Abstract:
BACKGROUND : Student reading challenges have been reported worldwide. In many classrooms
around the world, teaching students appropriate strategy-use has been a technique used to
improve comprehension and improve reading proficiency. However, strategy-use instruction
per se may not produce holistic results.
OBJECTIVES : This article reports on an extended strategy-use instruction to improve students’
reading proficiency in a particular subject area. The technique of role-play, as well as an
integration of affective strategies, was used to improve the cohort of first-year students’
reading of subject-specific texts.
METHOD : The intervention was conducted by way of tutorials. A questionnaire was used to
elicit students’ views and opinions after the intervention. The responses were analysed using
content analysis of emerging themes.
RESULTS : Students reported benefiting from the intervention with respect to reading their
assigned texts, as well as increased motivation.
CONCLUSION : It is recommended that strategy-use instruction include other innovative
techniques such as role-play to improve students’ reading proficiency in a specific subject.
