The Effect of Reciprocal Teaching on Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Skill

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the reciprocal teaching on Iranian female EFL learners’ reading in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. In doing so, QPT was administered to 40 Iranian upper-intermediate female EFL learners and those whose scores deviated about one standard deviation below and above the mean on the test were considered homogeneous (N = 32). Then, they were divided into two classes. One of these classes was randomly selected as the experimental group (N = 16) and the other one as the control group (N = 16). The experimental group was provided with reciprocal teaching. The control group had the same amount of reading instruction. They were, however, taught in a conventional way without the using reciprocal teaching. IELTS reading tests were administered as the pre-tests and the post-tests to measure the reading performance. In order to compare means of test scores between groups t tests were used. The significant effect of reciprocal teaching on reading was confirmed. The present study had pedagogical implications for EFL teachers with regard to teaching reading by contributing complementary information in the form of reciprocal teaching.