FACTORS AFFECTING THE READING COMPREHENSION AND ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS OF THE GRADE XI SAINT

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPOIN COR JESU
INSTITUTE OF MABINI

____________________________

A Research Presented to the Administration, Faculty

And Staff of Cor Jesu Institute of Mabini, Inc.
_________________________

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

For the Course Practical Research 2
_________________________

By
Cajegas, Francis Ramon
Pueblas, Kent Charles
Barlusca, Al Patrick
Mariano, Jeneisa
Terante, Ricardo
Kiram, Almerah
Molde, Jimarlie
Ilaya, Perlyn
Masig, Keah
Ba-at, Joryl

July 2017
Chapter 1
 Background and its setting

Reading is a very important skill that a student must have but, reading alone is
not enough for a student to understand what they are reading. Reading should always
be acquainted with comprehension. This helps the students in getting the information
of the message they are reading clearly with the right interpretation.

The California State University (CSU) reported that 66.4% of first time freshmen
in the CSU were proficient in English (California State University, 2014). Many students
enrolled in college courses with limited understanding of how to read at the college
level and how to read for proficiency in a given discipline, and thus require explicit
instructions and aimed at developing cognitive and meta-cognitive skills associated
with reading comprehension (Culver 2011) Research acknowledges that poor reading
comprehension may contribute to failure, to persistence and to degree (Kennedy-
Manzo, 2006).

As remedial courses in English and reading skills often do not overcome all
deficits associated with reading comprehension and literacy, students may benefit
richly from explicit instructions concerning reading skills required for proficiency in a
given discipline. Such instruction may introduce students to reading strategies and
provide opportunities for students to rehearse their skills with timely, formative
assessment (Marshall and Davis, 2012).

http://www.google.com.ph/search?
q=global+setting+for+reading+comprehension+2013-2016aqs=mobile-gws-lite

In Kitang Elementary School, Bataan it is reported that many students, reading

comprehension is a major problem. There are mainly three (3) causes for poor reading
comprehension. First is, if the person has a language problem.

Language plays a vital role in reading. One that cannot read a book in a
language unless one knows that particular language. If the child’s knowledge of English
is poor, then his reading will be poor also, and naturally also his reading
comprehension. Second is, if the foundation skills of reading have not been
automatized. When a person attempts to speak a language in which he has not because
automatic yet, he will necessarily have to decide his attention between the content of
the book or the message or the language itself. He will therefore speak haltingly and
with great difficulty. Lastly, the reader is unable to decode the written word. The
decoding of the written word is a very important aspect of reading act.

Without being able to decode the written word, reading comprehension is

impossible. This explains why some children can “read” without understanding what
they have read.

http://docslide.us/documents/factors-affecting-reading-comprehension-in-
kitang-elementary-school.html

According to Ms.Niña Labastida, an English teacher of Cor Jesu Institute of

Mabini, Inc. that “Reading comprehension of the Grade 11 students are good because
some students comprehend the English words or sentences well and some do not,
maybe they are just fun in reading books that they have an interest with that is why
they can comprehend it well. However, others are not really fun of reading books that is
why they don’t have the capacity to understand English language and of course they
are not that good in comprehending. Some are good and some are not. It only depends
on what is the text being used in order for them to read it”.

Ms.Niña also stated that “the common factors that can affect the comprehension
of the students in English. One of which is the vocabulary. She said that the student
must have a wide range of vocabulary in order for them to really understand the text.
Second is the interest, they can really comprehend a text, a novel, a literary piece or an
English piece if they are interested in it but if they don’t have an interest then most
probably they will not really understand it. Third, the structure of the piece that the
teacher is giving to them or the structure of piece that they are reading. The structure
should be order. It should be well-arranged in order for the students not to mistook or
misunderstood everything and in order for fluent understanding of the English
language.
 According to Darryl, one of the students in Grade 10 that “Penniless Reading
Comprehension affects everything in mastering English language because a student
with poor reading skills might not get the true meaning of a word; listeners may not get
what the student is trying to say.” He added that “ the factors would be, lack of daily
reading habits, lack of knowledge about difficult words that includes pronunciation,
proper intonation and diction; gadgets that would distracts them, seldom use of
dictionaries and other references.”

