Investigating reading comprehension and learning styles in relation to reading strategies in L2

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the extent to which reading comprehension and learning styles are related to perceived use of reading strategies among students studying French at an Australian university and a Turkish university. Ninety-one participants completed a background questionnaire, the Survey of Reading Strategies, the Kolb Learning Style Inventory 3.1 as well as a reading comprehension test. The findings revealed a small negative correlation between perceived use of reading strategies and reading comprehension for all participants and, in particular, for the Australian subgroup; however, correlation coefficients were not statistically significant. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the participants with converging styles reported the highest usage of strategies in both subgroups and that converging learning styles influenced perceived use of reading strategies. In light of its findings, this research calls for larger-scale studies investigating the relationship among learning styles, reading comprehension, and reading strategies of language learners.