Cogent Education

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Teaching reading skills in EFL classes: Practice and

procedures teachers use to help learners with low
reading skills

Ermias Mulatu & Taye Regassa |

To cite this article: Ermias Mulatu & Taye Regassa | (2022) Teaching reading skills in EFL
classes: Practice and procedures teachers use to help learners with low reading skills, Cogent
Education, 9:1, 2093493, DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2022.2093493

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2093493

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Mulatu & Regassa, Cogent Education (2022), 9: 2093493
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2093493

CURRICULUM & TEACHING STUDIES | RESEARCH ARTICLE

Received: 23 September 2021
Accepted: 21 June 2022
*Corresponding author: Ermias
Mulatu English language lecture,
Department of foreign languages
and literature, Dire-Dawa, Dire-Dawa
University, Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia
E-mail: ermi2007ddu@gmail.com
Reviewing editor:
Weihong Wang, School of Foreign
Languages, China University of
Geosciences, Beijing, Hubei, CHINA
Additional information is available at
the end of the article
Teaching reading skills in EFL classes: Practice
and procedures teachers use to help learners
with low reading skills
Ermias Mulatu1* and Taye Regassa2
Abstract: The study was conducted to investigate the practices of teaching reading
skills in grade nine of Dil-Ber Secondary School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A descriptive case study research design was used to meet this objective. Out of 347
total student population and 4 English teachers, 30% of the students i.e. 104 of
them and all the 4 teachers were selected using lottery and available sampling
methods respectively. The data were collected through classroom observations,
semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire. The data were analyzed qualitatively
and quantitatively. The data from the observation, interview, and document ana­
lysis were analyzed qualitatively. On the other hand, the questionnaire of students
was analyzed quantitatively using frequency and percentages. The findings revealed
that teachers didn’t teach and follow the suggested teaching techniques and
procedures i.e. the three phases of teaching reading: pre-while and post-reading
skill phases. Letting good reader students to read as a model, immediate articula­
tion error correction of words, and translating reading passages into the students’
mother tongue were used as techniques to help learners with low reading skills.
Another essential point the researcher deduced from the results of the study was
the absence of supplementary reading materials such as magazines, newspapers,

ABOUT THE AUTHORS PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Ermias Mulatu is currently a doctoral candidate in
English Language Teaching (ELT) at Addis Ababa
University, Ethiopia. He has been teaching differ­
ent English language courses such as
Communicative English Skills, Basic Writing Skills,
and Advanced Speech at Dire-Dawa University.
He has also been working as coordinator of
English Language Improvement Center. His major
areas of research interest are language exams,
language skills, and teaching methods.
Taye Regassa is an Associate Professor in
Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Addis
University, Ethiopia. He earned a Doctor of
Ermias Mulatu Philosophy in TEFL in 2000. He has been teaching
at this University since 1989. He has also been
supervising students, conducting research, pro­
viding training and consultation. His research
interest is mainly in language teaching, testing
and reading. He has published several articles
related to reading comprehension and back­
ground knowledge in reading.
Reading is a vital language skill. It is the foun­
dation of success. In other words, students’
eventual academic success or failure depends to
a large degree on their ability to read and com­
prehend the textbooks and notes they receive in
the different subjects they study. Consequently,
the teaching of this important language skill is
advantageous for learners of all levels, particu­
larly for those with low reading skills. Therefore,
its practice should be investigated. The current
study has tried to examine the teaching practice
of reading skills and the procedures used to help
learners with low reading skills. The research has
identified that the actual teaching practice of
reading skills doesn’t follow the expected proce­
dures. Moreover, the research has found five core
strategies the teachers used to help learners
with low reading skills: immediate articulation
error correction, modeling reading, translation,
advising, and reading competition.

© 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons
Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

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and novels. Moreover, the teaching of vocabulary which is one of key practices in
instructing reading skills was not given sufficient emphasis. Accordingly, it is
recommended that giving teachers training or seminar on teaching reading skills
specifically and teaching, in general, is significant for dealing with the problem.

Subjects: Language & Linguistics; Language Teaching & Learning; General Language
Reference

Keywords: Teaching reading; reading skills; secondary school EFL classes

1. Introduction
Worldwide demand for learning English has dramatically increased (Alsagoff et al., 2012). The
main reason is that English is the world’s most widely used foreign or second language (L2).
Moreover, it is the language of international commerce, science, education, and technology, with
people from different linguistic backgrounds using English to communicate with each other.

In Ethiopia, English has been taught as a subject and also used as a medium of instruction for
secondary and higher education. A number of courses and different teaching materials are also
prepared in English. In its general aspect, English is used in various fields. Abebe (2012) states that
English has been widely used in many areas such as politics, economics, tourism, electronics,
telecommunications, culture, and science and technology. It is not only used as a means but also
a key to accessing the latest development in science and technology. Moreover, it helps learners to
communicate in the classroom and in a wide variety of everyday life situations.

The learning of this vital and international language needs a mastery of the four language skills.
Thus, the mastery of these skills requires well-designed teaching procedures. As reading is one of
the four language skills, its teaching needs carefully selected activities, methods, and procedures.
Skills in reading enable learners to benefit from educational activities and to participate fully in the
social and economic activities in which they take part.

