PERSONALIZED AUDIO-VISUAL ASSISTED READING TO IMPROVE FLUENCY

AND READING COMPREHENSION SKILL AMONG GRADE 9 HUMILITY

STUDENTS OF SUGBONGCOGON NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Context and Rationale

“Every man who knows how to read has in it his power to magnify himself, to

multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting” (Aldous

Huxley).

Reading is the architect of all academic success. It is a multifaceted process which

emanates from cognitive domain-the basic of recognizing words, phrases, sentences and

paragraphs, then translates into affective domain by means of showing corresponding

attitudes and eventually step up to the psychomotor domain where learner shows action as

validation in comprehending the contexts read.

Fluency is a key contributor toward independent and successful reading and is

comprised of three components: accuracy, rate, and prosody (expression). It is these

capabilities that support students’ comprehension of an author’s message (Hudson, 2011;

Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, & Meisinger, 2010; Rasinski, Padak,& Fawcett, 2010; Reutzel &

Cooter, 2012; Walpole, McKenna,& Philippakos, 2011). Fluent reading supports students to

read texts for meaning; to understand an author’s message, and to be able to engage in

meaningful talk about texts (Serravallo, 2010).

Sugbongcogon National High School as a secondary school in our municipality is

commissioned to prepare all learners equipped with necessary skills needed to compete in the

21st century readiness. One of the basic skills the school demands to provide among its

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learners is the ability to read with comprehension. However, the last National Achievement

Test (NAT) 2014 result on reading comprehension was alarming because it was far from the

national target which was 75% MPS. The 2014 NAT result showed that our school attained

only 64.37 MPS in English, which is moving towards mastery achievement level only.

In connection with the reading comprehension of the Grade 9 Serenity students, it was

found out that a number of students were assessed as Instructional readers and there were in

fact Frustration readers after conducting the reading comprehension diagnostic test. The Oral

diagnostic test was also administered to monitor the fluency skill of the learners and

eventually it followed that frustration and instructional readers in reading comprehension

were frustration & instructional readers in terms of accuracy; slow readers in terms of speed

and level 1-2 &3 in terms of prosody. The assessment scale was adapted from Philippine

Informal Inventory or known as the Phil-IRI. Instructional level has traditionally been defined by

most experts as reading material that can be read at approximately a 95% word recognition accuracy rate

(Clay, 1985; Pikulski, 1974; Gunning, 2009) and 75% comprehension level. Independent level reading has

been defined in terms of 99% word recognition accuracy and 90% comprehension and frustration level

reading has been defined by word recognition of 90% or less and comprehension of 50% or below are also

considered for assessment. Fluency has been shown to have a ‘reciprocal relationship’ with

comprehension, with each fostering the other” (Stecker, Roser, and Martinez 1998, p. 306).

This theory led the researcher to design a reading approach that would somehow help learners

increase its fluency skill. This research then would be applicable to the classroom where

further study would be investigated.

Innovation/ Intervention and Strategy

Research has shown that the use of audiovisual-assisted reading can be very

successful, with struggling readers increasing confidence and competence (Chomsky, 1976;

Smith & Elley, 1997; Rasinski, 2010; Pluck, 2012).

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 These previous study motivated the researcher to craft personalized audiovisual

assisted reading to the respondents as a tool to remediate their problem in reading. Varied

stories were researched from the internet source: https://readtheory.org/, and encoded the

story using PowerPoint, applied relevant images in each slide and recorded its own voice

while reading the story. The purpose of this strategy was to let the respondents do their own

pace of learning on how to improve its fluency skill in reading. The researcher served as

facilitator. Then the respondents were instructed how to use the program; to listen the story

using headset, and to follow along the recoded audio while reading the text. In this manner,

the respondents would be trained on how to read with proper speed, accuracy and prosody.

The respondents were exposed to varied stories and were directed to read the stories

repeatedly during the scheduled remedial class for a duration of ten days. After several

practice on reading using the personalized audiovisual-assisted reading program, the

researcher would call the respondents and asked them to read the story independently as the

former listened vis-à-vis.

After the ten-day activity the researcher conducted a Post Oral Diagnostic Test and

recorded the result to find out the significance of employing the personalized

Research Questions

The study was anchored on determining the significance of employing personalized

audiovisual assisted reading in increasing the fluency skill among Grade 9 learners of

Sugbongcogon National High School.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the reading performance of the Grade 9 students of Sugbongcogon National

High School based on the Reading Diagnostic Test?

