EFL Teacher’s strategies in teaching reading through distance learning in Secondary female schools
Rahmeh Mohammad Soud Elshebli1
Teacher of English at the Ministry of Education, Jordan
Email: Rahmaalsheble@ymail.com
HNSJ, 2024, 5(4); https://doi.org/10.53796/hnsj54/6
Published at 01/04/2024 Accepted at 19/03/2024
Abstract
This study investigates EFL teachers’ practices in teaching reading through distance learning, during COVID-19 pandemic that the world suffered because of, and schools shifted to distance learning. It also investigates whether EFL teachers’ practices are influenced by certain variables, such as years of experience, and school type. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was designed as a primary instrument to collect data and it covered three dimensions of EFL teachers’ practices (pre-, while-, and post-reading stages). It addressed a sample of 71 Jordanian EFL female teachers. They were from both public and private secondary schools. The questionnaire comprised 25 items, and these items were adapted from different studies. Data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings were discussed to reach conclusions via SPSS (Version 23). The results of the study showed to what extent EFL teachers used reading strategies while teaching the three stages of reading through distance learning. As for the classifying variables, the results showed statistically significant differences (α= 0.05) associated with school type in favor of post-reading stage. Most EFL teachers used more strategies in the post-reading stage when teaching through distance learning, whereas the pre-reading strategies were the least used. On the other hand, the responses showed no statistically significant differences according to years of experience in the three reading stages. It is recommended to do more research on the same topic and focus on other variables, such as the gender.
Key Words: Distance learning; reading stages; strategies.
عنوان البحث
استراتيجيات معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية في تدريس القراءة عبر التعلم عن بعد في المدارس الثانوية للبنات
رحمه محمد سعود الشبلي1
1 معلمة لغة انجليزية في وزارة التربية والتعليم في الاردن
بريد الكتروني: : Rahmaalsheble@ymail.com
HNSJ, 2024, 5(4); https://doi.org/10.53796/hnsj54/7
تاريخ النشر: 01/04/2024م تاريخ القبول: 19/03/2024م
المستخلص
تتناول هذه الدراسة ممارسات معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية عند تدريس القراءة من خلال التعلم عن بعد، خلال جائحة كوفيد-19 التي عانى منها العالم وتحول المدارس إلى التعلم عن بعد. كما تبحث أيضًا فيما إذا كانت ممارسات معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية تتأثر بمتغيرات معينة، مثل سنوات الخبرة ونوع المدرسة. ولتحقيق هذا الهدف، تم تصميم استبيان كأداة أساسية لجمع البيانات، وقد غطى ثلاثة أبعاد لممارسات معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية (مراحل ما قبل وأثناء وبعد القراءة). وقد تناولت عينة مكونة من 71 معلمة أردنية للغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية. وكانوا من المدارس الثانوية العامة والخاصة. تتكون الاستبانة من 25 فقرة، وهذه البنود مقتبسة من دراسات مختلفة. تم جمع البيانات وتحليلها باستخدام الإحصاء الوصفي. وتمت مناقشة النتائج للوصول إلى الاستنتاجات عبر برنامج SPSS (الإصدار 23). وأظهرت نتائج الدراسة إلى أي مدى استخدم معلمو اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية استراتيجيات القراءة أثناء تدريس مراحل القراءة الثلاث من خلال التعلم عن بعد. أما بالنسبة لمتغيرات التصنيف فقد أظهرت النتائج وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية (α=0.05) مرتبطة بنوع المدرسة لصالح مرحلة ما بعد القراءة. استخدم معظم معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية استراتيجيات أكثر في مرحلة ما بعد القراءة عند التدريس من خلال التعلم عن بعد، في حين كانت استراتيجيات ما قبل القراءة الأقل استخداما. وفي المقابل أظهرت الإجابات عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية باختلاف سنوات الخبرة في مراحل القراءة الثلاث. يوصى بإجراء المزيد من الأبحاث حول نفس الموضوع والتركيز على المتغيرات الأخرى، مثل الجنس.
الكلمات المفتاحية: مراحل القراءة؛ الاستراتيجيات.
