FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE READING

COMPREHENSION OF GRADE 7

STUDENTS IN LLAMAS MEMORIAL

INSTITUTE IN RELATION TO READING

ENHANCEMENT AND TECHNIQUES

Researchers:

Anor, Esekiel

Arabos, Renato

Masiglat, Eunice Aira

Monjardin, Jade Piolo

Radaza, Angelica

Zalavarria, King Jazpher

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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Being able to read is an avenue or personal and social growth. Reading is a

lifelong skill to be used both at school and throughout life. According to Anderson,

Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, reading is a basic life skill. It is a cornerstone for a

child’s success in school and, indeed, throughout life. Without the ability to read well,

opportunities for personal fulfillment and job success inevitably will be lost (1985).

Reading is basic to all learning, both in learning in general and acquisition of

languages. Society is highly dependent on knowledge and information. There is a

constant overflow of information from numerous sources; the traditional; books,

newspapers and magazines, and more modern, digital sources (Braten&Stromoso

2007:168).

It is vital to be able to navigate in these sources and search out what is

needed. This requires multiple skills, as the ability to navigate in the text overflow, to

read multi-medially, digitally, and intertextually, in addition to the mere

comprehension of the written text and its words, phrases, structure, and genres. In a
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knowledge society it is necessary to acquire the ability to understand, integrate, and

combine information from multiple sources (ibid).

Evidently, the requirements for readers today are enormous. Putting letters

and words together to form words, phrases, and sentences is what reading is all

about, but one must also comprehend what is learned – to fully understand a text

one has to interact with the text and add meaning to it. Astrid Roe states that

“reading comprehension is to make meaning of what we read” (2014:14). Vivian

Cook further claims that reading occurs in context, and that the meaning of a text is

derived from the previous knowledge stored in the reader’s mind and the process

through which the reader tackles it (2008:121).

Comprehension is the essence of reading and the active process of

constructing meaning from text (Durkin, 1993). Reading comprehension is a

complex interaction among automatic and strategic cognitive processes that enables

the reader to create a mental representation of the text (van den Broek&Espin,

2012). Comprehension depends not only on characteristics of the reader, such as

prior knowledge and working memory, but also on language processes, such as

basic reading skills, decoding, vocabulary, sensitivity to text structure, inferences,

and motivation. Comprehension also requires effective use of strategic processes,

such as metacognition and comprehension monitoring.

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As readers mature in their comprehension skill, they are able to progress

efficiently from the stage of learning to read to the ultimate goal of reading to learn

(Yovanoff, Duesbery, Alonzo, & Tindal, 2005).

The importance of this study is to know the factors that affect every student’s

reading comprehension and to know the strategies and techniques they could use in

order to improve and enhance their reading comprehension.

We, researchers, are expecting that this study would find the factors that

affect a grade 7 student’s reading comprehension and different reading techniques

developed to enhance and improve their reading comprehension.

To top it all, those statements said that reading is a basic life skill and a

powerful learning tool which we can use in school or in everyday life and

comprehension is the reason for reading. If readers can read the words but do not

understand or connect to what they are reading, they are not really reading. Good

readers are both purposeful and active, and have the skills to absorb what they read,

analyze it, make sense of it, and make it their own. Those statements show what our

study is all about – the effects in the reading comprehension of grade 7 student and

providing techniques to improve and enhance their reading comprehension.

Theoretical Framework
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This study is supported by 2 different theories that serve as the pillar of this

study.

According to Rumelhart, 1980, the Schema theory is an explanation of how

readers use prior knowledge to comprehend and learn from text (Rumelhart, 1980).

The term "schema" was first used in psychology by Barlett as "an active organization

of past reactions or experiences" (1932,p.201), later schema was introduced in

reading by Rumelhalt (1980), Carrell (1981) and Hudson (1982) when discussing the

important role of background knowledge in reading comprehension (all cited in An,

2013). The fundamental principle of the schema theory assumes that written text

does not carry meaning by itself. Rather, a text only provides directions for readers

as to how they should retrieve or construct meaning from their own previously

acquired knowledge (An, 2013).

According to schema theory, comprehending a text is an interactive process

between the reader’s background knowledge and the text. Efficient comprehension

requires the ability to relate the textual material to one's own knowledge. As

Anderson (1977, p.369) point out, "every act of comprehension involves one’s

knowledge of the world as well". Reading comprehension operates in two directions,

from bottom up to the top and from the top down to the bottom of the hierarchy.

Bottom-up processing is activated by specific data from the text, while top-down

processing starts with general to confirm these predictions. These two kinds of

processing are occurring simultaneously and interactively, which adds to the concept
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of interaction or comprehension between bottom-up and top-down processes (Carrel

and Eiserhold, 1983. Cited in An, 2013).

The relation of Schema Theory to this study is, it provides directions for

readers as to how they should retrieve or construct meaning from their own

previously acquired knowledge which is needed to comprehend appropriately when

a person is reading.

Another theory is the Transactional Theory. According to this theory, the

reading-writing connection fits within the transactional paradigm which holds that

there exists a fluid relationship between the processes of reading and writing in

which everything influences everything (Rosenblatt, 1988). Every transaction with

text, as a reader or writer, draws on the linguistic-experiential reservoir of the

individual.

The theory calls for attention to the individual as a reader and writer and what

they bring to the text, the expectations that they have and the choices that they

make as they read or write. Each time the individual transacts with text in either the

role of reader or writer, they apply, reorganize, revise or extend elements

appropriated from their personal linguistic-experiential reservoir in a non-linear

manner (Rosenblatt, 1988). This appropriation is accomplished by means of what

Rosenblatt calls selective attention.

However, a look at the neuropsychological factors, cognitive processes,

knowledge variables, and product outcomes associated with reading-writing

connections, suggest an alternative way to develop the skills of both reading and
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writing. This alternative approach is supported by the transactional theory of reading

and writing (Rosenblatt, 1988(Rosenblatt, , 2013) and other theoretical perspectives

including the rhetorical relations view of reading-writing connections (Tiernet &

Shanahan, 1991), the functional view of reading-writing connections (Fitzgerald &

Shanahan, 2000) and the shared knowledge view of reading-writing connections

(Fitzgerald & Shanahan, 2000). These theoretical underpinnings direct attention to

the reciprocal nature of the reading-writing connection.

This theory says that you must think deeply and critically for you to be able to

understand a text before you write something about it and that idea fits with how you

will understand a text and that’s what reading comprehension is all about.
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Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

1. Factors that affect the Data gathering Significant factors

reading comprehension of procedure that affect the

Grade 7 students in terms reading

of: comprehension of

1.1 Reading Interpretation of data students-

selections respondents.

1.2 Oral reading

1.3 Attentive reading

1.4 Teacher’s Strengths and

motivation weaknesses of the

1.5 Parental respondents

guidance and

tutorial reading

1.6 Lacking of Techniques and

reading strategies they can

materials use to enhance and

1.7 Teaching aids, improve their reading

visual or auditory comprehension

1.8 Applied reading

techniques and
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strategies

1.9 Conducting

regular drillings

1.10 Providing variety

of reading

preferences

2. 5 Reading skills of the

respondent

FIGURE 1: Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 explains the conceptual framework of the study wherein the input consists

of: 1) Factors that affect the reading comprehension of Grade 7 students, 2) 5

Reading skills of the respondents.

On the other side, the process consists of: 1) Data gathering procedure, followed

and 2) analysis of data gathered. The outputs are the following: 1) Significant

factors that affect the reading comprehension of students-respondents, 2) Strengths

and weaknesses of the respondents, 3) Techniques and strategies they can use to

enhance and improve their reading comprehension.