2. Is there a significant effect in increasing the fluency skill of the students in employing

Personalized Audiovisual Assisted Reading?

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 3. What is the percentage increase in the performance level of the tested students?

Action Research Methods

a. Participants and or others Sources of Information

This study was conducted among Grade 9 Serenity students of Sugbongcogon

National High School Misamis Oriental, Division of Misamis Oriental School Year 2016 –

2017. Participants were students assessed as Frustration & Instructional Readers during the

Reading Diagnostic test conducted last July 2016. The parents were informed of the

intervention and sought for their approval.

The researcher adapted from Phil-IRI in determining the speed of the learners by

recording the Word Count per Minute (WCPM). While reading accuracy percentage of the

learner be determined by dividing the total number of words read correctly by the total

number of words in the selection times 100. On the other hand, prosody was determined

using the rubrics crafted by Rasinski, R. (2004). Creating Fluent Readers. Educational

Leadership, 61, 14-18.

Table 1. Number of participants who took the test

READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY

GENDER READING
FLUENCY
COMPREHENSION
MALE 15 15
FEMALE 13 13
TOTAL 28 28

Table 2. Reading comprehension ability of the participants

READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY TOTAL
GENDER
FRUSTRATION INSTRUCTIONAL INDEPENDENT
MALE 4 9 2 15

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 FEMALE 2 6 5 13
TOTAL 6 10 7 28

Table 3. Fluency skill of the participants

PROSODY
LEVEL OF ACCURACY READING SPEED
ACHIEVEMENT
GENDER
FRUS INDEP
INSTRUCTI
1-2 3 4 TRATI
ONAL
ENDEN SLOW AVERAGE FAST
ON T

MALE 6 7 2 7 5 3 6 5 4
FEMALE 4 5 4 3 4 6 3 6 4
TOTAL 10 12 6 10 9 9 9 11 8

The graph above shows the result of the Pre-Diagnostic Test Results both in oral and

written. In terms of reading comprehension skill, it shows that 32% or 6 students were

assessed as Frustration readers, 54% or 15 students were instructional and 25% or 7 studnets

were independent.

In terms of Fluency skill of the participants, 36% or 10 students got 1-2 level of

achievement, 43% or 12 got 3 level of achievement and 21% or 6 got 4 level of achievement.

On accuracy, 36% or 10 students were frustration readers, 32% or 9 students were

instrucitonal and 32% or 9 studnets were independent. In terms of reading speed, 32% or 9

students were slow readers, 39% or 11 students were average readers and 29% or 8 students

were fast readers.

The total number of participants who took the diagnostic test were 28 while two of the

students were absent due to sickness as per interview with the class adviser.

b. Data Gathering Methods

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 The researcher used purposive sampling since all those that have reading difficulty

were given the chance as respondents, then among the frustration and instructional readers

only five (5) were selected from among the pool readers employing simple random sampling

using fish bowl technique in determining the respondent’s size of this study. From the bowl

containing the names of the students listed in small sheets of paper the researcher had drawn

5 students needed in the study. There were only five respondents considered for the study to

give focus of the effectiveness of the intervention crafted.

After the approval of the letter request to conduct the study from the Schools Division

Superintendent, the researcher implemented the study; distributed the teacher-made research

questions; and conducted focused group discussion to the identified respondents. Time-on-

task upon the conduct of the study was observed so that there would be minimal interruption

of their classes. The study was done during remedial class only – every Friday of the week.

Discussion of Results and Reflection

Parts of the Reading Program

The Reading Program

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 The reading program has four parts namely: Part I. Theme/Content. It deals with the

reading selections, evaluating the theme of the content and selecting across different subject

areas, Part II. The Teaching Approach- This includes the approaches to be used by the

teachers in teaching reading to the students. Strictly, they should follow the order set in the

program, specifically, to setting/ discover first the theme followed by the Pre-reading

activities, then the reading activities and finally the post reading activities. Section III:

Teaching Materials – This includes the reading materials to be prepared by the teacher to use

the program. Section IV: Assessment – This includes the objectives and subjective type of

tests to measure the progress of the learners in reading. ( adapted from MINARIZA MARUAL-

GILLACO, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences | Vol. 1, No. 5 | November 2014)

Table 4. Comparative results of the reading performance of the participants in terms

of reading comprehension and fluency.

