The research concerns deaf university students who study English as a Foreign Language as a part of the curriculum of their various specializations. It focuses on the ways deaf students work to reach the goal of reading comprehension in English and the research methodology which would allow to study them. The main research question are: What are the possibilities and limitations of think aloud in examining the reading strategies used by deaf EFL students? What reading strategies do Czech deaf university students use when reading in English?

The research is a part of a larger work and should serve primarily as a test of feasibility and appropriateness of chosen data collection methods.

In tertiary education high level of reading comprehension (and in wider picture reading literacy) not only in mother tongue but also in English (and/or other widely used language) is a precondition of success. Reading is one of the key components of foreign language learning in general and even more so for the deaf where the written form of language is the fully accessible one.

At the same time low achievements of the deaf and hearing impaired in reading have long been recognized as one of the main causes of academic and professional failure (Paul, 2001; Spencer & Marschark, 2010). According to Harmer, reading skills instruction in foreign language teaching is particularly a matter of “transferring existing skills” (1991, p. 25) to reading in a foreign language. However, not all students are equally advanced in their reading skills and beside developing the language competence the role of a foreign language teacher is therefore also to help students acquire or improve the skills.

On the basis of previous research we can generally anticipate that deaf students do not have high command of reading skills, which together with a restricted competence in a foreign language makes reading comprehension a highly problematic issue. In case reading skills fail a reader should be able to use strategies to compensate for them to reach his/her goal in reading comprehension (Afflerbach, Pearson & Paris, 2008). A study of reading strategies used by deaf students in reading comprehension in English should offer an insight in the reading process of the deaf students in the specific situation. More knowledge of what strategies the students are actually using when reading and of their theoretical knowledge of the strategies would help their teachers to make informed decisions on the nature and content of instruction of reading comprehension in English.

In the Czech Republic as well as in other European (particularly Central European) countries education of deaf and hearing impaired students is at the moment a very topical issue. The natural right of all to accessible education on all levels entails a challenge for educators to seek new ways of instruction; foreign language teaching of hearing impaired students on tertiary level of education being one of the challanges. And for accessible and effective methods and approaches educators are in great need of accurate knowledge of their students. 

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