Instructional Resources and Reading Comprehension

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between instructional resources and the development of reading comprehension among EFL learners, addressing the need to understand how the use of specific materials influenced students’ reading performance. Conducted as descriptive research with a mixed approach, it involved a group of 62 EFL students whose perceptions and experiences allowed a broader understanding of classroom practices. To collect data, a 21-item questionnaire based on a Likert scale was applied to explore the types of resources students were most frequently exposed to and the reading subskills they had developed. The instrument showed high reliability, evidenced by a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.917, and its content validity was supported by five expert professors in the field, whose evaluations yielded Aiken’s V values ranging from 0.80 to 1.00, confirming the clarity and relevance of the items. Furthermore, the study was guided by three research questions derived from the main objectives. Regarding the first question, the findings revealed that virtual manipulatives, audio resources, and technological resources were the most commonly used instructional tools, likely because they provided interactive and dynamic learning environments that facilitated comprehension. The results showed that the subskills most strongly developed among students were predicting, deducing meaning from context, and Intensive Reading, which suggested that learners had strengthened their ability to anticipate information, interpret contextual clues, and focus on essential textual details. Moreover, the strategies students reported using most frequently to improve their reading comprehension were summarizing, monitoring comprehension, and recognizing story structure, as these supported the organization of ideas and promoted a deeper understanding of how texts were structured.