Enhancing EFL College Students' Reading Comprehension Through Practical Reading Strategies

AbstractThe strategies of reading play a critical part for developing reading comprehension of students. However, many teachers may not be adequately prepared to teach these strategies. Practical reading strategies help learners engage with texts by predicting content, connecting new information to prior knowledge, visualizing concepts, and asking questions during and after reading. Summarizing key ideas and inferring meaning from context further enhance comprehension and retention. This quasi-experimental study investigates the effect of explicit instruction of practical strategies on EFL College learners’ reading comprehension. Using a one-group pre-posttest design, the study involved 21 EFL (English as a foreign language) college students from an intact class, serving as the experimental group. It examines whether explicit instruction in these strategies leads to measurable enhancement in their reading comprehension. The findings of this research highlight the significance of integrating practical reading strategies into EFL instruction, as they actively engage students with texts, enhance their reading comprehension, and support their academic and language development.