ARTICLE / JOURNAL REVIEW

A. ARTICLE IDENTIFICATION

Title : The Relationship between Reading Skills and English

Proficiency of Higher Education Students: Using Online
Practice Program

Writer : Phatchara Phantharakphong, Piyada Sudathip and Keow

Ngang Tang
Publisher : English Language Education Publishing
Years of Publised : 2019
Abstract : This study investigates the relationship between reading skills
and English proficiency of higher education students using
online practice program. This is further investigated the level of
satisfaction of students as well as the strengths and weaknesses,
and students’ views toward the online practice program. The
study is significant to support the Ministry of Education’s goal
to equip higher education students with English language and
technology skills. Researchers employed mixed-mode method
cross-sectional research design. A total of 548 undergraduate
students who registered in English for Teacher course in the
academic year 2017- 18 were purposively selected as
respondents. The online practice program consisted of four-
skill exercises and quizzes, as well as other facilities, namely
online dictionary, English magazines, and cartoon strips. The
research instruments were comprised of pre-test and posttest of
reading skills, questionnaire, worksheet, and open- ended
questions interview protocol. Students’ English proficiency was
measured using the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR) global scale. The quantitative
finding indicated that there is a significant difference between
the three different program students’ in their reading
comprehension performance. In addition, Pearson correlations
 finding showed that there is a positive, and low to moderate
relationship between students’ reading skills and English
proficiency.
Key Words : English proficiency, online practice activities, reading skills,
satisfaction

B. REVIEW

This research project was funded by Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen

University. Researchers conducted 55 hours of online practice activities involved a
pedagogical cycle as an invention program. The online language teaching and
learning starts with a detailed specification of what is needed for language teaching
and learning purposes in a specific context, defines the most appropriate method, and
finally attempts to describe the technological requirements to make it work. Given
that knowledge of online learning effectiveness in Thailand higher education is quite
limited, particularly in the English language, this study intends to explore the critical
issues related to undergraduate higher education students’ reading skills and their
English proficiency through online practice program. The quantitative findings of this
study indicated that students’ utilization of metacognitive strategies in reading made
remarkable improvements in their reading skills comprehension. This implies that
metacognitive strategies such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating are apparently
helping students to enhance their reading skills. In addition, findings of CEFR
evaluation showed that students have improved significantly in their English
proficiency from basic users to independent users after 55 hours of online practice
activities. This implies that the online practice program was found to be effective
particularly to students from Mathematics, Sciences, and Computer Education and
Language Education programs. On top of that, researchers found that reading
comprehension performance of students has a significant relationship regarding the
improvement of their English proficiency.

On this line of reasoning, the main conclusion to be drawn from the current
study is that the more reading skills development by application of metacognitive
strategies, the greater their likely influence on English proficiency level. The overall
qualitative findings revealed that views of the students towards the online practice
program appear positive. A majority of the students consider that the online practice
program is beneficial for them to improve their English proficiency. The current study
has successfully broken new ground suggesting that English language lecturers should
focus on applying metacognitive strategies together with online practice activities if
they want to improve their students’ English proficiency. The initial findings are the
three cycles of the students’ reading comprehension performance after application of
metacognitive strategies in the classroom for nine hours. This is followed by testing
students’ English proficiency level using the CEFR evaluation tool and the
correlations of reading skills and English proficiency. Then, students’ satisfaction in
using English online practice program is examined. Finally, the strengths and
weaknesses of online practice activities are explored and students’ views of using the
online practice activities are taken into consideration.

a. Method used

Researchers employed a cross-sectional research design by looking at

undergraduate higher education students who differ on one key characteristic at one
specific point in time. In other words, the data was collected at the same time from
students who are similar in the characteristics as they registered in the English for
Teacher course in the academic year 2017- 18 and they are final year students but
different in a key factor of interest as they were from different study program.
Respondents of this study were separated into groups known as study program. In this
study, researchers created groups of respondents who were in the following study
programs, namely Mathematics, Sciences, and Computer Education program, Arts
Education, Physical Education, and Social Study program, and Language Education
program. In addition, researchers utilized mixed-mode methods to collect quantitative
and qualitative data. A few methods of data collection to ensure the collected data
were met our research needs. The mixed-mode methods strategies used in this study is
sequential explanatory.

