International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online) Vol. 5 No. 7; December 2016 [Special Issue on Language and Literature] Australian International Academic Centre, Australia Enhancing Literary Competence Through Critical Oriented Reading Strategies Atefeh Mozafari Department of English Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Iran Hamed Barjesteh (Corresponding author) Department of English Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Iran E-mail: ha_bar77@yahoo.com Received: 04-08-2016 Accepted: 19-10-2016 Advance Access Published: November 2016 Published: 10-12-2016 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.7p.168 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.7p.168 Abstract This study investigates the impact of critical oriented reading strategies on Iranian EFL male and female students’ literary competence (LC). In so doing, 109 homogenized male and female college students of English Literature were screened out of 160 participants due to administering Oxford Placement Test (OPT) among them. The selected participants were randomly assigned into critical (experimental) and non-critical (control) group. They were subsequently divided into male and female groups. All groups were given a novel, Jane Eyre, to read. Then the subjects were given the same pre-post test in the form of LC questionnaire aimed to determine their level of LC before and after the intervention. During the intervention, participants in the critical group were taught and encouraged to use critical reading strategies (CRSs). However, the non-critical group was taught the conventional method of reading. The results indicated a significant difference between learners’ LC before and after the intervention. However the LC difference was not statistically significant in term of gender. This study provides more evidence for the importance of CRSs that apparently empower students to know, explain, analyze and answer the questions that arise in a text which leads eventually to a progress in LC of the learners. Keywords: Critical Reading Strategies, EFL Learners, Literary Competence, Reading Comprehension, Gender 1. Introduction The In the realm of teaching English language, conventional methods based on noncritical approaches encourage learners’ passivity and adoption to the knowledge transmitted to them by instructors. (Abednia, 2015). Likewise, reading classes mostly focus on the literal comprehension of lexical items that is directly stated in the text, while the conceptual perception of the content are often neglected. (Burns, Roe, & Ross, 1999). In fact, reading which should be a wisely procedure and described as an active process of conception, is converted to just a flow of collecting raw entries from the text (Talebinejad & Matou, 2012). Neranjani (2011) believes that literal reading is frustrating for students and cannot be a kind of challenging reading which makes them use their creativity in order to find subtle ideas hidden through the lines. That would lead to a desperate situation in which students encountered only with a plenty of vague, ambiguous and scattered items that are vital to be clarified for comprehending a literary work. The reason behind is that they suffer from lack of LC which is resulted from a lack of in depth reading comprehension which differs from simple understanding of a content. Similarly Khabiri and Pakzad (2012) mention that literature reading courses often make students find out just about literal meaning and form-based items while focusing on the surface reading. They maintain that it takes away students creativity and talents and just inhibit thinking and critical reading. Recent studies lead to a growing focus on critical reading ability that apparently empower students to know, explain, analyze and answer the questions that arise in text (Waters, 2000 as cited in Fahim, Barjesteh & Vaseghi, 2012). This in turn results in a comprehensive perception of a work proceeding by an upward jump for students in the field of LC (Paesani, 2005). Akin, Koray and Tavukcu (2015, p.2445) assert that “an individual’s ability to keep what he has read in his mind for a long time can only be possible with critical reading which requires a process of active communication where comments and evaluation on the text are conducted”. They argue that in critical reading, the context being read, forms the foundation for other readings and even if the reading process finishes, the meaning transmission of the text will be still in progress. In critical approaches, learners are encouraged to involve texts in a questioning method, receive challenging knowledge and reconstruct the issue in a way that is consistent with their past experiences (Abednia, 2015). In adition Mozafari and Barjesteh (2016) maintained that CRS can pave the ground for the learners to foster their literal, personal, social development and self-awareness. They provided empirical support for the positive effect of CRSs on enabling learners to recognize, make clear, compare and solve ambiguities in the texts. Flourishing Creativity & Literacy