English Studies S1 Students’ Awareness of Reading Comprehension Strategies and Performance: A Case Study at the Faculty of Languages, Literature and Art, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

Abstract

Reading comprehension is the most challenging language skill that the Moroccan University English studies’ students face in their learning process. This is due to their low or non-awareness of reading comprehension strategies that shall help them to understand English texts efficiently. Respectively, this survey first attempts to evaluate the students’ awareness of reading-comprehension strategies. It also intends to investigate on the relationship between the S1 students’ awareness of reading comprehension strategies and their performance in reading comprehension tasks. A sample of 189 University students in EFL context are chosen, but only 158 of them have filled in the questionnaire and completed their pre-test and post-test. All of these 158 students have attended the usual reading curriculum without any special treatment. This research main finding indicates that the S1 students’ awareness concerning reading comprehension strategies have not been developed throughout their presence in the usual reading comprehension courses. The other important result of this study reveals that there is no correlation between the S1 students’ performance and their awareness about reading comprehension strategies. In brief, the S1 students’ scores in reading comprehension tasks are not determined by their degree of awareness about reading comprehension strategies, and the usual reading comprehension classes do not satisfy their academic needs. Therefore, the coming studies should focus on the appropriate teaching of reading comprehension strategies so as to have an effective impact on the students’ awareness about reading comprehension strategies and eventually on their performance in reading comprehension tasks.