Beatrice (2008) clarifies that reading skills are the cognitive processes that a reader uses in
making sense of a text. For fluent readers, most of the reading skills are employed unconsciously
and automatically. When confronted with a challenging text, fluent readers apply these skills
consciously and strategically in order to comprehend. Zakir (2019) added that reading means
looking for roots of the tree of meaning. Efficient readers focus on the core of a text. They don’t
need to read every word to grasp the main information. They know how to avoid unnecessary text
and collect the main point. Therefore, in teaching reading, instructors need to take into account
that the best way to improve reading is by letting learners to read different texts and by teaching
them various reading strategies of efficient readers. So it is necessary to expose learners to the
intensive and extensive reading situation.

According to Brown (2001), half a century ago, reading specialists argued that the best way to
teach reading is through bottom-up methodology: teach symbols, grapheme-phoneme correspon­
dences, syllables, and lexical recognition first, then comprehension would derive from the sum of
the parts. On the other hand, researches have shown that a combination of top-down and bottom-
up processing, or what has come to be called “interactive reading”, is almost always a primary
ingredient in successful teaching methodology because both processes are important. Anderson
(2003) agrees that interactive model combines the elements of both bottom-up and top-down
models. Correspondingly, Nuttall (2005) explains that the teaching of reading has been in constant
revision, especially in recent years. Indeed, computers have led the general public to revise their
own needs, skills, and reading strategies in their mother tongues and in foreign languages.

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USAID (2017) indicated that Ethiopia has made progress to increase access to primary and
secondary school education. Unfortunately, the positive achievement of getting more students
into schools has strained the capacity of the system and students’ learning has suffered. On top of
that, most teachers have little experience with modern pedagogy or research-based reading
instruction.

Reading skill instruction is highly beneficial for students of all levels. When teachers explain and
model multiple strategies, as well as provide guided and independent practice with feedback until
students begin to use the strategy independently, the reading levels of middle and high school
students improve (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004). Ganske and Douglas (2010) state that the ultimate
goal of instruction is to develop independent learners. Thus, the instructional practices that are
designed to teach reading skills are expected to eventually carry over into independent reading.
The strength of reading lessons should enable learners to comprehend reading materials. In other
words, the quality of reading instructions should enable learners to acquire a variety of reading
skills.

Consequently, the main goal of teaching the English language is to enable the learners to use
the target language and communicate their opinions and thoughts. However, according to Atkins
et al. (1996) many high school students are weak in their reading ability in English Language. This
weakness affects their studies and academic performance. Atkins et al. (1996) added that among
the major factor affecting students reading is ineffective teaching of reading. The teacher’s ability
to teach reading plays a decisive role in students’ language skills and ultimately in the success of
learners. Therefore, for the advantage of next-generation, it is important to improve the teaching
of reading in the Ethiopian high schools.

Furthermore, reports from secondary school teachers, experts, and the larger educational com­
munity suggest that too many students have a limited ability to understand reading texts. Further,
local research has continued to show that the reading ability of Ethiopian secondary school
students is deteriorating over time (Jha, 2014).

The researcher has been teaching first-year students in higher institutions. From classroom
observations as an instructor and assessments he has carried out as part of his professional
activities such as being a coordinator of English Language Improvement Center (ELIC) and
Reading Club, he found out that the majority of the students’ reading skill result is below the
standard or expected level. Furthermore, informal and formal departmental discussions indicated
that many first-year students are weak in their reading comprehension. These students were
unable to answer very simple comprehension questions. On top of this, there were complaints
from the students themselves that teachers did not teach reading skills properly in the high
schools.

Some local studies have been conducted in the area. Alebel (2020) for example, examined the
practice of teaching reading skills. He concluded that most teachers do not properly teach the
three reading stages (the pre, while and post reading stages). Abebe (2012) on the other hand
prepared experimental research on teaching reading skills through interactive classroom teaching
versus plasma television teaching. His finding shows that teaching reading skills through an
interactive classroom have a positive effect on students’ reading comprehension. Mekonnen
(2005) likewise carried out research to examine the cognitive levels of the reading questions and
teachers’ classroom supplements to the questions. He concluded that the cognitive level of the
reading questions in this textbook is more of the lower-level type. Moreover, teachers are found to
be aware of the case and make efforts to supplement the questions during the lesson.

This research is different from the above studies since it focuses on investigating the practices of
the teaching reading skills with regard to the implementation of the three phases of teaching
reading and the procedures used to help learners with low reading skills. Accordingly, it specifically

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tried to explore the teaching of reading skills and the procedures teachers use to help students
with low reading skills. Therefore, this study is believed to add its own value in the area of teaching
reading skills with a prime target to fill the gap.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the practices of teaching reading skills in
grade nine EFL classes. Thus, the researcher formulated the following two research questions
based on the research problems mentioned above.

(1) How do grade 9 EFL teachers instruct reading skills in the actual classroom?
(2) How do teachers help students with low reading skills?

Based on these research questions, the study focused on the following specific objectives. These
are:- exploring the teaching of reading skills in grade 9 EFL classes and examining the procedures
teachers implement to help learners with low reading skills In short, how is the teaching of reading
skills being handled? Does the actual practice of teachers teaching reading skills follow the
expected procedures?

Even if it is difficult or impracticable to teach perfectly, being conscious of the common problems
one could encounter while instructing reading skills can help teachers minimize these problems or
at least reflect on them.

