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Title
Gender Effect on Reading Strategy Employment by Thai Science-oriented Undergraduate Students with Moderate Level of Reading Proficiency
Presenter
Rakchanok Saengpakdeejit
Abstract
The purpose of the present study aims at examining the reading strategies when reading ESP texts employed by male and female science-oriented students with moderate reading proficiency level studying ESP in Thai universities. Many previous researchers in the field examined the relationship between reading strategy use and gender, but they did not consider science-oriented undergraduate students with moderate level of reading proficiency as the target participants. The reading proficiency level was determined by the scores obtained through the researcher-constructed reading proficiency test (RPTEST). The participants were 644 students (233 males and 411 females) with moderate proficiency level. The reading strategy questionnaire with the Alpha coefficient (α) .95 was the main instrument for data collection. The questionnaire was based on the reading strategy inventory developed by the researcher. The collected data were analyzed through an assistance of the SPSS programme. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the chi-square tests (c2) were the main statistical methods employed to analyze the obtained data.
The results of the ANOVA reveal that female students reported the overall use of reading strategies and the use of strategies in two main categories (1: the strategies for textual comprehension in the actual reading; and 2: the strategies for textual comprehension enhancement) significantly more frequently than their male counterparts. In addition, the chi-square tests (c2) show that female students reported employing 12 individual reading strategies significantly more frequently than did male students. However, male students did not report employing any strategies significantly more frequently than female students. The implications drawn from the research findings and recommendations for future research were also discussed.
Key words: reading strategies, science-oriented students
Biographical Data
Asst. Prof. Rakchanok Saengpakdeejit earned her MA in English and she started teaching English to university students in 2000. Currently, she has been working towards a PhD in English Language Studies under the joint programme between Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand and Leeds University, UK. Her main research interest lies in reading strategies and ESP.
contact asian_efl_journal@yahoo.com
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