Saint Michael’s College

Quezon Avenue, Iligan City

Graduate School

A Final Requirement in Educ 212

(Methods of Research)

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF E-BOOKS ON READING COMPREHENSION AND

MOTIVATION OF GRADE 11 STUDENTS OF POONI-LOMABAO MEMORIAL
NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Submitted by:
Jihan D. Lucman
MAEd ELT – II

Submitted to:
Dr. Aniceto Naval

May 17, 2023

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Page

1 PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Rationale 3
Theoretical Framework 5
Conceptual Framework 7
Statement of the Problem 10
The Hypothesis 11
Significance of the Study 11
Scope and Limitation 12
Definition of Terms 14

2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Related Literature 18
Digital Literacy and K to 12 Curriculum 18
History of E-books and its Definition 20
Advantages of E-books 21
Levels of Reading Comprehension 22
Top-Down Approach and Transactional Theory 24
Adolescent Motivations for School Reading 26
Related Studies 28
Foreign Studies 28
Local Studies 32

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 34
Locale of the Study 35
Participants of the Study 37
Research Instruments 37
Data Gathering Procedure 38
Statistical Tools 40

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 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Rationale

In the K to 12 program, the learners have undergone series of reading subjects to improve

and hone their reading comprehension and contextualized the demand of the digital world. The

world of reading has been revolutionized because of the advent of technology. Traditional printed

books or printed reading materials have been refashioned to e-books. E-books have transformed

reading weighty books into reading portable devices such as tablets and smartphones and the

reading experiences of individuals has changed. And the need of integrated of technology such as

e-books in learning process of reading must be addressed in this digital age.

The learning process in digital age treats the needs to meet the 21st century skills. The

curriculum makers concentrated on honing these skills. In the K to 12 program, it addresses the

need to instill the 21st century skills and to name few of those skills; effective communication

skills and information, media and technology skills must be possessed by the millennial learners

(Corpuz, 2012). Reading as one of the receptive communication skills is the most assessed one.

As it is asserted by Go and Posecion (2010) that the most commonly tested skills in school is

reading. Many qualifying examinations in elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools focus on

reading or consist largely for reading comprehension. It has been alarming when the 2013

Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) final report conducted by

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) result showed that among all the regions in the Philippines,

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has the lowest basic literacy rate yet

registered this result as significant increase from 81.5% in 2008 to 86.1% in 2013. However,

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with the rapid progress of technology, reading print books has been digitized and the reading

comprehension has regenerated. The reading experiences of individuals shaped a new dimension

of reading and literacy.

Berne as cited by Ademir, et al. (2013) asserted that the digital environments which

gained importance with the development of technology brought a different perspective to the

reading and writing experiences of individuals while also giving a different dimension to the

terms of reading and literacy. And the National Reading Panel (2000) as cited by Wells (2012)

viewed the effect of technology in comprehension as an additional list among the five most

important areas for further study. Texts that are digital and accessed via electronic screens are

called e-books (Szapkiw-Rochinson, 2013).

Electronic-books (E-Books) are commonly defined as a new platform for accessing

digital information that capitalizes on the benefits of electronic reading (Jeong, 2010; Landoni &

Hanlon, 2007). Some examples under the domains of e-books are novels, non-fiction books,

short stories, poetry, long form journalism, magazines, and newspaper (Lichti, 2012). The

reader’s experiences change as it reads on digital formats on computers, smart phones, and

designated e-readers like Kindle. The physical act of reading shifts from turning pages of a

bound print book, the codex to pressing the buttons or touchscreen of an electronic device to

make text materialize on screen (Kara Burritt, 2010).

The reading experience ad literacy expanded its definition to digital literacy. Digital

literacy involves number of digital reading and writing techniques across multiple media forms

including words, texts, visual displays, motion graphics, audio, video, and multimodal forms

(Kerkhoff, Paul, & Spires, 2017). Salter (2013) affirmed that students must not only develop

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their reading comprehension and learning skills but they also have to develop their digital

literacy skills in an increasingly digital world.

