Dynamics of Strategies-based Language Instruction: A Study of Reading Comprehension and Problem Solving Abilities via Structural Equation Modeling

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring the psychological as well as educational outcomes of strategies awareness and use. We set out to examine the effect of reading strategic investment on language achievement and problem solving ability (PSA). The participating EFL learners were heterogeneous in terms of reading instruction; two of the intact groups had received normal instruction studying selected short stories with a primary focus on vocabulary development and comprehension check, whereas the second group had been trained under a strategies-based instruction over two consecutive semesters by one of the researchers. A descriptive data collection procedure and follow-up exploratory and confirmatory analyses revealed metacognitive and cognitive strategies positively affect the enhancement of PSA and reading comprehension achievement (RCA). It was found, however, that metacognitive strategies are more effective for the development of PSA whereas cognitive strategies contribute to RCA more than their metacognitive counterparts.

Impact of Strategies-based Instruction on Inferential, Intrapersonal, and Literacy Skills Development : A Longitudinal Study

“…The same idea is acknowledged by the human development paradigm and humanistic psychology; they hold that education should empower individuals to lead a meaningful and purposeful life through fostering their emotions, relationships, attitudes, thinking styles, and values (Rogers, 1961). Studies like the current one, which have found causal or correlational associations between SBI and different life skills (Chamot et al, 2010;Cheng & Dörnyei, 2007;Ghahari & Basanjideh, 2015Nguyen & Gu, 2013;Tseng et al, 2006), are in line with the view that educational settings, considering their educational environment and the overall purposes they pursue, are the best places for life skills intervention (to use Behura's term) and for developing a fully functioning individual (to use Rogers' term). Of all the language learning practices, one might surmise that learnercentered activities and approaches, such as alternatives in assessment (see Ghahari & Farokhnia, 2017Ghahari & Sedaghat, 2018) and strategies-based instruction, to be more promising when cultivation of learners' positive life-and-learning skills is intended.…”

“…In order to test the students' mastery of reading comprehension and reading strategies, Ghahari and Basanjideh's (2015) test battery with three subsections was adapted. RCTB, the scores for which represented reading comprehension achievement in this study, was basically organized around strategies.…”

“…RCTB, the scores for which represented reading comprehension achievement in this study, was basically organized around strategies. The first two sections were adapted from Adcock (2000) and later modified by Ghahari and Basanjideh (2015). The first section contained a social studies article (424 words) with 12 multiple-choice questions asking for finding main ideas, recalling details, understanding sequences, comparing and contrasting, finding word meanings in context, distinguishing between fact and opinion, interpreting figurative language, recognizing cause and effect, making predictions, drawing conclusions and making inferences, identifying author's purpose, and choosing the best summary.…”

An intensive strategies-based program: insights for literacy and socio-emotional growth of college-level students

“…By giving the students more responsibility for learning, language programs encouraged the learners to become more autonomous, to diagnose their own learning strengths and weaknesses, and to self-direct language learning process (Cohen & Weaver, 1998). Moreover, strategy training, if designed carefully and sensitively with the learners' needs in mind, can become a key element in creative and self-directed language learning (Oxford et al, 1990;Ghahari & Basanjideh, 2015, 2017. Therefore, the learners can benefit from coaching in learning strategies and need to become aware of the learning strategies through strategy instruction.…”

“…The reading exam, the scores of which were considered as reading comprehension achievement in this study, was adopted from Ghahari and Basanjideh (2015). In order to test the students' mastery of reading comprehension and reading strategies, the reading comprehension test battery (henceforth RCTB) had been organized around three subsections.…”