Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perception of Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies across Gender and Experience

The purpose of this research is to investigate Iranian English teachers’ perception of teaching reading comprehension strategies and their use which can be influenced by individual factors such as gender and teachers' teaching experience. To serve the purpose, 78 EFL teachers were selected in a stratified manner from West and East Azerbaijan’s language institutes and schools in the second semester of the academic year 2021. This sample included 54 female (=22highly experienced, 17 relatively experienced, and15 novice) and 24 male (=1 highly experienced, 6 relatively experienced, and 7 novice). To collect data, the standard questionnaire of teachers' perception (Maingi, 2015) was used, which includes 27 questions in 3 sections, which measures the teachers' perception of reading comprehension and the importance of reading strategies on a five-point Likert scale. The obtained data were analyzed through Two-Way between Groups Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to investigate the significant main effects of teachers’ gender and proficiency level on the their perception of teaching reading comprehension strategies and the interaction effect of teachers’ gender and proficiency level on their perception of teaching reading comprehension strategies. The results showed that the gender and teaching experience of Iranian English teachers neither independently nor interactively have any effect on their understanding of the two research variables. As a result, this research focuses on the uncertainty in teachers' understanding of reading comprehension skill and the key role of relevant strategies, which can be one of the main causes of language learners' weakness in this skill because teachers' perception of the variety skills and individual characteristics of language learners shape their classroom activities and are an effective factor in determining the level of achievement of language learners in various fields. Moreover, some suggestions were offered for teachers, curriculum designers, and students.