PRE POST PRE POST PRE POST PRE POST

Respond TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
ents
Accuracy Speed Prosody Comprehension

Joshua 86 90 130 151 1 2 58 78

Alvin 88 90 160 170 1 3 56 79
Jacky 89 91 148 150 2 4 78 82
Queenie 88 91 149 152 2 3 76 81
Shiantal 84 85 146 155 1 2 57 79

The result above shows significant increase of the learners after the implementation of

the Reading Program. This is evident in their scores and rating obtained during and after the

Reading Program.

I will continue to use the strategy because more than half of my students have shown

increasing rate in hteir Fluecny Skill. On accuracy: from slow to average; speed: from slow to

average and prosody: from level 1-2 to 3. “Research continues to reaffirm the importance of

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oral reading fluency and its correlation to increased reading comprehension” according to

readinghorizons.com. Therefore, Improvement in their fluency skill will possibly lead to

increase their comprehension skill in reading as evident in the previous researches conducted.

Action Plans

Given the significant increase of Fluency skill of the participants who recevied the

intervention, the researcher has proposed to extend the intervention not only to those five

respondents, but will continue to cater those who need the remediation. This personalized

audiovisual-assisted reading program will be then introduced to other reading or English

teachers hoping this reading approach is also aligned to the learning styles of their students.

In addition this will be submitted to the office of the principal for approval of the

disseminaiton in the school. But this reading program will be then enhanced much better to

suit the learnng styles of the learners. Additional materials: reading selections, ICT related

equipment and other reading-related materials

References

1. Walczyk, J., Griffith-Ross, D. (2007). The Reading Teacher. International Literacy

Association., pp. 560–569. Retrieved (Date) URL

2. Bayetto, A. Fluency. Flinders University School of Education, p. 11. Retrieved (Date)

URL

3. Binder, C., Haughton, E., Bateman, B., (2002). Fluency: Achieving True Mastery in

the Learning Process. P. 2. Retrieved (Date) URL

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4. Tizon, M., Reading Comprehension Ability of Grade VI Pupils of Kinangay Sur

Elementary School. Retrieved (Date) URL

https://s3-ap-southeast

6. amazonaws.com/wh1.thewebconsole.com/wh/3241/images/HTG_F09_Audio.pdf

7. https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/.../nonfiction-reading-test-hummingbirds.rtf

8. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences | Vol. 1, No. 5 | November 2014

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 Abstract

This study was conducted specifically to develop intervention plans in reading

program in order to increase the fluency skill of the learners. The proposed intervention was

geared towards integration of ICT equipment, which would significantly help motivate

learners to participate in the program.

The developed reading program was focused on Personalized Audiovisual-assisted

reading.

The respondents for this study were Grade 9 Serenity of Sugbongcogon National High

School, Sugbongcogon, Misamis Oriental who were assessed as frustration and instructional

readers with the hope that they would improve their fluency skill.

The Personalized Audiovisual-assisted Reading was crafted after analyzing the result

of the focus group discussion of the respondents which showed that they would somehow

enjoy and learn how read correctly when guided and with something to watch and listen to.

The findings therefore after the implementation of the program support that

personalized audiovisual-assisted reading would increase the fluency skill of the learners.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work would not have been possible without the moral support of the District
Supervisor Ma’am Nievea E. Bitonga who motivated me to pursue this classroom-based
action research.

I am grateful to Dr. Maria Teresa T. Tolentino our school principal for the trust and
confidence in me and who has been supportive of my career goals and supported me with my
academic time to pursue my goals.

I am also thankful to all of those with whom I have had the pleasure to work during
this and other related projects most especially the English Teachers most especially to my
buddy who has always been ready to answer my query and doubts – Ms. Bonna G. Rabanes.

I am especially indebted to Mr. Gerrypol P. Cainoy who has been my mentor in

conducting the research, he has taught me more than I could ever give him credit for here. He
has shown me, by his example, what a good researcher should be. To all my fellow teachers
of Sugbongcogon National High School headed by Ma’am Elden Margie B. Gayao who have
been very considerate and responsive of all my needs – I am grateful for your gestures.

Nobody has been more important to me in the pursuit of this project than the members
of my family. I would like to thank my loving husband, Mr. Rhee Alejandrino and my five
wonderful children, Macky, JLo, Michael, Princess and Michelle who provide unending
inspiration, whose love and guidance are with me in whatever I pursue. They are the ultimate
role models.

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 Above all to our Almighty Father for being my strength when I am weak, my voice
whne I couldn’t speak who has always given me belssings, wisdom, intelligence and good
health in producing this paper.

To all who in one way or another who have contributed much to the success of this
research paper.

Thank you very much and God Bless Us all.

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