FACTORS CAUSING THE POOR READING ABILITIES OF

THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS: A BASIS

TO IMPROVE THEIR READING SKILLS

____________________

A Proposal

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School

St. Paul University Philippines

____________________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Teaching in English

____________________

by

JACKLYN E. PARIÑAS

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction
 Reading is an art. It is a skill that every man

should posses and develop. In fact, an important goal of

reading instruction is for students to enjoy reading. And

there are vast advantages and varied forms of reading

that should be known by many individuals especially the

learners.

First, reading allows students to develop their

creativity. Reading a book or magazine for instance.

Students begin to think or imagine the image of a

particular character or scenario mentioned. Second,

reading introduces students to new things and this

broadens their interest in further reading. For instance,

a student who reads the biography of President Duterte

may be inspired to take lessons more seriously because he

wants to be like the character of the one he reads in the

story.

Furthermore, reading increases the learner’s

vocabulary especially where the students are oriented to

use the dictionary whenever they meet a difficult word in

the text. Also, reading can develop positive attitude in

students. It gives them more time to concentrate and

focus rather than engaging themselves in the use of

illegal drugs and other vices.

Developing reading and comprehension skills is not

only for passing the subject but it is a preparation in

the ” real world”. If students are able to read well they

will not have problems in reading manuals , guides,

contracts, vital documents and papers they would

encounter when they join the world of work. Another

benefit of reading is the building of self esteem. As

students read different kinds of materials they become

informed and mind experts of the topic. Since they are

knowledgeable of a particular lesson, peers began to seek

them for answers. This skill translates into higher self

esteem.

Reading is very indispensable, it is a skill that

prepares an individual to a better horizon.

However, so far, our students have not adequately

devoted their reading skills as Rimando said:

“Why many public school teachers produce half cooked

graduates can be largely traced the fact that not a few

of those who enter the teaching profession are the

mentally deficient high school graduates who could

hardly, if ever, understand what they read due to low

levels of reading comprehension.

The importance of reading has been recognized in the

educational systems, yet, it is a common observation that

many students have many reading deficiencies. Most of the

problems encountered of the teachers were on the lack of

vocabulary skills and poor reading comprehension. These

deficiencies maybe due to some factors. This prompted the

researcher to study the factors causing the poor reading

abilities of Junior High School students with an aim that

her findings will serve as basis for improving the

reading skills of the learners.

Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents a review of related literature

and studies which will give support to the problem under

investigation.

Related Literature

Foreign

Reading is one of the major skills a person must

acquire. It involves more than identifying words and

pronouncing them correctly.

 A number of studies which are related to the problem

of this study have been undertaken abroad. Some of them

are here under summarized.

A study of Dr. Doris Lee showed that typical large

American schools demand ability in the fourth, fifth and

sixth grades.

The sheer amount of materials to be read requires

considerable speed. The large vocabulary and formidable

organization to typical materials in the social studies ,

science and other requires advanced techniques of working

out the recognition of unfamiliar words. To meet the

demands of the intermediate and upper grades the pupil

must be able not only to read rapidly but to read in

different ways and to select and evaluate materials for

various reading purposes. Dr Lee found that children who

have not equaled the level of reading ability represented

by a grade score of 40 on typical standardized work in

the fourth and later graddes. She considered this as the

fourth grade hurdle. What she meant was that, unless the

pupil had hurdled the barriers into an intermediate grade

type reading, he would be handicapped in later years.

Even pupils of superior insight would have done better if

they advance in reading ability beyond the initial fourth

grade level.

Steven Asher and Richard Markell made a study on the

function of sex to reading comprehension of students. The

result should that sex differences in reading

comprehension are affected by variation in the interest

of level of the material. Each child then reads a

material that corresponds to him or her high and low

interest areas. Results indicated that boys read as well

as girls on high interest materials but they were

significantly poor readers of low interest.

As shown by E. L. Thorndike’s study on “Reading as

Reasoning”, he stressed that spoken or printed paragraphs

involve a very complex mental operation which is

different from merely picking up or taking even a

definite idea or set of ideas. Different individuals get

quite definite idea or set of ideas. Different

individuals get quite different impressions from reading

or hearing the same paragraph . What each individual

graphs depends upon his past experiences and his set of

ideas or adjustments as well as his general mental

alertness at the moment.

