2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction
Scholars have been discussing the different reading strategies since the rise of this issue in the late
1970s. Consequently, overviewing everything that has been said about reading strategies would
be unattainable. Therefore, this review of literature will limit itself to discussing a few major
findings on the issue only. Specifically, the issues that deal with reading strategies and their
relationship with reading proficiency in a second/foreign language. This review of literature looks
at the relationship between reading strategies and second and/or foreign language reading
proficiency from three angles. First, it looks at the different accepted definitions of reading and
discusses their implications. Second, it presents an overview of the different reading strategies,
and looks at how they can be helpful to language learners in the light of recent findings. Third, it
reviews ways in which learners can become strategic learners.

2.2 What is reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension has been defined as the process of making meaning from text. The goal,
therefore, is to gain an overall understanding of what is described in the text rather than to obtain
meaning from isolated words or sentences. (Woolley, 2011, p. 15). Woolleys definition departs
from dated behavioristic notions that considered reading as a process of habit formation. The
implication in Woolleys definition is that there is an interaction between the reader and the text.
Furthermore, the emphasis put on viewing the text as a whole rather than as isolated words draws
on recent findings suggesting that reading is not a mere mechanical process of translating
language symbols into words.

This has been further argued for by Wixson, Peters, Weber, and Roeber, (1987) who suggest that
reading is the process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among: (1) the
reader's existing knowledge; (2) the information suggested by the text being read; and (3) the
context of the reading situation. Therefore, the reading process is not limited to the simple action
of reading words in isolation. This implies that the reader brings his or her knowledge (top-down),
and makes use of the information provided in the text (bottom-up), in addition to the readers
awareness of his/her reading situation.
In 1983, The Michigan Department of Education opted for a similar definition highlighting, thus,
the fact that reading is a process of meaning construction. This constructivist view suggests that
there is a three-dimensional interaction among the readers existing knowledge, the information
suggested by the text and the context of the reading situation. By the same token, Anderson,
Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, (1985) identify reading as a complex skill suggesting, thus, that
any reading activity requires the coordination of a number of interrelated sources of
information.
On the other hand, Torgesen, Houston, Rissman, & Kosanovich, (2007) suggest a more elaborate
definition that, instead of defining what reading is, identifies the abilities elementary school
students need to acquire in order to be considered as proficient readers. In this regard, they
suggest that proficiency in reading
Requires that students be able to identify the words on the page accurately and fluently; that they
have enough knowledge and thinking ability to understand the words, sentences, and paragraphs;
and that they be motivated and engaged enough to use their knowledge and thinking ability to
understand and learn from the text. (Torgesen, et al., 2007)
Moreover, Torgesen, et al. pay special attention to students motivation, which they deem as a
critical component of reading comprehension (p. 1). Nevertheless, Torgesen, et al. are not the
only researchers who have considered the relationship between the different

skills that are required for reading proficiency. Thus, in another research, Lovejoy, Szekely, Wat,
Rowland, Laine, Moore, Waskey, & Omear, (2013) argue that Reading proficiency requires three
sets of interrelated skills that develop over time: language and communication, mechanics of
reading, and content knowledge.
On the other hand, Harris & Hodges (1995) postulate that, in addition to meaning construction,
reading comprehension is achieved through a reciprocal, holistic interchange of ideas between
the interpreter and the message in a particular communicative context. (p. 39). Furthermore, in a
chapter on the development of reading comprehension instruction, Anders (2002) starts from this
definition to presume that
Meaning resides in the intentional problem-solving thinking process of the interpreter, that the
content of meaning is influenced by that persons prior knowledge and experience, and that the
message constructed by the receiver may or may not be congruent with the message sent. (Anders,
2002, p. 111)
This interpretation seems to be in accordance with Anders (2002) statement in which she
suggested that, linear definitions of comprehension are incorrect. (p. 111). Furthermore, she also
suggested that instead of linear definitions, a more encompassing definition of reading is needed.
Such a definition would account for the fact that comprehension is a multifaceted process, and
would take into account many other variables that are also important in the reading
comprehension process. These include the readers cognitive, social, and linguistic experiences
both historically and currently (p. 111).
From the different definitions present in the literature on reading comprehension, one can
conclude that reading comprehension is an intricate process that goes beyond the mere
identification of words that are isolated from their context. In the same way, it is also apparent that
one can only talk about reading comprehension when its multifaceted nature has been taken into

