Reading comprehension instruction has been recognized as a key factor in developing any reading and literacy program. Therefore, many attempts were devoted to improve explicit comprehension strategy instruction at different school levels and fields including EFL and ESL. Despite these efforts, explicit comprehension instruction is still drought and far from satisfactory. Additionally, a great deal of teachers and educators are still struggling to find the appropriate ways to explicitly and effectively teach comprehension strategies. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to explore the general perceptions and experiences of elementary English language teachers in using children's picture books to initiate explicit comprehension strategy instruction. In order to obtain naturalistic and in-depth understanding of participating teachers' perceptions, structured classroom observations were carried out for four weeks. Findings indicated that in about 718 minutes of instruction of both classrooms, 603 minutes were allotted for explicit comprehension strategy instruction. Despite some flaws in time management, the use of only one resource to collect data, and the focus on only comprehension strategy instruction, this study could contribute to the body of research of comprehension strategy instruction in language learning classrooms.

Reluctant reading, aliteracy, and readicide are issues that were recently developed as a result of the remarkable decline of learners' reading motivation. One of the major causes of these vexing issues was the paucity of materials that could be implemented to increase learners' reading motivation. To fill this gap, the current study explored teachers' experiences of using children's picture books to increase students' reading motivation. Two English as a second language teachers from the fifth and sixth grades participated in this study. Classrooms were observed and both teachers were interviewed at the end of the fieldwork of this study. Findings from classroom observation notes indicated that teachers spent 462 minutes in delivering reading instructions, tasks, and activities. In the same vein, students spent 329 minutes in reading practices throughout the assigned reading sessions. Finally, both teachers affirmed an increasing interest of reading practices in the participating classrooms comparing to previous reading-periods.