 According to Simpson, if a person is to understand

fully what he is reading, he obviously must know the

meaning of the words being read. If this person has

developed vocabulary skills, he is better able to find

the exact meaning of words particularly the difficult

ones. Another factor that she mentioned in good reading

is a possession of comprehension skills that is, the

reader must be able to understand sentences and paragraph

that he reads, how they are arranged, what their patterns

of thoughts are, so that he will be able to follow the

thoughts and group the main ideas and details. This means

keeping tract of ideas for one thing. Another skill

needed in reading is that, a good reader must also be

able to read at different rates.

According to Michael Fleming and David Stevens, the

most important, and certainly the most dangerous thing we

attempt to do with a child in school is to try to teach

him to read. On his ability to read, in the widest sense,

will depend the ultimate success or failure of all our

attempts to educate him. We cannot even proceed far with

instruction until we have taught him to do something more

than bark at print. Whatever our definition of an

educated person might include, we could not omit the

requirement that he should be able to make sense of what

others write. Most would, one hopes, add the further

qualification that he should also find pleasure and

inspiration on the printed page.

They also said that reading can be conducted for a

vast range of different purposes and takes a number of

different forms. Consider the qualitative difference

between reading, say, a railway timetable for specific

information, a guidebook for an art exhibition, a

magazine read casually while waiting to meet an

appointment, and a complex novel read for pleasure. Both

in life generally and in school particularly the act of

reading decodes and interprets virtually without cease,

and is often seamlessly connected to oral and writing

activity: consider, for example , the early- morning

staff room routine in many schools of the discovery of

lesson supervision-the list is read, talked about and

reminder notes and/or complaints are hastily written. In

this sense, reading is basic to literacy, but not

synonymous with it: literacy implies the ability to use

language effectively and appropriately across a wide

range of forms.

Michael Fleming and David Stevens suggested that the

responsibility of the secondary English teacher is to

secure, develop and extend the reading repertoire,

include reading for specific information, skim-reading

and interference. This can only be achieved through

teaching a fully integrated curriculum , not only within

English

itself but as part of whole-school language practice,

with each subject being clear about types of reading

demanded for progress to be made.

Local Literature

Hernandez claims that a search of the knowledge will

provide various recommendation for increasing students

vocabulary, whether through vocabulary notebooks,

increasing the amount of free reading, or simply

discussing new terms as they are encountered in required

passage. Subject matter teachers need to acquaint

students with new vocabulary. In many cases this will

entail actually developing content knowledge prior to

reading, along with activating pre-existing knowledge.

 Vocabulary may also be acquired through indirect

experiences with concepts. This includes learning from

films, film strips, television, pictures, maps and other

media.

According to Zialcita, it is not enough that one is

able to decode the message from the printed age. By the

time the students reaches high school, he is expected to

have developed a good number of basic reading skills like

comprehension, word recognition and speed. He should be

ready to start seeking out information for himself

assessing what he needs and synthesizing the ideas he

gets from different sources. She stated further, that it

is the primary concern of English teachers to make

constant intensive efforts to discover the students

deficiencies and provide ways of improving theses basic

skills.

Tumaob believes that reading interests are powerful in

directing the children’s reading behavior. When the

pupils are interested in a selection, they enjoy reading.

This motivates them to read more. He further states that

the information of the pupils interest gives an insight

to the teacher about the child’s reading experiences and

guides the child in the selection of the materials that

would motivate him to read more. However, the teacher

must also take into consideration the factors that

influence the pupils reading taste such as sex, age, and

reading ability. Too difficult materials do not appeal to

the children especially to the slow and retarded readers.

Gloroso presented the problems being encountered by

English teachers teaching reading with Tagalog as a

medium im Grade V and VI. She called on reading teachers

to weigh and ponder on these problems to find solutions

for further development of students in reading posting

questions.

What will be the effect of Tagalog as a medium of

instruction in Grade V and VI? What are the possible

problems in these grades as well as in the freshmen? The

public high schools cannot refuse the admission of these

children. What will be the reading proficiency level in

English of the Grade VI? Can the high school teachers

make drastic reduction of the exposure time to English?

