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The Comprehension Strategies of Second Language Readers
Author(s) -
BLOCK ELLEN
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
tesol quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.737
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1545-7249
pISSN - 0039-8322
DOI - 10.2307/3586295
Subject(s) - linguistics , psychology , comprehension , comprehension approach , reading comprehension , language education , reading (process) , philosophy
Think‐aloud protocols, a version of verbal report in which participants state their thoughts and behaviors, have become increasingly popular as a means of studying the comprehension processes of native English speakers. The study reported in this article used think‐alouds to examine the comprehension strategies used by college‐level students—both native speakers of English and nonnative speakers—enrolled in remedial reading classes as they read material from a college textbook. “Poor” readers (those who had failed the college's reading proficiency test) were chosen for study because they are the ones at whom college remedial reading programs are aimed. Furthermore, their use of comprehension strategies has not attained the degree of automaticity found in fluent readers. Thus, they may be more aware of how they solve the problems they encounter as they read. Some of the strategies used by the ESL and native‐speaking readers in the study are described. Strategy use is related to measures of memory and comprehension and to academic performance, and implications for teaching are discussed.