IMPROVING THE READING COMPREHENSION OF 15 GRADE TEN STUDENTS

OF MONCHING NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL USING SHORT STORIES WITH

GUIDED QUESTIONS, SY 2017-2018

AN CONCEPT PAPER

Submitted by

EDUARDO S. TRAPA, T-I

Monching National High School

Siay District

IMPROVING THE READING COMPREHENSION OF 15 GRADE TEN STUDENTS

OF MONCHING NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL USING SHORT STORIES WITH

GUIDED QUESTIONS, SY 2017-2018

I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

Three of the five core subjects entail comprehension using English as the

2nd language. It is the medium of instruction in teaching English, Science and

Mathematics subjects respectively. The main focus of these three subjects is

comprehension on the written material for the students to capture the details of any

information. In Mathematics, students are asked to read problems before solving for

answers; in Science students are asked to follow procedures in experiments; in

English, students are asked to read stories and answer related questions. In other

words, English needs to be well founded to link the students to other genre of

knowledge. If students cannot comprehend, then, they cannot master the

competencies expected of them in the curriculum and they will be left far behind from

others. In addition, the students need to master reading in order to converse and

receive information.

Based on the Zamboanga Sibugay Reading Profile ( See Table 1 below ),

the average frustration level of the whole Division is 40% and a trace of percentage

is visible on the record of Non Readers and a smaller percentage falls on the

independent level.

SY NON- FRUSTRAT INSTRUCTI INDEPEND

READERS ION ONAL ENT

2011-2012 2.31% 41.05% 30.51% 26.13%

2012-2013 2.5% 46.70% 27.5% 23.3%

 2013-2014 3% 33% 42% 22%

The following results show the reading level of the students at Monching National

High School, SY 2017-2018.

Reading level Non-Reader

(Antas sa Pagbabasa) Di Makabasa)

Frustration Instructional Independent    

(Pagkabigo) (Pampagkatuto) (Malaya) Pre Post

(Panimula
Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post ) (Panapos)
(Panimula (Panimula (Panimula
) (Panapos) ) (Panapos) ) (Panapos)    

               
15   3   0   22  
20   8   0   10  
22   17   8   4  
26   17   7   1  
5   12   32   0  

88 0 57 0 47 0 37  

( Table . English Oral Reading Profile.)

Grade 10 should have mastered their reading skills in Grade VI-VIII but the result

shows that there are still 15 pupils who are not independent readers. The alarming result of

the Phil-IRI triggered the attention of the proponent to pose a solution to the problem and

this links to the focus of UNESCO’s thrust.

One of the four pillars of learning is Learning to Know which provides the cognitive

tools required to better comprehend the world and its complexities, and to provide an

appropriate and adequate foundation for future learning (Zhou Nan-Zhao: UNESCO). This

concept relates to the basic thrust of the Bureau of Elementary Education: to provide access,
progress and quality in elementary education. It formulates and implements key programs

and projects to enable every citizen to acquire basic preparation that will make him an

enlightened, disciplined, nationalistic, self-reliant, God loving, creative, versatile and

productive member of the national community (11-28-2016, 11:00amretrieved from Url)

One way of alleviating the struggle of our school students in facing a written text is to

provide varied short story passages with guided questions frequently so that they will be

accustomed to read and improve their comprehension skills.

Reading comprehension involves determining what the text means by

starting with the stated information. The information above is usually transferred in written

material like book, newspaper, magazine, journal, advertisement, article, blog, social media,

short message, etc. To be able to get good comprehension from written materials, the

pupils need to read well and effectively. The importance of effective reading is also

proposed by Greenal and Michaels (1986: 46). They say, effective reading means being

able to read accurately, and to understand as much of the passage in order to achieve a

purpose. This information is then used to determine deeper meaning that is not explicitly

stated.

This research is being tapped to improve the reading comprehension skills of 15

Grade Seven students of Monching National High School using varied printed short stories

with guided questions. This strategy is expected to strengthen the pupils’ academic

performance in English, indirectly alleviate the struggle of our school children in facing a

written text and develop the love for reading.

Text comprehension is critical to academic success and must be approached

in a purposeful way ( Green_Roth_Fall 2013)

II. Review of Literature

Comprehension entails three elements: The reader who is doing the

comprehending; the text that is to be comprehended; the activity in which

comprehension is a part. …These three dimensions define a phenomenon that

occurs within a larger sociocultural context … that shapes and is shaped by the

reader and that interacts with each of the three elements(Snow, 2002, page 11).

Comprehending a passage is a complicated process in that the text’s

meaning is a combination of the explicit, literal meanings of the words and

sentences, as well as the inferred meanings that can be uniquely generated by the

reader. Given that meaning is not given solely in the text, but is mentally constructed

by readers during the reading process (Maria, 1990), the total message within the

written discourse is dependent upon the reader applying additional knowledge and

“reading between the lines.” An author does not explicitly state all of the information

necessary for comprehension, as this would be both laborious and redundant

(Gillam, 2007).

