Effects of Using the KWL Chart on Fostering EFL University Students’ Critical Reading

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to investigate the use of the KWL chat in improving university students’ English critical reading comprehension and to investigate how those students processed the KWL chart to activate the use of metacognitive strategies when they studied critical reading. The population was university students majoring in English for Communication, with a total of 120 students. Out of this population, purposive sampling was used to select 27 third-year students as a sample. The data were collected through an English critical reading comprehension test and students’ reflective writing in the KWL chart. The data obtained from pre- and post-test were analyzed by using a pair sample t-test. The reflective writing in the KWL chart was coded and categorized, based on theories of metacognitive strategies. Frequency and percentage were used to analyze the use of metacognitive strategies when the students studied a critical reading course. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the scores for the pre-test (M=19.00, SD=3.53) and post-test (M=34.19, SD = 6.61) condition; t(26) = -17.99, p = (.000). The findings from the students’ reflective writings in the KWL chart revealed that the monitoring strategy was the most frequently used. Students used the monitoring strategy while they were reading and studying a critical reading.