A Study of Use of Reading Strategies by Adult Learners of English in Pakistan

Abstract

Strategic reading has been recognized as an important and critical skill that ensures better reading comprehension abilities. It is evident from Second Language (L2) reading research that less skilled readers are unaware of the use and importance of reading strategies. English is the official language of Pakistan and is used in almost every field of life. Despite this wide use of English, English language teaching and learning in Pakistan is unsatisfactory. This study explored the use of reading strategies by undergraduate and graduate-level learners of English in Pakistan. A Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) was used to collect data. Fifty undergraduate-level and fifty graduate-level learners participated in the study. Results of the current study showed that almost all the learners frequently used almost all the reading strategies. No statistically significant difference in the use of reading strategies was found between undergraduate and graduate-level learners. Support reading strategies were preferred more by undergraduate-level learners, and graduate-level learners preferred global reading strategies. No statistically significant difference was found between the male and female learners of English in terms of the use of reading strategies.