The study on the reading comprehension and motivation of the learners on the reading

from screen or e-books has been limited and mostly from foreign studies. Few local studies

attempted to encompass the effectiveness of e-books which will be discussed in the chapter two.

Thus, the researcher has an utmost interest in conducting study on how the format of a reading

material can affect the reader’s comprehension and their reading motivation. In determining their

reading motivation, the researcher will adopt a standardized questionnaire by Coddington (2009);

Adolescent Motivations for School Reading questionnaire (AMSR). This questionnaire measures

the six constructs of motivation in Reading or Language Arts class namely; intrinsic motivation,

self-efficacy, prosocial interactions avoidance, perceived difficulty, antisocial interaction.

Theoretical Framework

In this section, the researcher discusses the theories of reading and reading motivation

which play significant explanation in justifying the result of the study such as Schemata theory,

Self Determination Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory.

Anderson (1985) developed a theory which views about a cognitive process of how

understanding texts take place with the readers. There is a concept or framework or outline of

that exists in the reader’s mind. The reader understands the texts when they can relate it with

what they already know (Saclote, 2015). This knowledge which they already know refers to as

background knowledge or prior knowledge. Anderson (1985) expands the meaning of schema to

include the importance of general knowledge and concept understanding in reading

comprehension (Anderson, Pearson, & Bolt, 1984; Little & Box, 2011; Wells, 2012).

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 Kucer (as cited in Henia, 2006) asserted that the past experiences will be related to new

experiences, which may include the knowledge of objects, situations, and events as well as

knowledge of procedures for retrieving, organizing and interpreting information. Readers

construct meaning through their prior knowledge and experiences with the information in the

text (Pardo, 2004 as cited in Wells, 2012).

Since reading motivation is a second key factor in reading performance, the researcher

study the theoretical framework related to motivation. Motivated readers work harder to build

meaning in their reading and display increased comprehension Pardo, 2004 as cited in Wells,

2009). Thus, in this section, the theories on motivation need to be addressed as well in this study.

These theories on motivation are self-determination theory, social cognitive theory and social

goals theory. Accordingly, motivated students are more engaged in as active members of the

classroom community and more willing to tackle challenging texts (Anderson, et al., 2013).

Self-determination as explained by Coddington (2009), stated that people possess an active

tendency toward psychological growth and integration. Self-determination is based on the

assumption that people are innately driven to make connection among their inner psychological

needs and desires and these physical needs, however, are the psychological needs that are

required to be happy. Intrinsically motivated behaviors are those that people engage in for their

own sake. In general, students with high levels of intrinsic motivation for reading perform better

on reading achievement tasks.

Ryan and Deci (1991) explained that autonomy can increase individual intrinsic motivation

and influence subsequent achievement. Ran and Deci's research on self-determination theory also

indicated that, combined with autonomy and competence, individuals are more likely to be

intrinsically motivated when tasks are need related (Kissinger, 2013).

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 Based on Adolescent Motivations for School Reading questionnaire is a measure of six

constructs of motivation in Reading or Language Arts class. Three of the constructs are intrinsic

motivation, self-efficacy, prosocial interactions which represent aspects that affirm reading

related activities whereas the three constructs avoidance, perceived difficulty, antisocial

interactions represent volitional aspects of the self that undermine reading related activities.

Intrinsic motivation was defined within the reading domain as students' enjoyment and pleasure

in reading for the sake of reading.

On the other hand, a motivation or lack of motivation refers to individual who lack of

competence because they do not feel to perform the behavior, or the lack perceived control

because they think their interactions will not be adequate or sufficient to achieve a desired

outcome (Boiche et al as cited in Coddington, 2009). this dimension of motivation is closely

related to perceptions of ability and this leads to rely on social cognitive theory for further

explanations of this motivation.

