Exploring Reading Strategies in Comprehending Academic Novels Integrated with Visuals at O Level

Abstract

The current study explores the reading strategies used by the students of O Levels while they read academic novels integrated with visual components. The main goal was to analyze how the multimodal texts affect the comprehension of the students and shape the methods and strategies they use while reading academic novels with integrated text. Quantitative descriptive methodology along with a structured questionnaire was employed to investigate how 250 students from diverse subgroups get engaged with the multimodal texts. The study was conducted in three segments: planning, collecting data and the analysis. The Multimodal Texts Reading Strategies Inventory (MTRSI) was utilized after evaluating its validity and reliability during the preparatory phase. To guarantee a wide representation of the viewpoints of students, Google Forms were used to gather the responses during the phase of data collection. To identify the most frequently used strategies for improving the comprehension of the multimodal texts, the responses of students were analyzed during the analytical phase.  Important results show that when working with multimodal texts, students use a variety of global, problem-solving, support, and post-reading tactics. They use a variety of assistance systems to confirm their understanding, preview texts and images, and rely on visual aids to help them navigate difficult parts. This study advances the field of instructional techniques by illuminating the efficient use of multimodal components to enhance students' reading comprehension.