Introduction
Nowadays, English language can be considered as a global language. It is the most important language and the only one to be widely used in all the continents (Melitz, 2016). Therefore, teaching and learning this language is undoubtedly very essential in our life. So, “education systems around the world give special attention to teaching of English” (Petal and Jain, 2008). Accordingly, teaching English as a foreign language requires working on its basic skills that are very important for making students able to communicate effectively by using this language. These skills are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. All these skills complement each other. Reading and listening are receptive skills. On the other hand, writing and speaking are productive skills. This research focuses on teaching reading which is very important. It can be considered as “an essential part at the starting points of learning language”(Al-dmour, 2019). So, EFL teachers need to work effectively with their students to make sure that they acquire this skill and can communicate with others by using it. To make this happen, EFL teachers should pay attention to the three stages of reading when teaching reading lessons as well as to the strategies and the activities that they apply during these stages in their language classroom.
Teaching can be either through face to face or distance learning and online classes. Due to COVID-19 situation, it affected several aspects in our life. Until 19 December 2023, there have been 772 838 745 confirmed cases of COVID 19, including 6 988 679 deaths, reported to WHO” (World Health Organization, 2023). This was the reason of school closure during 2020. Therefore, many schools moved from traditional teaching in classrooms to online teaching. That shifting required great efforts from EFL teachers to maintain the teaching process. Teaching English language might be challenging for some teachers, and this might be more difficult during the pandemic since it demands creating a learning environment using technology efficiently. Reading is very important skill for students’ academic success, and it makes students able to improve the other skills. Despite its importance, it can be considered as a neglected skill (Slimani, 2016). So, I believe that EFL teachers should focus on teaching this skill effectively and give it great efforts while teaching it either in both face to face and online teaching. In this light, this study sets to investigate the commonly used strategies by EFL teachers in teaching reading through distance learning. Also, this study is to unveil the statistically significant differences (α= 0.05) associated with school type and years of experience.
Statement of the problem
Since reading skill is very essential and its importance is increasing everyday around the world, this study is to investigate the commonly used strategies by EFL teachers in teaching reading, especially during the 3 stages, through distance learning.
Research Questions
The following research questions guide this study:
1-What are the commonly used strategies by EFL teachers among the three stages of reading through distance learning?
2- Are there any statistically significant differences in means among EFL teachers’ strategies during teaching reading through distance learning that can be attributed to the school type?
3- Are there any statistically significant differences in EFL teachers’ strategies when teaching reading through distance learning that can be attributed to years of experience?
Significance of the study:
1. Theoretical importance:
It is expected that this study will enrich the literature with descriptive research that addresses the strategies EFL teachers used in teaching the 3 stages of reading (pre-, while-, and post reading) through online learning, especially that there are few studies on this domain. Therefore, the findings can be used as a way of understanding teachers’ practices during the pandemic and whether there are any neglected stages of reading.
2. Practical importance:
It is expected that the results of the present study will help to reveal the strategies that EFL teachers use to teach reading skills through distance learning. Thus, it can help EFL teachers reflect on their strategies while teaching reading and improve their practices in case some of them neglect some of the stages. Additionally, this study can motivate other researchers to conduct more research associated with other variables such as gender. It may inspire researchers to address EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching other skills such as writing, listening, and speaking. Moreover, this study could help the Jordanian Ministry realize the importance of designing courses for training EFL teachers on how to teach the three reading stages through distance learning.
Need of the study
Despite all the studies that were conducted, there are few that focused on finding out EFL teachers’ practices and the strategies that they use or neglect while teaching the 3 stages of reading skills through distance learning. Hence, this is what this descriptive study focused on to investigate.
Literature Review
Reading skills
One of English Language skills that is needed to be mastered by students is reading. It has an essential role in students’ learning process. (Mohammed et al., 2019) Reading can be seen as “an interactive process in which readers construct a meaningful representation of a text using effective reading strategies.” (Pourhosein Gilakjani & Sabouri, 2016, p.224). According to this definition of reading, EFL teachers should plan to use suitable reading strategies reading comprehension in order to help students understand the text. Moreover, EFL teachers should teach reading comprehension by using different strategies according to students’ levels, interests and many theories about those strategies are presented by different researchers, such as Brown (2001). According to Madforia, these strategies can be delivered by using three stages for enhancing students understanding of the text (2017).
Three stages of reading
This study aims to investigate EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching reading through distance learning. It examines the practices and the strategies that are used by EFL teachers during the 3 stages of reading: pre, while and post reading stage (Rehman et al., 2020; Madfori, 2017; Nordin et al., 2013; Marinaccio, 2012; Antoni, 2010; Taprak & Almacioglu, 2009).
