Analyzing Reading Comprehension Strategies in Farsi Textbooks of Elementary School (Grades 2 & 3) based on Socio-psycholinguistic Approach

The present descriptive-analytical research examines reading comprehension strategies in second and third grade Farsi textbooks based on Anderson's (1999 & 2014) socio-psycholinguistic communicative approach to language. The aim is to determine the extent to which these strategies align with the principles and techniques of this approach. To achieve this goal, a researcher-made worksheet was utilized for data collection from the second and third grade Farsi textbooks as the statistical sample, while the three Farsi textbooks of first period served as the statistical population. The worksheet comprised three principles, 24 techniques, and 11 sub-techniques. The face and content validity of the worksheet were confirmed based on expert opinions, and its reliability was established with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.84. Descriptive statistics were employed to calculate the mean and frequency of strategies, while the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparing the textbooks. The sampling method was purposive, encompassing all texts and exercises from the second and third-grade books. Data analysis revealed that the principle of activating prior knowledge was not utilized in the second-grade textbook. Although this principle was applied in the third-grade book, it was not entirely consistent with this communicative approach. The principles of cultivating vocabulary and verifying strategies were not fully aligned with this approach in either book. A comparison of the two textbooks indicated that the second-grade book had a higher frequency of strategies, while the third one exhibited greater diversity; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the second and third-grade books. Overall, the second and third-grade Farsi textbooks do not fully align with this communicative approach. The findings of this article include discussions and suggestions for authors.