A Study of Factors Affecting EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Skill and

the Strategies for Improvement

Riconose, Judy Mae U.

This study defines the term reading comprehension and reading strategies,
elaborate previous findings about the relationship between reading strategies and
reading comprehension skill, state factors affecting reading comprehension, explain
the effective strategies for reading comprehension, and provide suggestions for
improving reading comprehension skill.

Reading comprehension is a complex process that requires different reading

skills such as word recognition, fluency, lexical knowledge, and pre-existing
knowledge. It is dependent on cognitive growth and involves four skills: phonology,
syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Reading strategies are purposeful and cognitive
actions that learners take to make and keep meaning from a text. They are
conscious behaviors that readers use before, during, and after reading to promote
active, competent, and intentional reading. Factors that influence reading strategy
use include readers' previous knowledge, text type, and proficiency. Reading
strategies have a significant impact on reading comprehension skill, and Scott (2010)
found that word knowledge affects reading comprehension to older readers. Memory
and motivation have a significant impact on reading comprehension, with working
memory span being the most important factor. Anxiety and background knowledge
are important factors in the development of reading comprehension, with anxiety
having a negative impact and background knowledge having a positive impact.

Reading comprehension is affected by the complexity of the text,

environmental influences, anxiety during reading comprehension, interest and
motivation, decoding or word recognition speed, and medical problems. Learners'
interest and motivation are important for developing reading comprehension skill,
while decoding and word recognition speed are related to medical problems.
Effective comprehension strategies are useful for improving reading comprehension
skill, such as reciprocal teaching, instructional conversations, visualization, partner
reading, multiple reading strategies, assessment, and running records. EFL teachers
should form questions before, during, and after reading to help learners make
connections, visualize, and become better visualizers. Teachers should help EFL
learners develop their background knowledge, teach text structures, and use reading
comprehension strategies.

The major conclusion to this study is that EFL learners should read more
authentic texts to have a better reading understanding about different kinds of written
texts in their language. Successful readers apply different factors and skills to get the
meaning of texts. EFL teachers should motivate learners to read different materials,
recognize their learners' comprehension difficulties, and provide information about
their weaknesses to develop a good reading comprehension skill.