Investigating Reading Strategies Utilized by Able English Users and Less Able English Users of Thai EFL Students

IntroductionEnglish is an international language used as a tool for communication by a majority of people in many countries around world. People in some countries use English as an official language, while in some countries it is used as a second language or foreign language. Among four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in English communication, reading is regarded as most important skill to master for both native and non-native or ESL/EFL learners because they need to read in order to achieve personal, occupational, and professional goals (Anderson, 1999).In Thailand, where English is used as a second or foreign language, reading plays a crucial role for Thai students in their academic context. For many years, United States of America has taken a leading role in many academic fields of research, so academic publishing in English has been dramatically increased (Mercer & Swann, 1996). Therefore, most of new academic knowledge that Thai students need to acquire for improving both of their academic and professional lives is commonly written in English. However, several reading research studies conducted with Thai students in all levels reveal that Thai students have some difficulties in reading English (The Department of Educational Techniques, 1995). In order to help students cope with such difficulty, nowadays researchers and educators pay their attention to study of students' reading processes and reading strategies used because it is believed that to become effective readers, students should seek and be equipped with appropriate reading strategies. Thus, teachers should know what strategy students use and how they use it when they encounter their difficulties so that teachers can help students improve their reading proficiency (Anderson, 1991).According to several research studies conducted through metacognitive reading strategy questionnaires, there is a strong relationship between students' reading proficiency and reading strategy use (Barnett, 1988). There is also some concrete evidence that competent, second-language readers can compensate for a lack of language proficiency by using reading strategies during reading to comprehend reading text (Carrell, 1989). Although many studies have been done to date, more research needs to be conducted to investigate effects of reading strategies in relation to students' reading abilities in a variety of learning situations. To investigate how students utilize reading strategies to comprehend given text, a researcher-constructed questionnaire was used as research instrument in a survey study on cognitive, metacognitive, and compensating reading strategies utilized by M.4 students of Triamudom Suksa School. The study will be useful for EFL teachers and course designers to use as a guideline for helping students enhance their reading proficiency.Literature ReviewDefinitions of ReadingReading can be variously defined. According to Anderson (1999), reading is an active fluent process that involves reader and reading material in building meaning. He furthermore suggests that meaning does not reside on printed page, nor is it in head of reader. A synergy occurs in reading that combines words on printed page with a reader's background knowledge and experience.Grabe and Stoller (2002) explained that reading is the ability to draw meaning from print page and interpret this information appropriately (p.9). Harris and Smith (1986) provided a definition of reading as follows: Reading is intellectual and emotional perception of printed message (p.5) while Alderson and Urquhart (1984) expressed point that reading deals with two necessary elements, which are a reader and a text. Similarly, Aebersold and Field (2000) pointed out that reading is an interaction between readers and text. The reading occurs when text is processed by readers in an interaction. …