The use of cognitive reading strategy in teaching english

This article presents the implementation of cognitive strategies to improve reading comprehension skills in English in secondary schools. The study aims to gain a better understanding of the cognitive strategies that motivate students to read and comprehend English. The article covers five cognitive techniques: predicting, questioning as you read, visualizing as you read, using graphic diagrams to summarize the story, and answering comprehension questions after reading. Students' reading comprehension through the application of cognitive strategies is the most significant expectation in English language teaching. They should interpret short stories in English using cognitive strategies in the reading process. Moreover, observations prove that students have problems understanding texts and participating in various interactive activities in reading. The research enrolls twenty-five students majoring in V–VI (15 girls and 10 boys) grades to participate in the study to achieve the goals. Data were collected based on a pre-and post-study outcome questionnaire. The analysis showed that the participants were unaware of the cognitive strategies. Nevertheless, the participants eventually recorded valuable insights about the usefulness of cognitive strategies. The study's findings demonstrated that applying cognitive skills to reading comprehension helps readers comprehend texts and briefly activates their ability to visualize them. Reading comprehension also increases participants' desire to set reading objectives and derive new meanings from the text. The article provides a step-by-step description of the cognitive strategies' stages and activities. It was believed that learners at these stages were important for their efficient mastery of reading. Teachers also mentioned that adapting contemporary methods to cognitive strategies is not a problem. Therefore, the research paper is a source of data that aids in identifying students' English reading difficulties.