Pre-reading stage is very important for students’ learning because it enhances their interests in the subject or topic of the reading text (Saricoban, 2002). Additionally, Marinaccio (2012) highlights that it is essential for all EFL teachers to realize the fact that using strategies in the pre-reading stage helps their pupils in understanding the information and engaging them in reading as well as using them is important for students’ comprehension. Despite its importance, many EFL teachers may not use pre reading strategies in their lesson as Alyousef (2006) concluded in his research that there are many EFL teachers who ignore this stage. There are many activities and strategies that EFL teachers can use during this stage. Firstly, before starting with the text, EFL teachers can ask students some questions to activate their prior knowledge. Hayes and Tierney (1982) clarified that this activity helps student to understand the text. Secondly, Saricoban (2002) stated that EFL teachers may ask their students to try to predict the topic based on reading the title of the text. Thirdly, students can be asked to predict the type of the reading materiel. Fourthly, they may be asked to identify key words which are related to the text in the pre-reading stage. Moreover, describing pictures which are related to the given reading material is also one of the activities that EFL teachers can ask their students to do. Also, they can use pictures to help students to guess the meaning of some words before starting with the text (khamraeva, 2016). In addition to that, teachers can ask students to preview the text before reading. Finally, asking students to read the first sentence of each paragraph before reading the text is one of the pre reading strategies (Nazurty et al., 2019).
2) While-reading stage
As Banditvilai (2020) pointed that the purpose of while-reading stage is to help students to comprehend the writer’s goal, style, and skills, as well as to enhance the comprehension of the text structure, explain text topic, and identify the main idea. Rehman et al. (2020) stated that this stage can be seen as a crucial one in which EFL teachers have to make students concentrate to fulfill the outcomes of the reading passage. In Rehman et al.’s study (2020), there were various activities and strategies that teachers can use during the while-reading stage to help students understand the text, such as asking students to answer questions while reading the text, take notes, identify main ideas and analyze the text. Moreover, EFL teachers can ask students to identify new words and use dictionary to find their meaning (Antoni, 2010). Furthermore, there are other strategies that can be used in this stage, like asking students to read the whole passage quickly to understand the main idea, predict or guess the text meaning, re-read for better understanding, confirm or reject predictions, and interpret the text by making inferences and drawing conclusions, etc. (Nazurty et al., 2019).
3) Post-Reading stage
Widodo (2009) discussed that ” post reading stage was designed to extend the understanding of the students learned at the pre-reading and while reading stages”. Also, its main aim is to make a connection of what students read and of their life (Nisa, 2017). One of the activities that EFL teachers may use in this stage is asking students to give their opinions about the reading material (Nisa, 2017; Nordin et al., 2013). The second possible strategy is summarizing the main ideas of the text (Cakıcı, 2016; Nordin et al., 2013). Moreover, EFL teachers may ask students to answer different questions after reading the text and to evaluate and criticize the text (Rehman et al., 2020; Nazurty et al., 2019; Cakıcı, 2016). In addition to the previous strategies, EFL teachers can ask students to make inferences after finishing reading the passage (Nazurty et al., 2019), retell the meaning of the text (Rehman et al., 2020), discuss the text after reading (Cakıcı, 2016) and create another possible conclusion for it.
Teaching reading through distance learning
“Over 1.7 billion students around the world have had their education disrupted by the spread of coronavirus disease worldwide” (Dietrich et al., 2020). So all schools on that time shifted from traditional teaching in real classrooms to online teaching or what is called as “distance learning” because of the pandemic. Distance learning process might not be easy for some teacher or some schools because that shifting and that change happened suddenly without having the ability to get ready for this from of teaching (Alily et al., 2020). Dolidze (2013) explained that some studies revealed that distance learning has some advantages on teaching the English language, whereas teaching this language without physical presence support may be impossible. So, this study is to investigate EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching reading through distance learning.
Methodology
This study aims to find out the strategies Jordanian EFL teachers used in teaching reading. Specifically, after the spread of Coronavirus all over Jordan, Jordanian schools, both public and private, were closed and teachers started teaching online.
