EFL Teachers’ Beliefs and Instructional Roles in the Application of Pre-reading Strategies: A Qualitative Study

In reading comprehension classes, EFL teachers should implement pre-reading strategies to activate the students’ prior knowledge, avoid comprehension barriers, and motivate them to read and predict the passage’s content. This exploratory case study examines English as a Foreign Language teacher’ beliefs and instructional roles in the application of pre-reading strategies in secondary school reading comprehension. Edget Chora Secondary School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was purposively selected to do this qualitative study. Six experienced EFL teachers who teach ninth graders were selected using convenience sampling technique. Data collection methods involved observations and individual interviews. The collected data were open coded, and categorized into themes using Nvivo10 qualitative data analysis software. The findings from interview revealed teachers’ noticeable positive views on the instructional importance of pre-reading strategies. Although they acknowledged the value of these strategies, they perceived them as time-consuming and instructionally demanding. The observation data showed that the participants apply few pre-reading strategies, such as pre-teaching key vocabulary, focusing on the title of the passage, and asking questions related to the passage. Therefore, the study concluded that regardless of their positive beliefs, EFL teachers apply inadequate pre-reading strategies. Hence, this situation calls up a need to improve their instructional role through continuous professional development and in-service training.