Dianne, also a Grade 10 student mentioned that “ her perception about how
penniless reading comprehension affects in mastering English language is it may cause
the person not clearly understand the reader’s speech or his/her talk because of the
very poor skill he/she had. She said that “The things or key points I could recommend
to my co-students that they should read books all the time and they must listen
attentively to their English teacher. Also to practice speaking using English language.

Figure 6. The Florida Reading Initiative conceptual framework.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this research entitled “FACTORS AFFECTING THE READING

COMPREHENSION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS OF
GRADE XI SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO IN COR JESU INSTITUTE OF MABINI,
INC. is to improve and to identify the remedy for the penniless reading
comprehension, to analyze the problems and difficulties of the factors that serves as the
barrier in the reading comprehension of the Grade 11 students and to find more reading
strategies that could be applicable in the teaching-learning process.

This research is significant to the teachers, students, administrators, and parents

wherein the researcher will collate information in order to have more remedy for the
said research problem so that it will be improved and to be enhanced.

Further, the researcher uses phenomenological approach in getting the

experiences of the research respondents of what are the reasons why the penniless
reading comprehension is really existing and happening in this 21 st century.

Lastly, the researcher was challenged to really conduct this study with a strong
purpose to determine if other students are experiencing or have experienced the same
experience, and this study may serve as a window that this phenomenon may occur
also to other field aside from mastering the English language.

Research Questions

As a guide to the researcher to see the results on how the penniless reading
comprehension affects in mastering English language, the researcher postulated
seven(7) questions for in-depth interview to measure the reading competency of the
research participants based on noting details, getting the main idea, organizing idea,
outlining the answers, and summarizing the idea.

The researcher will interrogate the following questions towards the participants:

1. What are the participants’ experience on how penniless reading

comprehension of the students in mastering English language?

2.What are the factors that affects the penniless reading comprehension of the
students in mastering English language?
 3.How do you comprehend while you are reading a text? What are your
techniques in reading with comprehension?

4.When was the moment that you have experienced struggles in comprehending
and understanding to read the text?

5.If you will rate your reading proficiency from 1-10, what will be your rating?
Why?

6.What problems that you must consider in reading comprehension?

7.What are the things or key points you could recommend to the students so that
they can easily understand and improve their reading comprehension skills to be able
for them to be well-equipped in mastering the universal language which is English?

Through the guide questions, the researcher is expected to gather information

about the factors that affect the penniless reading comprehension in mastering English
language in order to obtain and to supply the needs and answers to the research
problem conducted by the researcher itself.

Theoretical Lens

The FRI Conceptual Framework by Lane and Hayes (2015) has withstood the
test of time. More than a decade after its initial use, the same conceptual framework
continues to inform our focus and strategies for professional development,
curriculum planning, and diagnosing students' reading difficulties. Conceptual
framework provides a common reference point for understanding the reading
process and how interdependent factors can deferentially influence reading
comprehension. Many efforts to deepen teachers' knowledge of reading processes
and skills have focused on individual components (i.e., phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension) however, such an approach does not
necessarily help teachers and educational leaders understand how these elements
come together for an individual reader with a particular piece of text. The following
comment from one teacher, after her initial exposure to the conceptual framework,
illustrates its power to transform teacher thinking:
I've learned a lot about the various components of effective reading
instruction, but the components have always been presented separately.
There's phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and
comprehension. For the first time, I truly understand that these are not
separate ideas. They are connected in really important ways, and the most
important thing is that all the components are there to influence
comprehension. I've never thought about them that way. Thinking about
how I am influencing comprehension will make my phonemic awareness
instruction and my fluency practice look much different. Now I know that
I'm not teaching phonics for the sake of teaching phonics. I'm teaching
phonics so my students will be able to comprehend text. If the way I'm
teaching phonics doesn't make it easier for my kids to comprehend text,
why do it? If any part of my reading instruction doesn't help
comprehension, what's the point?
Despite the tremendous amount of reading research in recent years, many teachers
continue to struggle to implement evidence-based practices. Numerous studies have
demonstrated that many pre-service and practicing teachers lack the knowledge
necessary to use such practices effectively (Erickson, 2013). Teacher education and
professional development activities must organize the findings of research to make it
comprehensible for teachers.
We have found the framework described here extremely useful in planning and
developing comprehensive reading programs, as well as reading intervention efforts.
Much has been written about the importance of teachers' pedagogical content
knowledge for improving classroom practice and student outcomes. The FRI
conceptual framework of reading provides a useful model to coherently organize the
content of contemporary reading research in a way that can promote teachers'
knowledge and their efforts to enhance reading instruction and intervention.
Significance of the Study