The researchers aim to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the respondent to

be able to enhance and improve their reading comprehension.

Statement of the Problem

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This study’s objective is to determine the reading comprehension of grade 7

students into the development of their reading comprehension.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the factors that affect the reading comprehension of a grade 7

student in terms of:

1.1 Reading selections

1.2 Oral reading

1.3 Attentive reading

1.4 Teacher’s motivation

1.5 Parental guidance and tutorial reading

1.6 Lacking of reading materials

1.7 Teaching aids, visual or auditory

1.8 Applied reading techniques and strategies

1.9 Conducting regular drillings

1.10 Providing variety of reading preferences

2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the respondents when reading in

terms of:

2.1 Grasping the main idea while reading

2.2 Using of references when coming across new words

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2.3 Analyzing the grammatical structure

2.4 Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords, pictures, charts,

or figures

2.5 Getting the implied meaning of the reading material

3. What would be the strategies and skills that would enhance and develop their

reading comprehension?

Scope and limitations of the study

This study aims to enhance and develop the capability in reading

comprehension of Grade 7 students in LMI Integrated Formation and Education

Incorporated, School Year 2018-2019.

The respondents are the Grade 7 students. The researchers chose Grade 7

students for the reason that they are just starting to broaden their comprehension

other than to their prior knowledge and they are just starting in secondary school.

The researchers conducted a survey questionnaire that commenced on

March 5 – 7, 2019.

The researchers conducted a survey in the form of checklist and

questionnaire that was held inside the campus of L.I.F.E. Inc.

The researchers conducted a survey questionnaire to examine their

comprehension and skills in reading in order to find the areas where they are having

a hard time. The research method was through survey questionnaire/checklist. The

researchers conducted it to identify the difficulties and problems of the respondents

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that may affect their reading comprehension. Through the analysis of results, the

researchers will determine which of the reading skills the respondents have

performed well and which skills they performed poorly.

Significance of the study

This study was conducted by the researchers for the benefit of the following:

Students. This study wants to help the respondents in knowing their reading

comprehension’s level and to determine the skills they have mastered and

they have not. This study hopes to help the students in exploring and

improving their reading comprehension through the help of reading strategies.

Parents. This study hopes to promote awareness to the parents that they

should provide their children the materials they need in order to encourage

their children to read and enrich their children’s interests in reading.

Teachers. The researchers hope that the teachers will benefit in this study in

improving their students’ reading comprehension. The teachers will be more

informed with their students’ reading strengths and weaknesses, and they

could able to use different reading strategies to help and improve their

student’s reading comprehension.

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Administrations. This study aims to encourage secondary schools, like LMI

Integrated Formation and Education Incorporated, to provide reading

programs for their students to enhance their reading skills in order to promote

reading as one of the most essential skills a man should have.

Future Researchers. The researchers hope that this research will serve as

an aid and a reference to all the researchers who wants to conduct a study

about reading comprehension.

Definition of Terms

This study used different words to explain the content of this study. These are

the definitions of the following terms used to be clearly understood for the purpose of

the study.

Grade 7 Students. This refers to the students enrolled in LMI Integrated

Formation and Education Incorporated, school year 2018 – 2019. They are

the researcher’s chosen respondents to be the subject of the study.

LMI Integrated Formation and Education Incorporated. A secondary

school in Mariveles, Bataan and the object of the researchers in the study.

Prior knowledge. It refers to all of the experiences readers have had

throughout their lives, including information they have learned elsewhere.

Reading Comprehension. This refers to a covert process wherein the reader

uses his purposes and experiences as he interacts with written language to

construct meaning. (Espiritu, 1995)

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Reading Skills. These are specific abilities which enable a reader: to read

the written form as meaningful language, to read anything written with

independence, comprehension and fluency, and to mentally interact with a

teacher.

Reading. It is a four-step process that involves perception of the word,

comprehension of its meaning reaction to the meaning in terms of prior

knowledge, and integration of the idea into one’s background knowledge.

(Gray, 1950 in Villamin et al., 1996)

Strategies. These are techniques or methods that can able to aid the readers

in improving their reading skills.

Metacognition. A process that takes the reader to higher or deeper

understanding through the text they have read.

Intertextually. It is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. It is the

interconnection between similar or related works of literature that reflect and

influence an audience's interpretation of the text.

Identifying. An act of knowing and saying who someone or what something

is

Factors. The things that help or influence the reading comprehension

respondents. The things that affect the reading comprehension of

respondents.
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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter discussed and presented literatures and studies that served as a

guide to the current study. This part also pertains to reviewing of the studies of the

previous researchers that have relevance with the current study and create a

synthesis based on the above mentioned information.

Reading

Reading is a tool for acquiring knowledge. It is essential to man’s existence

because it is equated with water, food, and exercise.. In order to become fully

functioning self-actualized people, adolescents should read deeply to independently

gather, assess, and interpret information from a variety of sources and avidly for

enjoyment and lifelong learning. Reading, according to According to Gay Mcdonnell

(2014) reading and vital for the ability to function, contribute and develop in today’s

society. The acquisition of this is relatively easy for some students; however, there is

a significant proportion of learners who experience difficulty with the reading

process. This information differs from the commonly accepted definition that

separates reading as casting one’s eyes over the printed page or text and decoding
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the words. Furthermore, Gay Mcdonnell pointed out that reading implies

understanding and comprehending materials used.

Reading does not only improves one’s ability. The reading of books,

newspapers, magazines, and other literature of worth not only improves one’s

comprehension but also increases and enriches one’s vocabulary and sharpens

one’s mind as well. Reading literature will not only train the mind to think but also to

reason. Aside from the fact that one will enjoy the pleasure of reading once he is

transported over to the realm of the real and unreal (non-fiction and fiction).

Reading Comprehension

Astrid Roe states that “reading comprehension is to make meaning of what

we read” (2014:24). Vivian Cook further claims that reading occurs in context, and

that the meaning of a text is derived from the previous knowledge stored in the

reader’s mind and the processes through which the reader tackles it (2012:121).

Reading comprehension is a key factor in ensuring the students' success on their

reading performance. Yee (2010), reading comprehension can be understood as the

process through which the recognized words are transformed into meaningful idea.

According to Snow (2012) that reading comprehension as the process of

simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and

involvement with written language. A study about reading comprehension among

students as being dependent on their reading competence found out that poor
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readers confined their answers largely to literal comprehension, while good readers

made a greater variety of responses fairly equally divided into literal, interpretative,

integrative and critical, and stressed that students, to be able to acquire better

reading comprehension, must first develop vocabulary proficiency. According to

Keene (2011), readers who have deep comprehension of narrative text experience

empathy with the characters, respond emotionally to narrative, evaluate actions of

the characters, and drawn conclusions from action. Readers who have deep

comprehension of expository text place themselves in the real situations that they

read about to understand the problems and situations and appreciate the complexity

of the concepts.

The inability of the child to interpret the printed page would then be attributed

to his lack of the basic reading comprehension. It should be noted that the main

concern of the reading teachers should be acquainted with the abilities, interests,

needs, and characteristics of the children under his control and the same time to

identify the weakness of each students in reading if there’s any and give

corresponding remedial measures. There is a constant overflow of information from

numerous sources; the traditional: books, newspapers and magazines, and more

modern, digital sources (Bråten & Strømsø 2017:168). The reading of books,

newspapers, magazines, and other literature of worth not only improves one’s

comprehension but also increases and enriches one’s vocabulary and sharpens

one’s mind as well.

