Exploring the Comprehension Strategies of EFL Readers: A Multi-Method Study (original) (raw)

Abstract

A study investigated the strategies used by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to comprehend texts written in English. Subjects were 15 student teachers enrolled at a state university in Indonesia. Data were gathered using think-aloud tasks, retellings, a reading comprehension test, in-depth interviews, and casual observation. Two students' strategy profiles are presented here, including the text used and points at which the students were asked to think aloud, data on the 'Dccurrence of specific strategies used by each student, excerpts from the protocols (in Indonesian), and discussion of the findings. It is concluded that while both students were considered above-average readers, the strategies they used showed both similarities and differences. Both used a high proportion of paraphrasing and inferring strategies. The students appeared to use differential monitoring processes, text evaluation, exemplification, and approaches to understanding text construction. Observations are made about the utility of the different types of data gathering (retellings, comprehension test, interviews, observations) in addition to the think-aloud protocol. Contains 20 references. (MSE)

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References (20)

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