2. Review of related literature

2.1. Teaching reading

The best teacher of reading is a teacher who conveys not only the value of reading, but also the joy
of reading. Reading is a competence that teachers have to actively teach since learners do not
simply “pick up” reading skills. There is no clear pathway for progress in learning to read unless the
teacher has a plan for teaching the learners how to read. Teachers need to know what is expected
of learners. They need to know precisely how to help learners to achieve satisfactory reading
levels, and where necessary, they should ask for extra professional support (Republic of South
Africa Education Department, 2008).

According to Robinson, Farone, Hittleman, and Unruh (1990) cited in Anne (2000), instructional
practices in reading comprehension have shifted over the last century

● from using oral reading to help get meaning from text to using silent reading to aid comprehension;
● from using worksheets, workbooks, and reading kits to direct student comprehension to teaching
reading strategies that aid students in guiding their own comprehension;
● from asking “what” questions (e.g., those that provide practice finding the main idea) to asking
“how” and “why” questions (e.g., those that teach how to make inferences while reading);
● from teaching subs-kills (e.g., identifying a story sequence) to teaching comprehension strategies
that include these sub-skills (e.g., summarizing);
● from providing little direct teaching to increasing the amount of direct teaching that is specific (e.g.,
strategy instruction), followed by supervised independent practice.

This shift reflects an evolving view of reading that is now considered to be a strategic process
through which readers construct meaning by interacting with text. That is, readers use clues in the
text and their own prior knowledge to assign meaning to what they read. Furthermore, interac­
tions among the teachers, the student, the text, the purposes for reading, and the context within
which “literacy events” (activities that include reading, writing, discussions, and journal writing)
occur all come into play in the construction of meaning and the acquisition of reading strategies.

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Gerry et al. (2012) clarified that reading is one strand of literacy. The reading process is complex
and multi-dimensional. Effective teachers have an understanding of this complexity and are able
to use a range of teaching approaches that produce confident and independent readers. Gerry
et al. (2012) identified several components that need to be considered in the teaching of reading
towards recognizing this complexity. Among these are: the establishment of varied and rich
vocabulary, development of phonological processes, the provision of a framework for teaching
comprehension strategies, a need to ensure that motivation and enjoyment of reading are key
aspects of the reading process, and a renewed focus on reading fluency.

2.2. Phases in teaching and learning reading

Different scholars divide phases in teaching and learning reading in to three main stages. They are,
pre-reading, while- reading, and post-reading. A good reading lesson could follow the following
stages: Pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and post-reading stage (Atkins et al., 1996)

2.2.1. Pre-reading phase

According to Williams (1984), the pre-phase of reading tries to introduce and arouse interest in the
topic, motivate learners by giving a reason for reading, and provide some language preparation for
the text. Correspondingly, Hedge (2000) explains that the pre-reading phase as one of the major
responses to increasing insights about the role of schematic knowledge in reading has been the
focus of current reading methodology on a pre-reading stage.

Williams (1984) clarifies that in order to help prepare for pre-reading work, useful questions that
the teacher can ask herself/himself are:

a) What knowledge, ideas or opinions might the learners already have on the text topic, and how
can this knowledge be drawn out and used?

b) Why should anyone want to read this text, and can the same, or similar, reasons be generated
in the learners? (p. 37)

Atkins et al. (1996) on their part explain how to use the pre-reading phase as follows: the pre-
reading stage does not need more than a few minutes. For Example, ask students to list some
words they expect to meet in the passage. Write their words on the blackboard. If students do not
suggest them, add other words. Pre-teach these words in context, or tell students to try to guess
the difference between the words as they read the passage. According to these scholars, the aims
of the pre-reading phase are: to activate prior knowledge, get students interested in the topic, and
theme for the reading.

In conclusion, the pre-reading stage familiarizes a reader with the basic content and organiza­
tion of the text and helps to activate prior knowledge. It is an important phase that prepares
students for the reading text. Thus, it should be properly used for every reading lesson which is
carried out in the classroom.

2.2.2. While-reading phase

This phase focuses on the text. It allows students to integrate the knowledge and information they
bring to the text with new information in the text. Students read silently and try to understand the
main points. They also answer a number of questions designed to understand the ideas in the text.
There is no need of understanding every word, but they guess the meaning of new words from the
context (Williams, 1984, p. 38).This shows that the main thing that students should do here is to
interact with the text and try to relate their prior knowledge with the text for understanding.

As a rule, while -reading work should begin with a general or global understanding of the text,
and then move to similar units such as paragraphs, sentences and words. Williams (1984) says the

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reason for this is that the larger units provide a context for understanding the smaller units—a
paragraph or sentence, for example, may help the reader to understand a word.

Hedge (2000) states students’ activities at this stage. These are read and match, read and label,
read and complete, and read and draw. By doing these activities students try to understand the
given text and do the comprehension questions given by their teacher in order to check whether
they understand the text or not. Atkins et al. (1996), for instance, state the following as activities
the teacher carried out during while-reading stage. These are: tell students to read the questions,
and then read the passage silently to find the answer. Tell them they do not need to understand
every word to answer the question. When they have worked out the answer, they should discuss in
their group until they have agreed on one answer. Finally, make students give their answers and
evidences for their choice.

Generally, the while-reading stage is significant for processing the text in depth. Students
attempt to comprehend the text by using the strategies which are used during the while- reading
stage. They also need to integrate their prior knowledge with what they are reading.