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Another online article published in the Manila Chronicle, Philippines was

compared to Japan, where bookshop seemed to be the most popular feature of

practically every street block. While in the Philippines, instead of bookshop, beauty

parlor is abundant in almost every corner of the street. “Filipinos will never become

book readers”, the author quoted. But she countered this negative statement by

saying a remarkable statement that even though we are not a nation of readers; we

are a nation of storytellers. Our culture is a culture of oral history passed on by word

of mouth not through written word. Literacy and reading are related, but literacy is a

level of competence, while reading is a skill. One can be literate but not necessarily

a reader because reading, as a skill, requires the development of a habit that must

be exercised daily if it is to be retained and enhanced. If left unexercised, the skill

becomes rusty and can even be lost. With poor reading, it is also a reflection of poor

language proficiency. Whether it is in English, which is the national language. The

key to learning is better reading skills. But this reading skill needs not to be confined

to English only. The ability to read and write in any language or dialect is what is

important. From this “lifelong learning” or “survival” skill, one can develop the ability

to lean for life.

One of the most important methods by which human beings learn is by

reading, a task that includes integrating what was read with existing prior knowledge.

The ability to learn from reading is critical for schools’ success. It is estimated that

80% of schools’ learning is acquired through reading (Herber and Vaca, 2012 as

cited in Consumo [Link], 2013).

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According to Al- Khateeb (2010:5)"reading comprehension is considered the

real core for the reading process; and a big process around which all other

processes are centered. Comprehension is the peak of the reading skills and the

basis for all reading processes. It is viewed by some researchers as the ultimate

objective of the reading process, since he who does not comprehend what he reads

is considered as if he has not read".

To emphasize its importance, reading comprehension is the ability to

understand a written passage of text. It’s answering “yes” to the question, “Did you

‘get’ what you read?” This is what allows the reader to interact with the text in a

meaningful way. Louden et al. (2010) estimate that 80 per cent of students in a

certain school in Australia nominated by teachers as having learning difficulties are

identified as having problems in mastering reading skills.

Reading must be the basic consideration of all readers. Reading alone is not

enough. There must be comprehension so that learners may not only focus on the

text but also on the interpretation of its deeper meaning. Comprehension is a part of

the communication process of getting the thoughts that were in the author’s mind

into the reader’s mind. Students are exposed nowadays to different ideas, people

and products; and viewpoints increase as rapidly as the changes in the society. Just

about everyone in the Philippines knows how to read. As a nation, almost everybody

enjoys a high rate of literacy. Unfortunately, not every Filipino is a good reader who

can derive meaning from a written material and go on to analyze and apply that
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meaning. Thus, readers who can only read facts and nothing more can never be

called good readers. A student, who can read comprehensively, can also be

successful in all his or her lessons.

Factors That Affect

In the local context, Ilustre (2011) sought to identify factors that affected

Filipino high school student’s reading comprehension. The objective of her paper

was twofold; first was to determine and measure the participants' dimensions of

motivation to read, and second was to identify the relationships between the

participants’ motivation to read in English, their reading comprehension and

their use of meta-cognitive reading strategies when reading in the same

language. Results were not conclusive as to whether reading motivation or use

of meta-cognitive reading strategies affects reading comprehension more for

there was no single predictor of the reading test scores. On the contrary,

Lastrella (2010) presented that the recall of information in a text is affected by the

reader’s schemata and explains that a reader comprehends a message when he is

able to bring to mind a schema that gives account of the objects and events

described in the message. Moreover, Marquez (2010) stated that the lack of

educational opportunity and reading materials among poor families

contribute to the performance and competence of the learner. Educational

attainment of the parents of the respondents also matter. Students whose parents

have higher educational background perform well than those whose parents only
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attained elementary or high school education. This is because the former are

able to provide more learning experiences that are essential to the

development of the student’s reading skills and other aspects as well (Marquez,

2010).

Marquez (2010) in his study on the reading comprehension of high school

students of Iligan, made the following conclusions:

1. Parents’ monthly income and educational attainments have contributed to the

reading performance of the student.

2. The kind of materials that the respondents read enhanced their ability to

comprehend a text

3. The respondents’ attitude towards reading differed from each other

4. The availability of reading materials at home and in school and the students’

curiosity to learn enhanced their reading comprehension. Educational researchers

have also focused on the teacher’s behavior that should be effective in promoting

student’s motivation (Marquez, 2010).

There are many different factors contribute in understanding a text. According to

Lisa De Bortoli (2011), some of those factors are located within the learner’s

background, some within the teaching technique, and some within the learner’s

environment.

1. Learner’s Background
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The learner’s background means something which comes from the

learners themselves. It was related with the learner’s attitude toward reading,

such as interest and motivation in reading and the prior knowledge that the

learner has before

a. Interest

Interest is being one of the important factors in order to increase the

students’ achievement in reading. Shalahuddin stated that “interest is a

concern that contains elements of feeling. It can motivate the students to

be active in their job or their activity.” Furthermore, De Bortoli argued that

having an interest in and enjoying a subject affects not only the intensity,

quality and persistence in specific learning situations but can also affect

engagement in learning situations in general and enhances motivation.

Therefore, if the readers have interest to read, it will be easier for them to

understand what they read. On the other side, if the readers have no any

interest to read, it will be difficult for them to understand it.

b. Motivation

Motivation plays an important role in understanding the text.

Motivation is an important factor that may contribute to success at school

and to lifelong learning. Motivation is some kind of internal drive, which

pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something. As Brown

points out, motivation includes factors such as the need of exploration,

activity, stimulation, new knowledge, and ego enhancement. Furthermore,

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in line with the explanation of interest and motivation above, motivation

and interest are interconnected. Ilmu said that “students’ interest will be

higher if students have higher motivation.” Therefore, it can be concluded

that the good interest and motivation result the good achievement of the

students. It will be easier for the students to achieve something if they

have interest and motivation to learn it. As well as it will be easier for them

understand text, if they have interest and motivation to read the text.

c. Learners’ prior knowledge

Mellon stated that “students usually come into the class with the prior

knowledge gained from the class or outside the class. It influences how

they filter and interpret what they are learning.” Furthermore, Jacobovits

believes that the student’s prior knowledge influences the student’s ability

in learning a foreign language. Students who have a lot of knowledge will

be easier to learn the new lesson. It means that students with a lot of

knowledge about reading will quickly understand about something they

read. On the other hand, students who have little knowledge (grammar or

vocabulary) may have some difficulties in understanding something they

read. For an example, a student who never knows and hears about what

is the word famous, and in some occasions, dealing with it will find the

story hard to follow, so he must have prior knowledge that enables him to

bring personal meaning to the events and feelings in the story.

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2. Teaching Technique

Teacher is one of school environmental factors who has important role

to increase students learning achievement. Teacher is a subject in education

who has duty to transfer the knowledge to the students. A teacher is an

important person in teaching learning process, especially for teaching

reading, because the teacher also determines whether their students to be

good readers or not. Teacher also will become source of learning difficulties if

he/she does cannot choose the right technique to teach the material. Wang

argued that although teachers are very knowledgeable about the subject they

are teaching, they often rely on one teaching technique to impart this

information. They sometimes do not realize that the techniques they use are

not in accordance with the subject matter they convey. Therefore, the teacher

should be careful in choosing the technique to teach because it related to the

students’ understanding of the material.

3. Learner’s Environment

The environment factors also can influence the students in mastering

and in learning English. According to Finocchiaro (2014): “Someone who lives

in environmental with the society that has high educational and has good

attitude toward reading will support her ability to master reading that has been

learned at school can be applied functionally outside school.” Therefore,

someone who lives in an environment that has reading habits will be

supported by her environment indirectly. And it happens not only in learning

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reading but also in learning English, without practice and applied it outside

school he will not understand English perfectly. Home and school are the two

kinds of learners’ environment that can influence their learning reading

achievement.

a. Home condition

It cannot be neglected that parents play important role in the home.

