Abstract
This paper describes how explicit instruction in reading strategy affects Japanese EFL college students' strategy use and English reading abilities. Thirty-six intermediate proficiency EFL college students were instructed in five reading strategies, namely, phase reading, identifying referents, inferring unknown words, understanding signal words, and identifying main ideas and topic sentences. Instruction lasted for ninety minutes once a week during English classes provided over a four-month period. Presentation, exercises, mini-tests, and portfolios were provided to the participants. A general reading test and a questionnaire on the frequency of reading strategy use were conducted prior to and immediately after the four months of instruction in an experimental group and a control group. Moreover, in the experimental group, a pre- and post-reading strategy test was administered and additionally, a thinking-aloud protocol was used to determine the effects of the instructed strategies. Findings revealed that frequency of strategy use, but not reading ability, differed significantly between the groups. The strategy test revealed there were differences of gains in score among the five strategy sections. Students' awareness of strategy use was markedly increased by the instructed activities. In terms of reading attainment through strategy use, some strategies may be more difficult to acquire than others.
