Literature Review On Reading Strategy Research

Reading strategies that have been identified and recommended by recent literature can be classified into four categories: cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, memory strategies, and test-taking strategies. Research indicated that the use of appropriate strategies may improve reading comprehension. Research has also suggested that readers could be trained to learn and use reading strategies, which raised the need to incorporate reading strategy instruction into the school curriculum. Reading strategy instruction is making its way into regular classrooms. The integration of reading strategy instruction with cooperative learning has changed the traditional pattern of reading as an individual. activity. Group efforts, peer cooperation, and teacher-student interaction become an important part of the new reading strategy instruction approach. Considering the large number of students in a regular reading class, this seems to be a feasiuie solution. (Contains 32 references.) (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************** Literature Review On Reading Strategy Research Zhicheng Zhang University of Alabama Paper Presented at Annual Conference of MSERA New Orleans NoveMber, 1993 -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 10 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) U S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATK1114 Office A Educattonst Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI TrpS document has been reproduced as recerved from the person or ofganashOn or.gmating I 0 &Amor changes have been made to .rnprove reproductron quehty Pomt orsrpons stated rn thusdoctr mon iv! necessarily reprirseot othclaI OERI pomtion or pohcy Literature Review On Reading Strategy Research Reading is an essential way of obtaining information in contemporary society. Research discovered that readers spontaneously use reading strategies in the reading process (Pritchand, 1990). Literature also suggested that the use of appropriate reading strategies may improve reading comprehension (Oxford, 1990, Olsen and Gee, 1991). Using reading strategies can be of great help to non-native readers because it may serve as an effective way of overcoming language deficiency and obtaining better reading achievement both for regular school assignments and on language pr,ficiency tests (Zhang, 1992). In this paper I will review current research in reading strategies. The emphasis will be placed on (1) summarizing various reading strategies that have been identified and recommended in current research, and (2) identifying the new trend in reading strategy instruction. Reading strategies that have been identified and recommended 1. Cognitive strategies Reading comprehension is a cognitive process. Various cognitive strategies can be employed to facilitate reading comprehension. Examples of cognitive strategies include the skills of predicting based on prior knowledge, using statements to check their comprehension, analyzing text organization by looking for specific patterns (Numrich, 1989, Oxford, 1989), and self-questioning (Nolan, 1991). Perhaps the most discussed topic relating to cognitive strategies is the use of prior knowledge. Many reading researchers believe reading is an interactive process between the reader and a text. Successful activation and utilization of relevant prior knowledge is of primary importance in this interactive process (Anderson, 1977, Lipson, 1983, Langer, 1984, Zhang, 1989, Zhang, 1992). The more background knowledge a reader brings to a text, the easier it is to comprehend the text. Quite a few studies have been conducted recently to investigate the effects of prior knowledge on reading comprehension. In their experimental study with a group of college students, Feeley, Wepner, and Willging (1985) assessed how background knowledge affected the subjects' performance on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. During the experiment, the experimental group subjects were exposed frequently to the background knowledge and topics which would be encountered on the upcoming standard test. At the close of the semester the experimental group outperformed the control group on the NelsonDenny Reading Test. This finding once again lent support to the notion that readers' prior knowledge about a topic had a powerful influence on their comprehension of the material concerning that topic. It also pointed out the fact that a reading test may be biased against those without the necessary background experience. In'a simi3ar study with a group of six graders, Langer (1984) used the schema-activating task to raise the quality of knowledge children brought to the reading and consequently raised the comprehension scores of the average readers. Langer