Precisely, these are the real problems reading

comprehension, vocabulary, speed and accuracy which

emerging as the basic skills that have not been fully

acquired and mastered.

From these glimpses, it can be concluded that if

students have not mastered these skills, the knowledge

found in textbook is null and useless. In consonance with

this, Soriano Chief Supervisor of English , Division of

City Schools of Manila in her talk stated:

Whether they like it or not, high school teachers of

English will have to teach more reading skills first.

Unless we intensify our efforts at developing the lower

level reading skills, the bilingual program could well be

the death knell of literature.

Bagno, on his findings of value to the study at hand

is the identified reading strengths and weaknesses of the

secondary students. Bagno claims in her study that the

reading strength of the secondary students were noting

details, getting appropriate meaning of words through

context and noting synonyms and antonyms. The reading

difficulties were identified as grasping the implied

meanings, sense of feelings, getting the appropriate

meaning of word through context and noting, getting the

main idea, inferring character traits, drawing

conclusions, determining connotative meanings and

differentiating shades of meaning.

Rodriguez made a research on the factors affecting the

reading performance of

the students. On his research to Gupaal’s study about

reading difficulties entitled “Reading Difficulties for

Freshmen in Selected High Schools, Kalinga Division”.

Based on her study, she was able to form the following

conclusions:

1. Freshmen students have difficulties in

comprehension skills, on the use of the interrogative

pronouns, context clue and noting details. There are

still students in this level that commit errors of

spelling although they are common words. On verb forms,

they usually commit error in the use of s-forms.

2. The present problems encountered by the teachers

in developing Reading skills were mainly on the lack of

instructional materials for a more favorable and pleasant

learning atmosphere; poor attendance due to poor health,

seasonal and/or peace situation in the place,

uncooperative parents.
 3. These problems can be solved through the initiative

of the administration to provide books/reading materials,

to initiate an effective Reading program; to encourage

parents to cooperate with the teachers in helping

children read and minimize absenteeism.

Gupaal recommended the following:

1. The skills in which the students were found

deficient and slightly proficient should be afforded more

emphasis and attention by Reading teachers. Frequent

Reading exercises, drills and even contents in reading

comprehension should be done.

2. There should be an intense oral practice on Reading

and every opportunity should be given to clear out the

difficulties caused by the difference inherent in the

language itself.

3. The teachers in Reading should motivate and

encourage the students to read various reading materials

found in the school or elsewhere and let them have an

oral report of what they read before their Reading class

as a means of evaluating their comprehension for speech

development.
 4. Diagnostic test should be conducted at the start of

the school year so that the teachers will be able to

adjust their teaching thereby strengthening their weak

points.

5. Textbooks, reference, dictionaries, magazine and

journals should be adequately provided by the schools.

These would enhance interest and promote development of

comprehension skills.

6. Reading skills may be integrated in other subjects.

7. Remedial Reading teachers should use their

initiative and in preparing audio-visual aids to be used

in their remedial class.

8. Administrators and supervisors should find a way by

which they can find/give incentives to reward deserving

English and/or Remedial Reading teachers.

Theoretical Framework

The greatest reward for any teacher is to see a

student engrossed in a book and developing a love of

reading. However, it is a common observation that many

students lack reading skills which makes it difficult for

them to understand the content of the different

disciplines.
 Learning to read is an essential part of basic

education. Reading, after all, is an important gateway to

the other disciplines.(www.philippinesbasiceducation-

us/2015/02/the-problem-with-readin g-html). It is

indispensable then for teachers to use the necessary

strategies in teaching students to read.

The strategies a teacher is using to help reading

comprehension are actually traits that already require a

set of skills. These strategies need to be taught and

should not be expected from a child. With this

realization, Kendeon and co-workers have suggested that

instructional materials, the text a student reads must be

chosen judiciously. Appropriate reading materials must be

picked to help children acquire skills in these areas.

During early years, one must not mixed text intended for

reading instruction and text intended for gaining

knowledge.

Secondly, these skills are not limited to reading

text. Children must be given the opportunity to exercise

these skills while listening or even watching a show or

movie. Third, reading is a process, therefore it is

important that instruction goes along with the reading,

not just before or after, but more importantly, during

reading.

Lastly, background information is often influential in

reading comprehension that an instruction must always

takes this into account.