This research immense to the different significance and aspect in reading. This is
useful in improving the reading comprehension, reading strategies, and reading
modalities and methodologies.

This research is expected to analyze the problems, difficulties, and factors that
serve as barriers in the reading comprehension of the Grade 1o students.

Students: It provides ideas and clues in understanding the obstacles that hinders
in their reading ability and from becoming an effective and active reader. This study
serves as a guide to them in developing their reading comprehension in English. The
students will be able to read and to comprehend easily because of the given techniques
and strategies in reading based from the results of this study conducted by the
researcher.

Teachers: The findings and the results of this study grandly help them in
formulating their activities that makes the student’s interest be sustained and to catch
the attention of the students specifically the readers on how to deal and to formulate an
approach to the students that are bothered in reading, slow readers, and inefficient
readers in the academe.

Administrators/Principals/School Heads: The results of this study serves as an

avenue to them in order to provide educational materials, facilities or new laboratories
such as speech laboratory that aids the novice readers in becoming an active,
independent and effective reader.

Parents: The results of this study give the parents an idea on how to understand
and to give remedy to the learner’s reading development. It helps them in order to
facilitate and to assist the student’s needs in their reading skills and abilities. It will also
foster strong teacher-parent collaboration to the students.
 Researchers: The results of this study serves as beneficial in order to suffice the
needs of an individual readers on how to read and to comprehend well the text in the
field of academe. It is useful so that the other researchers will be informed what are the
newly techniques and strategies that must be ought to apply so that they can be able to
relay all the things in the academic community particularly in the teaching-learning
process.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This extent of this research covered only the perception of the Junior High School
students of Cor Jesu Institute of Mabini, Inc. specifically the Grade 11 students who
were recommended by English teachers who have taken or are currently taking the
English class.

This study focused only in collating students’ perception on how penniless

reading comprehension affects in mastering the English language so that it will have
more ideas on what are the basis for this nature of the problem and the reasons why the
writer is addressing the problem through research.

Moreover, the recommended Grade 11 students of the said institution underwent

for an in-depth interview as a way for collecting the data and to employ the strategy to
answer the research question given by the researcher to improve, to gather perceptions,
to identify the remedy for the penniless reading comprehension and to analyze the
problems and difficulties of the factors that serves as the barrier in the reading
comprehension of the Grade 10 students.

Thus, the research was limited and did not include the students who are not
enrollees of Cor Jesu Institute of Mabini, Inc. of the Academic School Year 2017-2018
and those who were not recommended by the English teachers. Experiences irrelevant
to the study were not included but might be reconsidered for thorough analysis to
determine the connection.
Definition of Terms

Comprehension- the act of understanding or the faculty of understanding the capacity

to include and sympathetic understanding of differing opinions.

Read- to understand the meaning of symbols, signs, gestures, etc.by looking at them
and assimilating mentally. To discover the meaning of someone’s thoughts and
expressions by observation.

Reading Comprehension- includes all of the processes related to deriving meaning

from written language or the process of constructing meaning from the text. Act of
understanding what you are reading as the level of understanding of a text or message.

