Conceptualizing Reading to Learn: Strategy Instruction and EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension

This study examined the effects of explicit reading strategy instruction on the comprehension of Ethiopian EFL
students. In total, 123 students at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia were randomly assigned into two groups. The
experimental group was taught with explicit reading strategy instruction while the control group was taught
with skill-based teaching for a semester. Pre- and post-reading comprehension tests were used to determine
whether explicit reading strategy instruction helped the students in enhancing their reading proficiency. The
results of this study showed that the students who received reading strategy instruction made greater gains in
reading comprehension than students who were taught with conventional skill- based teaching. The theoretical
implications of these findings for higher education reading curriculum design, and future research directions
are then presented.