning of words ............................................................ 17
2.3.6. Resourcing............................................................................................. 17
2.3.7. Repetition .............................................................................................. 18
2.3.8. Grouping................................................................................................ 18
2.3.9. Summarizing ......................................................................................... 18
2.4. Previous Studies ....................................................................................... 19
2.4.1. Foreign research on reading strategies .................................................. 19
2.4.2. Vietnamese research on reading strategies ........................................... 22

2.5. Summary .................................................................................................. 24
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................... 25
3.1. Research context ...................................................................................... 26
3.2. Research Questions .................................................................................. 27
3.3. Research Approach .................................................................................. 27
3.4. Participants ............................................................................................... 29
3.5. Data collection instruments ...................................................................... 29
3.5.1. Questionnaires ....................................................................................... 29
3.5.2. Pre-test and post-test ............................................................................. 30
3.5.3. Interview................................................................................................ 30
3.6. Action Research Procedures .................................................................... 31
3.7. Data Analysis Procedures ........................................................................ 35
3.7.1. Pre-questionnaires before the pre-test ................................................... 35
3.7.2. Pre-test and Post-test ............................................................................. 36
3.7.3. Post-questionnaires after the post-test .................................................. 36
v


3.7.4. Interview................................................................................................ 36
3.8. Summary .................................................................................................. 37
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .......................................... 38
4.1. Preliminary investigation ......................................................................... 38
4.1.1. Findings ................................................................................................. 38
4.1.2. Discussion ............................................................................................. 43
4.2. Evaluation................................................................................................. 45
4.2.1. Research question 1............................................................................... 45
4.2.2. Research question 2............................................................................... 48
4.3. Summary .................................................................................................. 53
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 54
5.1. Summary of main findings ....................................................................... 54

5.2. Pedagogical implications ......................................................................... 55
5.3. Limitations of the research ....................................................................... 56
5.4. Suggestions for further research ............................................................. 56
REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 58
APPENDICES .................................................................................................. I

vi


ABBREVIATIONS

EFL : English as a Foreign Language
CAR : Classroom Action Research

vii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: The Eight – Week – Plan of Reading Strategy Instruction in Class
10X1 ................................................................................................................ 32
Table 4.1: Frequency of Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies before the
Pretest .............................................................................................................. 41
Table 4.2: Descriptive Statistics of Pretest and Posttest ................................. 45
Table 4.3: Paired Samples Statistics ............................................................... 46
Table 4.4: Paired Samples Correlation ........................................................... 46
Table 4.5: Paired Samples Test ....................................................................... 46
Table 4.6: The Cognitive Reading Strategies Students Find Difficult to Apply ......48
Table 4.7: Frequency of Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies after the
Post-Test .......................................................................................................... 50

viii


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1. Action research model (Susman, 1983)........................................ 28
Figure 4.1. The importance of reading skills .................................................. 38
Figure 4.2. Students’ interests in reading comprehension skills..................... 39
Figure 4.3. Students’ difficulties in reading comprehension .......................... 39

ix


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This chapter is primarily concerned with rationale of the study, aim of
the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, research method of the
study and organisation of the study.
1.1. Rationale of the study
English has been adopted in the school curriculum as a compulsory
subject for the last few years. In order to get a good command of English,
students are required to master four macro language skills namely listening,
speaking, writing and reading. Among these skills, reading is regarded as the
most essential because it not only provides students with fruitful knowlege
but also supports learners to enhance other language skills. In the other words,
the requirement of being knowledgeable in this global era can be fulfilled by
reading, so reading ability is a main vehicle for the development of learning
experiences and leads to learning success. Reading serves the wider role of
extending our general knowlegde of the world (Wallace, 1992) and reading is
viewed as the most important skill to master in order to ensure success in
learning as strengthened reading skills facilities greater progress in other areas

of language learning (Anderson, 2003, Hazzard, 2016). Through the reading
process, learners can gain information required to meet the needs of their
study assignments. Therefore, the process of learning to read effectively is the
key factor in achieving success in both study and life.
Many years of my teaching experience at a high school in Hanoi have
pointed that students have been encountering several obstacles in reading
lessons on grounds of their habits of word-by-word reading, excessive focus
on details rather than main ideas, poor vocabulary or limited background
knowledge about given reading topics. Besides, another main reason is that
these students may have problems with reading strategies because these
1