A) Participants
The present study sample consists of 71 female EFL teachers. They teach English language with different experiences. 46 of them teach in secondary public schools and 26 EFL teachers teach in secondary private schools in Jordan.
B) Instrument
A questionnaire was used to collect data for this study. The questionnaire comprised twenty-five items and these items were adapted from different studies, like (Antoni, 2010; Rehman et al., 2020). All the 25 items were in the form of statement by using 5-point Likert type scale. The participants were asked to rate the strategies in the questionnaire in terms to what extent they agree that they used the strategies or not in teaching reading through distance learning using the following scale: (1= Strongly disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4= Agree, 5= Strongly agree). The statements were related to teacher’s strategies in teaching reading through distance learning. Specifically, the survey questionnaire targeted three main parts: pre-reading strategies, while-reading strategies, and post-reading strategies. The other 2 questions were multiple choices. They included aspects such as school type and the experience of the teacher. The validity of the questionnaire was checked by asking experts to judge its content validity. The data have been collected and analyzed by using tables. After that, the findings have been discussed to reach conclusions.
Findings
The aim of the present study is to find out the commonly used strategies by EFL teachers in teaching reading. After collecting the data, the gathered data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics in order to answer and address my research questions.
Question no.1: what are EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching the three stages of reading through distance learning?
The first research question targeted EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching the three stages of reading through distance learning. It is a way to discover the strategies EFL teachers use in pre, while and post reading stages during the online learning.
Table 1: Means and standard deviations of the 3 reading stages
| Stages | Mean | Std. Dev. |
| Pre-reading stage | 3.75 | .907 |
| While-reading stage | 3.85 | .744 |
| Post-reading stage | 4.11 | .560 |
Table (1) shows mean values and standard deviations of the 3 reading stages. It can be seen that EFL teachers claimed and agreed that the used strategies and activities significantly higher in the post-reading stage (M=4.11, SD=.560). In other words, the mean of the used strategies in while-reading stage comes on the second level (M=3.85, SD=.744). The lowest used strategies were in the pre-reading stage (M=3.75, SD=.907).
In order to answer the first question, means and standard deviations have been calculated for the strategies of each one of the three stages of reading. First, Table (2) shows means and standard deviations for EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching the pre-reading stage.
To check the reliability of the statements in pre reading stage, they have been analyzed using SPSS software and the researcher have found that Cronbach Alpha was 0.862 which is considered a high level of consistent reliability. The average of the strategies in the pre reading stage ranges between 3.36 and 4.20 and the average of all items is considered to be high.
Table 2: Descriptive statistics for EFL teachers’ strategies in the pre reading stage
| EFL teachers’ strategies in the pre reading stage | M | SD | |
| 1 | I ask students to answer questions to activate their prior knowledge. | 4.20 | .965 |
| 2 | I ask students to predict the topic based on reading the title. | 3.78 | 1.270 |
| 3 | I ask students to predict the type of the reading material. (Story, article….) | 3.57 | 1.149 |
| 4 | I ask students to identify key words related to the text. | 3.89 | 1.349 |
| 5 | I ask students to participate in describing pictures which related to the text. | 3.78 | 1.355 |
| 6 | I ask students to preview the text before reading. | 3.36 | 1.214 |
| 7 | I ask students to read the first sentence of the paragraphs. | 3.58 | 1.297 |
The data presented in Table (2) shows means and standard deviations for EFL teachers’ strategies when teaching the pre-reading stage. It is clear in Table (2) that when teaching the pre-reading stage through distance learning, the highest used strategies that EFL teachers agreed on asking students to answer questions to activate their prior knowledge (M= 4.20, SD= .965) and asking them to identify key words related to the text (M= 3.89, SD= 1.349). On the other hand, it appears that EFL teachers agreed that the lowest used strategy is previewing the text before reading (M= 3.36, SD=1.214).
To check the reliability of the statements in while reading stage, they have been analyzed using SPSS software and the researcher have found that Cronbach Alpha was 0.884 which is considered a high level of consistent reliability. The average of the strategies in the while reading stage ranges between 3.07 and 4.31 and the average of all items is considered to be high.