The paradigm explains how the researcher will go about

the study. The first box is considered the input which

consists of the student’s profile, reading performance of

the students and the factors affecting the reading

performance. The second box which is the process,

consists of the assessment of the students’ reading

performance and the identification of the extent to which

some factors affect the reading performance of the

students. The third box, which is considered as the

output, consists of the proposed solution to improve

reading performance.

Independent Variables PROCESS Dependent Variables

1. Profile of the Students Proposed

1. The Profile of some

relative to: Solutions to

Junior High Students

1.1 sex Improve
1.2 age
1.3 highest educational 2. Assess the reading Reading

attainment of parents performance of JHS Performance of

 1.4 reading materials and

recreational facilities
1.5 family monthly income

3. Identify the extent to

2. Reading Performance of

which the factors affect

Junior High School Students

the reading performance

relative to:

of JHS
2.1 Vocabulary Knowledge
2.2 Comprehension

2.2.1 Noting Details

2.2.2 Identifying Ideas into

proper heading Students

2.2.3 Sequencing of Events

2.2.4 Cause-Effect

Relationship

2.2.5 Getting the Main Idea

2.3 Speed in Reading

3. Factors affecting the pupils'

reading performance
3.1 Student
3.2 Teacher
3.3 School
3.4 Home/Environment
Statement of the Problem

This study will attempt to determine the extent to

which some factors affect the reading performance of JHS

of Andarayan National High School, Solana, Cagayan for

the school year 2018-2019.

 Specifically, it will seek to answer the following

problems:

1. What is the profile of the JHS relative to the

following:

1.1 sex;

1.2 age;

1.3 highest educational attainment of parents;

1.4 occupation of parents;

1.5 preferences on reading materials and

recreational facilities; and

1.6 family monthly income;

2. What is the reading performance of JHS relative to

the following;

2.1 vocabulary knowledge;

2.2 comprehension; and

2.3 speed in reading

3. To what extent do the following factors affect the

reading performance of JHS as perceived by the teachers

and students:

3.1 student related factor;

3.2 teacher related factor;

3.3 school related factor; and

3.4 home related factor

 4. Is there a significant relationship between the

profile of students and the manner they perceived the

extent to which the different factors affect their

performance in reading?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the

students’ reading performance and the perceived factors?

Hypotheses

1. There is no significant relationship between the

profile of students and the manner they perceived the

extent to which the different factors affect their

performance in reading.

2. There is no significant relationship between the

student’s reading performance and the perceived factors.

Significance of the Study

Students’ performance in reading is considered as one

of the prevailing problems in teaching, hence, the

findings in this study, may prove beneficial to the

following:

Administrators. This study will serve as a basis in

making plans for an effective reading program and may

contribute to better insights in constructing more better

reading instruction for effective learning situation.

 Teachers. This research will benefit them by becoming

aware of the various factors affecting student’s poor

reading abilities and as a result they may have

initiative better methods and techniques of teaching

reading.

Parents. With their knowledge of their children’s

performance in reading, they will be made aware of their

role in the development of reading interests of their

children, realize the importance of their participation

in all phases of school activities and knowledge their

roles as partners of teachers in the educative process.

Students. This will help them in realizing the

importance of reading, thus, developing proper attitudes

toward reading to make them proficient readers and better

achievers.

Future Researchers. This study may provide possible

information for related studies to be conducted in the

future.

Scope and Delimitation

The scope of the study will be limited to that

assessment of the students’ profile, their reading

performance, the perceived factors affecting the reading

abilities of students, the relationship of students’

profile and the perceived factors. The respondents of the

study will be the Junior High School students of

Andarayan National High School. The four English teachers

of Andarayan National High School will also be taken as

respondents.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined to ensure a clearer

understanding of the data presented in this study.

Blue-Collar Jobs. Belonging or relating to a class of

wage earners whose duties call for the wearing of work

clothes or protective clothing such as farmers,

mechanics, construction workers.

Attitude Toward Reading. It refers to one’s negative

or positive views of opinions towards reading ability of

the children.

Comprehension. It is the act of understanding the

meaning of printed or spoken language as contrasted with

the ability to perceive and pronounce words with

reference to their meaning.

Factors. This refers to the selected variables

affecting the performance of pupils.

