An Investigation of the Reading Strategies Used by First Secondary Grade Students in a Saudi School: A Case Study

Abstract

This study investigated the reading strategies employed by first-grade students in Tabarjal, Saudi Arabia. The participants were divided into two groups based on their academic performance at Khaled bin Alwaleed Secondary School: high achievers (those with grades above the median score) and low achievers (those with grades below the median score). A sample of sixteen first-grade students was randomly selected from these two groups. The findings revealed that both high and low achievers used similar strategies, such as activating prior knowledge, employing the question-answer relationship (QAR), translation, restating, and scanning. However, significant differences were observed in the use of other strategies, including fix-up techniques, identifying keywords, predicting, using context clues, evaluating, and drawing conclusions. These results highlight both commonalities and distinctions in reading strategies between high- and low-achieving students, offering insights into how different approaches may influence reading comprehension and academic performance.