2.2.3. Post-reading phase

This sage allows students to articulate and process their understanding of what they have read
and to think critically about the validity of the text. According to Atkins et al. (1996), the post
reading phase has the following tasks: 1) to check overall comprehension of the text 2) Questions
to get students to relate the passage to their experience 3) Relating speaking and writing activities.

The teacher should ask general questions on the passage to achieve the following:

● To check students’ overall comprehension of the passage

● To encourage them to evaluate the passage (Interesting? Agree? True?)
● To get them to relate the passage to their own experience (similar experience?)
● To get students to imagine themselves in the situation in the text.

The aims of post-reading work are: a) To consolidate or reflect upon what has been said, b) To
relate the text to the learners’ own knowledge, interest or views (Williams, 1984) and c) To
integrate other skills (Atkins et al., 1996)

To sum up, in this phase it is important to set a related activity possibly involving other skills,
such as completing a paragraph summary of the text, a word puzzle based on the passage,
discussion about the main topic and dramatization of the passage.

2.3. Teachers’ role in teaching reading skill

Atkins et al. (1996) explain that for the benefit of the future generation, it is certainly extremely
important to improve the teaching of reading in schools. The teacher’s ability to teach reading
plays a decisive role in students’ language skills and ultimately in the success of learners. Among
the significant factors that contribute to students’ poor reading are ineffective teaching of reading,
and inadequate textbooks, containing inappropriate tasks for helping students develop reading
abilities. According to these scholars, the teacher plays an important role to enable students to
read and understand a text by using different strategies of reading a text.

Excellent reading teachers share the following critical qualities of knowledge and practice:

● They understand learner’s reading and writing development

● They can assess a learner’s individual progress and relate reading instruction to a learner’s previous
experience.
● They know a variety of ways to teach reading.

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● They are able to use a variety of materials and texts for learners to read.
● They can tailor instruction to the individual student.
● They can help students strategically (International Reading Association).

Overall, teachers should assist students to actively engage in the process of meaning and knowl­
edge construction. Thus, the teachers should apply the techniques and strategies of teaching
reading lessons. The roles of the teacher in intensive and extensive reading will be discussed
below.

2.3.1. The role of the teacher in intensive reading

In intensive reading students are expected to understand everything they read and be able to
answer detailed vocabulary and comprehension questions (Venkateswaran, 2009). In addition,
Venkateswaran (2009) explains that in extensive reading students should have a general under­
standing of the text without necessarily understanding every word. It is done for pleasure and to
obtain information for different purposes of the reader.

Different scholars explain the role of the teacher in intensive reading in different ways, For
Example, Harmer (2000) as cited in Solomon (2013) explains as follows: The major activity of the
teacher in reading session should be creating enthusiasm and interest of reading in the students’.
This can be done by using topics that arouse interest in students according to their level.

The roles the teacher has to assume during a reading practice session in the classroom are:

● Organizer: As an organizer of the activities he/she needs to tell students exactly what their reading
purposes are. It is also necessary to notify the time given for that particular reading activity and stick
to the announced time.
● Observer: When students are made to read by themselves silently they should not be interrupted
even though the teacher has some information to deliver. Teachers rather should observe the
progress of the students reading individually or in a group. This follow-up may give us whether or
not we should give some more time or not. It will uncover the problems students are facing during
the reading so that we can look for a solution.
● Feedback organizer: The teacher has the responsibility of being a feedback organizer in such a way
that once the reading session is well organized and appropriately followed he/she can give feedback
and organize the text actively. The activity could be something like comparing answers with each
other or asking for answers from the class in general or from groups and individuals in particular. In
asking, however, students to give answers, it will be important to ask them wherein the text they
found the information for their answers. This initiates students to practice a detailed study of the
text which will help them the next time they come to a similar reading passage.
● Parameter: This means that teachers should be responsible to quickly let students notice language
features that they have not been familiar with or direct them to some other features of the
language by clarifying ambiguities and confusion. New language items should be clarified as well.

A text that is to be largely dealt with intensively also helps to encourage students to get a general
understanding first by using “pre-questions”. Then what is to be done is to encourage students to
pick out particular information and equally important is to encourage them not to worry at
ignoring other, perhaps quite large, sections of the text which are not relevant to the task they
have been given Venkateswaran (2009).

Generally, the aim of the teacher should be to help the students in overall activities of learning
reading skills. Then as mentioned above he/she plays organizer, observer, feedback organizer, and
parameter role.

2.3.2. The role of the teacher in extensive reading

Teachers are expected to arouse interest in the students so that they will make extensive reading
part of their language learning ability. Most students will not do extensive reading by themselves

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unless they are encouraged to do so by their teachers (Venkateswaran, 2009). According to this
author, teachers should help students how to use extensive reading and encourage them to have
a habit of extensive reading is very important.

Harmer (2003) as as cited in Solomon (2013), for example, states that having persuaded our
students about the benefits of extensive reading, we can organize a reading program where we
indicate to students how many books or short stories we expect them to read over a given period. We
can explain how they make their choice of what to read, making it clear that the choice is theirs, but
that they can consult other students’ reviews and comments to help them make that choice.

Whether in intensive or extensive reading time silent reading is very important. Venkateswaran
(2009) enlightens us that it will be correct to say that what we read depends on why we read and
how we read. Silent reading is the most important skill that we should aim at when we teach prose
or a reading lesson. This requires full attention for comprehension and helps in developing the
speed of reading. Silent reading has to be encouraged for it develops concentration. Ibid also lists
some points to be born in mind by the teacher.

