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.

Effect of CALLA metacognitive strategy instruction on reading comprehension and reading awareness

This research aim is to analyze whether metacognitive strategy instruction CALLA affects students’ reading comprehension and reading awareness. This research used a quasi-experimental study in forms of pretest, treatment and post-test. Results showed that the group of experimental students had score significantly higher than the control group students on reading comprehension post-test and also showed significantly higher improvement in metacognitive reading strategy awareness and reading comprehension than control group students. The study recommends CALLA metacognitive strategy instruction to be an effective option for teaching reading comprehension skills at the senior high school level and in the contexts, which share similar characteristics.

The Effect of LLS Instruction on the Use of Writing Strategies in English by Foreign Postgraduate Students in India

This study intends to examine the impact of Strategy-Based Instruction on the strategy use by foreign post-graduate students, studying at two universities in India while writing in English. A total of one hundred students, who are non-native speakers of English, participated in this study. Fifty students in the experimental group received writing instruction through an online platform. The results were compared to their fifty counterparts in the control group. All the participants received an adapted version of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SIIL) Questionnaire and a Writing Questionnaire as the pretest and posttest. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests were run to analyze the data using SPSS. The findings showed that students who received language learning strategy instruction recorded higher scores than the students who did not receive any kind of instruction towards the skill of writing academic essays. The results revealed that students’ use of strategies in writing increased noticeably after strategy instruction and implied that students can be trained to use language-learning strategies successfully in their writing through direct strategy instruction.

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.

Supporting Content and Disciplinary Literacy Success for Adolescents With LLD: A Blended and Contextualized Morphological Awareness Strategy Approach

Purpose: As adolescents progress through the upper grades, reading and writing demands become increasingly challenging for students with and without a language and literacy deficit (LLD). The literacy education community recommends that reading and writing instruction be infused in the academic curriculum and emphasizes disciplinary literacy practices. Disciplinary literacy may be too advanced for adolescents with LLD who have not yet mastered foundational written language skills. Method: A discussion is provided for how general strategy instruction, also referred to as a content area or a content literacy approach, might be integrated with disciplinary literacy practices for adolescents with and without LLD. We specifically present how morphological awareness intervention, with an explicit focus on meaning structure and related language analysis of words, can be linked to learning academic vocabulary. Our blended approach includes both content and disciplinary literacy strategies in the context of the academic science curriculum. Conclusions: Adolescents with and without LLD require ongoing support of their literacy development well beyond the elementary school years. It is important that this support include not only mastery of foundational general strategies to access complex text content in a proficient manner but also active and explicit reflection on the social complexities of text as it relates to specific disciplines. Together, such instruction and intervention, when directly applied to the academic curriculum, can help older students of all abilities achieve the optimal comprehension and learning required for academic success.

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Reading Comprehension Interventions on the Reading Comprehension Outcomes of Struggling Readers in Third Through 12th Grades

Informed by theories of reading comprehension and prior reviews of reading comprehension intervention, this meta-analysis uniquely contributes to the literature because it describes the relative effects of various approaches to comprehension intervention for struggling readers in Grades 3 through 12. Findings from 64 studies demonstrate significant positive effects of reading comprehension intervention on comprehension outcomes ( g = .59, p < .001, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.47, 0.74], τ2 = .31). A metaregression model indicated significantly higher effects associated with researcher-developed measures, background knowledge instruction, and strategy instruction, and significantly lower effects associated with instructional enhancements. Grade level, metacognitive approaches, and study quality did not moderate effects. Findings support the use of background knowledge instruction and strategy instruction to support comprehension of struggling readers in upper elementary and beyond.

Accommodations Knowledge and Practice for Students With Visual Impairments

Introduction Classroom accommodations are a primary means of supporting the appropriate education for students with disabilities. Student involvement in the accommodation process is valuable. Therefore, we need to teach students to be knowledgeable and strategic regarding their accommodations. Methods Four high school students with visual impairments were taught the Student Self-Accommodation Strategy (SSA). A comparative case studies approach within a sequential explanatory design was used to investigate their accommodations knowledge and practices. Results Participants improved or maintained accommodations knowledge. Their most-used types of accommodations were access accommodations and accommodations for content support. Three of the participants increased advocacy after strategy instruction. The participants’ accommodation practices were influenced by emotional-behavioral regulation, independence, and teacher involvement. Discussion Findings from this study relate to existing literature on accommodations support, teacher involvement in the accommodations process, instruction in accommodations advocacy, and the relationship between accommodations and emotional-behavioral dysregulation. Implications Findings emphasize the need to be explicit about the accommodations available to students with visual impairments and the need for strategy instruction in the SSA to address emotional-behavioral dysregulation.