The key to the generation of the implicit meanings involves the reader’s

ability to make inferences. The ability to generate inferences is an essential skill that

greatly determines the degree to which a passage will be understood (Cain, Oakhill,

& Elbro, 2003; Casteel, 1993; Omanson, Warren, & Trabasso, 1978; Zabrusky,

1986).

Without explicit training, it is more difficult for children to answer inferential

questions about a text than literal ones (Hansen & Pearson, 1983) Given the impact

of inferential ability on successful comprehension, students with language/ learning

disabilities, who often struggle to understand what they hear and read, may exhibit

specific difficulties with this skill. Research supports this conclusion (Adams, Clarke &

Haynes, 2009; Dodwell & Bavin, 2008; Laing & Kamhi, 2002; Scannell-Miller, 1982).
 While some studies have focused on children with specific language

difficulties and others on children with learning disabilities (e.g., reading decoding

and/or comprehension difficulties), several common characteristics have emerged

with regard to their listening and reading comprehension skills. Regardless of

whether a deficit is inherent in basic language skills, reading, or both, there is

evidence that these students engage in inferential processing less often and less

comprehension tasks. Specifically, in the context of generating inferences in listening

comprehension tasks, participants with language/learning disabilities tend to perform

like younger children (Adams, Clark & Haynes, 2009; Scannell-Miller, 1982), to make

more errors on inferential questions than their typically developing peers (Dodwell &

Bavin, 2008), and to generate fewer inferences than their age mates (Laing &

Kamhi, 2002; Snyder, 1984).

In the context of reading comprehension activities, students with

language/learning disabilities have been found to demonstrate the ability to infer but

need more direction about the nature and appropriateness of inferential strategies

(Wong, 1988). Additionally, they produce similar proportions of inferences during free

recalls of a target passage but of a different quality (Tierney, Bridge & Cera, 1978),

answer fewer inferential questions correctly (Oakhill,1984) and provide more illogical,

intuitive answers to inferential comprehension than their typically developing peers

(Wilson, 1979). Thus, pupils with language/learning disabilities struggle with

inferential processing and, as a result, struggle with comprehension. These pupils’

difficulties with inferential tasks may occur for a variety of reasons. One possibility is

that they are not given enough practice with this type of reasoning. Activities within

basal readers tend to include and classroom teachers tend to ask more literal than

inferential questions (Guszak, 1967; Hansen, 1981). In addition, studies of classroom

interaction suggest that the lower-achieving students or poorer readers are asked

fewer inferential questions than are the better readers (Sadker & Sadker, 1982).

Another source of difficulty may be that poor readers do not consistently or

 effectively use their prior knowledge to answer inferential questions (Gillam, 2007)

and, even with accurate prerequisite information, answer them less effectively

(Holmes, 1984).

There is also evidence that poor readers produce fewer elaborations

from prior knowledge during reading (Reder, 1980; Tierney et al., 1978). Inferential

difficulty could also result from an overemphasis on background knowledge and

subsequent formation of “intuitive” or tangential answers when prior knowledge

overshadows text information (Williams, 1993).

Erroneous conclusions may not be discarded and negatively influence

future comprehension. Lastly, children with language/ learning disabilities might be

“inactive learners” who do not activate selective attention and/or do not choose and

employ appropriate cognitive strategies (Carr & Thompson,1996). This lack of

self-regulated learning is common in a large percentage of students with

language/learning disabilities (Bashir & Singer, 2006; Graham & Harris, 2012; Wong,

1994) such that many have limited awareness of domain-specific knowledge, skills

and strategies, how to apply them, and when to deploy them for effective and task

performance (Garner, 1990; Troia, 2002).

Given the importance of inferential thinking to successful reading

comprehension and academic success, there is a need for an intervention program

that efficiently addresses all of these potential difficulties.

III. Research Questions

This research aims to improve the Reading Comprehension Skills of 15

Grade Ten students of Monching National High School using varied printed short

stories with guided questions. This research aims to highlight the following

questions:

1. How can the strategy improve the reading comprehension of students?

 2. What are factors which help the pupils to committedly adhere to the demands of

the strategy which are expected of them?

3. How can the strategy develop the pupils’ love for reading?

4. What are the remedies to improve reading comprehension?

IV. Scope and Limitation

This study aims to discover how the Reading Comprehension Skills of 15

Grade Ten students of Monching National High School can be improved using

varied printed short stories with guided questions.

V. Research Methodology

A. Sampling

The researcher conducts a study on 70 participants of Monching National

High School who are identified to have the least scores and who are considered at

frustration level in the Phil-IRI Pre Test ( Oral ); these cases also have poor

comprehension reading skills based on the initial reading evaluation conducted on

July 15, 2017.

