Korean EFL College Students' Reading Strategy Use to Comprehend Authentic Expository/Technical Texts in English

Abstract

This study explored reading strategy use of Korean college students learning English as a foreign language when they read authentic expository/technical texts in English. This study investigated the relationship between the use of reading strategies and reading comprehension ability and the relationship between the use of reading strategies and personal characteristics. This study also examined differences in the use of reading strategies when the students read authentic expository/technical texts versus when they read authentic narrative texts. One hundred fifteen college students in Korea participated in this study. Survey of Reading Strategy (SORS) and modified SORS were used to measure the students' general reading strategy use and text-specific reading strategy use respectively. Reading comprehension section of Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was administrated to measure the students' reading comprehension ability. One authentic expository/technical reading passage and one authentic narrative reading passage were used for the students' reading tasks. Background Information Questionnaire (BIQ) was used to collect the students' background information. The results indicated that the Korean EFL college students reported using reading strategies with high frequency when they read authentic expository/technical texts in English. The Korean college students' reading comprehension ability was related to their reading strategy use to some degree; the higher their reading comprehension ability, the more they used sophisticated reading strategies. The Korean college students employed the reading strategies differently according to their personal characteristics, such as grade levels, academic majors, enjoyment of reading English materials, self-perception of being a proficient English reader, and gender. The Korean college students used more volume of reading strategies when reading authentic expository/technical texts than when reading authentic narrative texts; they frequently used some specific reading strategies when reading authentic expository/technical texts, whereas they did not often use these strategies when reading authentic narrative texts.