This research aims to know how the teaching mediation in the teaching of English contributes or limits the process of understanding academic texts. This is a qualitative study focused on the teacher and three students of an English-reading course at university level, using semi-structured interview and non-participant observation as instruments. The analysis was organized into two categories: conception of reading comprehension by the teacher and strategies of pedagogical intervention. The results show that the teacher possesses enough notion on the construction of meanings necessary for the reading comprehension of the students; however, pedagogical strategies do not have a positive effect on understanding English texts. It is suggested that the work of teacher mediation consider the quality and quantity of texts and the implementation of explicit strategies.