learners may not be aware of the huge benefits of reading comprehension
strategies yet. In deed, learning strategies in reading comprehension have
considerable potentiality for improving the reading competence. Moreover,
appropriate use of learning strategies in reading comprehension can facilitate
reading. Padron and Waxman (1988) show that the gap in reading
comprehension levels between more proficient and less proficient students is
in close relationship with the differences in reading strategies used. The
authors believe that reading strategies are, actually, useful weapons to assist
the students in coping with reading comprehension issues.
In this situation, as a teacher of English at a high school in Hanoi, with a
view to enhancing reading comprehension among 10th graders through
teaching learners effective reading strategies, the researcher attempted to
conduct a study under the title “Improving 10th graders’ reading
comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training at a high school
in Hanoi”. With the great belief that this minor study, to some certain extent,
can support 10th graders at a high school in Hanoi with effective reading
strategies in order that they can read better and get their desirable results in

reading skills.
1.2. Aim of the study
The study aims at improving reading comprehension ability of 10th
grade students at a high school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy
training as well as finding out the difficulties perceived by the students in
applying the strategies.
In order to achieve the above aims, the following research questions
would be enlightened:
- To what extent does explicit cognitive reading strategy training help
improve reading comprehension of 10th grade students at a high school in
Hanoi?
2


- What difficulties are perceived by the students in applying these
cognitive reading strategies?
1.3. Scope of the study
This study focuses on the teaching of cognitive reading strategies to 43
students of 10th grade in the period of ten weeks at a high school in Hanoi, so
the teaching of strategies of other subjects would be beyond the scope of the
study. Additionally, the study also concentrates on discovering what
difficulties are faced by students during applying these reading strategies.
1.4. Significance of the study
Once sucessfully completed, the study’s findings and discussions are
expected to be beneficial to the 10th form students, English teachers, the
researcher herself as well as other researchers. Firstly, cognitive reading
comprehension strategies can provide students with useful techniques for their
self-study to improve their reading skills and to solve reading comprehension
obstacles. Secondly, teachers of English can recognise the significant benefits
of these strategies in teaching reading comprehension. Based on the findings,

teachers could adapt their current situation of teaching reading so that they
would improve their students’ reading comprehension. Also, there are some
suggested solutions for teachers to prepare efficient techniques to motivate
students’ participation in their studying and to teach them how to read
effectively. Besides, this study is expected to bring the researcher an
invaluable experience as it supplies her with knowledge and techniques to
teach reading comprehension strategies. Finally, the study enriches the
literature review for other reseachers who would like to conduct the study of
the same field interest related to reading strategies.
1.5. Research method of the study
In order to fulfill the above-mentioned aims, this study was carried out
according to the following steps in an action research model, simply because
3


action research was first and foremost situational, being concerned with
identification and solution of problems in a specific context to enhance the
current state of cognitive reading comprehension among 10th graders at a
high school in Hanoi. In this case, the research was primarily based on the
model of Susman’s model (1983), which

consists of five phases to be

conducted within each research cycle, namely diagnosing, action planning,
taking action, evaluating and specifying learning. Research data was collected
with a number of instruments including one pre-questionnaire, one pre-test,
one post-test, one post-questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. After a
preliminary investigation had been carried out, a cognitive reading strategy
training course was designed, and then implemented with the participation of
43 10th grade students at a high school in Hanoi.

1.6. Organization of the study
The thesis consists of five main parts:
Chapter 1: Introduction: This chapter includes a rationale of the study,
aim of the study, significance of the study, research method and organization
of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature Review: This chapter is about review of the
literature related to the research topic, which serves as a theoretical foundation of
the study.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology: This chapter provides information
about the research context, participants, research approach, data collection
instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures.
Chapter 4: Results and Discussion: This chapter is the main part of the
body, which reports and discusses the main findings according to the research
questions.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the findings,
pedagogical implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for the
further study.
4


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter focuses on teaching and learning skills in foreign language
teaching and learning, reading comprehension strategies, the importance of
reading strategies, classification of cognitive reading strategies and previous
studies.
2.1. Teaching and learning reading skills in foreign language teaching
and learning
2.1.1. The importance of teaching and learning reading skills
It is common knowledge that listening, speaking, reading and writing are

four macro language skills. Of these skills, listening and reading are the
receptive skills whereas the remaining two are the productive skills. These
fundamental skills are developed through a sound programme of teaching a
language and only a good reading skill enables the students to learn other
school subjects effectively and accurately. Thus, teaching reading to students
can help them lay the foundation for the rest of their academic career, and
depending on the effectiveness of reading, it can bring learners up to success
or not. Anderson (2003) states that reading is the most important skill to
master in order to ensure success in learning and strengthened reading skills
facilitates greater progress in other areas of language learning. This shows
that teaching reading to students is really significant in process of learning
foreign languages among students. Moreover, teaching reading across the
curriculum is critical to equip students with the skills they need in all areas of
their education. Effective learning of other school subjects with
comprehension depends on how far the students develop their reading ability.
This means more emphasis should be given to the acquisition and
development of the above stated basic language skills.
5


