Using comprehension strategies for students' self-efficacy, anxiety, and proficiency in reading English as a foreign language

• Published in: Social behavior and personality 2018-03, Vol.46 (3), p.447-458
• Main Authors: Liao, Hung-Chang, Wang, Ya-Huei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; College students; Competence; Comprehension; Control groups; Education; Educational research; English As A Foreign Language; English as a second language; English as a second language instruction; English language; English proficiency; English Reading Anxiety; English Reading Proficiency; English Reading Self-Efficacy; Entrance examinations; Foreign language learning; Hypotheses; Language acquisition; Learning strategies; Methods; Perseveration; Quasi-experimental methods; Reading comprehension; Reading Comprehension Strategies; Second language learning; Self-efficacy; Selfaffirmation; Study and teaching; Taiwanese Hokkien language; Teaching; Teaching methods; University students
• ISSN: 0301-2212; 1179-6391
• DOI: 10.2224/sbp.6648

We examined whether or not instructing Taiwanese students in the use of comprehension strategies when they are reading English as a foreign language, reduces their English reading anxiety and increases their English reading self-efficacy and proficiency. We used a quasiexperimental design and conducted a 15-week course. The experimental group (n = 31) received instruction in reading comprehension strategies and the control group (n = 31) received instruction by traditional teaching methods. The results show that the experimental group had less anxiety when reading English and higher proficiency than the control group. In regard to self-efficacy when reading English, the experimental group also performed better than the control group in terms of self-affirmation, perseverance, verbal persuasion, and performance overall. However, there was no statistically significant difference for learning attitude between the groups.