Socioculturally Appropriate Language-Learning Strategies and Self-Reported Critical Reading Skills Among English-Major Teacher Education Students

Abstract

Socioculturally appropriate language-learning strategies and critical reading skills are essential competencies that support students’ effective language use and comprehension. Despite their importance, limited empirical studies have explored these variables across diverse geographical contexts. The primary purpose of the study determined the relationship between socioculturally appropriate language-learning strategies and the critical reading skills of college students, and tested whether these skills differ by year level. This study was carried out using a non-experimental quantitative research design, employing the descriptive-correlational and descriptive-comparative methods. This study was conducted in a private higher education institution in Davao City. Stratified random sampling was used to select the research sample of 208 respondents. Survey questionnaires with Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.937 for the socioculturally appropriate language-learning strategies and 0.971 for critical reading skills were used to collect data. Findings revealed that the levels of socioculturally appropriate language-learning strategies (M=3.33) and critical reading skills (M=3.31) are rated very high. Further, there was a significant difference when both variables are analyzed by year level (F-value=6.456; F-value=8.921). Moreover, a significant relationship existed between the variables under investigation (r-value=.581; p-value=.001). Higher self-reported use of socioculturally appropriate language-learning strategies was moderately associated with higher self-reported critical reading skills. Because the study was cross-sectional and relied on self-report measures, the findings did not establish that the strategies caused improvements in critical reading.