Much research has been undertaken in the journals on various elements of strategy usage and metacognitive strategies in reading ( Dąbrowska, 2018; Li & Clariana, 2019; Zhang et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2018) by emphasizing the significance of instructional tactics in literature classrooms (Ferrara et al., 2020). Ample research concentrating on the effects of instructional techniques on students’ reading skills show that activities have a favorable impact on the EFL learners ( Altiok et al., 2019; Jin et al., 2020). Biological sex and competency variations on techniques usage have also been identified in related studies (e.g., Dąbrowska, 2018; Guo et al., 2018; Li & Clariana, 2019; Jansen et al., 2019). Variability between good readers and those who have difficulty, according to Dąbrowska (2018), are influential determinants in the adoption of effective learning strategies. Furthermore, Jansen et al. (2019) performed a survey in a scenario where a lack of competence in the goal of linguistic knowledge (English) was asserted, and the investigator found that competency was indeed a determinant in adopting techniques for learning. Likewise, research conducted by Guo et al., (2018) studied how Chinese EFL students observe self-regulatory strategies in reading. Results showed that fluency was a predictor among the EFL students who incorporated several methods in their reading approach. Garner’s (1990) theory of settings proposes that strategies need to be changed according to the context. The classroom instructions do not always support the strategy used and the learners fall back on their old routine practices instead of adapting to the new methods.

Think-aloud methods as reading techniques

The think-aloud strategy for reading has been adapted by several researchers ( Bai, 2018; Camilo et al., 2020; Follmer & Sperling, 2018; Huang, 2019; Lan, 2020; Li & Clariana, 2019; Reiber-Kuijpers et al., 2021; Wei, 2020). They employed think-aloud procedures in their studies for the process of recognizing metacognitive strategies. Li and Clariana (2019) conducted think-aloud research with 26 students of various levels of proficiency and they found that proficiency was beneficial in the application of several techniques. Along the same lines, Reiber-Kuijpers et al. (2021) employed think-aloud techniques to compare the strategies that both the successful readers and the less advanced readers used while reading and found that successful readers used many more tactics. Similarly, utilizing think-aloud protocols, Lee et al. (2019) determined several learning techniques in the outcomes of a study including 80 learners. The study revealed that developing literacy strategy and teaching reading skills should be tackled in a comparable research area. Tinzmann et al. (1990) ascertain that even training students to the thinking aloud habit keeps the classroom interactions robust. Ozek and Civelek (2006) consider the think-aloud strategy as an effective assessment tool to explore students’ reading strengths and weaknesses as it gives an insight to the reader’s mind which is otherwise unobservable ( Block, 1986). Gunning (1996) asserts that think-aloud can be used to comprehend features such as seeking information using prior knowledge, visualizing texts, observing and solving word or comprehension related problems. The role of reflection and guidance from the teacher cannot be ruled out, if the teacher needs the reading strategy to work and for that they need to provide an environment where the student can think while they are reading ( Chamot and O’Malley, 1994, p.11 cited by Lavadenz, 2003; Farr & Conner, 2004).

Reading strategies have been the focus of many previous studies ( Al-Mekhlafi, 2018; Bagci & Unveren, 2020; Deliany & Cahyono, 2020; Deliany & Cahyono, 2020; Suraprajit, 2019; Wahyono, 2019; Al-Ahdal & Almarshedi). For example, Deliany and Cahyono (2020) studied EFL students’ implementation of metacognitive reading tactics and reported that most students had high metacognitive reading strategies. Also, the study found that there was no significant difference between the male learners and the female learners in the use of reading techniques. Furthermore, Suraprajit (2019) examined the use of bottom-up and top-down reading strategies in academic business language in a study that used a questionnaire to collect data from Thai students. The study reported that the top-down strategy was the most commonly used method of instruction. It focused on activities that constructed meaning by utilizing background knowledge, making predictions and searching the reading material to assert or discard the predictions that were made. In contrast, the bottom-up strategy focuses on the text which is read and analyzed from start to finish. Students did want to use their time reading aloud, identifying tenses or dividing the sentences into small elements. This was the least preferred method of instruction.

Moreover, Al-Mekhlafi (2018) investigated strategies commonly used by the EFL learners. The study found that students used different reading strategies extensively and there was no significant difference between the levels of students in the use of reading strategies. Similarly, Nazurty et al., (2019) studied how frequently the Indonesian student teachers use reading strategies. The study investigated the use of reading strategies at pre-reading level, reading level and post-reading level. The findings showed that cognitive reading strategies were used by EFL students in all three different phases of reading. Furthermore, the study reported the tendency of female students to use cognitive strategies while male students used metacognitive strategies. Additionally, Wahyono (2019) explored students’ perceptions on reading strategies and their scores in reading comprehension in studies that indicate the correlation between reading strategies and comprehension of students. Findings of the study showed that the four cognitive pre-reading strategies including preview, prediction, prior knowledge, and purpose were used by all the students. In addition to those, many students used cognitive reading strategies such as rehearsal, developing new language, summarization, guessing meaning from context, and employing imagery for memorization. Furthermore, the study reported a correlation between reading strategies and reading comprehensions with a coefficient of 0.61. Think-Aloud Protocols (TAPs) provide valuable information about how learners solve problems, what obstacles they face, how and in what contexts they use these strategies in their learning tasks ( Someren et al., 1994).

Using the Think-aloud-protocol pattern, this study aims to answer the following questions: 1.

What reading strategies do EFL students employ when answering reading questions?

