EFL Students' Attitudes towards Using Pre- vs. Post-questioning Techniques in Comprehension of Nonfiction Texts:A Qualitative Study

Reading as a receptive behavior of getting information from the written texts, has a crucial role in EFL/ESL learners' language acquisition, (Nunan 1991). Teachers therefore should use a set of useful strategies in order to help their students to develop a positive attitude toward reading. This study investigated the students' attitudes towards using pre vs. post questioning techniques on the improvement of Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension. 30 EFL intermediate students studying English at Shokooh language institute in Gonbad, Iran participated in this study. These students received pre and post questioning techniques (each class 15) in Autumn 2014-2015. The students' attitudes were examined by two independent Likert agree/disagree type teacher-based questionnaires. These questionnaires were designed to elicit the participants' attitudes towards the role of pre and post questioning techniques on their reading comprehension. Later, the results of the two questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results of these questionnaires clearly showed that the students in both groups completely recognized the advantages of using questioning techniques in their reading classes. Overall, students in both pre and post questioning groups had positive attitudes towards using such techniques in their reading comprehension classes. The findings of this study also indicated that due to the importance of teaching English for EFL learners in our country, using well-organized techniques in reading classes will develop a positive attitude toward reading.

Keywords:

Pre-questioning , Post-questioning , Reading Comprehension , Nonfiction Texts