● The teacher should bear in mind that he must give a model reading of the whole or part of any
material that is being read (this depends on the students’ level and length of the material).
● Pupils should have an opportunity of reading the passage to themselves before they are called on to
read.

2.4. Principles of teaching reading

Scholars have written principles of teaching; for example, Harmer (2008) lists six principles of
teaching reading:

1. Reading is not a passive skill: reading is an active occupation. Therefore, readers should
understand the meanings of words, see pictures, understand the arguments and take a position
to agree or not. If students do not do these things while reading, then they are only scratching the
surface of the text, and there will a tendency of forgetting.

2. Students need to be engaged with what they are doing: students should be engaged with the
reading text. This helps them to be actively interested in what they are doing and benefit much from it.

3. Students should be encouraged to respond to the context of a reading text, not just to the
language: the main purpose of practicing reading is to let students get the meaning and the
message of the text. Thus, we must give students a chance to respond to the meaning and
message of texts.

4. Prediction is a major factor in reading: books converse, photographs, contents, and titles give
us hints of what is in the book before we read a single word. Our brain begins predicting what we
are going to read. We build expectations and the active process of reading takes place. Therefore,
teachers should give hints to their students so that they can predict what is going to be read.

5. Match the task to the topic: once students are given a reading text to read an appropriate task
should be designed. The right kind of questions and other useful activities that engage students
must be ready. Unnecessary and inappropriate questions could make an interesting text boring
and unattractive.

6. Good teacher exploits reading text to the full: any reading text is full of sentences, words,
ideas, descriptions, etc. It does not make sense to get students to read it and then drop it to move
on to something else. Good teachers integrate the reading text into interesting class sequences
using the topic for discussion and further tasks, using the language for study and later activation.

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To sum up, the principle of teaching reading to English language learners to increase their
fluency and comprehension skills is an important step in helping them become successful readers.

2.5. Teaching reading and students with low reading skills

Reading is a competence that teachers have to actively teach since learners do not simply “pick
up” reading skills. (Republic of South Africa Education Department, 2008). Thus, teachers are
expected to teach reading implicitly and explicitly. Moreover, they are expected to use different
strategies to help learners with low reading skills. Accordingly, the teaching reading practices and
the procedures used to help learners with low reading skills have to be examined.

Success in reading is essential throughout a student’s school career and into adulthood (Julia
et al., 2018). This shows that reading skill is significant for students’ academic success. Therefore,
investigating the teaching practice of this vital language skill has great importance to reveal how
the teaching is being handled and whether or not the actual practice follows the expected
procedures. Consequently, this study sought to examine the practices of teaching reading skills
and the procedures teachers use to help learners with low reading skills

To sum up, studying the practice of teaching reading skills and the procedures teachers use to
help learners with low reading skills have importance. Initially, it provides information on teachers’
actual classroom practices in teaching reading skills in secondary school education. Secondly, it
can also serve as a source of information concerning the strategies teachers used to develop low
learners reading skills.

3. Methods

3.1. Descriptive case study

In this research, descriptive case study design was used. According to Gall et al. (2007), the
objective of descriptive research is to describe an occurrence and its features. It focuses on
“what” rather than’ why’ something has happened. Accordingly, observation and questionnaire
are often used to gather data. On the other hand, Kothari (2004) states that a “case study is
essentially an intensive investigation of a particular unit under consideration (p. 113).” The defini­
tion shows that a case study is a rigorous exploration of a specific and real situation. Thus, the
researcher of this study took a particular unit which is investigating the practice of teaching
reading skills and dealt with it in depth.

Regarding the data analysis method, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were
employed. The data gathered from interview, and observation was analyzed qualitatively. On the
other hand, data from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively. In short, descriptive case
study research design, qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were used to investigate
the practices of teaching reading skills in depth.

3.2. Participants
This research was intended to investigate the practice of teaching reading skills in grade 9
government high school. Therefore, the participants of the study were grade 9 EFL teachers and
students at Dil-Ber secondary school.

The participants of this study were grade 9 teachers and students of the sample schools. Four
English language teachers’ were selected through availability sampling. Thus, all four Grade 9 EFL
teachers participated in the study. On the other hand, all the students in the observed classes were
considered as participants. They were selected using convenience sampling. For filling the ques­
tionnaire random sampling specifically the lottery method was used to select student participants.
Dil-ber High school during the research period had 347 grade 9 students in 14 sections (The
students were classified into two groups because of COVID 19. The first group learns on Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday and the second group learns on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each

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group has 7 sections and a total of 14 sections). Consequently, 30% of the total student population
i.e. 104 students were selected to participate in the research by filling questionnaire. Two of the
participants’ papers were not used since they were not filled in properly. The selection of partici­
pant students was made by using lottery method. Folded papers that contain number 1 and 0
were prepared. Finally, those who picked number 1 were selected as research participants to fill
the questionnaires, and those who pick 0 were excluded.