 Reading. It is a four step-process which starts from

the perception of the word, comprehension of its meaning,

reaction to the meaning in terms of what one knows, and

integration of the idea into one’s background of

experience.

Reading Interest. It refers to a feeling that gives

the direction, the motive power, and the drive to

reading.

Reading Performance. It refers to the observable

skills which the child actually has manifested in his

oral and silent reading.

Reading Skills. It refers to the ability in

recognizing the symbol of printed.

Chapter 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, respondents

of the study, research instrument, data gathering

procedures and statistical treatment to be used the

study.

Research Design
 The researcher will use the descriptive method in this

study. Descriptive method, according to Aquino, is a fact

finding data with adequate interpretation. Moreover, he

states that the descriptive research method includes

careful classification of data, a report of the true

meaning of data collected from the point of view of the

objectives and the basic assumption of the research work

and adequate interpretation of data.

It will determine the relationship that exists between

the student’s profile and the perceived factors, the

student’s reading performance and the perceived factors

through the use of descriptive method.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study will be the grade VII

Junior High School Students of Andarayan National High

School, school year 2018-2019.

Table 1

Distribution of the Respondents of the

Study by Section and Sex

Section: Male : :Percentage: :Female :Percentage

Total

7-A 13 8.18 27 16.98 40

7-B 15 9.43 25 15.72 40

7-C 22 14.47 16 10.69 40

7-D 22 13.84 17 10.69 39

TOTAL 72 45.86 85 54.14 157

Research Instrument

The instruments that will be used in determining the

reading performance of students will be written tests

consisting of three parts; Vocabulary test, Comprehension

test, and Reading speed test.

The vocabulary test will consist of ten items which

will be taken from the Grade VII textbooks. It will make

a multiple choice type of tests, the comprehension test

will be composed of 5 parts, noting details, identifying

ideas into proper heading , sequencing of events, cause

effect relationship and getting the main idea.

Another instrument that will be used is a

questionnaire. This will be used to gather data on the

students profile, and the extent to which the factors

affect the reading performance of the students. The items

in the questionnaire will be adopted from the work of

Melanie Villanueva Peru with some revisions to be made on

how the items will be stated.

Data Gathering Procedure

 Below are the procedures to be undertaken in gathering

the data needed for the study.

A written permission will be sent to the Schools

Division Superintendent to conduct the study. After it

will be approved, the researcher will also asks the

permission from the District Supervisor and the Principal

of the school where the study will be conducted. The

researcher will administer the tests after permission

will be granted.

The students will be asked to identify the meaning of

words in administering the test through context clues.

Next is the comprehension test wherein the students were

asked to answer the items under noting details,

classifying ideas into proper heading, sequencing events,

cause-effect relationship and getting the main idea. The

last that will be administered is the speed test wherein

the students will be instructed to read a selection

silently as the researcher will flash cards. The speed

symbol will be written on the flashcards which will

indicate the time spent in reading the selection. The

flashcards will be flashed at 5 second intervals, after

which the results were referred to the reading speed

table. The students will be further instructed to answer

the 10-item test based on the selection read. After the

test will be administered the students will be grouped

into fast, average and slow readers, as per result of

their reading speed. Students with the reading speed

above the minimum speed for Grade 7 which is 158

words/minute will be average readers and below the speed

of 150 words per minute will be slow readers.

The researcher will float the questionnaire after

administering the written tests in Reading. Permanent

records of the students will also be examined to validate

the needed data on the students’ profile to be gathered

from the questionnaire.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The frequency count, percentage, mean and the Chi-

Square Test will be utilized to test and analyze the data

that will be gathered.

The following scales will be used to determine the

vocabulary knowledge and comprehension levels of the

students.

Vocabulary Scores

Excellent -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 9-10
 Very Good -- -- -- -- -- -- 7-8

Good -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5-6

Fair -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3-4

Poor -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0-2

Vocabulary Scores

Excellent -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 13-15

Very Good -- -- -- -- -- 10-12

Good -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 7-9

Fair -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4-6

Poor -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0-3

The following categories will be used to determine the

speed and comprehension of the students.

