Fostering Learner Autonomy through a Socio-Cognitive Model of Reading Comprehension Instruction

Many research studies have proposed that the use of group work in teaching reading provides a social context which enhances participation, encourages sharing of ideas among group members, and increases interests for learning [1-8]. The purpose of this study aims to investigate the efficacy of a socio-cognitive reading comprehension instruction called Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) in fostering EFL learners’ autonomous learning and strategic competence. A class of fifty-four Taiwanese engineering students received CSR instruction participating in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data including a Likert-scale questionnaire of 22 items and group interviews about students’ perspectives of CSR were collected for data analysis. The findings from the students’ evaluations confirmed the effectiveness of CSR in increasing EFL university learners’ interest in English learning, enhancing classroom interaction, and creating a learning environment for collaborative support. In addition, the results also showed that CSR helped the students to develop their strategic reading ability, particularly in terms of distinguishing the most important information from the supporting ideas of the texts. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that the socio-cognitive model of reading comprehension is beneficial to fostering learner autonomy and helpful in increasing students’ reading comprehension.