Students’ progress in educational career can be no higher or swifter than
his progress in reading ability and skills. It is through reading that a man
remains abreast of continuous expansion of the horizon of knowledge and
information in his field of work. Besides, regular reading keeps an individual
well-informed of the latest information in the areas of his interest.
Consequently, the role of learning reading as a tool to get information and
knowledge cannot be underestimated. We know that knowledge is expanding
by leaps and bounds and everyday new knowledge is added to our stock. It
either replaces or supplements the existing knowledge, so most of the things
we read today become obsolete tomorrow. Consequently, if one wants to keep

oneself in constant touch with the latest developments in knowledge, one
should cultivate good reading comprehension ability. According to Carrell
(1984:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most vital of the four
macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language”.
Reading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it
supports learning in many ways. Firstly, reading material is a language input
because students given a variety of materials to read will have many
opportunities to absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and
discourse structure. Secondly, reading for content information in the language
classroom provides students with both authentic reading material and an
authentic purpose for reading. Thirdly, reading helps students broaden their
knowledge of the lifestyle and worldviews of the people whose language they
are studying. Reading can, further, be considered as one of the tools of
communication, essential for the existence of man in the complex pattern of
the society. Besides, it is the means by which every age is linked with one
another. It makes it possible for man to perceive himself in the context of
history and the fluid universe.
6


2.1.2. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension
Reading is regarded as an indispensable part in the success of second
language learning, so it is essential for everyone to get much deeper
understanding of the definitions of reading from the different perspectives of
the authors.
Actually, there is a wide variety of definitions related to reading skills. On
the whole, reading is a complex cognitive ability that is considered one of the
basic language skills which can support students in learning foreign language;
however, it is used more by most of EFL learners who always need to read
various printed materials such as: books, stories, articles, poems and so on.

According to Smith (1985:120), “reading is understanding the author’s
thought”. It means that it is necessary for readers to apprehend the author’s
mind, not the author’s words. If the readers only grasp the words in isolation
in the text without understanding the author’s mind, their reading is useless.
According to Hamer (1989:190), reading is “an exercise dominated by
the eyes and the brain. The eyes receive message and the brain then has to
work out the significance of the message”. It reveals that he focuses on two
actions that dominated by the eyes and the brain.
Meanwhile Anderson (1991:1) defines reading as “an active, fluent
process which involves the reader and the reading material in building
meaning”.
In addition, Rubin, and Thomson, (1994:91) offer another definition
of reading: “Reading is an active information-seeking process in which
readers relate information in the text to what they already know”. From
this point of view, the reader’s knowledge of the world is of importance to
their reading success.
Rumelhart (1997) indicates that reading involves the reader, the text, and
7


the interaction between reader and text. It can be seen that the reader and the
text are two essential components of reading process; it is, however, the
interaction between them that composes actual reading. Sharing the same
idea with Rumelhart, Silberstein (1994:12) states that “reading is a
complex cognitive process in which reader and text interact to (re)create
meaningful discourse”.
In short, from these definitions, it is apparent that reading is a process
in which the reader interacts with the text to gain some kinds of meaning.
In fact, each author gives his/her own concept of reading from various
angles. However, most of the definitions have features in common, that is,

the close relationship between reading and understanding; and reading
process which involves the reader, the text and the interaction between the
reader and the text.
Reading comprehension
Reading comprehension is very central in all areas of academic learning
including in acquiring a language. Students need to read books, articles, and
other materials in order to master any subject areas that they learn, and they
have a good reading comprehension to do so whether is is on the first or their
second language. In the other words, reading comprehension can be
understood as the ability to obtain the information as required in the reading
text as efficiently as possible. Different scholars demonstrated various points
of view on the definitions of reading comprehension.
Richard and Good (1978:9) provide a clearer point of view: “Reading
comprehension is best described as an understanding between the author and
the reader. The emphasis is on the reader understanding of the printed page
based on the individual reader’s unique background of experience”.
Also concerning reading comprehension, Roe, Stoodt and Burns
(1987:2)

