Teaching English Reading Strategies in the Second Language Classroom. An intervention study of teacher instructed use of reading strategies with L1 Norwegian L2 English Learners

Abstract

In this thesis, I investigate the effect of explicit teacher instructed use of reading comprehension strategies on the reading comprehension of L1 Norwegian L2 English learners. The study was conducted in two classes in a Norwegian lower secondary school, with one class being the experimental group and the other functioned as the control group. The participants took part in a quasi-experimental intervention study, with pre-post testing. The pre-test was a shortened version of the Norwegian National Test in English, which was adapted to measure the participants’ reading comprehension before the intervention. The intervention was one reading session in each group, in which the participants read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. The independent variable of teacher instructed use of reading comprehension strategies was introduced in the experimental group. There were not introduced any independent variables into the intervention in the control group, to compare the effects on the immediate post-test. The immediate and delayed post-tests were designed to measure the participants’ reading comprehension of Treasure Island and to see if there would be a lasting positive effect of the reading comprehension strategies in the experimental group. The participants also completed two questionnaires, SORS by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) and a researcher-made questionnaire called the Intervention Experience Questionnaire. The results of the present study showed that there were no significant positive effects of the reading comprehension strategies in the experimental group.