Efficiency of Using a Web-Based Approach to Teach Reading Strategies to Iranian EFL Learners

Applying new technologies with their effective potentials have changed education and, consequently, the L2 teacher role. Coping with online materials imposes the necessity of employing Web-based approaches in L2 instruction. The ability to use reading strategies in a Web-based condition needs sufficient skill which will be fulfilled if it is integrated in pedagogy. The main focus of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of teaching reading strategies in a Web-based condition to Iranian EFL learners. Thirty L2 learners at upper-intermediate level from an English institute in Isfahan were selected as the experimental group. The group received a 20-hr reading strategy training in Web-based condition. Participants were taught 4 general reading strategies which were practiced through 3 stages of cognitive theory- cognitive, associative, and autonomous proposed by Anderson (1993). The instruments included a pre/posttest of hypertext reading comprehension, a pre/posttraining questionnaire for assessing the participants’ familiarity with general reading strategies, a pre/posttest of reading comprehension, and an attitude questionnaire towards Web-based reading strategy instruction. Findings indicated that after reading strategy program, the participants’ frequent usage of each reading strategy increased significantly and, consequently, they performed better at the reading tasks in Web-based and conventional conditions. Furthermore, the group had positive attitudes towards Web-based reading strategy instruction.