This paper reports the findings of an action research that was conducted over the course of two years. The research investigated the role of using reading diaries and strategy instruction with English Language Teaching trainees to foster greater learner autonomy and looked into the language learning strategies used by these students. The findings indicate that the participants initially used fewer language learning strategies and in fewer combinations. Following the strategy instruction and use of reading diaries, they started using strategy clusters and chains. The results also show that reading diaries were instrumental in fostering learner autonomy and promoting use of metacognitive strategies, which in turn helped learners employ reading strategies more effectively. Finally, the results suggest that the students' initial use of ineffective reading strategies was a result of their approach to reading texts as input for L2, i.e. means to achieve their overall goals to learn the target language. The process of keeping reading diaries helped increase reflection on the effectiveness of the reading strategies used for actual reading goals.