Vocabulary- a list of words, usually arranged alphabetically and defined, explained

and translated. The range of language, the stuck of words at a person’s command, is
used in a particular word, branch of subject.

Dictionary- a book containing the words or a choice of the words of a language

arranged in an alphabetical order with their definitions, and often indicates their
pronunciation, part of speech, common usage and provenance.

Background Knowledge- a person’s past history, the accumulation of knowledge and

experience that a person can draw on. Of an off-the-record, official, informal news
conference designed to provide non-quotable information.

English Language- a language of Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of

languages. It is the vehicle of a great world literature, and the main language of
commerce.

Strategies-a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long
period of time.

Penniless- very poor

Operational Definitions:
Comprehension- In this study, comprehension is used the way the reader will
comprehend and analyze the text from the given reading materials.

Read- In this study, it is used on looking at and understanding the texts and reading
aloud the words that are written in the reading materials.

Reading Comprehension- In this study, it is used on how to read and to comprehend

the text appropriately. The way on how to clearly understand what is being read by the
students.

Vocabulary-In this study, it is used on how the words particularly highfalutin defined
and explained so that it will have the correct underlying meaning as a guide for the
readers to make them understand clearly what the readers are reading.

Dictionary- In this study, it is used when the readers encountered difficult words they
can refer to this reference in order to find and to locate the upright meaning whenever
they have read in the reading materials given by someone.

Background Knowledge- In this study, it is used regarding to the knowledge and

learning’s being obtained.

English Language- In this study, it is the language being used while they are reading
some text whether fiction or non-fiction. The universal language that the readers must
be mastered well.

Strategies- In this study, it is the strategies that someone will employ in order to have
improvement and enhancement in the field or aspect of reading skills which is one of
the skills that everyone must ought to master while studying the universal language
which is English.

Penniless-In this study, it refers to the poor way on the reading comprehension of the
students using the English language which is considered also as not good in
understanding, interpreting, and analyzing the text presented in the well-written and
well-produced write-ups.
Organization of the Study

This qualitative research aimed to interpret a certain phenomena and to see what
it brings to people involved.

Organization is really significant in this study so that it will be conducted

successfully. The researcher organized this research following certain procedures as
endorsed by the institution.

Chapter 1 in this study delves into the nature of the problem, the background of
the study arranged from global, national, and local setting to support the reason for
conducting this study, the circumstances that led to the problem, and the reasons why
the researcher is addressing the problem through research. In this chapter included the
purpose of the study, significant of the study, and organization of the study. The
researcher believed that this research is not only for compliance but to aid the welfare of
people where this research is significant.

Further, beneficiaries were listed and sorted to the degree of importance. The
scope and delimitation of the study was included, and the definition of terms for further
clarifications to some terms used.

Chapter 2 in this study presented the review of related literature, readings,

studies, concepts of some researchers, concerned individuals and relevant research
associated with the problem addressed in this study. It synthesizes studies that
supports the investigation.

Chapter 3 in this study discussed the methodology, procedures and different

ways of the investigation used for data collection and analysis to answer the research
questions provided by the research. This also included the research design, the role of
the researchers, the research participants, the data collection procedures, the data
analysis and the trustworthiness and the credibility of the study.
 Chapter 4 in this study contains expounds on the answers to the research
questions.Specifically, the results and discussions present findings from the literature,
in-depth interviews, as well as using research engine to have an online research.

Chapter 5 offers a summary and discussion of the researcher's findings,

generations drawn from the research results and discussion, its implications for
practice, and recommendations for future research.

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

 This chapter presented survey of related literature and writing of recognized
experts, both of which have significant bearing or relation to the problem under
investigation.

Lucy Hart (2015) said that “Reading comprehension is a cognitive process that
requires myriad skills and strategies. Numerous programs are designed to improve
reading comprehension: summer reading, read to succeed, student book clubs and
battle of the books. However, according to the U.S. Department of Education, millions
of students progress each year without the necessary reading skills. Reading
comprehension involves various factors such as background knowledge, vocabulary
and fluency, active reading skills and critical thinking that must work together.”

