Reading strategies of university EFL Thai readers in reading Thai and English expository texts

The purpose of this study was to: (1) investigate the differences in strategy use of high and low proficiency university Thai EFL readers when they read expository texts in Thai and English, (2) identify the kinds of strategies they used, their frequency of use, and the way the readers coped with reading difficulty when a particular strategy did not work, and (3) examine if high proficiency readers transferred their L1 reading skills to L2 reading comprehension.;The descriptive statistical analysis, Chi-square analysis, and an independent sample t-test were performed to answer the research questions. A total of 40 graduate Thai students at the University of Pittsburgh were asked to volunteer for the two reading sessions. First, the readers were asked to read and think aloud the strategies they used while reading Thai and English expository texts. Upon completion of the procedure, they were requested to complete two reading comprehension tasks. Finally, they were interviewed regarding their use of strategies.;It was found that, when reading Thai, few differences existed in the number and types of strategies used between the high and low proficiency EFL readers. It was concluded that because they were asked to read in their native language, little variability in strategy use was seen. However, when reading English, differences in the number and types of strategies used between the groups reached significance. Differences also appear in the variety of strategies used while reading. The findings also revealed that the high proficiency EFL readers transferred their reading strategies from L1 to L2 only when the texts shared similar linguistic features. The results also showed that both the high and low proficiency EFL readers used strategies when reading a foreign language, but differences existed in how the strategies were used. Factors influencing the differences in use were the results of self-evaluation, outcome expectancy, achievement responsibility, cognitive monitoring, knowledge bases, self-esteem, and environment.;Several implications for classroom practices and for future research are drawn from the results. Implications are applied to both Thai and other foreign language context.