To develop reading skills of students, teachers have been advised to provide metacognitive reading strategy instruction by researchers. However, previous research has provided limited understanding of how teachers could foster metacognition of reading strategies in a ‘real’ classroom setting. Moreover, previous research tended to focus on the impact of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on students’ reading ability and has offered only a partial view of the students’ experience of such instruction. Studies facilitating metacognitive reading strategy instruction in an ESL setting are also rare. This action research study provides a detailed data-led understanding of how metacognition of reading strategies could be promoted in university level ESL students in Pakistan. It also explores qualitatively the impact of the instruction on students’ awareness, use and regulation of the reading strategies introduced. Data was collected through interviews, learner diaries, think aloud protocols, end of class feedback, researcher journal, note-taking, questionnaire and reading test in two action research cycles over the 2013 academic year. The findings revealed that providing explicit instruction and opportunities for collaborative discussion about strategy use as well as promoting students’ interest in reading helped raise students’ metacognition of reading strategies. The findings also suggest that metacognition and motivation worked together to interact with each other during the lessons, paving the way for raised student interest, awareness, use and regulation of the reading strategies introduced. The study supports, reinforces and extends findings in metacognitive reading strategy instruction research. It also makes a theoretical contribution through highlighting that the metacognitive knowledge of self and the metacognitive experiences of task performance could be affectively charged. The study outcomes are useful for understanding the process of metacognitive reading strategy instruction in an ESL setting and offer practical insights of value to professional involved in teaching reading skills to university level students.