3.3. Data gathering tools

3.3.1. Observation
In this research, classroom observation was utilized to explore the practices of teaching reading in
EFL classes at the research site. This instrument was also selected for the following two reasons:
first, it allows the researcher to “look at what is taking place directly rather than relying on
a second-hand account” (Cohen, 2007, p. 396).Second, observation is a data-gathering instrument
that gives the researcher an opportunity to gather live data from a naturally occurring social
context. Since it provides first-hand information, it has the power of yielding more valid and
authentic data (Cohen, 2007).

Non-participant classroom observation was used as a main data gathering instrument for this
study. During the classroom observation, the researcher sat at the back of the class and video
recorded the process by a stand-by camera and also took some notes when necessary to register
events related to teaching reading in the observation checklist.

The reading lesson observation framework (checklist) used in this study has six components
(themes). Under each component, various observation checklists guiding sentences are found. The
lesson observation also included observation notes. Two different reading skill lessons of each
participant-teachers and a total of four observations were conducted for the study. The data from
the observation was analyzed qualitatively. Thus, there was a descriptive analysis of the observed
classroom lessons.

3.3.2. Interview
Semi-structured interview was used as data collection instrument. Tegan (2022) clarified that
a semi-structured interview is a data collection method that relies on asking questions within
a predetermined thematic framework. However, the questions are not set in order or in phrasing.
Consequently, this type of interview was used to exhaustively gather information about the
teachers’ insight regarding the teaching practices of reading skills.

The semi- structured interview contained 6 general questions which revolve around the teaching
practices of reading skills. Clarification questions were asked in order to probe teachers’ responses.

Four grade nine English teachers were interviewed. A mobile phone recorder was used to collect
the interview data after getting the participants’ full consent. The interviews were conducted after
every observation was completed. The interview was done inside the target high school. The data
from the semi-structured interview was analyzed qualitatively.

3.3.3. Questionnaire
A questionnaire was prepared and distributed to the sample students. As Rani (2012) described,
a questionnaire is a series of questions asked to individuals to obtain statistically useful informa­
tion about a given topic. It is a valuable tool for collecting a wide range of information from a large
number of respondents.

The purpose of the questionnaire in this research was to collect data about the teaching practice
from the students’ perspective and to triangulate their responses with the classroom observation
and with the teachers’ interview. The questionnaire was prepared in English but it was translated

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to Amharic in order to help students understand the questions easily and reduce errors while
filling it.

The scales used in the questionnaire are N = Never, R = Rarely, S = Sometimes, Vo = Very often,
and A = Always. The questionnaires were distributed to 104 participant students from which two of
the respondents’ responses were invalid due to incomplete pages. The data from the questionnaire
was analyzed quantitatively.

The criteria for the interpretation of the Mean Value in the questionnaire were taken from
Tavakoli (2012). Thus, the range for the mean value indicates that 0.00–1.80 = Never, 1.81–
2.60 = Seldom (rarely), 2.61–3.40 = Sometimes (neutral), 3.41–4.20 = Often and 4.21–5.00 = Always

In general, observation was used as a major tool to examine the teaching practices of reading
skills. The questionnaire and interview were used as supporting tools for triangulation purpose.
Specifically, in order to examine the procedures or strategies teachers implement to help learners
with low reading skills, observation and teachers interview were mainly used.

4. Results

4.1. Results on the teaching practices of reading skill

4.1.1. The pre-reading phase

As mentioned in the methodology section, observation, questionnaire, and interview were the data
gathering tools used. Accordingly, here the results from these instruments are triangulated and
presented as follows.

The data from the classroom observation showed that out of the four observed reading lessons
only one of the lessons had pre-reading activities. Three of the remaining lessons began by
ordering students to read the texts silently; which is a while reading activity.

Table 1 presents the frequency, percentage, and mean value of students’ responses concerning
their teachers’ teaching practices at the pre-reading stage.

As the students’ response shows, the mean value of the frequency in which teachers teach pre-
reading activities is 2.57 and this implies rare use of the pre-reading stage. In addition, most of the
interviewed teachers responded that they started their reading classes by letting students read
silently. In short, the results of the study showed that teachers did not teach and follow the
suggested teaching techniques and procedures one of which is the inclusion of the pre-reading
stage.

4.1.2. The while-reading phase

Although it was implemented at the beginning of most of the reading lessons, which is a pre-
reading stage, as the observation showed while-reading stage is frequently used.

Table 2 and 3 shows the details of the frequency, percentage, and mean value of students’
responses regarding the while-reading phase practices in their reading skill classes.

The mean value of the frequency at which teachers teach while-reading activities is 2.88 and
this implies neutral use of this reading phase. The teachers also reported that they regularly apply
while reading activities. To sum up, while-reading activities were more frequently applied than
those in the pre-reading stage.

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Table 1. Students’ responses regarding the pre-reading stage

No Questions N R S Vo A
1 Our teacher 33 18 20 18 13
asks us (32.35%) (17.64%) (19.60%) (17.64%) (12.74%)
various
questions
related to
a particular
text in order
to prepare us
to read the
text or to
make us
curious about
it.
2 Our teacher 17 29 28 16 12
teaches us (16.66%) (28.43%) (27.45%) (15.68%) (11.76%)
how to
predict the
content of
a text.
3 Our teacher 37 23 21 12 9
explains the (36.27%) (22.54%) (20.6%) (11.76%) (8.82%)
background
of the text
before we
start reading
lesson.
Mean 2.60 + 2.77 + 2.34 = 7.71/3 = 2.57
Note:—The scales used here are: N = Never(1), R = Rarely (2), S = Sometimes (3), Vo = Very often (4) and A = Always (5).

