Precious Ann Sta Maria Ms.

Marlex Bañar
10-Emerald

PROBLEM: Poor Reading Comprehension Skills of Junior High School Students and its
relation to the Teaching Strategies of teachers during Online Distance Learning

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies (RRLS)

Related Foreign Literature

In the journal article entitled “Teachers' Role in Fostering Reading Skill: Effective and
Successful Reading” the authors Rexlin and Dharma (2011) emphasized the value of reading in
our life saying, “reading bestows enjoyment and enlightenment. It unlocks the unknown. It is a
complex cognitive activity that is indispensable for this kind of knowledge society.” They also
noted that in order to succeed in the modern world and join a literate society, students must
understand how to learn through reading. One who reads can illuminate others. Reading drives
out ignorance and superstition, allowing readers to live free lives. It also has the power to
revolutionize everyone's ways of thinking and living. It makes everyone think critically and
creatively.

It has also been emphasized in the article the role of educators in the reading journey of
every student: Not all reading and thinking are alike. Thinking is involved in arriving at
generalizations, drawing conclusions, and making inferences and applications. Critical reading is
similar to successful detective work; so the teachers must train the students in critical reading
which is not only concerned with what the author writes but is with what the author means. While
providing students with instruction, teachers should foster their intellectual curiosity, desire for
truth and validity, and their questioning attitude characterized by problem-solving, analytical, and
judging abilities. Teachers must help their wards know how to examine the author's implications,
tone, diction, and style employed in the reading material (Rexlin & Dharma, 2011).

In reading comprehension, there is a social context that can be associated. In some cases,
reading comprehension occurs individually, alone—in a very limited social setting. But in other
circumstances, reading comprehension can be a lively social activity in which people—teachers,
parents, and children—read a text together and jointly construct meaning through discussion.
Lively interaction about a text in the company of others seems to be the optimal situational context
to enhance students’ reading comprehension (McKeown, Beck, & Blake, 2009).

Having said these, we can clearly see how reading comprehension is an important aspect
of a student’s education, as well as how teachers and educators play a huge role in this learning.
To support this, in the book of Jennings et al. (2013), it is in fact the teachers bear the primary
responsibility for instructing students who have reading problems.
 In the journal article entitled “Teacher’s role in encouraging student participation in reading
skills”, Yılmaz (2019) also states that as teachers, we have to give hope and confidence to our
students and embolden them to use the language in reading skills which is a challenge for them.
Being a motivator is one of a teacher's most crucial responsibilities because depending on the
technical virtues a teacher has, and the capability of a teacher, students will be good at learning;
the teacher can only assist students in overcoming their problems and fears related to the
challenges of learning a second language in this way, A well-prepared and enthusiastic teacher
can improve the environment and effectiveness of the class by being aware of the needs and
engaged in the problems of the students.

In our current situation where Covid-19 is still obviously prevalent, this may all seem a
challenge, especially for the education system. Where in the world experienced online distance
learning. As to what Fordham University (n.d.) mentioned, this is a type of education that takes
place over the internet. This can be further separated into synchronous online courses, in which
the teacher and student engage simultaneously online, and asynchronous online courses, which
do not take place in real-time. With this, the Education for Global Development (2021) highlighted
that the pedagogical modifications have emerged as crucial because the traditional in-person
teaching approaches do not work in a distance learning setting. The pandemic has altered how
teachers balance teaching, student interaction, and administrative responsibilities.. The pandemic
has brought attention to the need for adaptability and more time for interactions between students
and teachers.

Furthermore, we should always provide children with the tools they need to understand
the texts they are reading because we know that reading is an act of creating meaning. And so
today, for students to be supported as they become more independent, teachers must supply
these tools in new ways and to a larger extent while using distance learning. In distance learning,
we can either use our learning management systems to create gateway activities so that students
complete pre reading tasks before the reading text is made available, or we can teach these skills
during synchronous learning as preparation for reading that occurs during asynchronous learning
(Ferguson, 2020).

This new learning set-up paved the way for more struggles and difficulties in the learning
of students, especially in their reading comprehension, and it can be associated with its educators.
As Goldstein (2022) in her report in The New York Times, she says that the biggest problem for
Capital Prep, and many other schools, is a shortage of educators like Mrs. John, 30, a Tufts
University graduate who received formal training in phonics instruction in a previous job. Many
graduates of teacher-preparation programs lack this skill set, and some of the nation’s most
popular reading curriculums do not emphasize it, despite a large body of research showing it is
crucial.

In line with this, Ferguson (2020) suggests different strategies that teachers can apply
while teaching in an online distance learning setup. The list goes:
 Activate prior knowledge: Reading comprehension improves when we take
time to connect the new knowledge to existing knowledge. With online
whiteboards, bulletin boards, or documents, we can create mind maps or KWL
charts. Virtual field trips, virtual gallery walks, playlists, and choice boards build
essential background knowledge and spark curiosity. Polling features and Google
Forms can serve as anticipation guides that graphically display responses.

