Exploring Effective Reading Comprehension Strategies Taught in a Madarasa-cum-School in Karachi

Reading is one of the most essential academic skills that students need in order to carry out their studies at university level. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the effective reading strategies taught in a madrasa-cum-school. The study was qualitative in nature and used a case study design. In this connection, 10 teachers of a madrasa-cum-school were selected as a sample of the population. They were interviewed for 30 to 40 minutes. The interviews were transcribed, and then analysed through thematic analysis. The findings of the research show that the teachers were familiar with the reading comprehension strategies, such as implying, inferring, predicting, making predictions; and they were applying these strategies successfully while teaching reading comprehension.

Exploring EFL university learners’ acquisition of advanced reading skills in the Yemeni context

Reading is an essential language skill for enhancing learners’ performance at various levels of study. However, EFL learners at the tertiary level encounter reading difficulties, particularly in acquiring advanced reading skills, which have affected their reading comprehension and resulted in low academic performance achievement. This is probably attributed to various factors, including learners’ lack of effective reading strategies. A study that exclusively explores reading difficulties encountered by EFL university learners, reasons for the difficulties, and strategies adopted to overcome the difficulties and develop advanced reading skills seem to be scarce in the literature. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to explore the acquisition process of advanced reading skills in EFL tertiary context at a private university in Yemen from learners’ perspective. The study adopted a qualitative approach to gather data from EFL tertiary learners through a focus group discussion. The data were analyzed manually using the indexing approach. Findings revealed that learners face reading difficulties such as inference making, getting the gist of the text, and managing the reading tasks. These difficulties were attributed to linguistic and non-linguistic reasons, and metacognitive, cognitive, and social-affective strategies were used in reading. The study recommends engaging EFL learners in intensive and extensive reading to help them apply the strategies they learn and develop advanced reading skills and better academic performance. Future research studies may focus on strategies for reading fluency.

Reading Aloud and First Language Development: A Systematic Review

Reading aloud appears to be an important lever for improving language acquisition and development in early childhood, and later in life it strengthens many sub-dimensions of language. However, the availability of numerous variations on reading training, shaped by different methodologies and different lengths of exposure make it difficult to determine the best approaches to follow. The aim of this review is to identify the available literature contributions that examine the association between mediated reading training, first language development and the acquisition of new vocabulary, including other components that could be improved by these interventions, such as cognitive function, emergent literacy and adult-child verbal interactions. The purpose is to compare research highlighting their fundamental characteristics, tools, duration and methodologies used in order to point out the effects that the practice of reading aloud produces on the acquisition and the enhancement of language, particularly in the age of language development. The analysis of the 51 articles included aims to identify the most effective reading strategies in terms of practices, timing and methods, able to produce the most significant gains in the language area.

A Review of Effective Reading Strategies to Teach Text Comprehension to Adult English Language Learners

This paper reviews the reading strategies and their theoretical perspectives in reading comprehension inside/outside the classroom. Reading strategies aim to build vocabulary and help integrate the existing knowledge of the readers/learners with the new knowledge through analysis and critical reflection on textual form and content. The study covers four major types of strategies, namely basic differentiated strategies, metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, and socio-affective strategies, to highlight their pedagogical value. The study opens up the research area of how these strategies are viewed as significant, which strategies the teachers and the students neglect, and how these strategies are influenced by pedagogical instructions and assessment and shape the participatory and transformative teaching/learning. It is recommended that all these strategies should be given due attention as they collectively involve orthographic recognition and processing through cognitive patterns that engage memory and retention to integrate new knowledge with the previous for possible conceptual change.

What Strategies Do Less-Skilled Adult Readers Use to Read Words, and How Aware Are They of These Strategies?

Less-skilled adult readers have been found to be limited in their awareness and use of effective reading strategies. In this study, we aimed to (a) identify the strategies used by less-skilled adult readers that best predict word reading performance on standardized reading tests and (b) identify the word reading strategies that less-skilled adult readers reported using, as well as the extent to which these reports correlated with direct observations of reading behaviors. Results indicated that readers relied on six main strategies to read unknown words, but only two significantly contributed to prediction of actual word reading performance. These were also the two strategies that were most poorly understood by the readers. The findings emphasize the need for programs to incorporate methods to increase metacognitive awareness and strategy use in adults with reading difficulties.

Adult Reading Strategies

Research on literacy in deaf communities tends to concentrate on the literacy development and experiences of children and adolescents, overlooking the literacy practices that provide the foundation for effective and meaningful reading in adulthood. However, exploring the reading strategies that high-achieving deaf adults use can have a cascading impact on understandings of literacy through the lenses of neurobiology, culture, education, and beyond. This chapter synthesizes the body of research on effective reading strategies used by deaf adults, asking: What reading strategies do high-achieving deaf readers use? How do high-achieving deaf readers develop reading strategies? What do the reading strategies reveal about earlier stages of literacy development and the components of effective reading? After exploring these questions, the chapter concludes by identifying areas for future research and proposing applications of current research on adult reading strategies to improve reading experiences and instruction for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Effective Reading Strategies for Generation Z Using Authentic Texts

The article deals with the use of effective reading strategies with Generation Z students based on a critical review of modern psychological and pedagogical studies of ‘digital learners’. The relevance of the study is substantiated by the fact that the subjects of the modern educational process today are mostly representatives of Generation Z and their ways of study, preferences and values are bringing important changes to teaching and learning contexts. The purpose of the article is to analyse effective reading strategies using authentic texts. It features a brief overview of the studies devoted to the reading strategies and highlights the differences between reading skills and reading strategies. The authors explore the concept of authenticity of texts and tasks and suggest their highly motivational nature for digital learners. The article presents an analysis of Generation Z’s unique characteristics and projects them onto the choice of effective reading strategies for digital learners. The article concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications and a list of recommendations to consider when selecting effective reading strategies for language classrooms.

Overcoming Barriers to Teacher Learning

This chapter reveals teacher learning that results from reflection. Effective reading strategies are discussed as they pertain to the lesson. Phase 4 of the action research study informs this chapter as it shares how teachers overcome barriers such as time, teacher empowerment constraints, and collaboration efforts. These areas are often overlooked when designing professional learning in schools. Solutions are also presented in the form of teacher narratives. This chapter will inform practitioners as they develop learning sessions for teachers.