Collaborative Strategic Reading

The present study was an attempt to probe into the feasibility and effectiveness of a reading instructional approach called MCSR—Modified Collaborative Strategic Reading. Based on a pretest-posttest design, MCSR was implemented with 42 university-level EFL freshmen. They met once a week and received EFL reading instruction according to MCSR for 90 minutes over six weeks. A researcher-developed reading comprehension test was group-administered at pretest and posttest. Upon completion of the study, students ’ perceptions regarding MCSR were also evaluated by means of an Opinionnaire®. Quanti-tative results indicated that participating students did not demonstrate signifi-cant gains in reading comprehension skills. However, qualitative evaluation revealed that students did have positive attitudes towards MCSR. Overall, the conclusion was that EFL students ’ strong preference for communicative and cooperative activities runs counter to the popular thinking that disapproves group work due to students ’ long-standing conventional learning tradition