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for teachers’ strategies while teaching reading
| EFL teachers’ strategies while teaching reading | M | SD | |
| 1 | I ask students to read the whole passage quickly to understand the main idea. | 3.90 | 1.115 |
| 2 | I ask students to identify main ideas. | 4.18 | .983 |
| 3 | I ask students to predict or guess the text meaning. | 3.56 | 1.124 |
| 4 | I ask students to re-read for better understanding. | 3.07 | 1.117 |
| 5 | I ask students to confirm or reject predictions. | 3.54 | 1.198 |
| 6 | I ask students to identify new words and use dictionary to find meaning. | 4.06 | 1.149 |
| 7 | I ask students to analyze the text while reading. | 4.04 | 1.027 |
| 8 | I ask students to take notes while reading. | 3.93 | 1.105 |
| 9 | I ask students to answer questions while reading the text to check their understanding. | 4.31 | .944 |
| 10 | I ask students to interpret the text (make inferences, draw conclusions, etc.) | 3.96 | .813 |
The data presented in Table (3) shows means and standard deviations for EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching the while-reading stage. It is clear in Table (3) that when teaching the while-reading stage through distance learning, the highest used strategies that EFL teachers agreed on asking students to answer questions while reading the text to check students’ understanding (M= 4.31, SD= .944) and asking them to identify main ideas. (M= 4.18, SD= .983). On the other hand, it appears that EFL teachers agreed that the lowest used strategy is asking students to re-read for better understanding. (M= 3.07, SD=1.117).
To check the reliability of the statements in post reading stage, they have been analyzed using SPSS software and the researcher have found that Cronbach Alpha was 0.768 which is considered sufficient for the purpose of the questionnaire. The average of the strategies in the post reading stage ranges between 3.50 and 4.74 and the average of all items is considered to be high.
Table 4: Descriptive Statistics for teachers’ strategies after teaching reading
| EFL Teachers’ strategies after teaching reading | M | SD | |
| 1 | I ask students to make inferences after finishing reading the passage. | 3.96 | 1.013 |
| 2 | I ask students to give their opinions about the reading material. | 4.28 | .826 |
| 3 | I ask students to summarize the main ideas of the text. | 4.32 | .766 |
| 4 | I ask students to retell the meaning of the text. | 4.22 | .791 |
| 5 | I ask students to answer questions after reading the text. | 4.74 | .503 |
| 6 | I ask students to create another possible conclusion for the text. | 3.96 | .999 |
| 7 | I ask students to evaluate and criticize the text. | 3.50 | 1.151 |
| 8 | I ask students to discuss the text after reading. | 3.94 | 1.047 |
The data presented in Table (4) shows means and standard deviations for strategies teachers used in teaching the while-reading stage. It is clear in Table (4) that when teaching the post-reading stage through remote learning, the highest used strategies that teachers agreed on asking students to answer questions after reading the text. (M= 4.74, SD= .503) and asking them to summarize the main ideas of the text. (M= 4.32, SD= .766). On the other hand, it appears that teachers agreed and pointed that the lowest used strategy is asking students evaluate and criticize the text. (M= 3.50, SD=1.151).
Question no.2: Are there any statistically significant differences (α =0.05) in strategies EFL teachers used in teaching reading through distance learning that can be attributed to the type of school (public or private)?
The second question addressed the type of school where EFL teachers teach the 3 stages of reading through distance learning. It is a way to clarify the differences between EFL teachers’ strategies either in public or in private school during the 3 stages.
Table 5: Means and standard deviations of using the strategies in the 3 reading stages according to the school type
| Mean | Std. Dev. | ||
| Pre-reading | public | 3.42 | .950 |
| private | 4.34 | .400 | |
| Total | 3.75 | .907 | |
| While-reading | public | 3.58 | .760 |
| private | 4.33 | .395 | |
| Total | 3.85 | .744 | |
| Post-reading | public | 4.00 | .595 |
| private | 4.32 | .427 | |
| Total | 4.11 | .560 | |
Table (5) shows means and SDs of using the strategies in the pre, while and post reading stages according to the school type. From the data, it is clear that using the strategies in the private schools is higher than the public schools when teaching all the stages through distance learning. The results indicated that using the strategies in the private schools (M= 4.34, SD= .400) is higher than the public schools (M= 3.42, SD= .950) in the pre-reading stage. Secondly, using the strategies in the private schools (M= 4.33, SD= .395) is higher than the public schools (M= 3.58, SD= .760) in the while-reading stage. Finally, using the strategies in the private schools (M= 4.32, SD= .427) is higher than the public schools (M= 4.00, SD= .595) in the post-reading stage.