Social Cognitive Theory by Bandura (1977) as cited by Coddington (2009) is basically

based on the desires or driven we internalize based on prior experiences and encounters with

environmental stimuli. Social cognitive theory emphasized on the role of self-efficacy in

motivation. This view of motivation asserts that efficacy beliefs, involving both intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation as well as the individual's purposes for achievement, play an integral role in

the decision to perform activities, and the amount of effort exerted in the chosen activities (Baker

& Wigfield, 1999; Bandura, 1997 as cited in Wells, 2009).

Conceptual Framework

The following schematic diagram presents the variables of this study. It shows the two

groups involved in the experiment; Experimental Group and Control Group. The participants

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from control group read printed reading materials during the sessions in regular classes for an

hour in line with the lesson and the counterpart copy of these printed reading materials; -books

will be read by the Experimental Group through which they will be exposed to determine its

effect on the levels of their reading comprehension skills namely: literal comprehension level,

inferential comprehension level and applied

comprehension level.

The study will utilize the matching pretest - posttest design to see the degree of variation of

both participating groups which took place after the experiment. The researcher will secure the

homogeneity of both groups by administering the written pretest in line with the assessment of

their levels of reading comprehension before the reading sessions commenced. The result of the

pretest will be the bases for segregating the participants into Experimental Group and Control

Group. After the experiment will run its course, the same test from pretest will be administered

to both groups for the posttest. This test will be used to assess the participants' reading

comprehension levels. See Figure 1 in the next page. Right after the posttest, the researcher will

administer the School Reading Motivation to determine the effects of the treatment to their

reading motivation which has six constructs.

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 CONTROL EXPERIMENTAL
GROUP GROUP

PRE-TEST

INTERVENTION

Reading using Reading using E-

Printed Materials Books

POSTTEST

Adolescent Motivation for

School Reading
(Coddington, 2009)

Reading Comprehension Levels;

Literal Level
Inferential Level
Applied Level

Figure 1. The Schematic Diagram of the Conceptual Framework of the Study

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Statements of the Problem

The main concern of this study will be to compare the reading comprehension and

motivation of Grade 11 students in reading using e-books and printed books. Thus, it will seek to

answer the following specific questions:

1. What is the pretest score profile of the participants in the experimental and control group

on the following reading comprehension level

1.1 Literal Level

1.2 Inferential Level

1.3 Applied Level

2. What is the post test score profile of the participants in the experimental and control group

on the following reading comprehension level

2.1 Literal Level

2.2 Inferential Level

2.3 Applied Level

3. What is the motivation for school reading of each groups in terms of

3.1 Intrinsic

3.2 Self-efficacy

3.3 Prosocial interaction

3.4 Avoidance

3.5 Perceived Difficulty

3.6 Antisocial Interaction

4. Are there mean gains from the pretest to the posttest among the participants in the

experimental and control group?

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 5. Are there differences in the mean gains from the pretest to the posttest in the experimental

and control group?

6. Are there differences between the control and experimental group in their motivation for

school reading?

Null Hypotheses

The following null hypothesis will be tested at 0.01 level of significance.

H01: There are no significant mean gains score from the pretest to the posttest of the

participants in the control group on their reading comprehension sub skills in literal

comprehension level, inferential comprehension level, and applied comprehension level.

H02: There are no significant mean gains score from the pretest to the posttest of the

participants in the experimental group on their reading comprehension sub skills in literal

comprehension level, inferential comprehension level, and applied comprehension level.

H03: There are no significant differences between the control group and experimental group

in their mean gains in Reading comprehension sub skills; literal level, inferential level, and

applied level.

H04: There are no significant differences between the Control and Experimental Groups in

their Motivation for School Reading.

