Reading Strategies Used by Palestinian College Students

Abstract

This study investigates the type of reading strategies used by Engineering students at Palestine polytechnic University. It also explores the differences between students of high proficiency and those of low proficiency in terms of the type of strategies used as well as the correlation between these types of strategies and the students' reading ability. The participants are 100 sophomore engineering students who are enrolled in their second English course at the university. The data were collected by using a self reported questionnaire and reading comprehension passages. Results show that the most frequent types of strategies used by all students are the global strategies followed by problem solving ones and finally the support ones. They also reveal a significant correlation between the global strategies used and the students' reading comprehension ability. Furthermore, the study shows differences between low-proficient readers and high proficient ones in terms of the frequency and type of strategies used. Keywords: college students reading, EFL reading comprehension, reading comprehension, Palestinian college students.