Table 6: One Way ANOVA for using the strategies in the 3 reading stages according to the school type
| Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | ||
| Pre-reading | Between Groups | 13.926 | 1 | 13.926 | 21.986 | .000* |
| Within Groups | 43.705 | 69 | .633 | |||
| Total | 57.631 | 70 | ||||
| While-reading | Between Groups | 9.394 | 1 | 9.394 | 22.003 | .000* |
| Within Groups | 29.885 | 70 | .427 | |||
| Total | 39.279 | 71 | ||||
| Post-reading | Between Groups | 1.753 | 1 | 1.753 | 5.979 | .017* |
| Within Groups | 20.521 | 70 | .293 | |||
| Total | 22.273 | 71 | ||||
*Note: Significant at the .05 level.
To answer the second research question, further analyses were conducted to investigate the impact of the school type on using the strategies using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). In Table (6), the results show that (p< 0.05) and there is a statistically significant difference between public and private schools at (alpha=0.05), (F= 21.986), (p= .000) in using pre reading strategies in favor of the private school (M= 4.34, SD= .400). Moreover, the results revealed that (p< 0.05) and there is a statistically significant difference at (alpha=0.05), (F= 22.003), (p= .000) in using while reading strategies in favor of the private schools (M= 4.33, SD= .395). Finally, the table indicates that (p< 0.05) and there is a statistically significant difference at (F= 5.979), (p= .017) in using post reading strategies in favor of the private school (M= 4.32, SD= .427).
Question no.3: Are there any statistically significant differences (α =0.05) in strategies EFL teachers used in teaching reading through distance learning that can be attributed to the experience of the teacher?
The third question addressed the impact of the experience of the teacher on EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching the 3 stages of reading through distance learning. This could be a great attempt to find out the differences between EFL teachers’ strategies during the 3 stages attributed to teacher’s experience.
Table 7: Means and standard deviations of using the strategies in the 3 reading stages according to teacher’s experience
| N | M | Std. Dev. | ||
| Pre-reading | Less than 5 years | 27 | 3.91 | .967 |
| More than 5 years | 44 | 3.66 | .866 | |
| Total | 71 | 3.75 | .907 | |
| While-reading | Less than 5 years | 28 | 3.87 | .798 |
| More than 5 years | 44 | 3.85 | .716 | |
| Total | 72 | 3.85 | .744 | |
| Post-reading | Less than 5 years | 28 | 4.13 | .584 |
| More than 5 years | 44 | 4.11 | .551 | |
| Total | 72 | 4.11 | .560 | |
Table (7) shows means and SDs of using the strategies in the pre, while and post reading stages according to the experience of the teacher. From the presented data, it is obvious that EFL teachers with less than 5 years’ experience have a high use of strategies than EFL teachers with more than 5 years’ experience while teaching all the stages through distance learning. Based on the results, using the strategies by EFL teachers with less than 5 years’ experience (M= 3.91, SD= .967) is higher than EFL teachers with more than 5 years’ experience (M= 3.66, SD= .866) in the pre-reading stage. Secondly, using the strategies by EFL teachers with less than 5 years’ experience (M= 3.87, SD= .798) is higher than EFL teachers with more than 5 years’ experience (M= 3.85, SD= .716) in the while-reading stage. Finally, using the strategies by EFL teachers with less than 5 years’ experience (M= 4.13, SD= .584) is higher than EFL teachers with more than 5 years’ experience (M= 4.11, SD= .551) in the post-reading stage.
Table 8: One Way ANOVA for using the strategies in the 3 reading stages according to teacher’s experience
| Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | ||
| Pre-reading | Between Groups | 1.081 | 1 | 1.081 | 1.319 | .255* |
| Within Groups | 56.550 | 69 | .820 | |||
| Total | 57.631 | 70 | ||||
| While-reading | Between Groups | .009 | 1 | .009 | .015 | .902* |
| Within Groups | 39.270 | 70 | .561 | |||
| Total | 39.279 | 71 | ||||
| Post-reading | Between Groups | .010 | 1 | .010 | .032 | .859* |
| Within Groups | 22.263 | 70 | .318 | |||
| Total | 22.273 | 71 | ||||
*Note: Significant at the .05 level.
