A STUDY OF STRATEGIES TO READ USED BY THAI CIVIL ENGINEERS IN READING ENGLISH SAFETY MATERIALS

Abstract

The purpose of this research study is to investigate the use of reading strategies in the reading of English safety materials by Thai civil engineers. Significant attention will also be given to the relationship between the work experience of Thai civil engineers and their use of different types of reading strategies. The participants were 53 Thai civil engineers who had work experience of durations from 1 to 18 years. This study focused on the use of the Metacognitive Reading Strategies which consisted of Global Reading, Support Reading and Problem-Solving Strategies. Data on the use of reading strategies of the participants was collected by using the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) of Mokhtari & Sheorey (2002). The result of the study reported that Thai civil engineers used a wide range of strategies but there was a preference for global reading strategies, followed by problem-solving strategies and support strategies. The findings also revealed the use of cognitive strategies, compensation strategies and social strategies in reading English safety materials. The results of this study also explain the relationship between Thai civil engineers’ work experience and their use of reading strategies: explicitly, that their use of reading strategies did not have a significant correlation with work experience. Thai civil engineers who had longer work experience were likely to use only slightly fewer strategies to read than Thai civil engineers who had less work experience.

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