The Relationship between Metacognitive Reading Strategies and Reading Comprehension among 2nd Year EFL University Students
Burapha University, Thailand
ABSTRACT
Metacognitive reading strategies influence reading comprehension. Many studies indicated that the effectiveness of metacognitive reading strategies used while reading could help students not only engage in what they read but also expand their reading ability. This study aims at examining the level of reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategies used by second-year EFL English major students in a public university while reading academic texts. Also, this study focuses on determining the relationships between reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategies. The Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) form H and the survey of reading strategies (SORS) were administered to collect the data from 120 participants. The results revealed that the majority of the students were fair readers (mean=22.83 out of 38) based on the NDRT. Also, it was found that the students used the problem-solving strategies (mean=3.71) the global reading strategies (mean= 3.56) at a high level. There were no statistically significant relationships between reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategies. However, based on the interview data, the participants who scored high in the reading test and were considered good readers reported the use of metacognitive reading strategies differently from those who were fair and poor readers while reading academic texts.
KEYWORDS
English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Reading Comprehension, metacognitive reading strategies