account. This manifoldness of the nature of reading has, of course, had an impact on the body of
literature regarding the instruction of reading. This impact has specifically

contributed to the rise of interest in the different reading strategies that proficient readers use.
Therefore, since the late 1970s, researchers have been investigating the topic of reading strategies
in an attempt to concoct the most effective ways that teachers can use to teach reading, and to
explore strategies that learners can use to read effectively.

2.3 Reading Strategies

The body of literature on the topic of reading in general, and reading strategies in particular is
tremendous. However, to the researchers best knowledge, very few Moroccan scholars have
tackled the issue from a purely Moroccan perspective. Thus, although researchers such as Maan
(1997) wrote about reading strategies used by Moroccan students, her focus was on the use of
these strategies at the tertiary level. Facing this paucity in literature, this part attempts to
encompass the major findings on the issue with a focus on the relationship between reading
strategies and reading proficiency in a second or foreign language.
For the last thirty years, great efforts have been dedicated to the study of the cognitive processes
and reading strategies that learners of English as a second or foreign language utilize in tackling
English texts. This growing interest has yielded a wealth of information on the topic. As a direct
result of this wide interest, reading strategies have been tackled in many ways. For instance, in her
influential article on the comprehension strategies used by second language readers, Block (1986)
identified reading strategies as being indicative of how readers conceive a task, and of the textual
cues they attend to in order to facilitate understanding (p. 465). According to Block, reading
strategies attend to how students make sense of the written text, and to how they respond to the
difficulties they encounter while reading (p. 465). Similarly, Garner (as cited in Mokhtari &
Reichard, 2002) defined reading strategies as generally deliberate, planful activities undertaken
by active learners, many times

to remedy perceived cognitive failure (p. 50). Concurring with this view is Paris, Lipson, and
Wixsons (1983) who argue that strategies are deliberate actions (p. 295). Furthermore, Paris, et
al. also consider that strategies are skills under consideration (p. 295). That is, learners need to
be trained in reading strategies until they reach the level of automaticity so that the learners can
know when, where, and how to use them. (Mokhtari & Reichard, 2002, p. 250).
On the other hand, the National Reading Panel (NRP) provides a more comprehensive definition
for reading strategies. Thus, in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD) report (2000), reading strategies are defined as procedures that guide students as they
attempt to read and write (p. 4). Such a definition suggests that reading strategies are
mechanisms that are helpful to students in the skills of reading and writing. However, due to its
extreme short and globalist nature, this definition fails to explain why and how it does so. The
NRP compensates for this lack of clarity in the definition by providing a set of 16 categories of
reading strategies. However, the report emphasized that the utility of only six of them has been
backed by scientific evidence. These strategies are:
Comprehension monitoring
Cooperative learning
Graphic and semantic organizers, including story maps
Question answering
Question generation
Summarization
In their attempt to devise a valid and accurate way of measuring students awareness of reading
strategies, Mokhtari & Sheorey (2002) sorted out reading strategies into three main categories:
global reading strategies (GLOB), cognitive, or problem-solving strategies (PROB), and support
strategies (SUP). Mokhtari & Sheorey describe global reading strategies

