Reading EAP: Investigating high proficiency L2 university students’ strategy use through reading blogs

Abstract

This study investigates the reading strategies used by academically novice, but high-proficiency L2 students of English enrolled in a teacher education programme at a major Swedish university. Data were obtained from personal reading blogs kept by the students as they undertook course reading at home. An analysis revealed that students employed various reading strategies; however, there was limited evidence to suggest that students employed these strategies routinely. The most common strategy reported was connecting to short-term writing task. While students reported reflecting on their reading, they did not appear to amend unsuccessful strategy use, or re-use successful strategies. The study reveals the difficulties and limitations of high-proficiency L2 students who lack experience of reading academic literature in English, and discusses pedagogical implications for reading blogs