Every student needs attention from her/his parents to reach her/his

learning achievement. Since learning English is not the same as learning

Indonesian, children need parents’ guidance to learn about English

especially reading English text because they will read something with

different sound, vocabulary and structure from that of Indonesia. Learning

reading without parents’ guidance will make students feel difficult in

learning. They will difficulties in understanding something they read or

they will misunderstand about the texts they read.

b. School condition

The school condition also can be the cause of students’ learning

difficulties. School which lack of learning media, such as English books

will influence the students’ ability in learning reading. The lack of learning

media such as English books, magazines or newspapers makes the

learning reading process become ineffective and will be hamper students’

understanding about the material.

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Strengths

In a landmark study, Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen, coauthors

of Power of Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap, discovered that

accounted for as much as “85 percent of the reading achievement gap between

lower-income students and their middle- and upper-income peers.” However,

another study found that if students read four or more books, they did better on

reading assessments in the fall than their peers who read one or no books during

that time, regardless of any differential.

Based on Fernandez (2015), on the level of the respondents' reading

comprehension regarding the six reading skills, forming generalizations has a

weighted mean of 3.03 with a verbal interpretation of "good" and ranked first based

on its scores and weighted mean. The second rank was garnered by noting details

having a 2.98 weighted mean with a verbal interpretation "good". Getting the main

idea placed third receiving a 2.58 weighted mean and a verbal interpretation of

"good". On the fourth ranking, drawing conclusions took place obtaining a 2.52

weighted mean and with a verbal interpretation "good". Because of gaining a 2.42

weighted mean, predicting outcomes ranked fifth with a verbal interpretation of

"weak". The sixth and last spot goes to making inferences with a remark of a "weak"

verbal interpretation and a weighted mean of 1.89.

By naming their strengths students begin to see themselves as readers who are

facing struggle with joy and purpose. This shift in perspective changes the learning

landscape for children. Suddenly, when confronted with a challenging text, they
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know they have the skills to overcome difficulties and tackle the content rather than

feel defeated.

Weaknesses

A primary cause of language comprehension problems is difficulty creating

mental images for language. This weakness causes individuals to get only “parts” of

information they read or hear, but not the whole.

Students with weak language comprehension are particularly plagued with

the misconception that they are just not trying, or, that they are distractible. In fact,

they may be trying very hard to memorize everything they have heard or read. And

they need help.

Check out the following symptoms that are typical of a comprehension

weakness:

1. Don’t understand what they read

Students with weak comprehension may have a hard time remembering what

they’ve read or heard. They might remember parts of the text they read, or might be

able to recall some details, but they may have a difficult time remembering a book or

story as a whole. For many, this means they don’t enjoy reading, therefore don’t

read.

2. Weak problem solving skills

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This child may have a difficult time choosing an appropriate response when

faced with a problem or situation that requires critical thinking skills. Using reason

and evidence to resolve disagreements are difficult, as well as the ability to examine

implications and consequences of their actions. Because they are only processing

parts, they may not “see” the big picture.

3. Writing assignments are “painful” and poorly done

When a student is only getting parts of the language they are reading or

listening to, writing skills will be affected too. The ability to generate the main idea,

offer supporting details, make inferences, and wrap up with a conclusion that is

cohesive and well organized is nearly impossible for this student.

4. Verbal expression is affected

This child’s language expression may be a random array of parts, facts, and

details. She may talk about irrelevant parts or issues and tell stories out of

sequence. On the other hand, she may be very quiet and shy, or overly talkative and

seem to ramble on and on. Whether they talk very little or a lot, their language

seems scattered and disconnected.

5. Difficulty following directions

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Students with a comprehension issue can become confused with more than

one or two directions. The directions may appear to go in one ear and out the other,

without a connection, and they seem unable to focus on what they are told.

Techniques and Strategies

Reading is a method of communication that enables a person to turn writing

into meaning.

It allows the reader to convert a written text into a meaningful language with

independence, comprehension, and fluency, and to interact with the message.

Reading strategies is the broad term used to describe the planned and explicit

actions that help readers translate print to meaning. Strategies that improve

decoding and reading comprehension skills benefit every student, but are essential

for beginning readers, struggling readers, and English Language Learners.

In America, approaches for teaching reading strategies have existed since the

1600s when the New England Primer was published for the American Colonies

followed by Noah Webster’s American Spelling Book in 1783. Strategies for reading

have existed for almost as long but without agreement as to the most effective

methods of instruction.

There are now so many types of strategies that it’s common for teachers and

parents to feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, there has been a great deal of research,

as well as substantial evidence from classrooms, to identify the reading strategies

and instructional components that produce the best reading outcomes. Within the
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last two decades, significant progress has been made in determining the most

effective strategies for reading instruction.

In 2010, the findings of an analysis of more than 100,000 reading studies was

published by the National Reading Panel (NRP).This panel concluded that there are

five essential elements of effective reading instruction, commonly known as the “Five

Pillars of Reading”. These pillars include phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency,

vocabulary and comprehension strategies. These elements are called pillars

because the research identified them as the foundations for building strong reading

skills. The NRP also included recommendations for effective reading strategies

which included:

 Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness

 Systematic phonics instruction/word study

 Tips for improving fluency and increasing comprehension

Significant contributions to a greater understanding of effective reading

support have also come from science. With fMRI and PET technology, researchers

now have the ability to compare the brain functions of struggling readers with those

of good readers. The results of many neurological studies reliably show that the

brains of those with dyslexia and other prin t-based disabilities often do not

process language as efficiently and require specific reading strategies to “wire” the

brain for print.

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7 Reading Techniques or Styles are the following:

 Scanning.

 Skimming.

 Active Reading.

 Detailed.

 Speed.

 Structure-Proposition-Evaluation

Reading is a great habit that can change human life significantly. It can

entertain us; amuse us and enrich us with knowledge and experiences narrated.

There exist some reading techniques, which if mastered at a growing stage can help

us, be better and far more comprehensive readers. These skills might not

necessarily be learned as rigid theories or rules but if understood well once they can

definitely enhance the reading skills and increase the quality and quantity of output

that we get from after reading.

The followings are seven strategies/techniques of reading used in different

situations:

1. Reading Technique-Scanning

Scanning through the text is a reading strategy that is used for getting some

specific points by looking at the whole text. For highlighting the important points of a
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book the readers can skim through the summary or the preface or the beginning and

end chapters of that book.

For example,

This technique is used for looking up a name from the telephone guidebook.

2. Reading Technique–Skimming

This reading technique is used for getting the gist of the whole text lead. We

generally use this technique at the time of reading a newspaper or magazine. Under

this technique, we read quickly to get the main points and skip over the detail. It is

useful in getting a preview of a passage before reading it in detail or reviving

understandings of a passage after reading it in detail.

3. Active Reading Style

Active reading aims to get an in-depth understanding of the text. Under this

technique, the reader actively involved with the text while reading it. Getting in-depth

knowledge of the text at hand is not possible by reading to skim through or scan

through the text.

4. Detailed Reading

This technique is used for extracting information accurately from the whole

text. Under this technique, we read every word for understanding the meaning of the
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text. In this careful reading, we can skim the text first for getting a general idea and

then go back to read in detail. We can use a dictionary to find the meaning of every

unfamiliar word.

5. Speed Reading

Speed-reading is actually a combination of various reading methods. The aim

of speed-reading is basically to increase the reading speed without compromising

the understanding of the text reading. Some of the strategies used in speed reading

are as follows:

Identifying words without focusing on each letter;

Not to sounding-out all words;

Not sub-vocalizing some phrases;

Spending less time on some phrases than others;

Skimming small sections.

