ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS STRATEGIES

English Second Language Learners Strategies Increase Test Scores

English Second Language Learners Strategies Increase Test Scores

Introduction

English is a very important school subject for second language learners. In an effort to get high scores, students feel anxious when taking reading comprehension tests. This action research project studied the reasons for the anxiety ESL/EFL grade 9 students feel. It researched ways of helping them deal with the situation so that they could raise their academic performance on the reading tests (Harris & Coy, 2003). Students learned to apply test taking and reading techniques to prepare them for reading comprehension tests. Reading and test taking skills provided ESL/EFL students with the tools to cope with reading comprehension tests. After applying reading strategies and relaxation exercises, students scored higher on the tests.

Analysis

A number of solutions appeared in the literature that included general ideas about reading and test taking techniques relevant to a first language, reading strategies for ESL/EFL learners and specific reading problems for Hebrew speakers. Skilled comprehension requires … the sounding out and recognition of individual words to the understanding of sentences in paragraphs as part of much longer texts. There is instruction at all of these levels that can be carried … to increase student understanding (Kozminsky and Kozminsky, 2001).

ESL/EFL learners need to cope with two elements when taking a reading test: decoding and understanding. Hebrew reading is unlike English. It reads from right to left and the alphabet is completely different from English. For Hebrew speakers, learning to read English demands acquiring a completely different set of alphabet codes (Kozminsky and Kozminsky, 2001). Teaching student the skills necessary to recognize words increases the chances students will succeed in reading… The ability to understand a reading passage is greater when the reader can easily recognize or decode words. There is a relationship between general knowledge, skills in applying reading strategies and reading comprehension. Reading becomes more effective when students have background knowledge. Students become nervous when they have to read about cultural topics with which they are unfamiliar (Harris & Coy, 2003).

ESL/EFL students benefit from instruction in reading comprehension skills and reading strategies. In order for students to gain full understanding and become active readers they must strategically interact with the text. Strategic readers think about text, think with text, and think through text. Just Read Now contains effective strategies that will engage students and encourage them ...