English Abstract
Abstract
This research aimed to investigate the relationship between reading
comprehension abilities and metacognitive awareness of reading
strategies of third year secondary school students in Bahrain. A mixed
research approach was used as reflected in the application of both
quantitative and qualitative data in the results analysis. The combination
of descriptive and correlational research design was also utilized in order
to address the research questions. A total of 240 third year high school
students were asked to accomplish the translated Metacognitive
Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) and the First
Certificate Exam (FCE) in Reading Comprehension. In addition to that,
17 teachers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview on the
students' use of reading strategies and reading comprehension level The
results revealed that students in the govemment schools have an overall
mean score level which is categorized as below B1, while students in the
private schools have an overall mean score that is classified as B2 level
High performing students had higher level of metacognitive awareness of
reading strategies than the students whose CEFR levels were lower than
B1 level There was a statistically significant correlation between the
students' reading comprehension abilities and metacognitive awareness of
reading strategies. However, only school affiliation had a significant
correlation with the respondents' reading comprehension abilities. In
other words, gender did not seem to have an effect on the reading
comprehension abilities of the students. Both school affiliation and
gender have a significant correlation with the metacognitive awareness of
reading strategies. Overall, there was a significant difference in the
intergroup pair comparisons of students between the public and
govemment schools in terms of their reading comprehension abilities and
metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Male and female students
did not differ significantly in terms of their reading comprehension
abilities. Training, workshops, and relevant methodological revisions are
put forward by the study.
