Summary Writing and the Development of Second Language (L2) Reading Skills Among Iranian Mechanical Engineering University Students

Developing second language (L2) reading skills is a core competency for university students who typically enter higher education with varied L2 proficiency and reading abilities. This study examined the effect of summarizing strategy on Iranian mechanical engineering students’ reading skills. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, the experimental group wrote eight summaries of the texts they had read over an academic year while the control group did conventional post-reading activities. Pre- and post-treatment reading comprehension results revealed that students who received summary training/practice significantly outperformed the control group. Analysis of the progress that each individual made further showed that summarizing benefited all the students practicing summarizing regardless of their initial reading skills and language proficiency. These findings might help teachers seeking ways to develop reading comprehension among non-English-major university students.