Model success: Students of all ages and levels need us to model how to
approach a difficult text. Whether on a recorded video or in a live video teaching
session, we can read a selection to model pacing and expression and use think-
aloud to demonstrate strategies like analyzing text features, applying SQ3R,
questioning, and using fix-up strategies, such as rereading, summarizing, and
making connections.

Monitor students’ progress: Students can get lost in the virtual world, but
online monitoring tools help keep them on track. We can use videos to dialogue
with students: They might send a video update on their reading project or read a
passage aloud and describe how they constructed their understanding of the text,
and we can provide video feedback, which evidence suggests may be more
effective than written feedback.

Related Local Literature

In the Philippine context, according to the report of Inquirer.net: education was

undoubtedly one of the industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in a profound way.
Additionally, schools nationwide were forced to close when physical classes were considered too
risky to hold as SARS-Cov-2, the COVID-19 virus that is primarily spread from person to person.
Confronted with this, the Department of Education (DepEd) turned to what is now known as
blended learning and mandated schools to switch from traditional to "hybrid" learning. This type
of instruction combines remote online learning with modules that are delivered to students' homes
or may be picked up from DepEd sites. Despite the progressive reopening of schools in several
nations, including the Philippines, during the course of the pandemic's first two years, the effects
of prolonged lockdowns on children's education have become clear—now more than ever (Baclig,
2022).

In the news article of de Vera (2022), it was mentioned that according to a report by the
United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), only three out of every 20 school children in the
Philippines can read simple texts. This is largely because of the country's longest school closure,
which lasted more than 70 weeks as of the middle of February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Basic Education Committee, the results
"translate to a learning poverty of more than 85%."
 Prior to the pandemic, results of the Programme for International Student Assessment
(Pisa) by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that
Filipino students performed the worst among 79 countries in reading comprehension and second-
worst in both mathematical and scientific literacy—learning poverty in the Philippines was already
69.5 percent. But with all the school closures, learners are more likely to experience what UNICEF
terms “learning loss.” (de Vera, 2022).

The blended learning that the Department of Education is adapting does not suffice in
augmenting the learning needs of our students. Learning motivation is consistently deteriorating;
skills development has been superficially delivered and, most unfortunate, the reading abilities of
our learners are at risk of continuous decline (Labastida, 2021). He also reiterates that the
modules do not teach sounds; someone who is capable of teaching phonics should sound it out
to a child. We still need a live person to properly organize and arrange reading activities when
teaching beginning readers in a modular fashion. We need someone who is at least a reader. In
short, modules alone will not help the child learn how to read. Our learning facilitators and parents
did not attend any seminars or training to equip them to teach reading to their children, which is
the main contributing cause to the poor effectiveness of the modules to teach reading. That’s what
we lack the most. We forget the teaching readiness of our teacher as well as the parent.

On the other side, “the chain effect of school closures could be staggering and felt far
beyond education. In addition to missed learning, school closures deprive children of the benefits
to their safety, health, nutrition, and overall well-being provided by schools. The impacts of school
closures are wide-ranging: estimates suggest 10 million more children could fall off-track in early
childhood development as a result of early childhood care and education closures in the first 11
months of the pandemic,” Unicef said.

Related Foreign Studies

The global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]) has

completely changed education in many countries around the world (Reimer et al., 2021).
Numerous studies and educational institutions are interested in comparing various forms of e-
learning, online learning, blended learning, or F2F courses to find out which format is most
effective in terms of, e.g., learning outcome and student satisfaction. However, the complexity of
teaching and learning, according to research, is greater than just the teaching method.(Nortvig et
al., 2018).

Furthermore, a number of researchers found that by giving students clear instructions on

how to start and participate in online discussions that support learning, educators can play a
critical role in scaffolding students' success in taking part in asynchronous online discussions
(Beth, Jordan, Schallert, Reed and Kim, 2015; Cho and Tobias, 2016). Numerous studies also
reveal the need of a strong educator presence along with quality course content is an essential
element in courses that successfully facilitate online student engagement and learning (Moore,
2014; Swan and Shih, 2014).
 When it comes to the strategies of educators in employing the learnings: the choices of
strategies in teaching reading comprehension are the efforts the teacher made to achieve the
objective of the learning (Setiawati, 2021). Setiawati (2021) also noted in his study that The
strategies that are used depend on the situation and the state of the students. The covid-19
pandemic has changed the ways of teaching and learning therefore during class activities, the
English teacher must be able to choose the best instructional strategies for the students; in order
to achieve the goal of the learning, the teacher solves the problems in implementing the strategies
to teach reading comprehension. More efforts are made because the covid-19 pandemic makes
the learning conducted online. The new methods of learning and teaching undoubtedly affect
each other.

It was also suggested in the study that the teacher can choose the strategy that is most
likely to help students understand the text well—teachers must pay close attention to student
assessments, reading levels, reading challenges, and abilities. In teaching reading, teachers have
a responsibility to help students achieve reading goals. The teacher can provide, select or create
texts that are appropriate to the lesson plans and students' abilities, design reading assignments
that help students arrange efficient learning activities, comprehend reading materials, and foster
a positive environment for reading practice. The use of creative strategies makes students more
active and interested in learning reading comprehension. There are various techniques available
to aid teachers in teaching reading comprehension. It should be adapted to the student's
background, the genre of text, and the struggles that appear in teaching reading comprehension
(Setiawati, 2021).

