A case study on primary school students' perceptions about their use of language learning and reading strategies and strategy training

Abstract

This study looks at the language learning and reading comprehension strategies of students in 3rd – 8 th grades. The study takes place at Bilkent Laboratory and International School, which is a bilingual school in Ankara, Turkey that combines curricula from the Primary Years Program (PYP), International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), the International Bachelorette (IB), and the Turkish Ministry of Education. The first part of the study consisted of administering two surveys- the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) and the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS). The surveys were administered to students in 3rd – 8 th grades, along with a short demographic survey to provide language profiles for the students. The second part of the study involves the implementation of a Strategy Training Program (STP) designed by the researcher. The STP was designed around a list of language learning and reading comprehension strategies compiled by the researcher based on research and teaching experience. There were seven participants selected from the fourth and fifth grades at BLIS. Data was collected from student notebooks, the researcher‟s journal, interviews, and the surveys administered before and after the training program.