| This study had three purposes: to examine the differences in the self-reported use of metacognitive reading strategies by Taiwanese non-English major EFL college freshmen when reading English expository texts; to investigate the impact of rhetorical text structure (inductive versus deductive) on the participants' use of metacognitive reading strategies; to study the effects of rhetorical text structure on the participants' reading comprehension performance. One hundred and sixty-three EFL college freshmen divided into four groups by level of English reading proficiency read two expository texts over a one week period. One text was structured inductively and the other text deductively. After reading each passage, the participants completed the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) and a 10-item comprehension test.; English reading proficiency significantly was associated with the use of metacognitive strategies (e.g. global, problem solving, and support reading strategies), with the more proficient readers of English making greater use of the metacognitive strategies than the less proficient readers. In addition, text topic appeared to impact reading comprehension performance, with participants answering more test items for the Chen Ho passage than for The Ancient Romans selection. Rhetorical text structure did not affect differentially reading comprehension, as originally hypothesized.; EFL instructors might focus on teaching metacognitive strategies to their students along with those traditional activities designed to promote decoding accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary knowledge. |
