The Effects of Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Approaches in TOEIC Reading Instruction

Abstract

Teacher-centered instruction is prevalent in preparation courses for large-scale standardized language tests. Student-centered instruction, while known to be effective in enhancing communicative competence, has been considered ineffective and time-consuming to implement in preparation courses for large-scale standardized language tests. To investigate this assumption, a quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of two teaching approaches— teacher-centered and Jigsaw—on students’ Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) Reading Comprehension Part Seven scores. The results showed that both groups experienced significant improvements from the pre-test to the post-test in their overall performance; however, there was no statistically significant difference between them. Furthermore, students in the Jigsaw group showed statistically significant improvements in all three passage types (single, double, and triple), while students in the teacher-centered group showed insignificant improvement in one of the three passage types (single passages). These findings suggest that both teaching approaches can effectively improve students’ TOEIC Reading Comprehension scores. The study adds to the body of research on teaching approaches in EFL TOEIC Reading Comprehension university classrooms. The findings suggest that teacher-centered and student-centered approaches can effectively improve students’ TOEIC Reading Comprehension scores.