Abstract:
Allame Tabatabai Universtiy, Tehran
Abstract
The fact that some aspects of reading ability are readily transferred from one language to another
has been supported by a number of studies. The present study aimed to investigate the degree of
relationship between the reading strategies
language. The study was conducted as follo
adopted in the first language and in the foreign
ws, First 57 Iranian students studying at Allame
Tabatabai University took the Nelson Language Test (1976), version 450. A. The subjects were all
undergraduate seniors majoring in English. Based on the result obtained, the researcher selected 38
subjects who were at an advanced level of language proficiency. In the second phase, a Persian cloze
test and a Persian reading strategy questionnaire were administered respectively. In the third phase
of the study, an English cloze test and an English reading strategy questionnaire were administered.
Finally, in the last phase of the study, the data were statistically analysed. The results showed that
out of 17 strategies classified as positive reading strategies, 6 were used frequently in Persian and
English and 10 were used moderately in both languages. However, out of 8 negative strategies, 6
were used moderately in both languages and two other strategies were used relatively infrequently in
both languages. The correlation coefficient between the two cloze tests was 0. 60 which was
significant at p<0. 01. Hence the null hypothesis could be rejected. The results supported the view
that reading strategies, among other aspects of reading ability, can be transferred from one language
to another