The study aimed at providing information on how reading lessonsrnare actually conducted in selected government high schools inrnAddis Ababa. The research procedure followed in the course ofrnthe study included observation o f sample reading lessons asrnwell as adminstration of a questionnaire to teachers teachingrnEnglish in Grade 11 in the sample schools. The study focusedrnon the description of the selected teachers' perceivedrnobjectives of a reading lesson and the procedures they actuallyrnfollowed to realize their objectives. In an attempt to findrnout the relationship that exists between teachers' perceptionsrnof how reading is best taught, on the one hand, and thernc l assroom realization on the other, a questionnaire wasrnadministered to 30 teachers to elicit their views concerningrnreading instruction.rnData obtained both from the obs e rvations of lessons and thernq uestionnaire were analyzed. The results of the analysis mayrnbe summarized as follows: Reading lessons were mainly used tornincrease students' knowledge of the topics dealt within thernrespective passages via extensive vocabulary teaching. Readingrnaloud with the aim o f helping students learn how to sound outrnwords correctly was another outstanding feature of the lessons.rnSilent reading was practised in only 30% of the lessonsrnobserved, and that was not properly done. There was no attemptrnmade to give a purpose for reading the passages. In general,rnthe reading lessons seemed to be informed by the principle ofrnthe bottom-up data driven approach to reading, if there was anyrnprincipled approach to the teaching or theory behind it at all.rnOn the basis of the findings, recommendations concerningrnfamiliarizing teachers with more appropriate methodologies forrnteaching reading are stated