Abstract:
People from non-native English speaking countries usually encounter the issue of learning and appropriately
using the English language. It is an important to have higher acquaintance with the English language since
most of the curriculums are designed and imparted in English. The non-native English speaking countries
persistently put efforts to improve the English learning levels through innovative pedagogies. The study
reports the results of an intervention for improving the reading comprehension skills. The study aimed to
examine the effectiveness of communicative English language teaching program on students’ reading
comprehension skills. To achieve the intended objectives, a non-equivalent pre-test, post-test quasiexperimental
design was employed. The participants were the first year law students in two classes at the
University of Gondar. The principle of randomization was applied and the groups were categorized as
experimental and control groups. The intervention was carried out for two months of the academic year
2017. It was hypothesized that the students taught through communicative language teaching instruction
would improve their reading comprehension skills better than those doesn't had this exposure. An English
reading achievement test was developed and employed to assess the pre and post intervention levels. The
validity and reliability of the research instruments were statistically measured and found the fit. The
intervention programme was focussed on different aspects of reading comprehension. The data were analyzed
using appropriate statistical tests. Results indicate that the reading comprehension skills score of the
experimental group improved significantly and to an extent greater than the control group due to the
treatment. Hence, the present study strongly recommends that instructors should employ communicative
language instruction at University level for teaching EFL reading lessons.
