A Study of the English Reading Strategies of Hungarian University Students with Implications for Reading Instruction in an Academic Context

Abstract

This study investigates the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies among Hungarian university students majoring in English in order to provide insights for improving academic reading instruction. Using the Survey of Reading Strategies, the findings show that students generally demonstrate high awareness of reading strategies, with a strong preference for problem-solving strategies, followed by global and support strategies. Strategy use is significantly related to gender, self-rated reading ability, and time spent reading. However, a notable proportion of students with high strategy awareness performed poorly on an objective reading test, suggesting that strategic awareness alone is insufficient without adequate linguistic proficiency. The study highlights the need to balance strategy training with language development in academic reading programmes.