Science texts use various text features and multiple representations to communicate meaning to their readers. English science texts are challenging for elementary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Taiwan because they are familiar with reading language-controlled texts from textbooks. Teaching students to make use of various…

This study explored whether second-language (L2) less proficient adult learners can become skilled readers by investigating the effect on students' attitudes to strategy use when explicit instruction of metacognitive reading strategies is combined with an extensive reading approach. Studies have shown that proficient learners employ a wider range…

Reading ability has had a prominent role in English language education in Taiwan. The comprehension of materials and teacher instruction in English depends on students' English proficiency, and their achievement emotions regarding competence-related activities may influence how they read and complete tasks in English. This study aims to…

Most teachers who use textbooks know that they are restrictive by nature. Units jump from topic to topic without recycling much vocabulary. One effective solution to truly developing reading fluency in terms of word recognition may be Narrow Reading (NR)-- that is reading several texts about a single narrow topic. NR may involve reading five short…

The present study attempted to validate the linguistic threshold hypothesis (LTH) and the interactive-compensatory model (ICM) in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting by assessing the relative contributions of English proficiency and reading strategy use to English reading and examining the mutual compensation between these two factors…

The present study was an elaboration on factors influencing foreign language (FL) reading anxiety in EFL learners (n = 202) in Taiwan. Data were collected from three measures, a background information questionnaire, the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and a semi-structured interview. The results showed that FL reading anxiety was…

The past decade has witnessed a plethora of research in teaching second language reading, and how to teach with efficiency has gradually gained ground in the field of Second Language Acquisition. Even though empirical studies have revealed that there is a positive correlation between students' learning motivation and learning outcome for effective…

Reciprocal teaching (RT) has been used to improve English as Foreign Language (EFL) students' reading comprehension in face-to-face instruction. However, little was known about how they use the RT to comprehend English texts in an online environment. This study explored how the implementation of RT strategies with the use of an annotation tool to…

An intact 10th grade English as a Foreign Language vocational business junior college reading intervention class (n = 52) received 16 weeks of integrated reading strategy instruction with extensive reading while an intact traditional class (n = 48) received traditional intensive reading instruction with extensive reading. The intervention class…

This study investigated whether an English reading course integrated with the problem-based learning approach could foster foreign language learners' reading comprehension ability, strategy use, and their active learning attitudes. The pedagogy was featured with the small group scaffolding. Two intact English classes in a Taiwanese university were…

This study reports on investigating students' English translation performance and their use of reading strategies in an elective English writing course offered to senior students of English as a Foreign Language for 100 minutes per week for 12 weeks. A courseware-implemented instruction combined with a task-based learning approach was adopted.…

As electronic books continue to attract attention as a pedagogical tool in language classrooms, the impact that e-books are expected to have on higher education cannot be ignored. Despite the pervasiveness of e-book reading studies in higher education, most studies show that students' reactions to e-books are often negative. However, the effects…

The effective use of reading strategies has been recognized as an important way to increase reading comprehension in hypermedia environments. The purpose of the study was to explore whether metacognitive strategy use and access to hypermedia annotations facilitated reading comprehension based on English as a foreign language students' proficiency…

Think-Pair-Share, a cooperative discussion strategy developed by Frank Lyman and colleagues (1981), is often utilized in first language contexts but rarely in second language (L2) contexts. To investigate its usefulness in the L2 context, a traditional English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading class was transformed by integrating…

This study explores the differences between more successful and less successful EFL readers in their comprehension performance and abilities to use reading strategies in interaction with English texts through thinking aloud while reading in pairs. Ten freshman high school students participated in pairs in four think-aloud reading tasks to think…