The Effects of Collaborative and Non- Collaborative Approaches to Teaching Reading Strategies on Iranian efl Learners’ Reading Comprehension and Attitude toward Reading

Abstract

In an efl context reading is a very important skill in language learning. This study aims at finding if instruction of reading strategies in two different collaborative and non-collaborative approaches affects reading comprehension and attitude toward reading differently. Forty-five Iranian adult female efl learners at pre intermediate general English proficiency level in Iran Language Institute (ili) were selected and divided into three groups of 15 students. One group functioning as the control group did not receive any strategy instruction; the second group, as the first experimental group, received reading strategy instruction in collaborative groups (Collaborative Strategic Reading or csr), and the third group considered as the second experimental group received reading strategy instruction in a non-collaborative way. A reading comprehension test and a reading attitude questionnaire were given to all three groups at the beginning of the term as pretests and after the experiment as posttests. The results obtained through one-way anova indicated that though both experimental groups outperformed the control group, there was no significant difference between the two experimental groups in reading comprehension and attitude toward reading. Therefore, it is up to teachers to weigh the advantages of using the collaborative approach to teaching reading against its disadvantages. ResumenEn el contexto de enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera, la lectura es una habilidad de gran importancia. El presente estudio indaga si la formación en estra-tegias de lectura en dos ambientes diferentes -colaborativo y no colaborativo-afecta la comprensión lectora y cambia la actitud de los estudiantes hacia la lectura. Para descubrirlo, se eligieron cuarenta y cinco mujeres adultas iraníes, estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera en un instituto de lenguas en Irán, con un nivel pre-intermedio de suficiencia en la lengua. Estas se dividieron en tres grupos de 15 estudiantes cada uno. El primer grupo, de control, no recibió ninguna instrucción sobre estrategias; el segundo grupo, experimental, recibió capacitación sobre estrategias de lectura en modalidad colaborativa (Lectura Estratégica Colaborativa o csr); y el tercer grupo, también experimental, recibió instrucción en estrategias lectoras en modalidad no colaborativa. A los tres grupos se les administró una prueba de comprensión lectora y un cuestionario de actitud hacia la lectura al inicio (pretest) y al final del experimento (postest). Los resultados obtenidos mediante anova unidireccional indicaron que, aunque ambos grupos experimentales presentaron mejores resultados que el grupo de control, no hubo diferencias importantes entre los dos grupos experimentales en comprensión lectora y en actitud hacia la lectura. En consecuencia, corresponde a los docentes evaluar las ventajas y desventajas del enfoque colaborativo para la enseñanza de la comprensión lectora.Palabras claves: enfoque colaborativo lectura en inglés; enfoque colaborativo; enfoque no colaborativo; actitu...

The effects of mentoring programs on primary students’ enjoyment of reading

“…Martínez, Aricak, and Jewell [26] also claimed that high and low proficiency adolescent readers did not show statistical differences in reading attitude scores. Similarly, a study [27] reported that there were similar reading attitudes regardless of reading abilities, showing that students' reading attitude was not in line with reading achievement.…”