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Data from 19 participants’ think-aloud protocols were analyzed through content analysis and tabulation. Results show no single universal strategy profile across proficiency levels; instead, learners used different combinations of cluster strategies. Intermediate-level readers used a wider variety of strategy types than both elementary and expert readers, indicating instructional value in teaching efficient cluster strategies.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/possibility-of-cluster-strategy-use-by-readers-in-response-to-filling-the-blank-test-research-report/591693/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/possibility-of-cluster-strategy-use-by-readers-in-response-to-filling-the-blank-test-research-report/591693.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Dipper","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What was the purpose of the study?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study investigated whether English Foreign Language learners use cluster strategies in the FCE reading test and whether usage differs across elementary, intermediate, and expert proficiency levels.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How was the data collected and analyzed?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Data came from 19 participants’ thinking-aloud responses to the gapped section of the test, analyzed using content analysis and tabulation.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What did the study find about strategy use across proficiency levels?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Readers at different proficiency levels did not rely on a single strategy profile; they used different combinations of cluster strategies. Intermediate readers used more varied strategy types than readers at the two extremes.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591693,1792189230,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":41},1374404997633,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Anatolian Journal of Education e-ISSN: 2547-9652  \nApril 2020 ● Vol.5, No.1 [www.e-aje.net](www.e-aje.net)[ ](www.e-aje.net)pp. 29-40  \nPossibility of Cluster Strategy Use by Readers in Response to Filling the Blank Test  \nParisa Daftarifard  \nAsst. Prof., Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, [pdaftaryfard@azad.ac.ir](pdaftaryfard@azad.ac.ir)  \nTania Samadian  \nPhD, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, [tnsamadian@yahoo.com](tnsamadian@yahoo.com)  \nThe present article reported an exploratory investigation into the nature of the reading comprehension strategies of English Foreign Language learners across proficiency levels. The aim of this study was to probe possible differences between elementary, intermediate, and expert readers’ use of cluster strategy in the First Certificate English test. The collected data from 19 participants’ Thinking Aloud on the gapped section of the test were analyzed both through content analysis and tabulation. The results indicated that readers at different language proficiency levels did not use a single profile strategy to answer a reading comprehension test item or to process a text, but rather used different combination or cluster strategies. The participants located in the intermediate language proficiency levels used more various strategy types to answer a single reading question than those who were located at the two extreme ends of the spectrum. Hence, focusing on teaching efficient cluster strategies rather than teaching single isolated strategies would be more productive in today's reading classrooms.  \nKeywords: first certificate of English (FCE), language proficiency levels, reading comprehension, strategy cluster, think-aloud protocols  \nINTRODUCTION  \nBy far, one of the persistent problems in the actual practice of reading comprehension activity has been that of understanding the underlying processes that more or less proficient readers undergo to answer reading questions. Although it has been assumed that competent readers deploy efficient strategy to answer the reading questions (Cohen & Upton, 2007), more recently scholars have doubted the idea of a single profile strategy in favor of cluster and combination strategies (Macaro, 2001) . In other words, the choice of cluster strategy is claimed to be an indicator of readers’ failure or success ina reading comprehension test (Graham, et al., 2010) . Macaro (2001) believes that one single strategy might not determine the good or poor performance of respondents on a test; instead, poor performance might be the result of not being able to use “a full range of strategies in combination”(p. 264) .  \nLiterature is replete with research and studies conducted on the nature of Reading Comprehension (RC) processes to elucidate strategies efficient readers utilize to answer items in an RC test (Abbott, 2006; Alderson, 2000; Grabe, 2000) . A clear picture of the nature of RC processes has implications for the way we prepare materials to teach RC, devise RC tests, and interpret the test results. Strategic use of language has frequently been referred to as one of the components of language competence, named strategic competence a proficient language user is believed to have (Bachman, 1990) . Therefore, clarifying what the RC processes surely affects the way test scores are interpreted. As were  \nCitation: Daftarifard, P., & Samadian, T. (2020) . Possibility of Cluster Strategy Use by Readers in Response to Filling  \nthe Blank Test. Anatolian Journal of Education, 5(1), 29-40. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2020.513a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2020.513a)  \n30 Possibility of Cluster Strategy Use by Readers in Response to …  \nexpounded by Bachman and Palmer (1996),“[Unless] we can demonstrate that the inferences we make on the basis of language tests are valid, we have no justification for using tes","cbCaivxYahYKnLRo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivxYahYKnLRo","pdf",519695,12,"English","# INTRODUCTION\n# Literature Context\n# Study Aim and Research Focus","[{\"question\":\"What was the purpose of the study?\",\"answer\":\"The study investigated whether English Foreign Language learners use cluster strategies in the FCE reading test and whether usage differs across elementary, intermediate, and expert proficiency levels.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the data collected and analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"Data came from 19 participants’ thinking-aloud responses to the gapped section of the test, analyzed using content analysis and tabulation.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the study find about strategy use across proficiency levels?\",\"answer\":\"Readers at different proficiency levels did not rely on a single strategy profile; they used different combinations of cluster strategies. Intermediate readers used more varied strategy types than readers at the two extremes.\"}]","Possibility of Cluster Strategy Use by Readers in Response to Filling the Blank Test - Research Report | PDF",1792073006]