Compensatory Reading among ESL Learners: A Reading Strategy Heuristic

Abstract

This paper aims to gain an insight to the relationship of two different concepts about reading comprehension, namely, the linear model of comprehension and the interactive compensatory theory. Drawing on both the above concepts, a heuristic was constructed about three different reading strategies determined by the specific ways the literal, reorganisation and inferential skills of comprehension interact. The concepts of apt and smart reading strategies were introduced, which refer to two possible ways of compensatory reading. Applying the reading strategy heuristic to the secondary analysis of a large reading assessment data from Malaysian secondary school 3567 ESL learners, compensatory reading was found to be used by a significant group of those students who struggle with poor reading skills. Furthermore, one of the compensatory strategies, namely, smart reading, was found to be positively correlated with the learners' motivation to read and their belief about own reading competence, the proportion of positive answers among smart readers being 3.5% and 3.9% higher than among the mainstream readers, respectively. The findings suggest that the language talent of apt and smart readers (18.2% of the current sample to be discovered and cultivated in the L2 classroom, especially among low-achiever learners who would most benefit from the recognition of compensation as a legitimate skill of reading comprehension.

The Development of Integrated Thematic Learning Devices Based on Interactive Compensatory Model to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension in Islamic Elementary School

“…These activities greatly affect the student's initial knowledge and their reading comprehension ability after they received treatment. This is in line with some previous research results (Amiryousefi, 2014;Ismail, 2015;Tracey, 2017). They found that during the learning process and after learning, most students in the experimental group had better reading comprehension, were enthusiastic, active, and enjoyed reading text using the ICM.…”

“…This model is a basic form to develop integrated thematic learning devices, particularly to enhance comprehension reading skills. Some research related to this Interactive-Compensatory model has been conducted by (Stanovich, 1980;Stanovich, 1984;Simpson et al, 1983;Rieben & Perfetti, 2013;McNeil, 2012;Amiryousefi, 2014;Ismail et al, 2015;Tracey & Morrow, 2017). In general, they stated that to improve students' reading comprehension to read informational text, ICM can be applied.…”

The Effect of Moodle E-Learning Material on EFL Reading Comprehension

“…To master reading comprehension, a learner needs to have some intellectual abilities. These intellectual abilities are what experts identify as factors affecting reading comprehension (Aziz, Daud, & Ismar, 2019), and as a result of a wide variety of cognitive processes in our minds (Ismail, Petras, Mohamed, & Eng, 2015).…”

Developing EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension and Reading Engagement: Effects of a Proposed Instructional Strategy

“…According to these taxonomies, while literal comprehension focus on decoding explicit information from the text through recognition or recall of its details, interpretive/inferential skills include the use of these details for the analysis, synthesis and classification of the text-based information, enabling the reader to access additional information by mapping the text. At the higher levels of cognitive processes (critical comprehension), anticipations and hypotheses are inferred by the reader beyond the explicit meaning, opinions are formed about the quality and accuracy of the text (Ismail, Yusof, Abdul Rashid & Lin, 2015).…”