as intentional, carefully planned techniques by which learners monitor or manage their reading,
as for problem solving strategies, they are regarded as actions and procedures that readers use
while working directly with the text. On the other hand, support strategies are regarded as basic
support mechanisms intended to aid the reader in comprehending the text (p. 4).
It seems, thus, that there is an agreement on the premise that reading strategies are vital
metacognitive processes, and that they help improve comprehension. The correlation between the
metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and the improvement of reading abilities has been
supported by many researchers. For instance, (Carrell, 1989) suggested that less competent
learners are able to improve their skills through training in strategies evidenced by more
successful learners (p. 648). One of the most pertinent implications of such an approach would
be that teachers could train their less competent students in strategies that have proven to be
effective in facilitating other (more competent) students text comprehension. Similarly, in an
article on the importance of teaching reading strategies, (McNamara, 2009) concurred with this
view when she stated that high ability students use reading strategies and these strategies are
essential, not only to successful comprehension, but to overcoming reading problems and
becoming a better reader and comprehender. (p. 34).
As is the case with Carrells statement, the idea stated by McNamara could only imply that
teachers should help their students reap the benefits of the different reading strategies by training
them in these strategies. Furthermore, McNamaras statement also highlights the idea that the
importance of reading strategies is not only limited to their efficiency in aiding comprehension,
but that the training in, and the application of said strategies can help students become successful
comprehenders (p. 37). McNamara provided more explanations in this regard when she stated
that strategies provide the means to tackle complex problems in more efficient ways and, with
practice, the strategies lead to skills that become automatic and quick

over time. (p. 34). Hence, it is safe to assume that the major implication in both Carrells and
McNamaras views is that teachers should help their students reap the benefits of the different
reading strategies. One way of doing this is training students in these strategies so that they reach
the point of automaticity, which is thought of as the optimal degree of strategy use.
In addition to what has been discussed so far, Paris and Winograd (1990) offer even more
evidence documenting the close relationship between reading ability and metacognitive awareness
of reading strategies. In this regard, they state that metacognition provides personal insight into
one's own thinking and fosters independent learning (p. 7). Furthermore, they also highlight the
benefits of strategy use by confirming that students can enhance their learning by becoming
aware of their own thinking as they read, write, and solve problems (p. 7).
Although the available evidence seems to suggest that reading strategies are extremely important
tools for the strategic reader, these interesting findings would still be insignificant without
addressing the implications for teachers. Thus, the need to answer questions such as how would
teachers train their students to become strategic readers? remain of utmost importance to all
educators. One of the attempts to provide some suggestions for the kind of classroom instruction
that would promote childrens awareness and use of strategic reading has been carried out by
Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983).

2.4 Becoming a strategic reader

In their article Becoming a Strategic Reader, Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983) provide an
overview of the importance of reading strategies and suggest some workable ideas that would help
teachers train their students to become strategic readers. Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983) argue
that the ability to read is a vital part in being a self-controlled learner (p. 293). The main tenet
here is that modern education is about teaching students to become

self-directed learners who seek to acquire new information and to master new skills (p. 293).
According to this view, self-directed learners should be able to plan, evaluate, and regulate their
own skills and develop an enduring interest in learning (p. 293).
What defines strategic behavior? is, thus, a question that lies at the heart of Paris, Lipson and
Wisons research. In their attempt to answer this question, they argue that there are three main
requirements for strategic behavior. These are a capable agent, an attainable goal, and an
allowable action that the agent can perform to reach the desired end state (p. 294). Nonetheless,
they also claim that goals are often reached by luck or circumstance and not by effort or choice
(p. 294). Accordingly, one might infer that the idea expressed here is that reaching a goal may or
may not be a direct result of strategic behavior. This claim blurs the lines between strategic
behavior and mere luck. Therefore, in their explanation of what qualifies a strategic behavior, they
claim that for a behavior to be deemed as strategic, it should entail freedom of choice from a
variety of possible alternatives (p. 295).
As to when and how strategic behavior takes place, Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983) claim that
children become more strategic as they learn to read (p. 300). This claim strongly suggests that
becoming a strategic reader is closely related to how much reading is taking place. In other words,
the more a child reads, the more chances he/she has of becoming a strategic reader. The
researchers offer further clarification for this point by stating that their [the childrens] fuzzy
understanding about reading as a cognitive, perceptual, social activity becomes more enlightened
through practice and instruction (p. 300). Logically, it has been evidenced that children with poor
reading abilities, do not make use of reading strategies. Therefore, and since the knowledge and
tactics of beginning readers are the cornerstones
of more sophisticated comprehension skills (p. 300), learners who lack these tactics would not be
able to make sense of written texts. However, the ability to detect and repair ones

