1. Original SORS Study

A. Introduction to the SORS

Introduction to SORS: copied and pasted from Mokhtari & Sheorey(2002, pp. 4)

The SORS, like MARSI, is intended to measure the type and frequency of reading strategies that adolescents and adult ESL students perceive they use while reading academic materials in English (such as textbooks, journal articles, class notes, etc.).

The SORS consists of 30 items, each of which uses a 5-point Likert scales ranging from 1: “I never or almost never do this” to 5: I always or almost always do this”.

The SORS measures three broad categories of reading strategies: namely, - global reading strategies, - cognitive strategies, and - support strategies.

A brief description of each SORS category and the number of items within each category are given below:

  • Global Reading Strategies (GLOB) are those intentional, carefully planned techniques by which learners monitor or manage their reading, such as having purpose in mind, previewing the text as to its length and organization, or using typographical aids and tables and figures (13-items).
  • Problem Solving Strategies (PROB) are the actions and procedures that readers use while working directly with the text. These are localized, focused techniques used when problems develop in understanding textual information; examples include adjusting one’s speed or reading when the materials becomes difficult or easy, guessing the meaning of unknown words, and rereading the text to improve comprehension (8-items).
  • Support Strategies (SUP) are basic support mechanisms intended to aid the reader in comprehending the text such as using a dictionary, taking notes, underlining, or highlighting textual information (9-items).

i. Checking the Dimension and Original SORS Instrument: Cross Checking

[1] 30  2
   category                                                         statement
1      GLOB                             I have a purpose in mind when I read.
2       SUP     I take notes while reading to help me understand what I read.
3      GLOB      I think about what I know to help me understand what I read.
4      GLOB I take an overall view of the text to see what it is about before
5       SUP When text becomes difficult, I read aloud to help me understand w
6      GLOB I think about whether the content of the text fits my reading pur
7      PROB I read slowly and carefully to make sure I understand what I am r
8      GLOB I review the text first by noting its characteristics like length
9      PROB            I try to get back on track when I lose concentration. 
10      SUP I underline or circle information in the text to help me remember
11     PROB        I adjust my reading speed according to what I am reading. 
12     GLOB   When reading, I decide what to read closely and what to ignore.
13      SUP I use reference materials (e.g., a dictionary) to help me underst
14     PROB When text becomes difficult, I pay closer attention to what I am 
15     GLOB I use tables, figures, and pictures in text to increase my unders
16     PROB      I stop from time to time and think about what I am reading. 
17     GLOB I use context clues to help me better understand what I am readin
18      SUP I paraphrase (restate ideas in my own words) to better understand
19     PROB I try to picture or visualize information to help remember what I
20     GLOB I use typographical features like bold face and italics to identi
21     GLOB I critically analyze and evaluate the information presented in th
22      SUP I go back and forth in the text to find relationships among ideas
23     GLOB      I check my understanding when I come across new information.
24     GLOB I try to guess what the content of the text is about when I read.
25     PROB When text becomes diffcult, I re-read it to increase my understan
26      SUP      I ask myself questions I like to have answered in the text. 
27     GLOB I check to see if my guesses about the text are right or wrong.  
28     PROB     When I read, I guess the meaning of unknown words or phrases.
29      SUP   When reading, I translate from English into my native language.
30      SUP When reading, I think about information in both English and my mo

ii. Strategies by Types: Cross Checking

# A tibble: 3 × 2
# Groups:   strategy_type [3]
  strategy_type total_strategies
  <chr>                    <int>
1 GLOB                        13
2 PROB                         8
3 SUP                          9
       category  n
1          read 13
2          text 13
3       reading 12
4    understand  7
5   information  6
6 understanding  3

B. Key Concepts by SORS Strategies: Manual Itemization

GLOB SUP PROB
purpose in mind reference materials read slowly
think about use dictionary read carefully
overall view take notes get on track
content match purpose read aloud adjust speeed
review characteristics underline close attention
read closely circle stop and think
ignore details paraphrase picture
use tables, figures, pictures restate visualize
context clues own words re-read
typograhical features back and forth guess meaning
critically analyze find relationships
evaluate ask questions
check understading translate
guess use both language

C. Working on Original SORS Instrument: List of Key Words Repeated at Least Twice

# A tibble: 104 × 2
   words         repitition
   <chr>              <dbl>
 1 reading               12
 2 help                   7
 3 understand             7
 4 information            6
 5 think                  4
 6 use                    4
 7 becomes                3
 8 like                   3
 9 try                    3
10 understanding          3
11 back                   2
12 better                 2
13 check                  2
14 content                2
15 difficult              2
16 guess                  2
17 ideas                  2
18 increase               2
19 purpose                2
20 remember               2
21 see                    2
22 take                   2
23 time                   2
24 words                  2
25 according              1
# … with 79 more rows

D. Word Cloud Based on the Whole Instrument

E. Word Cloud Based on Trigrams

F. Creating N-Grams (1 - 5 Grams)

i. Most Frequent Word Pairs in Original SORS

ii. Most Frequent 3-Words List of 20

 [1] "across new information"       "adjust reading speed"        
 [3] "aloud help understand"        "analyze evaluate information"
 [5] "ask questions like"           "back forth find"             
 [7] "back track lose"              "becomes diffcult reread"     
 [9] "becomes difficult aloud"      "becomes difficult pay"       
[11] "better understand reading"    "bold face italics"           
[13] "carefully make sure"          "characteristics like length" 
[15] "check see guesses"            "check understanding come"    
[17] "circle information help"      "closer attention reading"    
[19] "clues help better"            "come across new"

iii. Four Word Pairs List of 20

 [1] "adjust reading speed according"          
 [2] "analyze evaluate information presented"  
 [3] "ask questions like answered"             
 [4] "back forth find relationships"           
 [5] "back track lose concentration"           
 [6] "becomes diffcult reread increase"        
 [7] "becomes difficult aloud help"            
 [8] "becomes difficult pay closer"            
 [9] "bold face italics identify"              
[10] "carefully make sure understand"          
[11] "characteristics like length organization"
[12] "check see guesses right"                 
[13] "check understanding come across"         
[14] "circle information help remember"        
[15] "clues help better understand"            
[16] "come across new information"             
[17] "content fits reading purpose"            
[18] "context clues help better"               
[19] "critically analyze evaluate information" 
[20] "diffcult reread increase understanding"

iv. Five Word Pairs List of 20

 [1] "adjust reading speed according reading"           
 [2] "back forth find relationships among"              
 [3] "becomes diffcult reread increase understanding"   
 [4] "becomes difficult aloud help understand"          
 [5] "becomes difficult pay closer attention"           
 [6] "bold face italics identify key"                   
 [7] "carefully make sure understand reading"           
 [8] "check see guesses right wrong"                    
 [9] "check understanding come across new"              
[10] "clues help better understand reading"             
[11] "context clues help better understand"             
[12] "critically analyze evaluate information presented"
[13] "difficult pay closer attention reading"           
[14] "face italics identify key information"            
[15] "features like bold face italics"                  
[16] "first noting characteristics like length"         
[17] "forth find relationships among ideas"             
[18] "get back track lose concentration"                
[19] "go back forth find relationships"                 
[20] "guess meaning unknown words phrases"

https://rpubs.com/nirmal/text_mining