A mixed-method research approach was utilized in the study as data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. A reading test was used to assess students’ ability and applicability of the reading strategies. This is quantitatively assessed. Furthermore, the qualitative data were collected by interviewing three students during the reading session. The data collected through the two instruments were mixed in answering the research questions to triangulate and validate the findings. This study employed a think-aloud protocol design to gather verbal data on cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies used by undergraduate students enrolled in the EFL department in Qassim University for the academic year (1443AH). This is an explanatory design relying on the verbal protocols of the participants. Data analysis aimed to explore both cognitive and metacognitive reading strategy types that the participants used while engaged in a reading task.

The study sample consisted of 26 EFL students selected from the Department of English and Translation, College of Sciences and Arts, Methnab, Qassim University that were divided equally by gender (13 males and 13 females). All the students were native speakers of Arabic majoring in English. The ages of the participants ranged from 20 to 22 years. These students were randomly assigned to the study from a group of students who were enrolled in a Reading and Vocabulary Building Course. The selection of participants was based on the criteria of using the odd numbers from the list of students. Afterwards, three students (two males, and one female) were purposefully selected based on their proficiency levels to participate in the reading thinking-aloud task and to answer the interview questions. Table 1 below shows some demographic data about the study sample:

Instruments

Reading test

A reading test was administered to the participating EFL students to measure their reading abilities and to engage them in think-aloud sessions. The reading was selected from an already valid and reliable IELTS reading test taken from ( Hayes & Read, 2004) and can be found under Extended data (a copy of the interview questions can be found under Extended data (Al-Ahdal Arif, ‘Incorporating reading strategies’, 2022). IELTS testing is an international standardized testing of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers with an established worldwide credibility to assess language fluency. The test consists of a reading passage from a general topic and a set of twenty questions where each question is worth one point (Appendix A). The questions have different formats involving multiple-choice questions, matching, and summarizing the text.

Interviews

The three purposefully selected students underwent a semi-structured interview session in order to explore their perceptions and prior knowledge of reading strategies. The interviews were a part of the think-aloud sessions which were conducted with an effort to gain more in-depth information about the respondents’ reading habits. The interview questions were adapted from Ghavamin, et al. (2013) (a copy of the interview questions can be found under Extended data (Al-Ahdal Arif, ‘Incorporating reading strategies’, 2022). The interview focused on the learning and reading strategies that the learners used while reading a text and the steps they take to improve upon their reading abilities.

Think-aloud sessions

Procedure

Initially, twenty-six undergraduate students majoring in English were assigned to the current study (13 males and 13 females). The students were required to complete a reading comprehension test during a Reading and Vocabulary Building class in one hour. Afterwards, three participants were purposefully selected to take part in a think-aloud session to verbalize all the thoughts and processes going on in their minds while they were taking the test. As stated above, the interview questions were adapted from Ghavamin, et al. (2013). This means that the questions were already valid and reliable in the original study. Furthermore, the researchers administrated them on two students who were excluded from the study. The students reported the clarity and understandability of the interview questions. The researchers recruited them based on their previous verbal consent to participate in the study.

Every week, the instructor explained to the students a new reading strategy (e.g., scanning, skimming, previewing, guessing the unknown word, etc.) Students in each think-aloud session were required to apply the studied reading strategies to the target reading texts. They were also asked to report what they had comprehended from the text aloud. This procedure continued for the whole semester and at the end of the semester, the impact of the think-aloud strategy was assessed through a reading test. Students also reported their knowledge about the strategies they mastered and applied through an interview.

The think-aloud protocols were then recorded using a mobile phone and their responses transcribed by the researchers after. The interview was held in the English Department with three students. It took 15 minutes for each student to answer the five interview questions. As stated earlier, the interview was held in English, and when there was a language barrier, Arabic was used. Furthermore, the answers were transcribed, cleaned and themed. They appear in the results section along with the students’ number, i.e. (student 1-3). Then, the data were decoded and classified into categories based on the reading strategies adopted by these sampled students. The types of reading strategies adopted by the EFL learners while performing the reading task were identified and examined. The researchers also analyzed the extent to which gender differences played a role in learners’ comprehension and utilization of the reading strategies learned over a course of time.

Ethics statement

Ethical approval was obtained from the Scientific and Ethical Committee of Qassim University on (29/3/2022). Informed verbal consent was obtained from participants for the use and publication of their data.

Data analysis

Data for this research were gathered during the second semester of the academic year 2021-2022. Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The raw scores obtained from the reading tests were coded and calculated using statistical tool SPSS or Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, (Version 26) used for complex statistical data analysis. Descriptive statistics were reported involving minimum and maximum scores, frequencies, mean scores along with the standard deviation. Moreover, data gathered from the semi-structured interviews during the think-aloud sessions were analyzed qualitatively. This was done manually by applying the following steps: The students’ answers were anonymously presented using the word ‘Student’ to maintain the privacy of those participants. As soon as the data were transcribed, they were cleaned; a close examination of the students’ transcripts was required to identify appropriate themes and classifications. Each student’s responses were divided into five parts to answer the five interview questions. In this study, the analysis was conducted at sentence level. This means that every student’s interview was semi-open so, they were transcribed into short sentences focusing on the reading strategies they used (see the quotations of students 1 to 3 below). Wherever appropriate, quotes from the students’ responses were also used to support the themes identified in the tests.

1.

EFL instructors need to give a combination of prompts that are relatable and culturally familiar.

1.

The study did not investigate the metacognitive reading techniques that can be further used in similar studies.

Figshare: Incorporating reading strategies for EFL undergraduate learners in Saudi Arabia: A think-aloud study. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.20401917.v1. ( Al-Ahdal Arif, ‘Incorporating reading strategies’, 2022)

This project contains the following underlying data: -

Raw Scores.xlsx

This project contains the following extended data: -

Interview Questions.docx

Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).