Data was collected and analyzed of quantitative data followed by a collection

and analysis of qualitative data that would achieve the purpose of using qualitative
findings to assist in explaining and interpreting the findings of a quantitative study.
Pretest of students’ reading skills 55 hours of online practice activities and the
application of metacognitive strategies Posttest of students’ reading skills Test the
differences in reading skills English proficiency (CEFR evaluation tool) Students’
satisfaction Strengths and weaknesses Students’ views 90 All the 548 final year
undergraduate higher education students who registered the English for Teacher
course in the academic year 2017-18 at the Faculty of Education in one of the
Thailand public universities were purposively selected as respondents. The
respondents are comprised of 286 from Mathematics, Sciences, and Computer
Education program, 128 from Arts Education, Physical Education, and Social Study
program, and 134 from Language Education.

b. Backgroud of Study

Reading is defined as a process of glancing the written words and symbols and
getting meaning from them. In other words, our brain has to translate the written
words and symbols and then getting meaning from them into words, sentences, and
paragraph that communicate something to us. Students have to learn to read critically
and analytically to understand the most out of the assigned reading materials. The 82
idea is that students need to understand the intention of the materials that they read.
Most of the higher education students lack academic reading skills and employ non-
university strategies to read academic texts, which results in students taking a surface
approach to reading. The digital technologies of information and communication are
having a growing role in university educational processes. Thus university lecturers
are required to teach effectively in challenging environments, to make effective use of
information and communication technology in their teaching, to cater to a variety of
learning styles, to conduct research aimed at improving the quality of their teaching.
In order to keep up with the 21th-century trends, Ministry of Education, Thailand
encouraged all Thai educational institutions to equip their students with those skills,
especially technology skills.

Therefore, the role of technology in education in enhancing the learning

experiences of students hence assisting them to develop the essential skills such as
thinking skills, selfdirection, and communication skills have to take serious
consideration. In addition, technologies are ideally placed to help lecturers working
with students, and students are working independently, to do the necessary language
activities to improve their language proficiency as much as possible. Consequently,
Thai educational institutions have attempted to use online practice with the belief that
it would help their students to improve their English abilities apart from learning
English in the classroom. Thai people still have less English proficiency compared to
other ASEAN member countries. Therefore, higher education institution, in
particular, is considered as a key mechanism to equip graduates with professional
skills and English language competency. As a result, it can be concluded that English
language teaching in Thailand higher education institutions still needs improvement to
produce more competent graduates and labors who are fully competitive in the Asean
Economy Community and wider international markets.

c. References Taken

Dalam penulisan jurnal ini, penulis mengambil banyak refrensi dari beberapa
jurnal lain yang juga membahas mengenai pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam konteks
membaca dan profesiensi. Hal ini menjadi nilai plus dalam memperkuat konten jurnal
ini. Selain mengambil beberapa refrensi dari jurnal lain yang sudah terlebih dahulu
terbit, penulis juga mengemukakan pendapatnya sendiri mengenai kemampuan dalam
membaca dalam mempengaruhi english profeciency peserta didik.

d. Conceptual Framework And Research Objectives

Reading comprehension is a multifaceted proces and students need vocabulary

knowledge and metacognitive skills to decode, understand, and reflect on what they
have been read. Metacognition refers to the 83 processes used to plan, monitor, and
assess student’s understanding and performance which includes a critical awareness
of student’s thinking and learning and also oneself as a thinker and learner. This
awareness is a developmental process and lies on a continuum. Proficient readers use
one or more metacognitive strategies to comprehend text. The use of such strategies
has developed over time as the reader learns which ones are best suited to aid
comprehension. Metacognitive strategies instruction is able to enhance reading
comprehension and vocabulary achievement of third-grade students. Students’
comprehension was not enhanced by merely reading more text. Moreover, students
can improve their reading comprehension if they use one of the strategies, for
example summarizing. If students are given a host of strategies that they could apply
at their preference, their reading comprehension will be greatly improved. The
metacognitive reading framework should be familiar to lecturers who integrate before,
during, and after reading processes when teaching students effective comprehension
strategies.

Theoretically, the strategies specific to reading can be classified in the

following three clusters of metacognition planning, monitoring, and evaluating
strategies. Planning strategies are utilized before reading instruction to increase
students’ reading comprehension. The planning strategies including activating prior
knowledge, overviewing information in the text, relating text to text, and relating the
text to self. Monitoring strategies are applied during the reading instruction to help the
students to pay attention to meaning construction as well as correct breakdowns
incomprehension. The monitoring strategies consist of determining word meaning,
questioning, reflecting, monitoring, summarizing, and looking for important
information. Finally, the evaluation strategies are used after reading instruction that
allows the students to think critically about the text and make a cognitive or affective
judgment. The evaluation strategies encompass, thinking like the author, evaluating
the text, anticipating use of knowledge, monitoring for meaning, knowing when you
know, knowing when you don’t know, using and creating schema, making
connections between the new and the known, building and activating background
knowledge, asking questions, generating questions before, during, and after reading
that lead you deeper into the text, determining importance, deciding what matters
most, what is worth remembering, inferring, combining background knowledge with
information from the text to predict, 84 conclude, make judgments and interpret,
using sensory and emotional images, creating mental images to deepen and stretch
meaning and synthesizing-creating an evolution of meaning by combining
understanding with knowledge from other texts/sources.

