The Impact of Reading Strategy Instruction in L2 (English) on Reading Performance and Attitude Toward Reading in L1 (Persian)

The importance of high level of competence in reading both in first language and English as the international language in EFL context is undeniable. This study investigates the effect of reading strategies instruction (RSI) in L2 (English ), on reading comprehension and attitude toward reading in L1. To this purpose, 48 students of pre-intermediate proficiency level at the University of Mazandaran constituted the control and experimental groups. a reading comprehension test and questionnaire of attitude toward reading in L1 were distributed as pretest. After giving the experimental group the reading strategy instruction, the reading test and attitude questionnaire posttests were administered to all participants in the two groups. To analyze the data, test of univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was run. Analysis of data showed the experimental group outperformed the control group in both in reading comprehension and attitude toward reading. The findings show that RSI in L2, affects both reading comprehension and attitude toward reading in L1. It is recommended that teachers in reading courses keep in mind the important role of transfer, and use this to help improve reading comprehension and attitude toward reading in L1. Keywords: Reading comprehension, Reading Strategies, Attitude, L1, L2.