Scope and Limitation

There will be certain limitations that may have affect the results of the experiment and will

need to be considered. And the following will be the limitations of the study. (1) The awareness

of the participants in the research or experiment may affect their responses on the evaluation of

their reading comprehension. Their awareness may possibly lead them to non-active participation

during the reading sessions and may potentially change their attitude which may have an impact

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on the result of the inquiry; (2) the honest response of the participants on the Adolescent

Motivations for School Reading Questionnaire which is beyond control of the researcher; (3) the

time intervals of the reading sessions and the time constraints during the administration of the

pretest and posttest are also a factor and a limitation. The period of time of the intervention will

take for few months and will have weeks of interruption of the reading sessions due to school

activities, holidays, and semestral break which may have affected their attitude throughout the

sessions; (4) the non-uniformity of the devices which will be used by the participants from the

experimental group will also be one of the limitations. The participants will use their own

personal smartphone reading the materials ranging from approximately 5 inches by 2 inches

wide up to 6 inches by 3 inches. And the application which will be used during the reading

sessions will be through Portable Document Format (PDF); (5) the type of texts to be read by the

participants will be limited mostly on short stories from one of the books prescribed by the

DepEd.

Significance of the study

The findings of this study could be beneficial to the following group of people and

authority.

Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education BARMM officials. This study

could give information to the MBHTE officials to provide professional development among

senior high school teachers in line with the promotion of e-books for the subjects which are more

engaged with reading materials. Through these professional development activities with the

integration of e-books, the teaching skills of the teachers may be enhanced. And they may

allocate a budget for providing reading devices for each student.

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 Curriculum Makers. This study could give awareness to the curriculum designers for

strengthening of the technology skills of the 21 century learners and may possibly integrate it

with forthcoming possible improvement or progress of the curriculum on accentuating the

reading comprehension skills of the learners. The adoption of e-books in the learning process

may be addressed in the forthcoming curriculum to meet the demands of digital world.

School Administrators. The school administrators have a key role in providing the

material needs of the students especially e-books. And this study may enlighten the

administrators as well to support the effective strategies of the teachers using of e-books by

sending them to trainings that offers technology related trainings.

Teachers. This study may help the teachers to be aware of the effectiveness of technology

such as e-books on the learning process. This would give an idea to the teachers to improve their

techniques and teaching strategies on enhancement of students reading comprehension by the

integration of technology. They will be motivated to help out students especially in rural areas to

develop their technology skills as per instructed in K to 12 program.

Students. The outcome of this study is important for the learners in order to improve their

levels of reading comprehension by the help of technology. From carrying of weighty books for

nine subjects per semester to bringing light reading devices will make easier for them in their

daily schooling. The number books or printed reading materials can be accessed or read from the

screen of one reading device only since they are intact in one device.

Parents. Through this study it can provide an avenue to the parents on the awareness of the

importance of technology on the academic needs of their children and they would be able to

support with possible implementation of technology based learning by the Ministry of Basic,

Higher and Technical Education under the Department of Education.

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 Future Researchers. This study would serve as guide for the future researchers who

would be interested to conduct a study with the same topic. They could diverse more problems

about this topic and widen their scope.

Definition of Terms

To better understand the concepts used in this study, the following terms are defined

conceptually and operationally.

Antisocial. This means averse to the society of others or unsociable (Merriam Dictionary,

2019). In this study it is define in accord with the definition of Coddington

(2009), a student with antisocial goals as one who tries to avoid helping other students, attempts

to avoid interacting with other students, and makes fun of other students' opinions and comments

about reading. It is one of the constructs in Adolescent Motivation for School Reading.

Avoidance. This refers to an act or practice of avoiding or withdrawing from something

(Merriam Dictionary, 2019). In this study it refers to the measurements or constructs which seeks

to determine reading motivation that can undermine the reading tasks of the participants.

Applied Comprehension Level. This means that the reader makes link between the text

and his or her own experience and knowledge to develop an answer (Kent State University,

2019). In this study, it refers to one of the reading comprehension levels and is used to measure

or to determine the participants' level of reading comprehension by answering the open

questions. And these questions elicit the answers of participants based on their opinion or

experiences with accordance with the text.

