This quasi-experimental study examined whether a one-semester, scaffolded literature-based reading program was associated with stronger cognitive and affective outcomes than conventional skill-based instruction among 95 BA-TEFL students at an Iraqi university (experimental n = 48; comparison n = 47). The program combined proficiency-calibrated literary texts, vocabulary and background support, rotating literature-circle roles, evidence-based written responses, and strategic rereading; the comparison condition used expository course materials, teacher explanation, and comprehension exercises. Outcomes were reading comprehension, self-reported critical-reading behavior, reader self-perception, and foreign language reading anxiety. Baseline-adjusted ANCOVAs were the primary analyses, with false discovery rate control, HC3 robust standard errors, and an omnibus MANCOVA used as supporting checks. The experimental condition had higher adjusted posttest scores for comprehension, B = 4.51, 95% CI [3.20, 5.82], critical-reading behavior, B = 13.07, 95% CI [10.28, 15.85], and reader self-perception, B = 7.30, 95% CI [5.38, 9.22], and lower anxiety, B = -6.51, 95% CI [-9.43, -3.59]. Because allocation was nonrandom, three outcomes relied on self-report, and posttests were immediate, these estimates should not be interpreted as definitive causal effects or evidence for the proposed mechanisms. The findings support further multisite, delayed, and performance-based evaluation of integrated literature pedagogy in university EFL reading.