With 73 students at an Iranian university, the present study investigated teacher's effect in topic familiarization in L2 reading context. The participants--Group B with and Group A without the presence of a teacher--experienced four pre-reading treatments and read four passages of unfamiliar topics, after which they were tested on comprehension recalls and multiple choice questions. They also completed a perception questionnaire, and 23 students were interviewed. The results of independent samples t-tests did not indicate any significant difference between teacher-directed and written topic familiarization. Furthermore, the quantitative data of the perception questionnaire triangulated with the qualitative data of interview responses showed that the students thought teacher directed topic familiarization and written background knowledge activities were equally effective in second language reading, which rejected the research hypothesis.