summarizing strategy instruction and reading skill: a socio-cultural theory perspective

The benefits of collaboration and summarizing strategy instruction in second language (l2) learning rest on solid theoretical underpinnings. nonetheless, the empirical evidence of those benefits in efl context and in the spoken discourse as well as the long-term impact of collaboration on students’ reading skill has been under-researched. drawing upon vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory (sct), the present inquiry aimed at scrutinizing the effect of verbal and written summarizing strategy instruction on intermediate efl learners’ reading skill in various conditions (i.e., peer-mediated/collaborative vs. individualistic) in the long run. to this end, a total of 120 iranian efl intermediate male and female students within the age range of 16-18 were randomly assigned into two primary peer-mediated and individualistic conditions. furthermore, each condition encompassed written, verbal, and control groups. data collection tools involved preliminary english test (pet), first certificate in english (fce) reading pre-test, and delayed post-test. delayed post-tests followed the treatment that lasted for six sessions. the results of one-way anova demonstrated that summary instruction was efficient in ameliorating efl learners’ reading comprehension. nevertheless, the results of tukey post-hoc test indicated that the spoken summary group outperformed the written and control groups. moreover, the findings of the independent-samples t-test revealed that the students’ reading comprehension in peer-mediated groups significantly developed in the delayed post-test in comparison to their individual counterparts. the methodological and pedagogical implications of the study are discussed in relation to effective reading instruction through peer mediation as inspired by vygotsky’s sct of learning. in line with this theory, it is proposed that learning is a social activity and learners’ knowledge development depends on the interaction with others. thus, involving the learners in collaborative or group reading may be considered an effective instructional technique in the reading classes.