The mediating role of reading engagement in the relation between epistemic beliefs and reading comprehension among Ethiopian pre-service EFL teachers

This study investigated the mediating role of reading engagement on the relation between epistemic beliefs and reading comprehension among Ethiopian pre-service EFL teachers. The study employed a cross-sectional correlational design and quantitative approach. Using convenience sampling, three hundred eighty-five (female, 213, and male, 172) Pre-service EFL teachers were selected from five colleges of teacher education (CTE) to respond to the epistemic beliefs inventory, the reading engagement inventory, and the reading section of a TOEFL test. SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze the descriptive statistics, and Smart PLS, specifically Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM), was used for the main analysis. The result revealed that epistemic beliefs had a significant direct effect on reading engagement and reading comprehension. Moreover, reading engagement had a significant direct effect on reading comprehension. Finally, epistemic beliefs had a significant indirect effect on reading comprehension through reading engagement. Moreover, since both the direct and indirect effects of epistemic beliefs on reading comprehension were significant, the mediator variable (reading engagement) had a partial mediating role in the relationship between epistemic beliefs and reading comprehension. This implies that these variables had a comprehensive role in enhancing pre-service EFL teachers’ reading comprehension. Therefore, teacher educators need to focus on designing quality short-term training programs in order to equip their trainees with mature epistemic beliefs to foster their reading engagement and comprehension.