This case study explored how formal reading instruction and perceived self-efficacy in English contribute to Korean EFL learners' reading strategy development and reading pract ices. The data were collected from indi vidual interviews with four Korean college students. The fmdings revealed that English reading instruction was teacher-centered and the students spent a lot of time learning and practicing test-taking skills to achieve higher scores in English tests such as CSAT and TOEIC. On the whole, the students revealed negative attitudes such as having low confi dence as English readers and fee ling afraid while reading in English. At the same time, however, they had a strong instrumental motivation for reading in English, achieving a higher score on the high stake exams. Regarding reading strategy instruction and development, very few English teachers seemed to introduce and implement reading strategy instruction in the class. Despite this, the students struggled to develop their own reading strategies according to the type of English reading comprehension instruction that they received. Pedagogical implications and action based recommendations for English educators are suggested.