Exploring Reading Strategy Use of Wollo University First Year Social Science Students

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the reported reading strategies use of university students. It was particularly concerned with  determining the frequency level, type, and variety of reading strategies used by the participant students when reading academic  materials. The study was conducted in Wollo University in Ethiopia. The research was quantitative in approach, and descriptive in design.  Using simple random and available sampling techniques, 135 first-year social science students enrolled in the Communicative Skills  course were chosen from three sections to participate in the study. The survey of reading strategies (SORS) of Sheorey and Mokhtari  (2002) was used to gather data from the participant students. To determine what reading strategies participants employed, the frequency  distribution of their responses to each of the three categories of the SORS—global, problem-solving, and supportive reading  strategies was calculated via the descriptive statistics such as frequency counting, mean value and standard deviation of their reading  strategy use. The results were used to indicate whether a learner is a low, medium, or high reading strategy user. The findings of the  study revealed that Wollo University social science first year students can be categorized as medium strategy users. As the most striking  strategy, subjects reread to increase their understanding when they face difficult text. As a least preferred strategy, however, participants reported to use reading aloud when the text is hard. Moreover, results of the study revealed that participants reported to adopt reading  strategies in academic texts at the frequency level of the high usage of problem-solving strategies, followed by medium usage of support  and global reading strategies. Based on the findings, it was recommended that awareness raising should be made to make students' use  of support and global reading strategies at higher frequency.