6. Structure-Proposition-Evaluation

This is an interesting reading technique suggested by Mortimer Adler in his

book How to Read a Book. This reading technique is mainly applicable to non-fiction

writing. This technique suggests reading as per the three following patterns:

 Studying the structure of the work;

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 Studying the logical propositions made and organized into chains of inference;

 Evaluation of the merits of the arguments and conclusions.

7. Reading Techniques: Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review

This method aims at to facilitate a clear understanding of the text that the

reader would be able to teach whatever he has learned during the process of

reading. The process involves five different steps, which are as follows:

Survey

The survey involves getting a quick idea on the whole writing piece. For

example, reading the introduction or summary of a book will be enough to get an

idea on that book.

Question

We are not just reading the words or looking at the words but are actually

trying to make out the underlying meaning of the text. So we should prepare

questions in our mind and look for the answers while reading the text.

Read

The reader should read selectively if they are looking for any specific.
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Recite

The reader should answer the questions in his own words using only the

keywords that are required to sum up the complete idea.

Review

The reader should review the entire things in his mind.

Reading is the basic foundation on which academic skills of individuals are built. As

we know the paramount importance of reading, it is given the top priority in primary

education.

Many believe that reading is a true measure of a person’s success in

academics. Most of the subjects taught to us are based on a simple concept – read,

understand, analyze, synthesize, and get information.

Synthesis and Relevance of Related Literature and Studies

The related literatures and studies, foreign and local, given from previous

researchers have related ideas and information that guide the present researchers

to follow the objectives of the study.

Reading is recognized as a skill capable of transforming one’s life and the

entire society. It is not only for leisure but a necessity and a basic tool of education.
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That is why there is really a need to inculcate strong reading habit to students. As

what Cassambre have mentioned, reading does not only improve one's ability but it

also improve one's comprehension. Reading comprehension is a key factor in

ensuring the students' success on their reading performance. As Yee (2010) states,

reading comprehension can be understood as the process through which the

recognized words are transformed into meaningful idea. According to Keene (2011),

readers who have deep comprehension of narrative text experience empathy with

the characters, respond emotionally to narrative, evaluate actions of the characters,

and drawn conclusions from action. Readers who have deep comprehension of

expository text place themselves in the real situations that they read about to

understand the problems and situations and appreciate the complexity of the

concepts.

These literatures and studies supported this study about the factors affecting

the reading comprehension. Aside from that, these related literatures and studies

focused mainly on factors that affect the reading comprehension as we cited some

of it, strengths and weaknesses of a reader, and the techniques and strategies to

improve and enhance the reading comprehension of a reader, specifically the

students. All of these information gathered from previous researchers who also

conducted a study related on our study served as our basis and the pillar of this

study.
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Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes the research methodology of the practical research.

Furthermore, this part explains the supervision of interviewers, and data analysis

techniques, including collection of data, study design, sampling frame and procedure

of respondent’s selection. In this study, methodologies have been used to examine

the factors that affect the reading comprehension of Grade 7 students.

Research Design

The researchers applied a qualitative research design. In this research, the

researchers gathered data with the use of survey questionnaire/checklist which have

been answered by the respondents. After the collection of data, the researchers

analyzed the data gathered. Next, the researchers created the final list of factors that

affect their reading comprehension. The researchers used survey methodology in

order to answer the problems and to accomplish the objectives of this study. The

researchers evaluated the respondents’ reading comprehension to identify the

strengths and weaknesses as well as the problems they have encountered while

reading.
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Population, Sample Size, and Sampling Technique

Reid (2014) described population in a study as all units possessing certain

characteristics, which are of the interest of researchers’ study. From the definition,

population can be understood as the targeted community or group of people which is

involved or selected by the researchers for their study. From the total of 121 Grade 7

students, the researchers chose the grade 7 respondents randomly to lessen the

number of respondents and come up with the desired number of respondents. Sixty

were drawn to be the respondents of this study. The method was done in order to

give the students a chance to be selected and to be fair for all the students.

Table 1

Population Sample Size Frame of Grade 7

Total
Section Male Female
Number

A 8 12 20

Daisy 9 11 20

Lily 12 8 20

TOTAL 29 31 60
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Description of the Respondents

In this research study, the respondents were 60 grade 7 students of LMI

Integrated Formation and Education Incorporated. Grade 7 level has the total of 121

students, since they have 3 sections, each classroom has students ranging from 35-

45 students. The researchers chose Grade 7 students because this is just the

beginning of their study in high school and they are just starting to broaden their

reading comprehension. Aside from that, they really need to determine the level of

their reading comprehension, whether it is good or bad. Then through this, the

teacher and parents will be able to know what actions should be done and how to

guide the students to improve their reading comprehension. The researchers chose

the students randomly from different sections and every student of grade 7 can be

the respondents in our research as long as they are enrolled in this school year 2018

- 2019.

Research Instrument

The researchers gathered data through Survey questionnaire/checklist. The

Survey questionnaire/checklist has two parts. The first part is in checklist form

regarding the factors that affect the reading comprehension of the students-

respondents. The second part is in questionnaire form where you will choose

whatever your answer is from the choices and this is about the 5 reading skills that
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will identify the strengths and weaknesses of the respondents. There were 2

questions allotted in each reading skills.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers sought the permission of Mrs. Ruth R. Pineda, the school

principal; on March 4, 2019 to conduct a study in LMI Integrated Formation and

Education Inc. and it was approved on March 4, 2019. The letter was sent to the

said principal regarding the permission to conduct this study in the said school and

to administer the instrument to the respondents.

The researchers conducted a survey through questionnaire/checklist to 60

selected Grade 7 students on March 5-7, 2019, during their fourth grading period of

school year 2018-2019.

The collected data were checked and analyzed by the researchers in

accordance with the reading comprehension of the students. After tabulating the

data, the results were checked and calculated with the use of different statistical

tools to interpret the gathered data accurately.

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Chapter 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA GATHERED

This chapter presents the data gathered in the study, their analysis and

interpretation in accordance with the sequence of the specific questions based in

Chapter 1.

The factors that affect the reading comprehension of student-respondents

Table 2

Factors affecting reading comprehension

Reading selections enhance the

Frequency
understanding and comprehension of pupils
Strongly Agree 20
Agree 37
Disagree 3
Strongly Disagree 0
Total 60
Oral reading helps a lot in improving linguistic
Frequency
intelligence of pupils
Strongly Agree 33
Agree 25
Disagree 2
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Strongly Disagree 0
Total 60
Attentive reading does not help pupils in
enhancing their reading abilities and reading Frequency
comprehension
Strongly Agree 7
Agree 14
Disagree 26
Strongly Disagree 13
Total 60
Teacher’s motivation has great influence in
Frequency
pupil’s reading interest
Strongly Agree 22
Agree 32
Disagree 5
Strongly Disagree 1
Total 60
Parental guidance and tutorial reading at
home do not contribute in enhancing child’s
Frequency
understanding and analyzing reading
selection
Strongly Agree 7
Agree 19
Disagree 24
Strongly Disagree 10
Total 60
Lack of reading materials and textbook in
public and private schools affects reading Frequency
skills of students
Strongly Agree 16
Agree 27
Disagree 16
Strongly Disagree 1
Total 60
Teaching aids, visual or auditory helps
students cope up and comprehend to the Frequency
reading selection
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Strongly Agree 16
Agree 36
Disagree 6
Strongly Disagree 2
Total 60
Applied reading techniques and strategies of
teacher contributes in easy and fast Frequency
comprehension of learners
Strongly Agree 27
Agree 29
Disagree 3
Strongly Disagree 1
Total 60
Conducting regular drillings of “English basic
sight words” before the lesson proper Frequency
enhance learner’s reading ability
Strongly Agree 17
Agree 40
Disagree 3
Strongly Disagree 0
Total 60
Providing variety of reading preferences and
exercises improve reading analyzation, Frequency
interpretation and comprehension of pupils
Strongly Agree 14
Agree 41
Disagree 5
Strongly Disagree 0
Total 60

Table 2 presents the factors that affect the reading comprehension of respondents.