Vocabulary

Lucy Hart (2015) said that “Whether or not students have mastered vocabulary skills
affects their reading comprehension. Students must be able to comprehend a familiar
word and its relationship with other words within a text. Mastering vocabulary
includes recognizing a word’s part of speech, definition, useful context clues, and how
it functions in a sentence. These vocabulary strategies can help improve
comprehension.”

According to Kids Learning HQ (2015) Improving vocabulary is an important part of

the core curriculum at school.Memorizing sight words, spelling tests, timed tests and
word games are ways to help reading and writing.The bigger your child’s vocabulary
the easier they will find reading and writing. Research has shown in improving
vocabulary is an important part of the core curriculum at school.

Vocabulary development is a process of acquiring new words to use in daily life,

and more specifically, the basis for learning any language. Vocabulary development
focuses on helping students learn the meaning of new words and concepts in various
contexts and across all academic content areas. Teaching students to develop
vocabulary means providing explicit instruction on important words from text and
teaching students strategies to help them learn word meanings independently. It is
critical for both oral and written vocabulary development to increase as students get
older to enable them to comprehend increasingly more complex grade level text (Kamil
et al., 2008; Loftus & Coyne, 2013).

For years, the field of reading education has been engaged in thinking about best
practices. Explicit instructions are vocabulary, rereading, and using digital textbooks to
motivate children reading among some of these updated best practices. Those in the
reading community are urged to consider best practices, and how we may promote
their uses, with high fidelity in classroom instructions. (Koslos and Neuman,2014)

Nosal (2012) stated that “Vocabulary comprehension is a crucial component in

acquiring reading comprehension skills. Successful vocabulary development ensures
that students will develop metacognitive skills which will assist children in
comprehending advanced texts requirements when they leave the learning to read
phase, and are expected to read to learn. Comprehension is not the sole factor in word
recognition and memorization of definitions; it is merely a main component of
vocabulary development. For children who have not acquired proper knowledge of the
meaning of words, reading comprehension will prove difficult if not impossible”.

Children who are poor readers may lack the proper vocabulary to comprehend
what is read and will find reading difficult .Struggling students will attempt to practice
avoidance techniques such as procrastination, or misplacing a text, rather than read a
book overloaded with a vocabulary that is foreign to them. Without exposure to new
words students do not acquire the skills needed to achieve fluency. As time progresses
and children receive increasingly demanding work, students continue to fall behind
academically. A result of not achieving fluency is the “Matthew Effects”. Bio social
economic disparities within a child’s environment result in the “rich get richer and the
poor get poorer” consequence. Excelling readers become avid readers and poor readers
become poorer readers. Poor readers will read only when necessary thus learning fewer
words
 Vocabulary can be divided into three parts. Auditory vocabulary is composed of
the words that are heard. Verbal vocabulary is composed of words that are used in
speech. Reading vocabulary is composed of words that are seen in print and can be
decoded. Acquiring a fluent reading vocabulary requires more than looking up the
definition of words in a dictionary. A proper form of instruction is required for children
to develop word knowledge in-depth. Students need to be empowered with skills to
Develop strategies that will increase the growth of word knowledge.

Background Knowledge

Background knowledge plays an essential role in reading comprehension. In an effort to

comprehend a text, students rely on their background knowledge to link what they
already know to the text they are reading. Background knowledge includes both a
reader’s real-world experiences and literary knowledge. Drawing parallels between
background knowledge and texts helps students become active readers, improving
their reading comprehension. Lucy Hart (2015)

According to Kaefer and Pinkham (2014) said that” background knowledge is

important in children’s compehension. It makes good sense that to comprehend a story
or text, readers will need a threshold of knowledge about the topic. Sometimes we call
domain specific knowledge or topical knowledge. Without such knowledge, it becomes
difficult to construct a meaningful mental model of what the text is about.

