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A reader in an EFL situation chooses between two major reading strategies: cognitive and metacognitive. This research study discussed both these strategies from a learner centered approach in order to determine the effectiveness of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in comprehending a reading text and building a good vocabulary. A descriptive research design was adopted to study the attitude and perception of readers/ learners towards cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Since the study was non-experimental by nature, no manipulation of variables was carried out, and the data collected was for a single period of time. The sample consisted of 450 students of two urban senior high schools in Serang, Indonesia selected through convenience sampling method. The data was collected through a questionnaire that dealt with two major elements: reading comprehension and vocabulary. The results showed that experimental group improved significantly over the control group in both vocabulary and reading comprehension. This shows that the type of reading strategies do affect students' reading ability and that the strategies applied by students in understanding the text are strongly influenced by the students' ability to understand the words of the text and the context of the reading. The study implies that the reading challenges are different in the Indonesian and English languages, there is also a need to differentiate between reading strategies The study addressed this issue and examined how to maximize teachers’ assistance in improving reading comprehension skills of students. The study recommends to introduce exercises for students to internalize the meaning of a given text.