Effects of Learning Strategies on Student Reading Literacy Performance

This study assesses the effects of the use of learning strategies on student literacy performance based on the 2002 Hong Kong Program for International Student Assessment. The descriptive statistics show that students use the memorization strategy almost as frequently as the elaboration strategy. Independent sample t-tests reveal that female students prefer to use more memorization strategies and less elaboration strategies than male students. The regression analysis demonstrates a positive relationship between learning strategy use and student reading performance. Results show that the memorization strategy has more strength in predicting students’ reading performance than the elaboration strategy, and that girls are doing better in reading than boys. Based on the findings, a direct instruction approach is recommended in strategy training.