The students will be grouped according to the result

of their reading speed and the number of correct

responses in the comprehension questions. Students who

will reach above the standard minimum speed of 158 words

per minute will be considered as fast readers, those with

reading speed ranging from 150-158 words per minute will

be considered as average readers as average readers and

those with below 150 words per minute will be considered

slow readers. On the other hand, students who will score

5-10 in the comprehension questions will have good

comprehension skills and those who will score 0-4 will

have poor comprehension skills.

To determine the extent to which the factors affect

the reading performance, the following scales will be

used.

5 - Vey great extent - - - - - - 4.20 - 5.00

4 - Great extent - - - - - - - - 3.40 - 4.19

3 - Moderate extent - - - - - - 2.60 - 3.39

2 - Little extent - - - - - - - -1.80 - 2. 59

1 - Very little extent - - - - - 1.00 - 1. 79

To determine the speed and comprehension of the

students, the following categories will used:

S+ C+ = reads fast and comprehend well

S+ C- = reads fast but comprehends poorly

S- C+ = reads slowly but comprehends well

S- C- = reads slowly and comprehends poorly

The result of the student’s reading speed and the

number of correct responses in the comprehension

questions. Students who will be considered as fast

readers should reach the above standard minimum speed of

150 words per minute. Average readers should have 150-158

words per minute and those with below 150 words per

minute will be considered slow readers. On the other

hand, students who will score 5-10 in the comprehension

questions will have good comprehension skills and those

who will score 0-4 will have poor comprehension skills.

The following scales will be used to determine the

extent to which the factors affect the reading

performance.

5 - Vey great extent - - - - - - 4.20 - 5.00

4 - Great extent - - - - - - - - 3.40 - 4.19

3 - Moderate extent - - - - - - 2.60 - 3.39

2 - Little extent - - - - - - - - 1.80 - 2. 59

1 - Very little extent - - - - - -1.00 - 1. 79

Literature

A.Books

Kate, Parry.Reading for a Purpose.New York: Addison

Wesley Longman Inc.,1992.

Michael, and David Stevens.English Teaching in the

Secondary School,1992.

Rubin,Joan.Sociolinguistic Aspects of Language Learning

and Teaching.Oxford University Press,.1992.

B.Unpublished Thesis Books

Rodriquez,Sefronia.Factors Affecting The Reading

Performance For Grade V Pupils of Annafunan

Elementary School S.Y.1998-1999.1998

Tibangay, Martina.A Proposed Remedial Program Model for

Freshmen in the Secondary High Schools, Tabuk,

Kalinga Division.1994

Biado, Narcitas.A Proposed Reading Program for the First

Year High School Students of the Cagayan State

University at Sanchez Mira,Cagayan.1995

Taguba, Adoracion. Common Oral Reading Difficulties of

the Freshmen Students of the Kalinga-Apayao State

College Laboratory High School for the School Year

1994-1995.1955

C. Web Excerpts

Poor reading habit and the academic performance of Junior

Secondary School students in Enugu South Local

Government Area.26October

2017<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/32062187

1>.

The affect of Systematic Developmental Reading

Instruction at the Junior High School Level Upon

Reading Ability and General Achievement. June 1956

 <https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses

English Language Learners In Schools. Sept.2011

<http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/practice/multicultu

ral/issuesTalkingPtsBilingualLangDevelop.pdf>.

Appendix A

Questionnaire For the Students

Part I.

Directions: Fill the blanks with needed information

provided for each item as the case may be.

Name:____________________________

1. Sex:_________

2. Age:_________

3. Educational attainment of Parents: (Check)

Father Mother

College Graduate _______ _______

College Undergraduate _______ _______

High School level _______ _______

Elementary School level _______ _______

4. Occupation of Parents: Father Mother

Blue-collar jobs _______ _______

White-collar jobs ______ _______

Unemployed _______ _______

5. Preferences on Reading Materials and Recreational

Facilities: Check

Books____ Newspaper______

Magazines_____ Encyclopedia_____

Television_____ Computer_____

Others_______

6. Family Income (Monthly) Check:

Below P2,000______________

P2,000-P3,999_____________

P4,000-P5,999_____________

P6,000-P7,999_____________

P8,000-P9,999_____________

P10,000-above_____________

No fixed income____________

Part II. The following are the factors that affect the

reading performance of Grade VII students in

Communication Arts (English). To what extent do these

factors affect your performance in reading? Please rate

the items under each factor by putting a check (/) mark

on the right column.