Table 1

Passage Passage Passage

Date No.1 No.2 No.3

Name of Students Administ ( with 5-item ( with 5-item ( with 5-item

ered guided guided guided

questions) questions) questions)

1. Student 1 July 15 1 1 1
2. Student 2 0 1 1
3. Student 3 2016 0 1 0
4. Student 4 1 0 0
5. Student 5 0 1 1
6. Student 6 1 0 0
7. Student 7 0 1 1
8. Student 8 1 1 1
9. Student l 9 0 0 0
10. Student 10 1 0 1
11. Student 11 1 0 0
12. Student 12 0 1 1
13. Student 13 1 0 0
14. Student 14 0 1 1
15. Student 15 1 1 1

The data on the table above shows that 15 out of 70 Grade Ten students of

Monching National High School have poor reading comprehension based on July

15, 2017 Phil-IRI Assessment ( English ).

B. Data Collection

To determine how the strategy can improve the poor comprehension reading

skills of students, the students undergo the following activities:

1. Students are given 5-10 minute-vocabulary development – difficult words

are identified and word definitions are simplified.

2. They are gradually made to read the three- short passages during

Mondays and Tuesdays for 25 minutes with a series of 5 multiple choice

questions per passage and each question contains 4 choices each. This

short quiz is presented to the participants to be answered in 15 minutes

every Wednesday & Friday for three weeks.

C. Ethical Issues

The respondents of this action research are Grade 10 pupils of Monching

National High School. The Researcher will take utmost confidentiality of the data
 gathered from her students and no information will be shared to her colleagues

pertaining this endeavour.

D. Plan For Data Analysis

To determine the result of this Proposal pertaining the relationship and the

comparison of the given proposed intervention, the proponent will use statistical

methods such as Linear Correlation Coefficient and T – Test in analysing data

gathered .

VI. Work Plan

Goal : To uncover students’ ability to comprehend using varied short passages and

eventually create a wholesome attitude towards reading.

WEEK 1
Date Date No. of Expected
Topic Activities Resources
Started Finished respondents Output
Passage 7- 11, 7- 11, Pretest Printed 17 pupils

1 2017 2017 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7- 12, 7- 12, Pretest Printed

2 2017 2017 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-
 Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7-. 13, 7-. 13, Pretest Printed

3 2017 2017 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
WEEK 2
Date Date No. of Expected
Topic Activities Resources
Started Finished respondents Output
Passage 7-19-17 7-19-17 Pretest Printed 17 pupils

4 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7-20-17 7-21-17 Pretest Printed

5 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7-21-17 7-21-17 Pretest Printed
6 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz

WEEK 3
Date Date No. of Expected
Topic Activities Resources
Started Finished respondents Output
Passage 7-26-17 7-26-17 Pretest Printed 17 pupils

7 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7-27-17 7-27-17 Pretest Printed

8 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7-28-17 7-28-17 Pretest Printed

9 1- passages

Reading
 2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 7-29-17 7-29-17 Pretest Printed

10 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 8-1-17 8-1-17 Pretest Printed

10 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz

WEEK 4
Passage 8-13-17 8-13-17 Pretest Printed

10 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-
 Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 8-13-17 8-13-17 Pretest Printed

10 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 8-14-17 8-14-17 Pretest Printed

10 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz
Passage 8-15-17 8-15-17 Pretest Printed

10 1- passages

Reading

2.Quiz

Posttest

1-

Reading

2.Quiz

The duration of the study is three weeks from dates July 11, 2017 to August

15, 2016.
VII. Cost Estimate

The study entails lesser budget for the three-month period of exposing the

participants to varied short story passages.

Activities Person Involved Materials Cost

Pretest Assessment Pupils, Teachers Phil-IRI Passages
Downloaded Short Teachers Internet Connection Php 500.00

Stories Bond Paper 1,800.00

Printer ----

Ink ( black) 480.00

Ink ( Colored) 720.00

Folders 980.00

Fastener 150.00

Glue 95.00
Focus Group Teachers, Parents , Snacks 5,000.00

Discussion Pupils
Post Test Teachers, Pupils Internet Connection Php 500.00

Bond Paper 1,800.00

 Passages ----

 Answer sheets

Printer

Ink ( black) 480.00

Ink ( Colored) 720.00

Folders 980.00

Fastener 150.00

Glue 95.00
Focus Group Teachers, Parents , Snacks 1,500.00

Discussion Pupils
Php 15, 950.00
VIII. Action Plan:

Activity Persons Source of Timeline

Involved Funds
 Presentation of the Action Proponent, Personal February 2018

Research Result school Head,

Teachers,

Stakeholders
 Dissemination on the Proponent, February 2018

Mechanics of the

Implementation of The

Action Research
 Replication Proponent, June 2017-March

( After Phil-IRI Pretest ) Teachers, 2018

School Head

IX. References

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