4.1.3. The post-reading phase

The researcher observed that this stage of reading is seldom practiced in most of the observed
reading classes.

However, the teachers’ claimed that they often implement post-reading activities. Yet, the
observation also showed that this stage is not often implemented. Thus, the omission or exclusion
of such activities would make students not to benefit from the advantages that could be gained
from such reading activities.

4.2. The procedures employed to help learners with low reading skills
The data from teachers’ interview and classroom observations as well as students’ questionnaire
were analyzed and interpreted in order to examine the procedures teachers implement to help
learners with low reading skills.

The result from classroom observation showed that translating the written text into learners’ L1
was used as one way of helping learners with low reading skills. Moreover, during loud reading
activities, immediate articulation error correction of words was used as another technique to help
those learners.

The interviewed teachers forwarded different strategies. Some of these are: letting good reader
students read as a model, translating reading passages into the students’ mother tongue, letting
them read in front of the class, preparing reading competitions, and advising them to read
different English texts are some of the ways teachers use to help students develop their reading
skills.

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 Table 2. Students’ responses regarding the while-reading stage
No Questions N R S Vo A
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2093493

4 Our teacher checks our 19 19 30 18 16

Mulatu & Regassa, Cogent Education (2022), 9: 2093493

inference and (18.62%) (18.62%) (29.41%) (17.64%) (15.68%)

interpretation skills.
5 Our teacher teaches us 29 26 22 10 15
how to distinguish (28.43%) (25.49%) (21.56%) (9.80%) (14.70%)
between facts and
opinions.
6 Our teacher teaches us 37 17 26 11 11
how to recognize bias. (36.27%) (16.66%) (25.49%) (10.78%) (10.78%)
7 Our teacher asks us 6 8 13 27 48
comprehension (5.88%) (7.84%) (12.74%) (26.47%) (47.05%)
questions after each
reading.
8 Our teacher asks us to 29 26 22 14 11
interpret graphics, (28.43%) (25.49%) (21.56%) (13.72%) (10.78%)
charts, maps and tables.
Mean 2.88

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 Table 3. Students’ responses concerning the post-reading stage
No Questions N R S Vo A
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2093493

4 Our teacher checks our 19(18.62%) 19(18.62%) 30(29.41%) 18(17.64%) 16(15.68%)

Mulatu & Regassa, Cogent Education (2022), 9: 2093493

inference and
interpretation skills.
5 Our teacher teaches us 29(28.43%) 26(25.49%) 22(21.56%) 10(9.80%) 15(14.70%)
how to distinguish
between facts and
opinions.
6 Our teacher teaches us 37(36.27%) 17(16.66%) 26(25.49%) 11(10.78%) 11(10.78%)
how to recognize bias.
7 Our teacher asks us 6(5.88%) 8(7.84%) 13(12.74%) 27(26.47%) 48(47.05%)
comprehension
questions after each
reading.
8 Our teacher asks us to 29(28.43%) 26(25.49%) 22(21.56%) 14(13.72%) 11(10.78%)
interpret graphics,
charts, maps and tables.
Mean 2.88

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The participant teachers’ responses concerning this particular question showed the procedures
they apply to help learners with low reading skills. For instance, using clever students (good
readers) as model readers was one of the strategies employed. Teacher 04 regarding this said,
“There are some students who cannot even read a word . . . The only thing I do to help students
with low reading skills is I let a good reader read it and I just make them follow them as a model.”
He added that if he has time, he himself sometimes shows them how they should read. Translating
reading passages into the students’ mother tongue was the other strategy used. On this subject
Teacher 03 said, “Sometimes I try to help learners by using their mother tongue. That means in the
classroom I help them by interpreting (translating) the text. Especially if the text is short, I try to
interpret it in the classroom. Teacher 02ʹsstrategies are letting them read in front of the class and
advising them to read different English texts.

On the other hand, the student respondents to the questionnaire item: “Our teacher guides us
how to read texts in the class.” The majority (28.43%) of the participants said their teachers always
guide them on how they should read texts. On the subject of whether or not their teachers point
out students’ particular problems regarding reading, most (22.54%) of them replied their teachers
very often showed students reading problems. Contrary to this, a significant number of students
(19.60%) and (21.56%) consecutively answered that teachers never and rarely declare the stu­
dents’ specific reading difficulties.

5. Discussions and conclusions

5.1. Discussions
In this research, both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were employed to encoun­
ter the research objectives. Consequently, observation, interview, and questionnaire were used.

The first research question focused on identifying how teachers handled the teaching of reading
skills in the actual classroom. As the result of the study manifested, teachers didn’t teach and
follow the suggested teaching techniques and procedures i.e. the three phases of teaching read­
ing. This finding agrees with the results of the previous study by Alebel (2020) who showed that the
three stages of teaching reading skills were not properly implemented.

Another very essential point the researcher deduced from the practice of teaching reading skill
was the absence of supplementary reading materials such as magazines, newspapers, and novels.
The teachers were dependent on the textbook. Supplementary materials help to motivate learners
(Dodd, 2015) by creating interest in learning and encouraging learners to use the language in the
class. Moreover, Riasati and Zare (2010) explain that using supplementary materials in the class is
necessary because there are different groups of learners with different learning needs and learning
styles, topics in a textbook may not be relevant for and interesting to all learners. Thus, to fulfill the
needs of students and the objectives of the lesson a teacher has to select and use the appropriate
supplementary materials for the reading classes.

