Method of EFL Instruction and Its Dependence on Learners Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Today's research suggests that stress can block chemical reactions in the brain that are necessary for learning. To illuminate how it can be destructive for EFL learners in reading comprehension, the present study used two classes one in which the subjects were asked to paraphrase a reading comprehension text before it was taught by the teacher (class1) and another in which the teacher taught the reading passage first and then asked the students some questions about it (class2). The data were gathered through 2 instruments, namely, a test and indirect observation. The analysis of the results indicated that students in the class in which the teachers had taught the lesson first and had then asked questions performed better and had less signs of stress in comparison with the other group. Overall, the results indicate that in class1 since the subjects are under the pressure and stress of being singled out, they constantly read the next paragraph without paying attention to the paragraph which was being presented by their classmate and the teacher. However, the case is vice versa in class 2 since as the teacher teaches the passage, students pay attention to her carefully in order to answer her questions after reading the passage without any stress on being called upon to read in a passage which they are not familiar with yet.