Implicit and Explicit Instruction of Reading Strategies and the Application of Metacognitive Strategies by Iranian EFL Freshmen Students

This quantitative research explores the implicit and explicit instruction of reading strategies and its connection through the application of metacognitive strategies by Iranian EFL students. To this purpose, 100 Iranian university freshmen, aged 20-35, studying at the Marwdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, were selected as participants through a convenient sampling method, from a pool of 117 students. Then, the Key English Test (KET) was used to check their homogeneity. The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was also used as a pre-test and post-test to specify the kind and occurrence sequence of learning strategies applied by the participants before and after the treatment. So, the participants were allotted to two experimental groups and received implicit and explicit instruction of reading strategies respectively. The results obtained from statistical data analysis showed that affective strategies were the very frequently-applied strategies, while memory strategies were the least frequently-applied strategies in the explicit group. It was also found that in the implicit group, cognitive strategies were the most frequently-applied strategies, while social strategies were the least frequently-applied strategies. These results have pedagogical implications for EFL teachers to use appropriate approaches in teaching reading strategies, that will ultimately help the students to develop more awareness and competence in reading comprehension.