Incorporating reading strategies for EFL undergraduate learners in Saudi Arabia: A think-aloud study

Background: In language learning, reading is a skill that enables interaction with a text in whatever field of knowledge the learner is pursuing. Readers tend to use strategies such as comprehension, interpretation and conception of decoding written language and texts to enhance their reading capacity. This research explores the reading strategies applied by Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and compares the reading abilities of male and female EFL students. Methods: The study interviewed three EFL students about the reading strategies they applied while reading passages and texts. Then an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) reading test was handed over to 26 randomly selected students. Results: The study found that the reading strategies used by the students interviewed involved skimming, scanning, guessing the meaning from context, identifying the mean idea, and summarizing the body of the text in question. Moreover, the study revealed that both male and female students scored low in the IELTS tests that the researchers conducted. The average mean score they reached was 7.15 out of 20. However, even in the low scoring ratio, female students (M=7.69) outperformed male students (M= 6.62) and the difference between them remained significant, P=.000. Conclusions: The study recommends that the language instructors help EFL learners in developing their reading strategies and applying them every time they read any text.