own comprehension difficulties. (p.300) is regarded as a determining ability that could help
learners with difficulties identify their problems and look for possible remedies.
Another point the researchers focus on is the importance of making learners aware of the efforts
that reading requires. In other words, young readers need to understand that reading is a difficult
task that requires the exertion of considerable efforts as well as the investment of time and hard
work. Furthermore, Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983) point out to the fact that children get aware
of what they need to know and do progressively. In this regard, the researchers state that as
children are pressed to read for meaning, learning, and examinations, they begin to realize that
new goals require new plans and effort (p. 300).
For learners to automatize strategy use, it is necessary for some explicit instruction to take place.
Thus, Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983) recognize the importance of the interaction that takes
place between the teacher and the learner as they link the give-and-take of instruction with
Vygotskys premise of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD has been used to refer
to a region of performance that a child can master with help but cannot accomplish alone (p.
300).
In their analysis of how strategic behavior is takes place, the researchers overview what is known
about declarative and procedural knowledge and argue that these two types of knowledge are
crucial for becoming strategic (p 302). Nonetheless, they also claim that these two types of
knowledge alone are not sufficient and that a third type is needed. Therefore, Paris, Lipson and
Wixson (1983) introduce a third type of knowledge, conditional knowledge. They argue that this
type of knowledge includes knowing when and why to apply various actions (p. 303). In other
words, conditional knowledge helps readers to know when and why to use which strategy. For
instance, while skimming could be useful in a certain context, it may not be in another. The ability
to know when to skim is, in fact, an example of the sound use of ones conditional knowledge.
They also argue that people could have as

much procedural knowledge as possible, yet, without the existence of conditional knowledge, they
could not adjust behavior to changing task demands (p. 304).
Since reading strategies and the different types of knowledge are important components of
strategic behaviors, the question of what can teachers do to train their students to be strategic
readers? arises. In order to answer this vital question, the researchers provide some insights from
cognitive and educational psychology. They argue that personal significance, utility and
efficiency, and self-management are important pragmatic features for strategic behavior. (p. 304).
Thus, a goal that is important for the teacher but that is not so for the student would not yield
positive results, as far as strategic behavior is concerned. This is explained by the fact that the
student might be doing it just to please the teacher rather than because he/she feels that it is a
necessary step in the comprehension process. However, personal significance is only important
because of the utility and efficiency of the task. That is, people perceive actions as important
because of the expected results. This is why they do not place so much importance on futile and
unrewarding activities (pp. 305-306).
In plain language, teachers need to take into account all these factors when it comes to training
their students into the implementation of reading strategies. Thus, as far as classroom instruction
is concerned, Paris, Lipson and Wixson (1983) provide a set of suggestions that teachers and
parents can make use of to improve childrens reading abilities. Thus, the researchers state that an
assessment of childrens declarative and procedural knowledge about reading, and direct
instruction of strategies should take place (p. 312). Furthermore, they also argue that
demonstrating and telling alone are not teaching (p. 306). This implies that teachers need to
raise their students awareness of the vitality of conditional knowledge because conditional
knowledge is the glue that holds skill and will together (p. 306). Thus, learners need to know
when and why they should perform the strategies. In accordance with this view, the researchers
report on an experiment they carried out and affirm that they are

encouraged that reading strategies can be taught directly and that teachers
and students alike appreciate the value of learning about declarative,
procedural, and conditional knowledge (pp. 312-313