The effects of EFL reading comprehension and certain learning-related factors on EFL learners’ reading strategy use

Abstract

Reading strategy use among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) is one of the most important areas of foreign language (FL) strategy research. Students who actively use their reading comprehension strategies can understand and recall more information from what they read and acquire higher-level language proficiency. The focus of our study was to develop and validate a model for EFL reading strategy use, reading proficiency and two learning-related factors, general English proficiency and English language attitude, among FL/L2 learners in different age groups. The sample was drawn from lower secondary school students in Years 5–8 (NStudents = 3912; NSchools = 65). The results showed that young language learners reported using reading strategies more often. We also tested our hypothesized model and proved its validity for each year. The results indicated a significant effect of the variables and showed that EFL reading strategies are mostly influenced by the attitude to English. Proficiency has an indirect effect on the employment of strategy use through attitude. The main significance of our research is that the model we have developed has proved to be valid for each year in the sample.