Among the 60 respondents, 20 responded that they are strongly agree that reading

selections enhance the understanding and comprehension of pupils; 37 responded

that they are just agree with it; 3 responded that they disagree with this; and no one
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responded that they strongly disagree with this. In the factor “Oral reading helps a lot

in improving linguistic intelligence of pupils”, 33 answered strongly agree; 25

answered agree; 2 answered disagree; and no one answered strongly disagree. In

the factor “Attentive reading does not help pupils in enhancing their reading

abilities and reading comprehension”, 7 answered strongly agree; 14 answered

agree; 26 answered disagree; and 13 answered strongly disagree. “Teacher’s

motivation has great influence in pupil’s reading interest” got 22 strongly agrees; 32

agrees; 5 disagrees; and 1 strongly disagree. In the factor “Parental guidance and

tutorial reading at home do not contribute in enhancing child’s understanding and

analyzing reading selection”, 7 answered strongly agree; 19 answered agree; 24

answered disagree; and 10 answered strongly disagree. “Lack of reading materials

and textbook in public and private schools affects reading skills of students” got 16

strongly agrees; 27 agrees; 16 disagrees; and 1 strongly disagree. In the factor

“Teaching aids, visual or auditory helps students cope up and comprehend to the

reading selection”, 16 answered strongly agree; 36 answered agree; 6 answered

disagree; and 2 answered strongly disagree. “Applied reading techniques and

strategies of teacher contributes in easy and fast comprehension of learners” got 27

strongly agrees; 29 agrees; 3 disagrees; and 1 strongly disagree. In the factor

“Conducting regular drillings of “English basic sight words” before the lesson proper

enhance learner’s reading ability”, 17 answered strongly agree; 40 answered agree;

3 answered disagree; and no one answered strongly disagree. Lastly, “Providing

variety of reading preferences and exercises improve reading analyzation,

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interpretation and comprehension of pupils” got 14 strongly agrees; 41 agrees; 5

disagrees; and 0 strongly disagree.

The result proved the statement of Lastrella (2010) and Marquez (2010) that there

are factors that affect the students’ reading comprehension. Aside from that,

development of student’s reading skills and other aspects are very important.

Majority of the respondents answered that among 10 factors, 8 of them truly affect

their reading comprehension. We therefore conclude that there are really factors that

affect their reading skills and capabilities.

The score of student-respondent in the following reading skills

Table 3

The Strengths and weaknesses of the students

Reading Skills Frequency Verbal Rank

Interpretation
Grasping the main idea Yes 64
while reading No 14 Weak 4
Sometimes 42
Using of references when Yes 42
coming across new words No 33 Weak 5
Sometimes 45
Analyzing the grammatical Yes 66
structure No 18 Good 3
Sometimes 36
Predicting the main idea on Yes 74
the basis of keywords, No 13 Good 1
pictures, charts, or figures Sometimes 33
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Getting the implied Yes 71

meaning of the reading No 13 Good 2
material Sometimes 36

Table 3 shows the strengths and weaknesses of the respondents. There are

60 respondents but 2 questions in each reading skill so it means there is a total of

120 answers, 64 answered yes; 14 answered no; and 42 answered sometimes in

the Grasping the main idea while reading. “Using of references when coming across

new words”, got 42 “Yes” answers; 33 “No” answers; and 45 “sometimes” answers.

In the Analyzing the grammatical structure, 66 answered yes; 18 answered no; and

36 answered sometimes. “Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords,

pictures, charts, or figures”, got 74 “Yes” answers; 13 “No” answers; and 33

“sometimes” answers. In the Getting the implied meaning of the reading material, 71

answered yes; 13 answered no; and 36 answered sometimes. All in all, the

respondents’ reading skills such as Predicting the main idea on the basis of

keywords, pictures, charts, or figures;

Getting the implied meaning of the reading material; and Analyzing the grammatical

Structure were rated as Good and the reading skills such as Grasping the main idea

while reading and Using of references when coming across new words were rated

as weak.

The table also presents the reading skills of Grade 7 respondent ranked

based on their score and based on the margin we had given. Ranked as first, is the

Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords, pictures, charts, or figures with a

score of 74 “Yes” answers; 13 “No” answers; and 33 “sometimes” answers which is

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definitely included inside the margin., second is Getting the implied meaning of the

reading material with a score of 71 “Yes” answers; 13 “No” answers; and 36

“Sometimes” answers, third is Analyzing the grammatical structure with a score of 66

“Yes” answers: 18 “No” answers ; and 36 “sometimes” answers, fourth is Grasping

the main idea while reading with a score of 64 “Yes” answers; 14 “No” answers; and

42 “sometimes” answers, and last is Using of references when coming across new

words with a score of 42 “Yes” answers; 33 “No” answers; and 45 “sometimes”

answers.

Therefore, among the 5 reading skills, the students had shown weakness in

Using of references when coming across new words.

The Strategies and Techniques to improve the student-respondents’ reading

comprehension

There are different reading methods you can use for to improve or enhance

the students’ reading skills. The following reading are enhanced reading methods

that the researchers’ suggested strategies in developing their skill which is in using

of references when coming across new words.

1. KWL Reading Method

KWL is the creation of Donna Ogle and is a 3-column chart that helps capture

the before, during and after components of reading a text selection. KWL chart

assists teachers in activating students' prior knowledge of a subject or topic and

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encourage inquisition and active reading. It helps students to be active thinkers while

they read.

KWL is intended to be an exercise for a study group or class that can guide

the students in reading and understanding a text. It is composed of only three stages

that can reflect a worksheet of the columns with the three letters:

What we Know What we Want to know What we Learned

K stands for Know

This first stage may surprise you: Think first about, then list, what you know about

the topic before reading. This advanced organizer provides you with a background to

the new material, building a scaffold to support it. Think of it as a pre-reading

inventory.

 Brainstorm! Before looking at the text, think of keywords, terms, or phrases

about the topic, either in your class or a study group.

 Record these in the K column of your chart until you cannot think of more.

 Engage you group in a discussion about what you wrote in the K column.

 Organize the entries into general categories.

W stands for Will or Want

The second stage is to list a series of question of what you want to know more of the

subject, based upon what you listed in K.

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 Preview the text’s table of contents, headings, pictures, charts etc. Discuss

what you want to learn.

 List some thoughts on what you want, or expect to learn, generally or

specifically. Think in terms of what you will learn, or what do you want to learn

about this.

 Turn all sentences into questions before writing them down. They will help

you focus your attention during reading.

 List the questions by importance.

L stands for Learned

The final stage is to answer your questions, as well as to list what new information

you have learned either while reading or after you have finished.

 List out what you learned as you read, either by section or after the whole

work, whichever is comfortable for you.

 Check it against the W column, what you wanted to learn.

 Create symbols to indicate main ideas, surprising ideas, questionable ideas,

and those you don’t understand.

Moreover, in the case of improving the students' ability in using of references

when coming across new words, this modified version which is a lot similar with

KWL chart can also be used by the teacher: The O-Q-I Chart:

Observation Question Inference

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Just like in KWL, in this strategy, the student needs to use schema or prior

knowledge together with the information given in the text in the Observation column

(I know that...) wherein the students have to bring to mind something they already

know about the topic plus what was said in the text. Based on what the student read,

he/she would come up with Questions (I wonder why or what...) Then after that, the

student should be able to make inference based on what he/she thinks and

understands about the text.

