| Research indicates that there is little knowledge as to how college-level readers in Korea understand English academic text. This qualitative case study documented and explored how four Korean undergraduate students learned and implemented reading strategies while reading in English in an educational setting. It was the writer's assumption that college students in Korea had struggled to develop their own reading strategies due to the different types of instruction they received as foreign language learners in classroom settings in Korea. Four Korean undergraduate students were purposefully selected and voluntarily participated in this study. The data collection methods in this study included reading tasks which included think-aloud and retelling protocols, self-report checklist data, retrospective interviews, and a focus group discussion. Supportive methods included documents. Analysis and interpretation of the findings were organized into five emerging themes: (1) reading in English as the process of translation and learning test-taking skills, (2) implicit or explicit contributions of reading instruction to reading practices and reading strategy development, (3) language differences and characteristics of reading strategy use, (4) tendency of correspondence between introspective and retrospective descriptions, and (5) awareness of reading strategy use and applications in limited ways. This research revealed that most participants had negative self-perceptions as English readers but had a strong desire to improve in reading in English for better employment options after graduation. They desired to learn how to apply different types of reading strategies to a variety of text types. Finally, by participating in this study, participants became more aware of their use of reading strategies and resolved to develop more of them. The findings and conclusions of this study suggest that current and future teachers need to empower students to participate in class, help students develop positive self-perceptions regarding their ability to read text in English, and expose students to a greater variety of topics in their English reading material. In addition, more explicit and specified reading strategy instructions need to be implemented in the class to promote students' awareness of reading strategy use. |