Kaefer et.al (2013) said that “The importance of background knowledge is especially
salient in the age of Common Core. To meet the demands of these new standards,
children will be expected to develop knowledge through text, both narrative and
informational, within specified difficulty ranges at each grade level. Informational text,
in particular, is likely to have a greater density of conceptual language and academic
terms than typical storybooks or narrative texts. Consequently, these texts will place
increasing demands on children's prior knowledge, further attenuating other risk
factors.
Without greater efforts to enhance background knowledge, differences in children's
knowledge base may further exacerbate the differences in children's vocabulary and
comprehension. The imperative to foster children's background knowledge as a means
for providing a firm foundation for learning, therefore, is greater than ever.”

Fluency

Lucy Hart (2015) stated that “Reading with fluency allows students to retain
information with accuracy, expression and increased speed. The ability to read fluently
develops through reading practice. As students become fluent readers, they will spend
less time trying to decipher the meaning of words and more time considering the
overall meaning of the sentences. Over time, fluent readers will develop the ability to
insight fully respond to a text.”

Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly and with confidence. It can be
considered a bridge between the act of decoding words and the development of reading
comprehension. As children become fluent readers, they begin to think less about the
words and more about the meaning of the sentences they’re reading. Fluent readers
become able to respond to the material with emotion and thought.

Fluency surprised many people when it made this list since many of us did not have
fluency practice when we learned to read. Fluency is the ability to read text accurately
and quickly. Fluency bridges word decoding and comprehension. Comprehension is
understanding what has been read. Fluency is a set of skills that allows readers to
rapidly decode text while maintaining high comprehension.

A first benchmark for fluency is being able to “sight read” some words. The idea is that
children will recognize at sight the most common words in written English and that
instant reading of these words will allow them to read and understand text more
quickly. Also, since there are many common English words that are so irregular
according to the rules of phonics, its best to get children to just memorize them from the
start. For example, try sounding out these words: “one”, “was”, “if”, “even”, or “the”.

Many experts quickly warn us that an over-emphasis on sight reading early on can be
counterproductive by having children focus on word memorization while avoiding
learning the all important techniques of sounding out words. The bottom line is that as
children master the rules of phonics, they should also master by sight a limited number
of commonly encountered and often irregular words.

https://www.time4learning.com/readingpyramid/fluency.htm

Active Reading

Beginning readers often rely on skilled readers to guide them through a text. However,
as readers develop, they will be able to monitor their own reading comprehension.
Students can actively guide their own reading by targeting comprehension problems as
they occur. Students can troubleshoot comprehension problems by recalling what they
read, asking themselves questions or evaluating the text. (Lucy Hart,2015)

Active reading simply means reading something with a determination to understand

and evaluate it for its relevance to your needs.

Simply reading and re-reading the material isn't an effective way to understand and
learn. Actively and critically engaging with the content can save you time. Most OU
study books and websites include in-text questions and self-assessed questions. Use
these as built-in cues to make your study active.

Reading for comprehension

Much of what we have said already is contained within a well known technique for
actively engaging with and extracting meaning from content - SQ3R. It is good for
revision as well as reading something for the first time. 'SQ3R' stands for the five steps
involved.
SKIM through the text quickly to get an overall impression.

QUESTION. If you are reading it for a particular purpose (for example, to answer an
assignment), ask yourself how it helps. Also ask questions of the text: Who? What?
Where? When? How?

READ. Read the text in a focused, and fairly speedy way.

REMEMBER. Test your memory - but don't worry if you can't remember much.

REVIEW. Read the text in more detail, taking notes. Use your own words.

http://www2.open.ac.uk/students/skillsforstudy/active-reading.php

Critical Thinking

Students can actively respond to a text more efficiently when they possess critical
thinking skills. As students read, they can determine the main idea and supporting
details, the sequence of events and the overall structure of the text. Students will also be
able to identify literary devices and their effect on the text. Having critical thinking
skills help to deepen a student’s comprehension of a text, resulting in a positive reading
experience.(Lucy Hart,2015)