propose

that

“reading

comprehension
8

is

reconstruction,


interpretation and evaluation of what author of written content means by
using knowledge gained from life experience”.
Another point of view comes from Richard and Thomas (1987). In his
opinion, reading comprehension is a mental process that only the reader finally
understands the text based on the past experience. That knowledge is, then,
used in trying to get meaning out of printed text. Therefore, the process of
comprehending involves decoding the writer’s words and using the background
knowledge to construct an approximate understanding of the writer’s passage.
Sharing with this theory, Lenz (2000:3) also says that “reading comprehension
is the process of constructing meaning from the text.”
One more perspective of reading comprehension from Kendeou (2014)
indicates that reading comprehension is considered as a process to understand,
use, reflect on, and engage written texts so as to achieve one’s goals, to
develop one’s knowledge and potential, and to participate in society.
In brief, from these opinions, what comes up a common point is that
reading comprehension not only understands simply what is written, but also
stimulates students to remember from their experiences. That knowledge is
then used to get meaning out of printed page, but in the mind of the readers
which includes facts, emotion, belief and critical evaluation. It can be
concluded that reading comprehension is the process of understanding what is
conveyed in the text. On the other hand, it means the readers, as they read,
can recognize the graphic forms of the reading text and understand what is
implied behind these forms.
2.1.3. Reading comprehension difficulties
English language skills are essential in gaining proficiency among
learners and these skills are either receptive or productive skills. Receptive
skills involve reading and listening while productive skills consist of writing

9


and speaking. Learners acquire receptive skills by receiving the language
from oral or written material. In this case, learners decode the meaning to
comprehend the receptive material. The importance of reading as a language
skill

can

never be underestimated. However, studies on

reading

comprehension show that EFL students have faced a range of challenges in
comprehending texts in English.
According to Forget and Bottoms (2000 as cited in Suspancic, 2006),
most students have problems in comprehending and retaining information
when simply reading a text. For instance, students suffer mainly from
understanding vocabulary. On the other hand, lack of understanding might be
as a result of insufficient knowledge of vocabulary. This indicates that there is
a strong correlation between reading comprehension and vocabulary
knowledge and inadequate vocabulary knowledge was recognised as one of
the main issues (Gunning, 2002). Vocabulary plays a main part in
understanding complex reading materials such as textbooks, particularly those
containing technical expressions (Carlisle, 2000; Qian, 2002). This is because
students with poor vocabulary knowledge are facing obstacles in
comprehending technical words such as synonyms, antonyms, or words with
multiple connotations. As a result, they are at a loss how to guess the meaning
of unfamilar words even within the context. Furthermore, a majority of these

learners tend to translate word by word while interpreting the text, and
although they may know the meaning of each word, they are still incapable of
comprehending the ideas conveyed in the text. They also lack a clear purpose
of why they read a text and thus, they tend to use ineffective reading
strategies.
Another problem facing EFL learners is that students have problems
with grammatical sector. In fact, grammatical knowledge makes a
10


contribution to reading comprehension. In addition, the learner’s level of
syntactic knowlege plays a role in their understanding of reading materials
(Shiotsu, and Weir, 2007). In the other words, learners with insufficient
knowledge of grammar might not be able to achieve a higher level of reading
ability. Therefore, readers need L2 syntactic knowledge to integrate their
background knowledge and words’ meaning (Koda, 2005). Furthermore, this
leads to the fact that these learners fail to understand complex sentences or
text complexity in reading comprehension. Complex sentences are sentences
that consist of several clauses, and at times contain conjunctions such as
although, because, furthermore, and however (Scott, 2009). Besides, other
causes of difficulties in reading comprehension among EFL learners include
coordinating conjunctions, prepositional phrases, participal phrases, and
nominalizations. They cause a lot of obstacles in reading comprehension
because they make the writings more complex and difficult to comprehend
(Nuttall, 2000).
Apart from the mentioned problems, one of the main hindrances of
reading comprehension perhaps lies in lack of reading strategies or
appropriate methods to finish readings. In deed, learners have a tendency to
choose the options randomly or read word by word without any necessary
skills to do the text. Although these learners are aware of a variety of

available reading strategies, they completely ignore them. A great deal of
research in first language reading over the last 25 years has shown that
unskilled readers do not use strategies often or effectively (Carell, 1988).
Besides, as stated by Adler (2013) that students also got difficulties in
applying reading strategies in their reading activities. If the students are able
to apply these reading strategies, the comprehension about English text should
not be difficult anymore.
11