5 - - - - - - Very Great Extent

4 - - - - - - Great Extent

3 - - - - - - Moderate Extent
 2 - - - - - - Little Extent

1 - - - - - - Very Little Extent

A. Students Related Factors : 5 : 4 : 3 : 2 : 1 :

Ability to understand difficult words in English

: : : : : :

Regular attendance in class : : : : : :

Ease in Speaking English : : : : : :

Readiness to study English : : : : : :

Good study habits : : : : : :

Interest in Communication Arts (English) : : : : : :

B. Teacher Related Factors : 5 : 4 : 3 : 2 : 1 :

Extra Work given to teachers : : : : : :

Use of Pictures, charts, real objects : : : : : :

And other materials when teaching.

Ability to speak English to students outside the

classroom. : : : :

: :

Use of other reading materials when teaching.

: : : : : :

C. School Related Factors : 5 : 4 : 3 : 2 :

1 :

Adequate reading materials in our

school : : : : : :
Adequate mimeographed test to evaluate our : : : : :

Progress in Reading.

: : : : : :

Enough bulletin boards where students

Can read brief news and announcements. : : : : :

a. Properly

lighting : : : : : :

b. Proper

ventilation : : : : : :

c. Freedom from

noise : : : : : :

Enough textbooks in English. : : : : :

Presence of a library or learning resource center.

: : : : :

D.Home Related Factors : 5 : 4 : 3 : 2 :

1 Support/Assistance from parents in

Studies. : : : : : :

Encouragement from

parents. : : : : : :
Understanding and considerate parents.

: : : : :

Peaceful home and environment. : : : : :

Enough reading materials at home.

: : : : :

Financial support from parents.

: : : : :

Ability to speak English at home.

: : : : :

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

The following are the factors affecting the reading

performance of students. To what extent do the following

factors affect the performance of the Grade 7 students in

Communication Arts (English)? Please rate the following

items under each factor by putting a check (/) mark on

the right column provided for.

5 - Vey great extent

4 - Great extent
 3 - Moderate extent

2 - Little extent

1 - Very little extent

A. Student’s Related Factors : 5 : 4 : 3 : 2 1 :

Sufficient vocabulary in English : : : : : :

Good Study

Habits : : : : : :

Punctuality of

students : : : : : :

Students reading readiness in Communication Arts

(English). : : : :

: :

Clarity of Speech : : : : :

Others (Please

Specify) : : : : : :

________________________________________

________________________________________

B. School Related Factors

Adequate mimeographed test to be used to diagnose and

assess students progress in

English. : : : : : :
Adequate textbooks and other reading references.

: : : : : :

Preference of teaching- learning aids and other

Facilities. : : : :

: :

Enough bulletin boards where brief news,announcements are

posted for the pupils to read. : : : : : :

Presence of library or learning resource center.

: : : : :

C.Teacher Related Factors

Use of other reading materials when teaching.

: : : : :

Adequate in-service trainings in Communication

Arts(English). : : : :

: :

Working loads given to teachers : : : : : :

Teachers’ knowledge on the appropriate

Methods or strategies of teaching to meet the needs

of the students.

: : : : : :
Others Please Specify

: : : : : :

II. READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: Read and analyze the short story

carefully then answer the questions that follow.

A. Mr. Ramos’ house will be transferred because the

road will be widened. He is worried. He cannot do it

alone. “ Hello!”, Mr. Ramos said to Mr. Valley, his

friend. “ Do you have a problem?”, asked Mr. Valley. “Oh

Yes! My house will be transferred”, answered Mr. Ramos.

“Just relax. Dodong and the youth are here. Let us do the

bayanihan”.

1. Whose house is to be transferred?

a. Mr. Valley b. Mr. Ramos c. Dodong d. Youth

2. What did Mr. Ramos feel about the transferring of his

house?

a. He was worried, no one helped him. c. He was

relaxed and did the work alone.

b. He was happy he will transfer to another place.

d. None of the above

3.Who helped Mr. Ramos in transferring his house?

a.Mr. Valley b. Dodong c. Youth d. All of

the above
4. What Filipino practice is shown in the selection?

a.Mañana habit b. Pakikipag-kapwa tao c. Bayanihan

d. Ningas Kugon

5 .What good trait does Bayanihan show?

a.Cooperation b. Unity c. Helpfulness d. All of

the above

B. My brother had been a basketball star since

elementary days. His ambition was to be star player one

day. During college, he joined the training camp for

varsity. He woke up very early in the morning for

training, even before he attended his classes.