2. Anticipation Guide

An anticipation guide is a strategy that is used before reading to activate

students’ prior knowledge and build curiosity about the new topic. Before reading a

selection, students respond to several statements that challenge or support their

preconceived ideas about key concepts in the text. Using this strategy stimulates

students’ interest in a topic and sets a purpose for reading. Anticipation guides can

be revisited after reading to evaluate how well students understood the material or

text and to correct any misconceptions.

There are several ways to construct an anticipation guide for high school

students. Most include the following steps (Duffelmeyer, 1994):

1. Identify the major ideas presented in the text.

2. Consider what beliefs your students are likely to have about the topic.
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3. Write general statements that challenge your students’ beliefs.

4. Require students to respond to the statements with either a positive or

negative response.

Use the Strategy

1. Have students complete the anticipation guide before reading. They may

work by themselves, in pairs or small groups. Remind students that they

should be prepared to discuss and debate their reactions to the

statements on the anticipation guide after they have completed it.

2. After students have finished the anticipation guide, encourage a class

discussion of students’ reactions to the statements. Remember, you want

to activate their critical thinking about the topic, so dig deeper than

students’ answers and get to their justifications.

3. Have students read the text with their anticipation guide responses fresh

in their minds so they can react to the text as they read. Encourage

students to mark or write down where the text supports their initial reaction

to statements, or causes them to rethink those reactions.

4. Have a class discussion after reading. Ask students if any of them

changed their position on any of the statements. Encourage students to

show how they reacted to the text, given their initial responses captured in

the anticipation guide. Make sure students share examples for the text

where their initial responses were either supported or challenged.

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Anticipation Guide strategy can also be used to enhance readers’ skills in

using references when coming across new words. In this strategy, the readers are

asked to answer series of questions that will challenge their beliefs or

understanding. It activates students’ prior knowledge and builds curiosity about a

topic or a text. Their answers will be based on their schema or background

knowledge given from the text. Based on the given topic and questions, the students

will make their own inferences.

3. QAR METHOD

Question and Answer Relationship Method is a technique developed by Taffy

Raphael that can also be used to assist the students in using of references when

coming across new words. QAR outlines where information can be found "In the

Text" or "In my Head".

There are four types of QAR which are Right There (the answer is directly

stated in the text, sometimes called literal questions), Think and Search (the answer

is in the selection, but the reader needs to put together different pieces of

information to find it), both types are the "In the Book" questions. Another types of

QAR are On My Own (the answer is not in the text, without even reading the text the

reader can answer the question based solely on his/her own experiences and

knowledge) and last is The "Author and Me" type of questioning which in this case

would be the focus since among the other types, it is more appropriate to use for

enhancing the students ability to make inferences. The "Author and Me" questioning

provides a springboard into the art of inferring. In this type of questioning, the
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answer is not in the story. The reader needs to think about what he/she already

know, what the author says and how it fits together. This type of questions requires

the readers to use ideas and information that are not stated directly in the passage

to answer. This is where "reading between the lines" takes place. The reader must

think about what he/she have read and formulate his/her own ideas or inferences.

For this type of questioning the teacher may use this chart:

What the author said... What I know… What I think…

(TEXT) (SCHEMA) (INFERENCE)

Using question and answer relationship strategy encourages the students to

be more efficient and strategic readers. Understanding how QAR relationship works

as an important component of comprehending the text.

All the three reading strategies stated, can be used as tools for enriching and

strengthening the students' ability to use references when coming across new

words. Providing students with appropriate and explicit instruction and strategies in

reading is very essential for it can be an effective way to help students overcome

difficulties in understanding texts that they read. Teachers must also implement

enough activities that would exercise and strengthen the students' reading skills.
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Chapter 5

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of the findings, conclusions, and

recommendations of the researchers.

Summary of Findings

The data were analyzed and the following findings were articulated in

conformance with the specific questions given under the statement of the problem.

1. Based on the data gathered by the researchers, the factors that affect the

student was determined that among the 60 respondents, 20 responded that

they are strongly agree that reading selections enhance the understanding

and comprehension of pupils; 37 responded that they are just agree with it; 3

responded that they disagree with this; and no one responded that they

strongly disagree with this. In the factor “Oral reading helps a lot in improving

linguistic intelligence of pupils”, 33 answered strongly agree; 25 answered

agree; 2 answered disagree; and no one answered strongly disagree. In the

factor “Attentive reading does not help pupils in enhancing their reading

abilities and reading comprehension”, 7 answered strongly agree; 14

answered agree; 26 answered disagree; and 13 answered strongly disagree.

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“Teacher’s motivation has great influence in pupil’s reading interest” got 22

strongly agrees; 32 agrees; 5 disagrees; and 1 strongly disagree. In the factor

“Parental guidance and tutorial reading at home do not contribute in

enhancing child’s understanding and analyzing reading selection”, 7

answered strongly agree; 19 answered agree; 24 answered disagree; and 10

answered strongly disagree. “Lack of reading materials and textbook in public

and private schools affects reading skills of students” got 16 strongly agrees;

27 agrees; 16 disagrees; and 1 strongly disagree. In the factor “Teaching

aids, visual or auditory helps students cope up and comprehend to the

reading selection”, 16 answered strongly agree; 36 answered agree; 6

answered disagree; and 2 answered strongly disagree. “Applied reading

techniques and strategies of teacher contributes in easy and fast

comprehension of learners” got 27 strongly agrees; 29 agrees; 3 disagrees;

and 1 strongly disagree. In the factor “Conducting regular drillings of “English

basic sight words” before the lesson proper enhance learner’s reading ability”,

17 answered strongly agree; 40 answered agree; 3 answered disagree; and

no one answered strongly disagree. Lastly, “Providing variety of reading

preferences and exercises improve reading analyzation, interpretation and

comprehension of pupils” got 14 strongly agrees; 41 agrees; 5 disagrees; and

0 strongly disagree.

2. Based on the data gathered by the researchers, the strengths and

weaknesses were determined as: There are 60 respondents but 2 questions

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in each reading skill so it means there is a total of 120 answers, 64 answered

yes; 14 answered no; and 42 answered sometimes in the Grasping the main

idea while reading. “Using of references when coming across new words”, got

42 “Yes” answers; 33 “No” answers; and 45 “sometimes” answers. In the

Analyzing the grammatical structure, 66 answered yes; 18 answered no; and

36 answered sometimes. “Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords,

pictures, charts, or figures”, got 74 “Yes” answers; 13 “No” answers; and 33

“sometimes” answers. In the Getting the implied meaning of the reading

material, 71 answered yes; 13 answered no; and 36 answered sometimes. All

in all, the respondents’ reading skills such as Predicting the main idea on the

basis of keywords, pictures, charts, or figures; Getting the implied meaning of

the reading material; and Analyzing the grammatical structure were rated as

Good and the reading skills such as Grasping the main idea while reading

and Using of references when coming across new words were rated as weak.