Focusing on the receptive skills, reading comprehension is one of the reading

skills in the CEFR evaluation tool which has its own illustrative scales. Higher
education students’ English proficiency was hypothesized to be improved after the 55
hours of online practice activities. Students’ English proficiency was evaluated using
the CEFR evaluation tool. Besides, students’ satisfaction level of using online practice
activities, the strengths, weaknesses, and their views of the online practice program
were also investigated.

e. Researchers aim
 Reseacher intended to study the reading comprehension performance of final
year undergraduate higher education students after the three cycles of classroom
English metacognitive strategies teaching by investigating students’ English
proficiency after 55 hours of online practice activities. Reseacher also want to
examine the correlations of reading skills and English proficiency. Other that that, the
aim also to examine the students’ satisfaction of using online practice program. And
to study the strengths and weaknesses of online practice program. Lastly, the aim of
the study is to study students’ views of using online practice program.

f. Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance

All the students improved gradually in their reading skills from 81.50 percent
to 87.00 percent after the three cycles of application metacognitive strategies teaching
in the classroom. Moreover, descriptive findings indicated that students from the
Language Education Program possessed the highest reading skill abilities (X̅= 18.49;
SD = .84). This is followed by Mathematics, Science, Computer Education program
students (X̅= 17.29; SD = 1.67). The least capacity of reading skills was from Art
Education, Physical Education, and Social Study program (X̅= 13.95; SD = 2.05).

g. Students’ English Proficiency

Students’ English proficiency level was measured after they attended the 55
hours of online practice activities using the CEFR evaluation tool. Students from
these two programs, namely, Mathematics, Sciences, and Computer Education
program and Language Education program seemed to improve drastically from A2 to
B1 level. In other words, they were able to understand the texts that consist mainly of
high-frequency everyday or job-related language and could understand the description
of events, feelings, and wishes in personal letters. Therefore, they have progressed
from basic users to be independent users. However, students from Arts Education,
Physical Education, and Social Study program improved their English proficiency
from A1 to A2. They remained as basic users who could read very short, simple texts,
could find specific, predictable information in simple everyday material such as
advertisements, prospectuses, menus, and timetables as well as understand short
simple personal letters. Table 5 shows students’ English proficiency before and after
55 hours of online practice activities.
h. Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance and their English
Proficiency

The findings of one-way ANOVA analysis indicated that there was a

significant difference among the three different study program students on their
reading comprehension performance at .05 significant level. Language Education
program students obtained the highest mean score (X̅= 6.59) compared to the other
two groups of students. Table 5 shows the one-way ANOVA findings of students’
reading comprehension performance. Finding of the Pearson’s correlation coefficients
indicated that students’ reading comprehension performance was significant, positive,
and low to moderately correlated with their English proficiency at significant .05 level
(r = .201; p<.05). The strength of ‘low to moderate’ correlation was based on de
Vaus’s (2002) interpretation of correlation coefficients. This means that low to a
moderate extent an increase in students’ reading comprehension performance is
associated with an increase in their English proficiency.

i. Students’ Satisfaction on Using Online Practice Program

Students from mathematics, Sciences, Computer Education program had the

highest satisfaction level compared to the other two programs. Nevertheless, all the
students satisfied with the topic of the efficiency of the system. Generally, all the
students had the lowest satisfaction level in the topic of quality of the system. The
interview findings revealed that the significant of using the English online practice
program because it is able to improve students’ English proficiency. Hence, the online
practice program is found to be able to helping them learning English subject
effectively. Majority of the students loved to use the program very much. Researchers
concluded that 75.50 percent of the students stated that the English online practice
program helps them in learning English. Researchers found that the weaknesses of the
English online practice program are comparatively less than the strengths, highlighted
by the students. Researchers summarized that there is a total of 45.78 percent of
students mentioned that the system has problems. Besides, the strengths and
weaknesses of the online practice program, students also required to provide their
views regarding the online practice program. A total of 89.90 percent of the students
suggested that the system should be improved particularly using the Internet
 downloading. Moreover, a total of 58.69 percent of students preferred to know the
scores of quizzes, pretests, and posttests that they have attended.

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