On the other hand, there were no instructional practices of teaching reading strategies in order
to help learners develop their reading comprehension skills. Alex et al. (2018) described that
explicitly teaching reading strategies provides students with the tools needed to become aware
of their thinking, and provide confidence in their ability to think and analyze text.

Furthermore, the teaching of vocabulary which is one of the key practices in instructing reading
skills was not given sufficient emphasis. In line with this, Thorburry (2002) states teaching words is
a crucial aspect of learning a language as languages are based on words. Walters (2004) added
that it is almost impossible to learn a language without words; even communication between
human beings is based on words. Both teachers and students agree that the acquisition of
vocabulary is a central factor in teaching a language. These assertions show how vocabulary is

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an important element in language teaching. Thus, adequate emphasis should be given to both its
instruction and method of instruction.

The second research question sought to reveal the procedures teachers implement to help
learners with low reading skills. The study findings indicated that in loud reading activity immedi­
ate articulation error correction (feedback) of words was used as one technique to help learners
with reading difficulty in articulation (pronouncing words). In connection with this, Paul (2017)
stated that teaching the correct pronunciations helps learners to improve their reading ability.
Adam (2019) on the other hand, mentioned that effective feedback plays a vital role in boosting
students reading progress.

The other procedure the teachers used to develop learners reading skills was letting better
reader students read to the class or the teachers themselves read as a model. Teaching reading by
modeling is significant. Regarding this, Adam (2019) described that effective modeling helps
students to see what outcomes could/should look like. It also allows students to engage and
succeed and reduce teachers’ workload because common misconceptions are addressed as or
before they arise. On the contrary, as seen in the observation of this research if a teacher or
a model reader student makes an error while reading, students follow that model reading and
commit the same mistake. As a result, modeling reading needs careful implementation.

Moreover, translating the written text into learners’ mother tongue was also dominantly used as
a means to help learners understand the given texts. As Vishal (2018) states when we translate
texts to learners, the main focus remains only on the mother tongue and the target language
remains ignored. In other words, it prevents students from thinking in the foreign (target) lan­
guage. Consequently, students will start to expect everything to be translated for them. Through
such a process, they will forget the target language. Thus, if a teacher wants to develop learners’
reading comprehension skills in English, he\she should ask and let students respond in English.
Advising learners to read different English texts was also declared as a strategy to help learners
elevate their reading skills. Nevertheless, advising learners to read different books alone is not
a guarantee that they would read. As a result, the better way to help them read more is to give
them reading assignments and let them report what they read.

In brief, the procedures (strategies) used to help learners reading skills are immediate articula­
tion error correction (feedback), modeling reading, using translation, and advising students.

5.2. Conclusions
This study was conducted on the practice of teaching reading skills in grade nine at Dil-Ber
Secondary School. Based on the findings, it is possible to conclude that the three phases of
teaching reading were not properly implemented. Especially the pre-and post-reading stages
were not given enough emphasis. This implies that the pedagogically suggested teaching reading
techniques and procedures were not appropriately applied. Various techniques were used to help
learners with reading difficulties. Articulation correction and translation were the two main tech­
niques used. The observation result also indicates the absence of supplementary reading materials
such as magazines, newspapers, and novels. Thus, the teachers used only the students’ textbooks.
Furthermore, the teaching of vocabulary was not given sufficient emphasis.

6. Recommendations
To improve some of the problems seen in the teaching practices of reading skills, it is important to
offer solutions. Thus, the following recommendations have been made based on the above-drawn
conclusions. The teaching methodology of the teachers specifically their teaching of reading skills
with regards to the three phases should be improved. Teachers should use supplementary reading
materials to help learners improve their reading skills. Besides, the teaching of vocabulary which is
one of the key elements in teaching reading was not given sufficient emphasis. Thus, the con­
cerned stakeholders like the government and non-governmental organizations should give better

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attention to enhancing the skill, knowledge, and practice of the teachers. The government should
create professional development strategies to enhance the performance of the teachers. The
supervisors and education experts of Addis Ababa city administration should provide need-based
training, seminars, rethinking mentoring, and coaching systems that facilitate a better teaching-
learning process and alleviate the problem.

Taking the importance of teaching reading skills into consideration, it is vital to recommend the
need to study the practices of teaching reading skills in various schools and grade levels of
Ethiopian high schools and use the findings to improve the teaching practices of reading skills.
Thus, broadening the scope of investigation is one possible suggestion for further research.
Although this study has given useful and usable insights on the practices of teaching reading
skills, it only offer information on a single grade level i.e. Grade 9. Therefore, it is possible to widen
the scope by incorporating more grade levels like Grade 9–12 and schools.

Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with
the work featured in this article.
Author details
Ermias Mulatu1
E-mail: ermi2007ddu@gmail.com
Taye Regassa2
1
English language lecture, Department of foreign lan­
guages and literature, Dire-Dawa, Dire-Dawa University,
Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
2
Associate professor in English Language Teaching (ELT);
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, Addis
Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Citation information
Cite this article as: Teaching reading skills in EFL classes:
Practice and procedures teachers use to help learners
with low reading skills, Ermias Mulatu & Taye Regassa,
Cogent Education (2022), 9: 2093493.
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