The table also presents the reading skills of Grade 7 respondent ranked

based on their score and based on the margin we had given. Ranked as first,

is the Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords, pictures, charts, or

figures with a score of 74 “Yes” answers; 13 “No” answers; and 33

“sometimes” answers which is definitely included inside the margin., second

is Getting the implied meaning of the reading material with a score of 71 “Yes”

answers; 13 “No” answers; and 36 “Sometimes” answers, third is Analyzing

the grammatical structure with a score of 66 “Yes” answers: 18 “No”

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answers ; and 36 “sometimes” answers, fourth is Grasping the main idea

while reading with a score of 64 “Yes” answers; 14 “No” answers; and 42

“sometimes” answers, and last is Using of references when coming across

new words with a score of 42 “Yes” answers; 33 “No” answers; and 45

“sometimes” answers. Based also on the data gathered by the researchers on

the reading comprehension skills of the grade 7 students of LMI Integrated

Formation & Education Inc., the students shown strength in the reading skill

Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords, pictures, charts, or figures

which garnered a score of 74 “Yes” answers; 13 “No” answers; and 33

“sometimes” answers with a verbal interpretation "good" and turned out to be

highest among the five reading skills. Meanwhile, the students shown

difficulty in Using of references when coming across new words skill with the

score of 42 “Yes” answers; 33 “No” answers; and 45 “sometimes” answers

and a verbal interpretation "weak" and the lowest among the five focused

reading skills of this study. Therefore, among the 5 reading skills, the students

had shown weakness in Using of references when coming across new words.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn.

1. Based on the finding about the factors that affect the reading

comprehension of students, it proved the statement of Lastrella (2010)

and Marquez (2010) that there are factors that affect the students’
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reading comprehension. Aside from that, development of student’s

reading skills and other aspects are very important based on the result

of the gathered data. Majority of the respondents answered that among

10 factors, 8 of them really affect the reading comprehension of

students especially the grade 7 students who are just starting to

broaden their knowledge and explore the unexplored things. We

therefore conclude that there are really factors that could affect their

reading skills and capabilities and the reading interests of the

respondents greatly affect their level of reading comprehension. They

intend to read more if they are reading their preferred genre.

2. Based on the findings about the strengths and weaknesses of the

students, it was determined that the respondents had shown “good”

performance” in Predicting the main idea on the basis of keywords,

pictures, charts, or figures; Getting the implied meaning of the reading

material; and Analyzing the grammatical structure. This means that the

respondents demonstrates a sufficient range of skills and meets the

desired outcome, although some deficiencies exist in the areas or skills

assessed but none of major concern.

Findings also revealed that the respondents were "weak" in Grasping

the main idea while reading and Using of references when coming across

new words. This suggests insufficiency in the range of skills and the desired

outcome or result was not obtained. The overall reading comprehension

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based in the reading skills of the grade 7 students of L.I.F.E Inc. was "good"

which demonstrates sufficient range of skills, desired outcome was obtained

with some deficiencies but not a major concern.

Recommendations

Based on the data gathered by the researchers, the following

recommendations are hereby offered:

1. Students should always spend more time in reading because study proves

that a student who reads, always does better in school. Through reading,

they can improve their vocabulary, they learn about people, places and

events outside their own experience, and also they develop their empathy

to other people.

2. Students should find enjoyment in reading books he/she likes the most

whether they are in the school library or in their home. Reading, as a form

of entertainment, students should allot more time in reading than using

their smart phones or surfing the internet because reading is more relaxing

to do because it calms our mind. Reading can also develop the students’

imagination once they are engaged in a story.

3. Parents and teachers should expose the child to a variety of reading

materials. They must have reading materials to read in their home and

school in order to cultivate their interest in reading and develop their

reading skills. They should always encourage their child to read. By making
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them read different reading materials either fiction or non-fiction books.

Bringing them to a bookstore or libraries might help to improve their

reading abilities or comprehension level.

4. Teachers should use various strategies and techniques in teaching a

reading lesson. It is suggested that they should monitor the student's

reading comprehension and ability and look out for their weaknesses and

give more attention into it and incorporate an appropriate teaching reading

strategy that will help to improve and strengthen the students’ skills in the

areas they have difficulties with.

5. Teachers should integrate reading in different areas to further enhance the

student's skills and mastery in reading. With the use of the different

teaching reading strategies, they can aid their students to improve their

reading skills and by maintaining it, they can use other forms of learning

methods by using a book that the students’ can read even without her

assistance.

6. Teachers should also help students obtain interest in reading by engaging

the students in various reading activities to read more books, and by

establishing a pleasure and enjoyable time in reading inside the class.

7. Schools should provide reading programs that focus on each reading skills

for further enhancement of the students' reading comprehension. Programs

like reading corners or book club might help their students engage learning.
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8. The administrators and school facilitators should maintain the availability of

reading materials inside the school libraries so that the readers may be

able to maintain and develop their reading comprehension.

9. School facilitator, especially the school librarians must always make sure if

the books are sufficient enough to the students need in the school library

and they should see to it that all the reading materials are updated and

well-maintained by having a weekly checking.

10. Parents should provide and expose their child to various reading materials

for them to read at home to develop and improve their reading skills. With

their presence as a parent, they can guide their child in reading,

understanding and improving their ability. They can help through providing

some time answering their questions in what they read and explaining what

they don’t understand.

11. The students must be persuade more to read other genres not only in

fiction but also in non-fiction, whether it is less of what they preferred, and

it will possibly and actively happen if teachers will find more reading

materials outside the school vicinity. Disregarding of the types of learner

should be implemented so that the students will not limit themselves to

read one fiction only.

12. Parents should encourage their children to be open to other reading genres

and not be confine in the one they preferred the most. Although, it is good

that a reader reads books of his/her own interests. School Teachers should
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also introduce their students to other reading genres so his/her students

will not be limited to just one preferred reading genres. Reading vastly

helps students to exercise their reading skills and reading comprehension.

Thus, it will help improve their reading comprehension.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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APPENDIX 1: LETTER OF REQUEST

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APPENDIX 2: CERTIFICATION LETTERS

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APPENDIX 3: RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

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“FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE READING COMPREHENSION OF

GRADE 7 STUDENTS IN LLAMAS MEMORIAL INSTITUTE IN
RELATION TO READING ENHANCEMENT AND TECHNIQUES”

I. Direction: Fill up the checklist by checking the following selections

that correspond to the factors affecting reading comprehension of
students.

Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
Reading selections enhance
the understanding and
comprehension of pupils.
Oral reading helps a lot in
improving linguistic
intelligence of pupils.
Attentive reading does not
help pupils in enhancing
their reading abilities and
reading comprehension.
Teacher’s motivation has
great influence in pupil’s
reading interest.
Parental guidance and
tutorial reading at home do
not contribute in enhancing
child’s understanding and
analysing reading selection.
Lack of reading materials
and textbook in public
schools affects reading
skills of students.
Teaching aids, visual or
auditory helps student to
cope up and comprehend to
the reading selection.
Applied reading teaching
techniques and strategies
of teacher contributes in
easy and fast
comprehension of learners.
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Conducting regular drillings

of “English basic sight
words” before the lesson
proper enhance learner’s
reading ability.
Providing variety of reading
references and exercises
improve reading
analyzation, interpretation
and comprehension of
pupils.

II. Direction: Please answer each question by selecting your answer

from the choices that can best indicate what you really do while
reading. The choices (Yes, No, and sometimes) stand for the
following responses.

1. Do you grasp the main idea of the material while reading?

a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
2. Do you turn to dictionaries when coming across new words?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
3. Are you bothered with the grammatical structure of sentences while
reading?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
4. Can you predict the main idea of the whole passage from its title or
subtitles?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
5. Do you pay attention to the implied meaning of the reading material?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
6. When you are reading an article, do you skip words that are new to
you?
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a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
7. Are you trying to understand complicated sentences by analyzing their
structure?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
a. Sometimes
a. Sometimes
8. Do you predict the main idea of the whole passage from key words,
pictures, charts, or figures?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes

9. Are you trying to grasp the general idea of a sentence before going to
read the next sentence?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
10. Are you trying to get the indicated meaning of the reading text?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
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CURRICULUM VITAE OF THE RESEARCHERS