My mom kept telling him not to neglect his studies yet

my brother didn’t listen. Instead, he began to fall in

one subject. My mom’s advice fell on deaf ears. When my

mom learned about this, she finally asked him to stop.

But my brother didn’t obey. He went on with the games.

On his second year of training, however, my brother

had a sudden head blockage and was hospitalized. This

time it was the doctor who was telling my brother to stop

his training or something worse may happen to his body.

This time he did stop. Today my brother is a licensed

engineer.
6. What value is given emphasis by the writer in the

selection?

a.Loyalty b. Tolerance c. Honesty d.

Obedience

7. What does the phrase “the advice tell on deaf ears”

mean?

a.The advice was given importance.

b.The advice was not followed.

c.The advice was passed on to others.

d. The advice was meant for the deaf.

8. To which of the senses does the sentence in the first

paragraph appeal?

a.sight b. taste c. touch d. smell

9. What can we infer from the character of the brother in

the story?

a.petite b. stubborn c. brave d.

aggressive

10. What conclusion may be drawn from the selection?

a.It is best to follow one’s own ambitions.

b.Working hard at something leads to success.

c. It is best to follow the advice of elders.

d. Achieving one’s goal requires patience.

B. Vocabulary Test
Directions. Choose the word or phrase that best keeps the

meaning of the original sentence if it is substituted for

the highlighted word or phrase.

1.Receptors for the sense of smell are located at the top

of the nasal cavity.

a.upper end c. mouth

b.inner edge d. division

2.Passenger ships and aircraft are often equipped with

ship-to-shore or air-to-land radio telephones.

a. highways c. airplanes

b. railroads d. sailboats

3. Dotting the marshy expanse of the Florida Everglades

are little islands known locally as hammock..

a. generally c. in that area

b. to all d. occasionally

4. It is not possible for people to recall everything

that they have thought, felt or done.

a. remember c. repeat

b. appreciate d. discuss

5. When preparing a diet, a person should be aware that

vitamin D acts to increase the amount of calcium

absorbed by the body.

a. schedule of exercise c. nutritional plan

 b. study of longevity d. medicinal chart

C. Sequencing of Events

Directions. Try putting these events in the order they

happen. Number 1 through 8, with 1 being the first event

that happened, and 8 being the last. The first one is

done for you.

___1. Frank came to pick up Aunt Lily on his motorcycle.

___2. Wanda asked Aunt Lily if Frank could pick her up on

his motorcycle.

___3. Frank called to tell Wanda that he got a new

motorcycle.

___4. Frank asked Wanda if she wanted a ride on his new

motorcycle.

___5. Wanda told Frank that Aunt Lily didn’t want her to

ride on his motorcycle because motorcycles are dangerous.

___6. Frank asked Aunt Lily to go for a ride with him on

his motorcycle so she could see that motorcycles can be

safe.

___7. Aunt Lily had fun riding on Frank’s motorcycle.

___8. Aunt Lily let Frank take Wanda for a ride on his

motorcycle.

D. Cause and Effect Relationship

1. Identify the cause in the following sentence:

Nancy joined the book club because she love to read.

a. Nancy joined the book club

b. She loved to read

c. Because

d. Not here

2. Identify the effect in the following sentence:

a. Took the lid off the hot pan

b. Jim burned his hand

c. When

d. Not here

3. Identify the clue word or words that indicates a

cause/effect relationship.

Dad cooked hamburgers and hot dogs in order to have

enough for the picnic.

a. Dad cooked hamburgers and hot dogs

b. To have plenty for the picnic

c. In order

d. Not here

4. Select the Cause for the following Effect:

Beautiful flowers

a. Red flowers

b. In a vase

c. Outside
d. Hard work in the flower garden

5. Select the effect for the following cause:

A stranger came to the door

a. The dog started barking loudly

b. Because

c. Dark night

d. Not here