ERIC Number: EJ1231222
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1837-6290
EISSN: N/A
Reading Comprehension Strategies Used by Iranian University Students While Reading Academic English Texts
Behtash, Esmail Zare; Barabadi, Akram; Eskandari, Zahra
Issues in Educational Research, v29 n4 p1089-1106 2019
This study was conducted to identify the kinds and frequencies of comprehension strategies mathematics and psychology students employed while reading specialised and nonspecialised English texts. It also investigated whether the two groups differed in the amount and frequency of using the strategies. Ten graduate students (five majoring in mathematics and five in psychology) participated in the study. The kinds of strategies they used while reading English texts were elicited through a think-aloud technique, in which sessions were recorded and transcribed for analyses that identified fifteen comprehension strategies. Both groups relied mostly on a relation strategy while reading their own specialised English text; however, for a nonspecialised and unfamiliar English text, they mostly used linguistic level strategies including dictionary use, analysing words, enunciation, similarity and parts of speech. This study revealed that overall maths students used a greater number of comprehension strategies than psychology students; however, both groups did not differ in the kinds of strategies they used. Keywords, summarising, skipping and general idea were the least frequent strategies used by both groups. The results of this study can give English for specific purposes (ESP) teachers a broader perspective on the use of reading comprehension strategies.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Graduate Students, Reading Comprehension, Reading Strategies, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Majors (Students), Mathematics, Psychology, Protocol Analysis, Reader Text Relationship, English for Special Purposes, Reading Tests, Outcomes of Education
Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc. 5/202 Coode Street, Como, Western Australia 6152, Australia. e-mail: editor@iier.org.au; Web site: http://www.waier.org.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iran
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A