1.2. Statement of the Problem …………………………………………….….………..… 6

 

1.3. Significance of the Study ……………………………………………..…………..… 7

 

1.4. Purpose of the Study ………………………………….……..…………..……….…. 9

 

1.5. Research Questions …….…………………….………………………………….… 10

 

1.6. Hypotheses of the Study ……………….………………………………….…….…. 10

 

1.7. Definitions of Key terms ………………….………………………………….…….. 10

 

 

 

Chapter Two: Review of Literature ….…………………………………….………… 12

 

2.0. Introduction …………………………………………….…………..………….…… 12

 

2.1. Review of Theoretical Literature ……………………………………….………..… 13

 

2.1.1. The Definition of Reading ………………………………………….………… 13

 

2.1.2. Successful Readers ………………………………………………..….……….. 15

 

2.1.3. Purpose of Reading …………………..………………………….……………. 17

 

2.1.4. Reading Comprehension ……………………………………….…………..…. 21

 

2.1.5. Reading Strategies ………………………………….…………….…………… 26

 

2.1.6. Pre-reading Activities ………………………………………………….……… 33

 

2.1.7. Schema Theory …………………………………….………………..………… 44

 

2.1.7.1. Formal Schema ………….………….………..………………..………….. 50

 

2.1.7.2. Content Schema …………………….….……………………….…….….. 51

 

2.1.7.3. Cultural Schema …………………….…….…..……………….…….….. 54

 

2.2. Review of Practical Literature ……………..……………………………….……… 61

 

2.3 Summary ………………………………….………………………………..………. 71

 

 

 

Chapter Three: Methodology ……………………………………………….………… 72

 

3.0. Introduction ………………………………………..………………….…………… 72

 

3.1. The Design of the Study ……………….……..…..……….……………………..… 72

 

3.2. Selection of the Sample ………………………………………………………..….. 73

 

3.3. The Instrumentation of the Study ……………………………………………..……. 74

 

3.4. Procedure …………………………………..……………………………….……… 75

 

3.5. Methods of Analyzing Data …………………………………………………..…… 76

 

 

 

Chapter Four: Data Analysis …………..………………………….…………………. 77

 

4.0. Introduction …………………………………………………………..…………… 77

 

4.1. Data Analysis and Findings ……………………………………….…………..…… 77

 

4.2. Results of the Hypotheses Testing ……………………………………………..….. 83

 

4.2.1. Hypothesis One ……………………………..………………………………… 83

 

4.2.2. Hypothesis Two ……………………………………………………..………… 84

 

4.3. Summary ………………………………………..……………………….………… 84

 

 

 

Chapter Five: Discussion and Implication ……………………………….………….. 85

 

5.0. Introduction ……………………………………………………………….………… 85

 

 

5.1. General Discussion …………………………….…………………….………..…… 85

 

5.2. Implications of the Study …………………….…………………….………….…… 86

 

5.3. Limitations of the Study ……………..….……………………………….………… 88

 

5.4. Suggestions for Further Study ……………….………………………….…..……… 88

 

 

 

Appendices ………….………………..…………………………………………….…. 90

 

Appendix A: Proficiency Test (Oxford Placement Test) ………………………………. 90

 

Appendix B: Reading Comprehension Pre-test ………………………………….…..… 95

 

Appendix C: Reading Comprehension Post-test ………………………………………… 99

 

 

 

References …………………………….……………………………………………… 104

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of Figures

 

Subject                                                                                                     page

 

Figure 1: Reading processes that are activated while reading ………………..……..….. 22

 

Figure 2:  Three Reading Comprehension Processes ……………………………..…..…. 25

 

Figure 3: Ajideh’s Model of Reading Approaches …………………………………….. 26

 

Figure 4: Classification of Strategies …………………………………………….…..…. 27

 

Figure 5: K-W-L Chart …………………………………………………………………. 43

 

Figure 6: Schema Types ………………………………………………………….…….. 54

 

Figure 7: The Design of the Study …….…………………………………..…………… 73

 

Figure 8: Selection of the Sample …………………………………………………..…. 74

 

Figure 9: The Linear Relationship between Pre-test and Post-test …………………..… 80

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                      List of Tables

 

Subject                                                                                                             Page

 

Table 0: Learning Strategies …………………………………………………..……….. 30

 

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for the Proficiency Test ………………………………… 78

 

Table 2: Number of Students Participated in Pre-test and Post-test Case ……………… 78

 

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for the Pre-test and Post-test …..………………….…… 79

 

Table 4: Levene’s Test of Equality of Error ………………………………………….…. 81

 

Table 5: Test of between – subjects’ effects ……………………..…………………..… 81

 

Table 6: Mean of reading Comprehension Ability …………….….……………………. 82

 

Table 7: Sum of Analysis of Covariance Source- Type III Sum of Squares ……….…… 82

 

Table 8: Independent t-test for male and female performance in reading ……………… 83

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                       List of Abbreviations

 

 

 

ANalysis of COVAriance ……………………………………………………… ANCOVA

 

Degree of Freedom ………………………………………………………………..….. DF

 

English as a Foreign Language …………………………………………………..….. EFL

 

English as a Second Language …………………………………………………..….. ESL

 

English Language Learners ….…………………………………………………..….. ELL

 

F-test distribution ………….……………………………………………………..……… F

 

Know-Want to know-Learned ……………………………………………….……. K-W-L

 

Language Experience Approach ……………………………………………………… LEA

 

Mean ………………………………………………………………………………..…. M

 

Number (of Participants) ………………………………………………………….…… N

 

Oxford Placement Test …………………………………………………………..….. OPT

 

Significance ………………………………………………………………….….….… Sig

 

Standard Deviation ……………………………………………………………………. SD

 

Standard Error …………………………………………………………………..….…. SE

 

Teaching English as a Foreign Language ……………………………………..……. TEFL