The Reading Matrix - Volume 14 - Number 1 - How Reading Strategy Use And Personality Types Are Related? - Abstract and Introduction

Sep 17, 2026

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This study investigates reading strategies used by Iranian undergraduate EFL learners and how these strategies relate to personality types. A sample of 194 university students completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and a reading strategy questionnaire covering metacognitive, cognitive, and support strategies. Results show learners are moderate strategy users, with cognitive strategies most frequent. Interviews validated questionnaire outcomes and suggested additional strategies. Introversion showed a significant positive relationship with reading strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Reading Strategy

121 The Reading Matrix © 2014 Volume 14, Number 1, April 2014 How Reading Strategy Use And Personality Types Are Related? Zahra Safdarian, Tarbiat Moallem University Majid Ghyasi, Tarbiat Moallem University Mohammad Amini Farsani Tarbiat Moallem University ABSTRACT This study sought to uncover the reading strategies utilized by Iranian undergraduate English Foreign Language (EFL) learners and their relationship with personality types. To this end, 194 university EFL learners were asked to fill out the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to identify their personality types and answer a reading strategy questionnaire to tap into metacognitive, cognitive, and support strategies. Results obtained indicate that the participants are moderate reading strategy users. Their most frequent strategies were the cognitive strategies, followed by the metacognitive and support strategies. An interview was also conducted and findings both confirmed the data accumulated through the questionnaire, and even revealed some additional strategies which had not been previously included in the questionnaire. Among the four bipolar personality types, introversion did show a significant positive relationship with reading strategies suggesting that the learners’ extraversion and introversion dichotomy should be taken into consideration to shed light on their reading strategy use. INTRODUCTION Reading plays a critical role in language learning and mastery is considered to include many levels and components; it is an extremely difficult task to become a good reader. Carrelland Grabe (2002) view reading as the most important skill required of people in multicultural and international settings, academic learning, and self-study situations. In higher education today, reading is seen as the most important skill to master for university students to gain knowledge of their own discipline. To this end, a great deal of research has explored and supported the notion that strategic approaches are an indispensible part of the reading comprehension process (Blachowicz & Ogle, 2008) and the effective use of reading strategies 122 has been recognized as a significant means to increase reading comprehension (Huang, Chern, & Lin, 2009) . Strategic approaches during reading refer to the way readers visualize the text in their mind, the textual cues they attend to, how they make sense of the text content, and how they compensate when understanding is incomplete (Block, 1986) . Learner autonomy is intimately related to learning strategies (Wenden, 1991; White, 1995 ; Vanijdee, 2003) . Moving away from a passive, instruction-dependent learner to a more active, creative, and autonomous one is seen as an important goal of strategy learning. Language learners are expected to continue their progress in learning the second language after the end of their educational career, and learning strategies can significantly contribute to this objective. Language learning strategies are related to many factors such as attitude and belief, cultural background, age, gender, learning style, and personality trait (Oxford, 1994) . The learners’psychological type, which includes learning styles, affective variables, and personality factors (Ehrman, Leaver, & Oxford, 2003), is important to underscore here. It is, therefore, reasonable to study learning strategies in the context of psychological variables (Schmeck, 1988) for, as Brown (2007) believes, learners’use of different language learning strategies is not enacted by itself; rather, strategies are related to learners’personality and learning styles. Studies conducted on language learning strategies in Iranian context have mostly focused on the four skills, learning strategies in general, rather than a specific skill (e.g., Nikoopour & Farsani, 2010) . In this EFL context where reading is the main tool of learning English for university students, there is a lack of research into the use of reading strategies and

FAQs

What was the main purpose of the study?

The study aimed to identify the reading strategies used by Iranian undergraduate EFL learners and examine their relationship with personality types.

How were participants’ personality types measured?

Participants completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to determine their personality types.

What kinds of reading strategies were assessed?

The study assessed cognitive, metacognitive, and support strategies using a questionnaire based on Mokhtari and Reichard’s classification.

Sep 17, 2026

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