Self-Regulated Reading Comprehension Strategy Selection Through Diagnostic-Prescriptive Instruction: A Case Study

Abstract

This demonstration of concept applies diagnostic-prescriptive reading instruction, a methodology used in United States developmental education, toward improving reading comprehension and self-regulated comprehension strategy selection in Chinese postsecondary education. A single tutor, also the researcher, works closely with one Chinese university student to develop student-centered comprehension strategies that she can practice on her own. After a battery of formal and informal assessments and interviews, decoding and understanding deficiencies are identified, characterized, and discussed. Both the student and her tutor develop and execute a study plan, which was completed during the spring semester of 2010 at Sha'anxi University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Xi'an, People's Republic of China (PRC). By focusing on the subject's primary decoding deficiency, spelling, and her primary understanding deficiency, lack of background knowledge, the subject and her reading tutor are able to strategically tackle five reading comprehension goals: (1) spelling; (2) phonemic awareness; (3) noticing structural and cohesive elements; (4) comparing argumentative and evaluative texts; and (5) analyzing expository texts in business and economics. A final discussion analyzes both qualitative and quantitative data, including unexpected discoveries such as the salience of cohesion in reading comprehension and the cultural biases of standardized reading assessments.