Reciprocal Teaching as an Instructional Strategy for Identifying Reading Literacy Problems: A Case Study of an Omani EFL Classroom

This article presents the results of an action research undertaken by an EFL teacher in a grade nine Omani classroom. This action research investigated the use of reciprocal teaching (RT) as an instructional strategy for the purpose of identifying learners’ strengths and weaknesses in comprehending and interpreting reading texts. RT was used as an instructional tool for observing students’ thinking processes while they co-constructed meaning out of reading texts. 47 grade nine EFL female students took part in this study. The data was collected through students’ artifacts created while applying the strategies of RT, such as summarizing, questioning, clarifying and predicting. When assessed holistically, it was concluded that students succeeded in creating summaries, asking questions and making predictions. However, a closer analysis of the artifacts, showed that students faced difficulties in (i) synthesizing and integrating the key information included in the reading passages assigned to them; (ii) paraphrasing the key information mentioned in the texts; (iii) raising questions that target predicting and inferencing skills; (iv) applying the new information mentioned in the text to new situations. The study claims that the application of RT can inform teachers’ future pedagogical practices and assist students in developing their self-regulating skills.