Students native to the Arabian Gulf region often struggle with reading skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the reading habits and reading culture of Emirati undergraduate students and to investigate the use of a particular reading strategy (Listening While Reading) on undergraduate Emirati students reading rate and comprehension. This case study was conducted through a mixed method research design. It was carried out with sixty-one SLL (second language learners) undergraduate students. By assigning them into two groups, the experimental group (28 students) was given books with an auditory component, while the control group (33 students) was given the same books but without the auditory component. both positive and negative reflections from teachers and students on different aspects of the LWR experiences are discussed. Qualitative findings revealed more contextualized results related to the lack of comprehension improvement such as, lack of reading habits. Additionally, quantitative results indicated that the performance of students in reading rate and accuracy improved over time. However, reading comprehension did not improve. Additionally, implications in terms of the use of the LWR in English language classes for practitioners are discussed as well as recommendations for future studies.