Integrating reading strategy and phonics instruction to enhance foreign language reading comprehension: A complex approach to a complex phenomenon

This article argues that the skillful integration of reading strategy instruction with phonics instruction is highly useful for the enhancement of foreign language reading comprehension. There is a vast amount of evidence which clearly suggests that reading strategy instruction improves learners’ ability to understand foreign language texts. However, some researchers have argued that foreign language learners need a critical amount of lexical and grammatical knowledge to make use of reading strategy instruction; in other words, lower proficiency readers are unable to profit from reading strategy instruction. Yet, a detailed analysis of relevant published and unpublished research indicates that while more proficient readers are able to take full advantage of reading strategy instruction on its own, less skilled readers require an integrated phonics component in order to fully benefit from reading strategy instruction. This conclusion is in line with our current understanding of the complex process of reading which suggests that reading proficiency is the product of linguistic knowledge and strategic behaviour.