International Journal of Linguistics ISSN 1948-5425 2012, Vol. 4, No. 3 www.macrothink.org/ijl 1 Metacognitive Strategies and Reading Comprehension Enhancement in Iranian Intermediate EFL Setting Davood Jafari Department of English Language, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan PO Box 81746-7344, Isfahan, Hezar Jirib Street, Iran E-mail: jafari.davood@yahoo.com Saeed Ketabi (Corresponding author) Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan PO Box, 81746-7344, Isfahan, Hezar Jirib Street, Iran E-mail: Ketabi@fgn.ui.ac.ir Received: April 22, 2012 Accepted: May 2, 2012 Published: September 1, 2012 doi:10.5296/ijl.v4i3.1684 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v4i3.1684 Abstract This study examined the relationship between metacognitive strategy instruction and reading comprehension enhancement. Metacognitive strategies are something potentially important in learning a foreign language (Larsen Freeman 1991). In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the effects of metacognitive strategies on enhancing reading comprehension in Iranian intermediate learners of English. For this purpose, 70 English major students studying at Isfahan Payam-Noor University were invited to take part in a reading comprehension TOEFL test (2007 version) to homogenize them then a total number of 40 participants whose scores were within the range of one standard deviation below and above the mean were divided into two groups of experimental and control. Participants in experimental group received twelve sessions of two hour classes, every other week, on reading comprehension instruction as well as metacognitive strategies while the control group remained intact and the regular process of reading instructions went on. In order to see if there was a significant