It is obvious that there are difficulties or factors such as language
learners’ vocabulary, grammar that hinder their level of reading
comprehension. It is also believed that once the learners solve some of the
problems, the reading skills will be enhanced considerably.
2.2. Reading comprehension strategies
2.2.1. Definitions of reading comprehension strategies
Numerous studies on reading comprehension conducted over the decades
have highlighted the importance of reading comprehension strategies. The
findings of the studies also seemed to indicate a close relationship between
strategy use and reading comprehension performance.
Brown (2007) demonstrates strategies as the specific methods of
approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular
end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information.
A strategy is viewed as a flexible plan or technique used by readers in
the attempt to get information or make meaning from a text (Pearson,
Roehler, Dole & Duffy, 1992). Graves et al. (2007) propose that efficient
readers will use selective strategies intentionally to represent the reading
process, develop comprehension and facilitate in achieving its objectives
(Gunning, 2008; Fauziah, 2008). Generally, the reading comprehension
strategies could be divided into three main categories; metacognitive,

cognitive and affective. This paper, however, only focuses on cognitive
strategies.
According to Cohen (1986), reading strategies refer to those mental
processes that readers consciously choose to use in accomplishing reading
tasks. Supporting this idea, Brantmeier (2002) defines reading strategies as
the comprehension processes that readers use in order to make sense of what
they read.
Brown (1990) considers reading strategies as the ways that help learners
read more quickly and effectively.
12


Another definition of reading strategies was given by O’Malley and
Chamot (1990) is that the term “reading strategies” refers to those conscious
and unconscious procedures, actions, techniques or behaviour that learners
employ so as to enhance their comprehension and make up for interpretation
problems.
Overall, there are many various views about the definitions of reading
strategies depending on different scholars.
2.2.2. Categories of reading strategies
There are two kinds of learning which can also be applied in reading, i.e.
direct strategies and indirect strategies (Oxford, 1990). Direct strategies
consist of memory strategies, cognitive strategies and comprehension
strategies. Meanwhile, indirect strategies are composed of metacognitve
strategies, affective strategies and social strategies. Among these strategies,
cognitive strategies are regarded as the most popular strategies used in
enhancing reading skills. The use of cognitive reading strategies can help
someone to be a more proficient reader. This is supported by the theories of
cognitive reading strategies and the result of the study conducted by Ozek and
Civelek (2006), Ghonsooly and Eghtesadee (2006), and Hamdan et al (2010).

The cognitive reading strategies are also in line with those identified by
O’Malley and Chamot (1990) which include resourcing, repetition, grouping,
deduction, imagery, keyword method, elaboration, inferencing, noting-taking
and summarizing. However, in this minor study, the author only focused on
some of these typical strategies, which are viewed as a useful tool to support
the students with reading strategy difficulties.
2.2.3. The importance of reading strategies
In educational system, most of EFL students confront a great number of
problems especially in comprehension of written materials when reading.
13


With these learners, grasping the meaning of texts may be a great challenge.
For instance, they are able to understand every word and even each sentence,
but unfortunately, they fail to achieve the meaning of text as a whole.
Perhaps, because most of these students lack proper reading strategies, it is
laborious for them to overcome their reading comprehension barriers. It came
to the conclusion that language learning strategies, especially reading ones are
believed to play a basic part in learning a second languge, according to
Bialystok (1979). On the other hand, reading strategies are considered as the
key to the improvement of reading comprehension, especially for poor readers
who always struggle in reading. According to U.S Department of Education
(2014), comprehension strategies are routines and procedures that readers use
to help them make sense of texts. Struggling readers need direct, explicit
instruction

in

comprehension

strategies

to

improve

their

reading

comprehension. It means that practising these strategies will aid students not
only in applying them flexiably but in solving the problems of reading
comprehension as well.
In fact, there is plentiful evidence that has been shown on the importance
of reading strategies and their effective role in enhancing and developing
reading comprehension. Mc Namara (2007:218) views that “reading strategies
are more useful and beneficial for learners who show lack of knowledge in
the domain of reading, as well as those with lower reading skills, these kinds
of learners are strongly needed to these strategies to achieve reading
comprehension”. Hence, the continuous use of reading strategies will lead the
readers to become skilled and later they will be able to utilize the reading
skills acquired without conscious efforts. Moreover, thanks to appropriate
language learning strategies, students are freer to act, to make their own
decision and able to learn constinuously and permanently.
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