What textbooks offer and what teachers teach: an analysis of the Dutch reading comprehension curriculum

In the Netherlands, the quality of the reading curriculum is currently under debate because of disappointing results on national and international assessments of students’ reading skills and motivation. In a mixed-method study, we analyzed the content of Dutch textbooks for reading comprehension instruction (i.e., the implemented curriculum) and teachers’ evaluation and use of these books (i.e., the enacted curriculum). A materials analysis of reading comprehension lessons (N = 80) in eight textbooks for grades 4 and 5 was complemented with semi-structured teacher interviews (N = 29) and lesson observations (N = 11), with a focus on the quality of reading strategy and text structure instruction in the curriculum. Main findings are (1) a lack of alignment between lesson goals, theory, and assignments, (2) a strong focus on practicing strategies, (3) limited declarative knowledge about strategies and text structure, (4) little opportunities for self-regulated strategy application. The teachers that were interviewed mention similar problems, but still hardly deviate from the textbook’s content and pedagogical guidelines. We make recommendations to improve the quality of the curriculum.

Towards a Thorough Framework in Strategic Reading Comprehension Instruction

Reading comprehension skill is widely used in EFL settings. English language learners, especially, in academic settings, are provided with a high level of literacy and comprehension of texts, where they are provided with a considerable portion of knowledge fused into written documents. Therefore, the skill of processing texts efficiently with sufficient comprehension gains significance in students’ academic accomplishments. Nevertheless, the concept of reading as a general term and strategic reading as an enabling skill should be differentiated in reading comprehension instruction. Providing students with written texts without Empowering them to deal with the texts cannot yield fruitful results in designated goals of reading comprehension. In view of that, the present research tried to introduce strategic reading as a holistic concept and endeavored to enlighten each aspect of it using reading models and frameworks presented in the related literature on reading comprehension. Instructors, with the awareness of strategic reading as an important reading skill, can determinedly instruct and implement it in their classrooms to enable students resourcefully for their educational goals which eventually leads to academic and professional achievements.

ASSESSING THE SELF-PERCEIVED USE OF READING STRATEGIES IN ESL READING COMPREHENSION: A NEEDS ANALYSIS

Despite great appreciation on the important roles played by metacognitive reading strategies in the attainment of comprehension, heightened prevalence of reading difficulties is depicted among Malaysian learners. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the current status of self-perceived use of metacognitive reading strategies among the ESL learners in six secondary schools in one of the districts in Sabah. Utilizing an adapted version of Revised Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI-R), data was obtained from 274 ESL learners in the same district. Descriptive analysis was used to determine the mean scores of three sub reading strategies, namely global reading strategies, problem-solving strategies and support strategies. The findings revealed that despite being aware of the use of metacognitive reading strategies, little emphasis was given on optimizing the use of global reading and support strategies, resulting in only medium usage of these two strategies. Therefore, it may be concluded that the findings implied the need to develop a reading comprehension module that incorporates the use of metacognitive reading strategies within reading comprehension instruction to facilitate Malaysian ESL learners to improve their reading comprehension.

Investigating reading comprehension strategies used by teachers during English First Additional Language reading instruction

Since the purpose of reading is comprehension, the major goal of reading comprehension instruction is to help learners develop knowledge, skills, and strategies so that they become strategic readers who read for comprehension. Language teachers use reading comprehension strategies as an instruction tool to assist learners to develop into strategic readers. However, the range of strategies used by teachers is crucial. This paper presents classroom observations of reading comprehension strategy instruction used by four purposively selected English First Additional Language (FAL) teachers. The study was qualitative in nature and a case study design was chosen. The findings of the study reveal that teachers did not provide opportunity to support learners’ independent comprehension strategy use. Furthermore, the study has disclosed that the teachers’ inability to engage learners in reading comprehension strategies might signify the teachers’ lack of knowledge of how to incorporate reading comprehension strategies as an instructional tool during reading comprehension lessons. The authors recommend that the Department of Basic Education institute interventions to empower teachers on how to teach reading comprehension strategies.