Pittman, E: Self-Reported Strategy Use While Reading in Engl

This research investigates the strategies of four ESL students when reading English and Chinese narrative texts. The research describes the strategies applied by these subjects and compares whether or not they used different strategies in processing English and Chinese. The techniques of interviews and videotaping were used jointly to collect data on the subjects‘ comprehension processes. The researcher discovered that all twelve strategies identified in Chinese reading were also found in English reading. It suggests that the subjects processed reading in both languages in a very similar fashion. However, the fact that six other strategies were identified in English reading only implies that the subjects processed English slightly different from Chinese texts. This was largely due to their different goals for reading in each language and because of the inherent differences in the languages themselves. The research includes pedagogical implications for ESL educators, acknowledges its limitations, and suggests direction for future research.