International Journal of English Linguistics; Vol. 8, No. 4; 2018 ISSN 1923-869X E-ISSN 1923-8703 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 96 Role of Content Schema in Reading Comprehension Among Saudi EFL Students: EFL Teachers’ Perspective and Use of Appropriate Classroom Strategies AbdulRahman Al Asmari 1 & Choudhary Zahid Javid 2 1 Vice President for Academic Affairs, Taif University, Taif, KSA 2 Foreign Languages Department, Taif University, Taif, KSA Correspondence: Choudhary Zahid Javid, Foreign Languages Department, Taif University, Taif, KSA. E-mail: chzahidj@hotmail.com Received: February 8, 2018 Accepted: March 3, 2018 Online Published: March 17, 2018 doi:10.5539/ijel.v8n4p96 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n4p96 Abstract This empirical survey investigates the perceptions of English language teachers towards the role of content schemata in reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Furthermore, it also attempts to explore the use of appropriate classroom strategies employed by English language teachers to activate content schemata to enhance learners’ reading comprehension. A modified Likert-scale strongly-agree to strongly-disagree questionnaire was administered to 61 male and female EFL faculty from English Language Center (ELC), Taif University to generate data. The findings have reinforced that background knowledge of Saudi EFL learners help them significantly in reading faster with better understanding. It has also been reported that pre-reading strategies of brainstorming, classroom discussions about the topic and questioning are the most favored ones to activate Saudi EFL learners’ background knowledge. It has also been learnt that while-reading strategies of directing the students’ attention to signal words, main idea, important phrases, titles, subtitles and effectively linking the target text to their students’ cultural and social experiences also contribute towards reading comprehension. The findings have also revealed that English language teachers consider low English language proficiency and poor reading skills of Saudi ELF leaners as well as the lack of appropriate teaching aids as the major obstacles in activating the content schemata. Several recommendations have been forwarded which have significant pedagogical implications in materializing much sought-after goal of effective ELT in the KSA by ensuring better reading skills among Saudi EFL learners. Keywords: reading comprehension, content schemata, classroom strategies, perspective, EFL students 1. Introduction The role of efficient reading is well established for good English as a foreign language (EFL) learners and it has become rather extremely important after the proliferation of information technology that demands enhanced reading skills not only to cope up with their academic needs but also to keep themselves abreast of the vast knowledge around them. It has been reported by the International Reading Association that “adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history” (Moore et al., 1999, p. 3). This situation demands that EFL students should have the potential to go through this storehouse of knowledge efficiently. Venkateswaran (1995) has defined reading as a psycholinguistic process by which a reader reconstructs a message which has been encoded by a writer. He has further posited that schemata play an important role in enhancing reading comprehension. 1.1 Statement of the Problem A growing mass of research seems to emphasize that role of content schemata is important in enhancing reading comprehension in an EFL context (Al-Jahwari & Al-Humaidi, 2015; Alhaisoni, 2017). Review of relevant research has offered significant insights regarding the role of readers’ previous knowledge in their failure or success in understanding the written text. It has been reported that majority of the studies have investigated the effect of content schemata on learners’ reading comprehension (Nassaji, 2002; Nezami, 2012) and there seems a gap related to investigating English language teachers’ perceptions about the role of content schemata in reading comprehension and what strategies they exploit in their reading classes in this regard. Chen (2003) has suggested