Reading strategies and strategy awareness in three EFL educated readers of English literary texts

Abstract

This small-scale study of three educated readers aims to contribute to the exploration of the process of reading literary texts in a foreign language. By means of a think-aloud procedure and post-task interviews, the study explores the repertoire of strategies used by educated, non-native readers of literature and their progress in the use and awareness of those strategies after receiving academic instruction. Results evidenced the use of a great variety of cognitive, support and metacognitive strategies although, over time, some of them became less frequent or even disappeared. The study shows that repertoires of strategies change in time but also that each reader changes differently. The article draws pedagogical implications and provides recommendations for further research into the process of reading literature in a foreign language.