Exploring the role of strategy instruction on learners’ ability to write authentic email requests to faculty

This study used a pre-test post-test research design to investigate the role of explicit strategy instruction on Spanish English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ ability to write authentic email requests to faculty. Drawing on Taguchi’s (2018) classification of pragmatics learning strategies, the instructional intervention followed a strategy-based approach to help learners understand the form–function–context mapping of email requests in the academic context. A total of 110 naturally occurring email requests for action addressed to three faculty members were collected at two different times: as a pre-test (i.e. before engaging learners in the instructional period), and as a post-test (i.e. after learners’ participation in the treatment sessions). Learners’ email messages were analysed considering both their appropriateness of use as well the frequency of utilization of different structural (i.e. subject line, openings and closings) and content components (i.e. request strategies and internal request modifiers). Results showed that strategy instruction helped learners write more appropriate email requests after the instructional period. The findings suggest that arming learners with a variety of strategic tools may lead to pragmatic development in actual language use.

Do EFL Teachers Reduce the Reading Gap in Qatar? A Study of Strategy Instruction in Government Schools

Teachers’ instructional practices are crucial to students’ achievement in reading comprehension. Students’ low English reading competence in Qatar’s government schools raises concerns about not only reading comprehension strategy instruction, but also, subsequently, learning as a natural outcome of teachers’ praxis. This quantitative survey investigated English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension strategy instruction of a broad cross-sectional sample of (1-12) EFL teachers (n=754) of government schools in Qatar. The study examines teachers’ most frequently used strategies and explicit strategy instruction. To relate the findings of an exploratory data analysis, descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, and frequencies, were calculated for each 5-point Likert scale questionnaire item using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-Version 24) statistics software. Results revealed that participant teachers reported a generally moderate and high frequency of using comprehension strategies (lowest mean 3.56 and highest mean 4.52). The seven most used strategies (mean score ≥4) were: Identify main ideas, set purpose for reading, predictions, preview text, monitor comprehension, prior knowledge activation, and handle unfamiliar words. Conversely, the five strategies reported a comparatively lower use frequency (mean score ˂4) were: Text structure, questioning, visualizing, summarizing, and think aloud. The major findings on explicit strategy instruction indicated that teachers ignored the gradual release of responsibility to students. The implications of these findings suggest that EFL teachers demonstrate moderate use of reading comprehension strategy instruction. Further recommendations for the Ministry of Education, school principals, and teachers are offered.

Using role play and explicit strategy instruction to improve first-year students’ academic reading proficiency

Background: Many first-year students find the reading of academic texts to be challenging and overwhelming. In particular, first-year students studying sociology at the South African institution where the study was conducted complain of comprehension challenges. This may be due to the presence of numerous theoretical and abstract concepts in sociology texts, which have to be unpacked in order to gain a greater understanding of social phenomena. A high level of reading proficiency is required in the reading of sociology texts; however, some students are poor readers and find it difficult to cope.Objectives: The article reports on a support programme aimed at improving first-year sociology students’ academic reading proficiency.Method: In addition to explicit strategy instruction, which has been used by many researchers to improve reading comprehension, role play was introduced to the reading of sociology texts during tutorials in order to promote deep reading and improve comprehension. Pre-tests and post-tests, together with closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires, were used to determine the efficacy of the intervention. The tests were analysed using t-tests, and the questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics for the closed-ended section and content analysis for the open-ended questions.Results: The findings showed that a significant number of students had improved their reading proficiency and reported both cognitive and affective benefits.Conclusion: Recommendations are made in relation to the use of role play in addition to explicit strategy instruction in order to maximise the improvement of students’ academic reading ability.

The impact of explicit strategy instruction on EFL secondary school learners’ reading

This article reports findings from a larger research project which aimed to promote learner autonomy among Thai secondary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) through strategy-based instruction (SBI). The study involved 30 learners from an intervention class and 32 learners from a comparison class. Nine strategies were introduced to the intervention class learners over a semester with the purpose of helping them develop essential skills for strategic and autonomous language learning. This article focuses on examining how explicit teaching of strategies in class affected learners’ reading scores and approaches to reading. It also observes the effects of SBI on learners’ perceptions of their ability to read English. Findings from the pre-, post- and delayed reading tests and think-aloud reading sessions showed significant increase in the intervention class learners’ reading test scores and their enhanced strategic approaches to reading. Group interviews further revealed learners’ positive attitudes towards English reading and increased confidence in their ability to manage their reading process independently. This article argues that explicit strategy instruction can help language learners develop essential strategic skills to process English texts. It also discusses how SBI can be effectively implemented in language classrooms.

Practitioners respond to Suzanne Graham's ‘Research into practice: Listening strategies in an instructed classroom setting’. (2017)

With a certain tone of concern, Suzanne Graham's article presents readers with a series of perceived problems related to current methods of teaching listening skills in the second language classroom. The general explanation behind these observations is the author's perception that language teachers’ practices do not ‘reflect current thinking from the research strategy literature’ (p. 108). Graham argues that research findings on the benefits of explicit strategy instruction are not being utilized in the classroom and that the research-based pedagogical approaches that are being used are often over-applied.

Developing Learners’ Cognitive Strategies and the Motivation to Use Them: Rethinking Education Policy

Strategies—and the motivation to use them—are critical to helping learners solve complex problems and complete complex tasks. These strategies and motivation are specific to certain domains—such as science—and even specific to certain tasks. Policies to improve learners’ strategies and motivations should consider the learners themselves, the teacher, and the learning environment. With regard to learners, teachers should explicitly foster an array of learner strategies and teach them when and how to use them; teachers should expect development across learners to vary depending on other cognitive aspects, such as knowledge, as well as other motivational aspects, such as their interest. Policies should enable and encourage teachers to individualize explicit strategy instruction for each student with teachers developing their own strategy instruction by reflecting on that instruction using action research (i.e., research that is done by teachers in their own areas of practice).