On the other side, according to a study conducted by Curriculum Associates (2021), in

Virginia, the study found that early reading skills were at a 20-year low this fall, which the
researchers described as “alarming”. The findings of this study confirm what many educators are
already painfully aware of: most students’ academic progress has been hampered by the
epidemic, which has also significantly affected underprivileged students. We would be remiss not
to focus on effective strategies for differentiating and accelerating learning, as well as recognizing
and addressing the fundamental and prerequisite skills that students might not have had the
opportunity to acquire as a result of the pandemic's shutdown of schools.

Overall, the Curriculum Associates (2021) data points to how not all teaching and learning
were disrupted equally by the pandemic. While educators did a heroic job last year in the face of
unprecedented challenges, many students struggled to catch up on the ground they had lost since
the pandemic began, and for some students, the unfinished learning was exacerbated by having
experienced more than one year of learning with disruptions. Their study hopes that throughout
the remainder of the current academic year, further ground will be made up, particularly for the
students who need the most support. Across the country, educators must once more delve deeply
into their breadth of knowledge about what students know and need through experience,
evidence-based strategies, curriculum, assessment, and other available support.
Related Local Studies

Reading is Difficult. Learner's challenges in reading are its difficulty to understand. The
difficulty of English is common among school-age since language is a complex area that needs
concentration and a thorough understanding of the subject's totality (Libre III & S. Decano, 2021).
Their study also concluded that one of the experiences in reading in Modular Distance Learning
among the Junior High School students is difficulty in reading comprehension: according to the
study, students who are struggling to comprehend what they have read become bored while
practicing reading. They will stop responding to their schoolwork as a result. With reading capacity
in mind, difficulty in grammar, writing, and composition is normal. Learners’ inability to write their
own composition and their ability in grammar is limited in the framework of Modular Distance
Learning. This discussion emerged during the interview with the participants stating that guided
practice will enable them to succeed at a greater level at school than at home. (Libre III & S.
Decano, 2021).

Libre III and S. Decano (2021) also emphasized in their study that during this pandemic,
teachers' capacity to teach, comprehension, and constant practice appear to be a problem in
achieving competence in reading. They recommended that teachers and schools should
concentrate on enhancing reading programs in all secondary schools, even in distance learning.
The reading proficiency from junior high to senior high student will increase with a reinforced
reading program in secondary schools.

In relation to this, it was also found out in the study conducted by Tomas et al. (2021), The
predominant challenge conveyed by the school heads and teachers is how to improve the reading
ability among learners. Reading teachers were inexperienced and lacked any training in the
basics of teaching beginning reading. Some teachers were more comfortable in the strategies
that they used instead of the suggested approaches or strategies.

It was also emphasized in the study that the lack of teacher’s commitment & confidence
to teach reading lack of commitment was manifested through in adequacy of teaching devices
displayed in the classroom and in the result of oral reading test results. When teachers were
asked why they have many nonreaders, e.g. 6/24, or 9/27 they tend to be defensive about their
shortcomings. They blamed their parents for not doing follow-ups at home (Tomas et al., 2021).

Moreover, in the study conducted by Abbas (2021), it states that reading comprehension
is vital as they say it is a basic requirement for every learner when entering school. Likewise, this
reading comprehension is also essential for it helps students understand their modules and any
other reading material, especially at this time of the pandemic. If students do not have reading
comprehension, they will not understand what is inside their module. And this will result in difficulty
in answering the worksheets given to them and failing the subject in general.

It was suggested in the study of Abbas (2021) the different strategies they used during
modular distance learning approach that are as follows: The most commonly used strategy during
modular distance learning approach based on their responses is the production and distribution
of instructional materials such as modules and e-book. The use of social media sites like
Facebook, Messenger for group chats, and YouTube is also popular right now. The usage of text
messages and phone calls is also appropriate when employing a modular approach to remote
learning. Some participants create their own video presentations to discuss the topic. Contrarily,
other participants limit themselves to simply urging their students to read.

At last, as what Libre III and S. Decano (2021b) pointed out in their study, it should
strengthen the reading program in secondary schools because it will improve the reading
ability from Junior High School to Senior High School. Illiteracy can be reduced by giving
more teachers the freedom to concentrate on each slow reader and non-reading reader's skills.
Teachers and schools should focus on strengthening the reading programs in every secondary
school even in distance learning.

In addition, teachers and school administrators shall also discuss that reading is a critical
factor for learners in answering their learning modules and parallel assessment, hence reading
is fundamental in every aspect of learning. This intervention strategy should also focus on
producing literate learners able to read and identify words and letters.
 References

Abbas, K. D. A. (2021). Factors influencing students reading comprehension difficulties

amidst the use of modular distance learning approach in mindanao state university sulu – senior
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