Impacting Attitudes towards Reading in Secondary School Students: A Direct Reading Strategy Intervention

Abstract

        The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the direct reading strategy instruction (DRSI) would be effective in enhancing attitudes towards reading in Yemeni pre-university students who study English as a foreign language. Participants were 60 Yemeni students who were given the adult survey of reading attitude questionnaire before and after the treatment to investigate their attitudes towards reading after four months of focus on reading strategy instruction  DRSI is the core of this investigation (the independent variable) whereas reading attitude (the dependent variable) constitutes the target of DRSI activities. The data for this study were collected through using adult survey of reading attitude questionnaire (ASRA). The results revealed significant improvement in reading attitudes of students in the experimental group compared to their pre-test performance and to that of the control group. The mean scores of the experimental group in the pre-and post-ASRA were 2.28 and 3.81 respectively, indicating an improvement in their attitudes towards reading. However, the mean scores of the control group in the pre and post ASRA were 2.39 and 2.35 respectively, indicating no improvement in their attitudes towards reading. Such results are consistent with some related studies which suggest that strategy-based instruction could be rewarding for improving reading attitudes.