Impact of explicit reading instruction on undergraduates’ reading comprehension: A qualitative analysis

The study examines how explicit reading strategies impact ESL students' reading comprehension at a government degree college in Channapatna, Karnataka, guided by socio-constructivist principles. A structured lesson plan on reading instruction was developed to be utilized for an experimental group of students (N=63) over two and a half months using reciprocal teaching, scaffolding, and collaborative learning. An introspective (qualitative) method of data collection was used through verbal reports and observation from participants. Thematic analysis was employed, focusing on learners' response patterns to the verbal reports. Progress was evaluated through transitions from declarative to conditional knowledge, strategy integration, and cognitive to metacognitive monitoring. It was revealed that using learners' L1 (i.e. Kannada) and contextual cues helped them understand complex English texts (L2). Strategies included activating background knowledge, inferencing, summarizing, questioning, predicting, and visualizing. Analysis showed significant improvements in comprehension, with explicit reading instruction enhancing ESL learners' academic success.