A Study of English Reading Strategy Instruction by Thai Teachers in Private Schools, Rayong Province, Thailand

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the level of English reading strategies taught by Thai teachers in private schools, Rayong Province, Thailand. The subjects of the study were 9 Thai English teachers who were teaching in three private schools in Rayong Province, Thailand. The Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) questionnaire developed by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) comprising 28 items was employed to collect quantitative data. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with all 9 Thai English teachers for qualitative data collection and triangulation. The quantitative findings indicated that, on average, all the three categories of the SORS which are Global Strategies, Problem-solving Strategies, and Support Strategies were taught at a high level. Moreover, the thematic content analysis showed the five emerging themes which are Theme 1: Teaching Reading Strategies, Theme 2: Essential of Teaching of Reading Strategies, Theme 3: Reading Strategies Taught in Coursebooks, Theme 4 Positive Feeling about Teaching of Reading Strategies, and Theme 5: Students as Difficulties to Teach Reading Strategies. The interpretation of the results suggested that the Theme 1, 2, 3, and 4 were in convergence with the results of the SORS questionnaire whereas Theme 5 was considered an augmentation.