To answer the third question, ANOVA was used to see the impact of the experience of the teacher on using the strategies in teaching reading through distance learning. Table (8) shows that (p> 0.05) which means that there is no statistically significant difference at (alpha=0.05) on using the strategies in the pre, while and post reading stages attributed to EFL teachers’ experience.
Discussion
After analyzing the results of the questionnaire, it is obvious from EFL teachers’ practices and the strategies or activities they used that the majority of EFL teachers’ strategies and activities were mainly in the post-reading stage when teaching through distance learning, whereas the pre-reading stage has the lowest mean. Although post-reading stage is very important, this doesn’t mean to neglect the pre-reading stage. Alyousef (2006) stated that there are many EFL teachers who ignore pre-reading stage and some of them may claim that the reason of that is that they do not have enough time to focus on it despite the fact that pre-reading stage is considered as an essential stage which help EFL teachers to activate and encourage their students before starting with the reading material. Therefore, Compton (2009) concluded that while teaching English skills through online system, EFL teachers should do their best to acquire the required skills that would help them to teach effectively. So, even when teaching reading through online, EFL teachers should be aware of focusing on the three stages of reading without ignoring any stage, especially pre- reading stage according to its important role in the process of teaching reading skill.
To address the second question, means, SDs and ANOVA were used to analyze the impact of school type of EFL teachers who taught the three stages of reading through distance learning. According to the effect and the impact of school type, the results showed that there is a statistically significant difference between EFL teachers’ strategies in teaching the 3 reading stages through online learning in public and private schools. From the data, it is clear that using the strategies in the private schools is higher than the public schools when teaching all reading stages through distance learning. So, it is obvious that EFL teachers who work in private school EFL teachers gave more attention to using strategies and designing activities for the 3 reading stages, whereas public school EFL teachers showed less interest in using some strategies. The reason of that might be because of the policy of the public and private school and the way of teaching in these 2 types of school. It is clear that teaching through online learning might depend on what EFL teachers in private schools use, like: live meetings or certain platforms which make it easier for EFL teachers to interact with their students, use different strategies for all stages. White (2009) highlighted the importance of having interaction between EFL teachers and students in distance education. Finally, to answer of the third question, ANOVA was used and it was clear that there is no statistically significant difference at (alpha=0.05) on using the strategies in the pre, while and post reading stages attributed to EFL teachers’ experience. That means that teaching reading strategies has no relationship with EFL teachers’ experiences.
Conclusion
Reading skill is very important and teaching this skill sufficiently is essential for our students. EFL Teachers should do their best to design their activities taking into consideration implementing the strategies of the 3 stages of reading because of the importance of each stage in the process of teaching reading. There is a limitation in this study, which is that all the participants were female, so there was no chance to study EFL teachers’ practices according to their gender.
This study concludes that EFL teachers in Jordan taught different activities and used different strategies that are related to the 3 stages of reading while teaching through distance education. However, some of these EFL teachers should “provide more reinforcement and guidance in the process of reading comprehension” (Kurniaman et al., 2018). When teaching this skill through distance learning, EFL teachers should try to create an online interaction with their students and choose the appropriate tasks. (Compton, 2009)
Recommendations
In the light of the main findings of the current study, the following recommendations are made:
First, based on the results of the present study, it was clear that the majority of the commonly used strategies by EFL teachers in teaching reading through distance learning were mainly in the post-reading stage, while on the contrary; pre-reading stage has got the lowest mean. This could indicate that most EFL teachers may not be aware of the importance of pre-reading stage and the results shows that teachers used fewer strategies in this stage than the other stages. This may invite EFL teachers to use more pre-reading strategies in their lessons.
Second, according to the importance of the current study, it is recommended to have more researches that are related to the same topic and that focus on other variables such as: gender of the EFL teachers and how they may affect EFL teachers’ practices while teaching reading skill through distance learning. In addition to that, the results revealed that there is no statistically significant difference on using the strategies in the 3 stages attributed to EFL teachers’ experience. Thus, more researches can be conducted related to EFL teachers’ experiences.
Finally, given that the answers of the participants of the present study showed that the level of using reading strategies in the private schools is higher than the public schools when teaching all the 3 reading stages through distance learning. Consequently, this invites the Jordanian Ministry to design effective courses for training EFL teachers in public schools on the importance of using reading strategies during teaching the 3 reading stages in both face to face and online learning.
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