Abstract
Reading comprehension as a survival skill in EFL context is included in almost all language proficiency and achievement tests. However, it seems that traditional approaches to reading comprehension instruction have not been successful at satisfying the learners’ need. Considering the advantages of reflective reading, it appeared as a probable solution to reading problem of EFL learners. Therefore, this experimental study aimed at investigating the effect of reflective reading on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To this end 49 male and female participants were selected through convenient sampling and were randomly assigned to two control and experimental groups. An English proficiency test was given to the sample to make sure about the homogeneity of the participants and equality of proficiency levels of the two groups. Later reading comprehension ability of the study groups was measured. As the ten-session treatment began the experimental group experienced reflective reading, while the control group followed conventional method of reading and answering comprehension check questions. After the treatment period, the groups’ reading comprehension ability was assessed once more. Independent samples t-tests were run to analyze the gathered data. It was found that reflective reading has positive effect on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Pedagogical implications of this finding for language teachers, learners, material developers, policy makers and researchers are discussed.
Highlights
Reading ability has always been viewed as critical to academic success (Bernhardt, 1991)
Since the study was to investigate the effect of reflective reading on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners, reading ability of the study groups were measured before the treatment and the groups’ means and possible differences in variance were compared
The present study found the positive effects of reflective reading strategies on reading comprehension performance of Iranian EFL learners
Summary
Reading ability has always been viewed as critical to academic success (Bernhardt, 1991). In EFL settings like Iran the majority of learners tend to focus on word by word reading, sticking at every unknown word This hinders their comprehension of the author’s intended message and limits the focus of readers’ attention to word level. It has been mentioned that reflective reading practice motivates learners to read regularly and it improves understanding of the content and boost learners’ development of monitoring, reflection skills, and self-evaluation (Bressoud, 2008). Most of the reflective reading strategies includes writing (e.g. journal writing, reporting, think-aloud etc.), and it is another fortifying factor in helping the learners to understand the text better though reflective reading. This study was designed to investigate whether reflective reading can have any effect on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To this end the following research question was posed: R.Q.: Does reflective reading have any effect on the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners?
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