A Comparative Study of Question Strategies in Testing Reading Comprehension: Pre – Questioning, Post – Questioning, and Infixing

Reading comprehension tests have always been a problematic area to language learners. Part of the learners' poor performance stems from the lack of effective strategies in dealing with reading comprehension questions. This study aimed at comparing three strategies relevant to reading comprehension questions: pre - questioning, post – questioning, and infixing. To conduct the research, forty two students majoring in grade three of physics and mathematics in Ahvaz high schools were selected since they volunteered to cooperate. Then nine narrative passages, each of which appended with four comprehension questions, formed the material. Every three texts of these passages were devoted to one strategy. In pre - questioning and post - questioning strategies, the participants received the texts and their questions separately but in the opposite order. The questions of the infixing strategy were inserted between the two halves of the texts. Results proved that infixing questions can lead to better performance in reading comprehension tests. The study can bear both theoretical and practical implications to the stakeholders in the area of teaching and testing