The Effect of Assertiveness Training on Students' English Language Reading Skill: A Mixed Methods Study

Assertiveness is a fundamental social skill essential for establishing, maintaining, and enhancing interpersonal relationships as it enables individuals to express their thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and emotions honestly and without anxiety. This mixed methods study aimed to examine the impact of assertiveness training on students’ ability to read specialized English texts. To that end, this research employed a concurrent mixed methods experimental design to integrate a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design with a concurrent qualitative phase (i.e., observations, field notes, and interviews). The participants consisted of undergraduate students that had enrolled in an English for specific purposes (ESP) course during the 2023–2024 academic year. This randomly selected sample of 40 students was assigned to two groups (i.e., the experimental and control groups). The experimental group underwent a 10-session assertiveness training program based on Gambrill and Richey’s (1975) model. Data were collected using a researcher-designed written and oral test assessing reading proficiency in ESP texts. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that assertiveness training significantly enhanced the ESP reading skills of the experimental group compared to the control group. The substantial increase in posttest scores of the experimental group, relative to their pretest scores and the control group’s performance, indicated notable progress in thier reading skills. The qualitative data analysis revealed that the experimental group shifted from a passive approach to active engagement with the text as they showed increased persistence, reduced anxiety, enhanced confidence, and used metacognitive strategies, transforming reading into an interactive process. Therefore, assertiveness training can be considered an effective approach for improving ESP reading skills and may be integrated into educational programs.