The Use of Reciprocal Teaching Strategy to Develop English Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking Skills of Mattayomsuksa 2 Students

Abstract

This study aimed to enhance English reading comprehension, critical thinking skills, and metacognitive awareness, and to investigate students’ opinions after the use of Reciprocal Teaching Strategy (RTS). The participants were 40 junior high school students who had similar English language competence levels, and trained to read English texts using RTS. The research instruments included RTS teaching materials, reading tests, survey questionnaires, opinions questionnaires, interviews, and teacher logs. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data was conducted. The results revealed that after utilizing RTS, students had higher scores in English reading comprehension and critical thinking indicated at the 0.01 significant level. Their metacognitive awareness also increased. Furthermore, most students were satisfied with the application of RTS in English reading. The findings suggest that RTS can be an engaging technique in a reading class which can stimulate critical thinking and metacognitive awareness and increase students' motivation to improve their English reading abilities and generate more positive attitudes when reading English texts.