The Influence of Implementing Reciprocal Teaching in L2 Classes on Female Students' Perception of their Reading Skills and Motivation to Read

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of reciprocal teaching (RT) in improving high school female students' attitudes toward reading in a second language as the results might shed light on effective teaching practices in the L2 classrooms. To this end, a self-report questionnaire was developed and validated by the researcher. A quasi-experimental design was used, whereby the study sample was divided into two groups, experimental and control. The experimental group was taught reading in English classes by means of RT strategies, whereas the matched control group was taught reading by means of traditional instructive techniques. Both groups completed the self-report questionnaire on reading skills and motivation during term time, ensuring that the participants in the experimental group completed the questionnaire within ten weeks of the intervention. The findings show significant correlations between RT strategies and both reading comprehension and motivation to read, and are also effective in improving students' perception of their reading skills and motivation to read. Accordingly, the study recommends other researchers to investigate the effect of RT on students' performance and considering implementing RT with the use of technology in English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms.

Learning English in an Arabic context: a study of first-year Libyan university students' challenges in the learning of English.

“…Considering that the mother tongue creates an essential part of the learner's environment, it is the fundamental basis for developing verbal skills (Van Wyk & Mostert, 2016). On the other side, Qutob (2020) indicates that the lack of awareness of the difference between the mother tongue and second or foreign language in terms of linguistic system makes learning writing and speaking skills more difficult for learners. This lack of awareness of different characteristics and features is likely to confuse the EFL students, leading them to fall back on their L1 to imitate some of its features and structures and employ them in L2 writing.…”

“…Palestinian learners usually change the stylistic features of their first language; Arabic, to the target language; English, as Abu Rass's (2015) indicated. For these reasons, Arabic speakers face specific challenges in English learning (Qutob, 2020). Many students indicated that Arabic is an essential language to their studies because most of their modules or subjects are taught in Arabic.…”