Digital Age. This means the present time, when most information is in a digital form,

especially when compared to the time when computers were not used (Cambridge, 2019). In this

study, it refers to the current period which digital progress is taking place.

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 Digital Natives. They are described as living lives immersed in technology surrounded by

and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video games, cell phones, and all other

toys and tools of the digital age (Prensky as cited in Bennett, Kervin, & Maton, 2008). In this

study, it refers to the participants from both group since they are fully immersed with technology

and are characterize with familiarity of these technology as it defines conceptually.

Electronic-books. This refers to electronic edition of text that would traditionally

be printed and considered literature. For example, novels, nonfiction books, short stories, poetry,

long form journalism, magazines, and newspaper. In addition, Bennett, et. al., (2013) defined e-

books as texts that are digital and accessed via electronic screen. Pertinent to this study, it refers

to the electronic texts or reading materials which were read by the participants on their personal

smartphones. Hence, the researcher used e-books as treatment on the development of the levels

of reading comprehension of the

participants.

Intrinsic Motivation. This refers to a motivation which stems from one's work on

something primarily for its own sake because it is enjoyable, satisfying, challenging or

captivating (Prieto, 2013). In this study, it is used to measure the reading motivation of the

participants. This construct is under the affirming reading motivation.

Literal Comprehension Level. This involves what the author is actually saying. The

reader needs to understand ideas and information explicitly stated in the reading material. Some

of this information is in the form of recognizing and recalling facts, identifying the main idea,

supporting details, categorizing, outlining, and summarizing (Chandler, 2014). In this study, it is

used to identify the participants' level of reading comprehension.

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 Inferential Comprehension Level. This refers to the inference which involves more than

a literal understanding. Students may initially have a difficult time answering inference questions

because the answers are based on material that is in the text but not explicitly stated (Day &

Park, 2005). In this study, it is used as the mean of evaluating the level of reading comprehension

by the participants.

Perceived Difficulty. It is a concept discussed by Bandura as cited by Coddington (2009)

as perceptions or beliefs about a task that it will be hard to complete. For reading, these

perceptions could refer to a topic, text difficulty, word difficulty, or the length of a book, as

examples. Pertinent to this study, it is define the same way and it is used as one of the constructs

of in determining reading motivation that can undermine the

reading tasks of the participants.

Portable Digital Format (PDF). It is a file format designed to present documents

consistently across multiple devices and platforms (Tech Terms, 2018). In this study, it used as

the application for reading the texts to the participants from experimental group.

Prosocial Interaction. This is defined as the student's desire to help, cooperate, and follow

rules in the classroom. These interactions included desires and behaviors to share opinions about

reading, show interest in classmates and friends' reading, and offer help to classmates and friends

with reading (Wentzel, et al. as cited in Coddington, 2009). In this study it is used as one of the

constructs in determining the reading motivations that can undermine the reading tasks.

Reading Comprehension. This refers to the ability to understand a text underlies all

reading tasks (Anderson, Grabe, Komiyama, & Stoller, 2013). In this study it used the same way.

Self- Efficacy. This is defined by Bandura (2001) as people's beliefs in their capability to

exercise some measure of control over their own functioning and over environmental events

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(Coddington, 2009). In this study, it is used as a measuring construct for reading motivation of

the participants.

Smartphone. It is a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer,

typically having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, and an operating system capable of

running downloaded apps (Oxford Dictionary, 2018). In this study, it is the medium for

accessing and reading the short stories given to the participants for extraction of questions for the

assessment of the different levels of reading comprehension.

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 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter discusses the related literature and studies with a relevant connection to the

subject of the study.

Related Literature

The reviewed related literature includes various relevant discussions on E-books, Levels of

Reading Comprehension and Adolescent Motivations for School Reading which were presented

thematically.

Digital Literacy and K to 12 Curriculum

The learning process in digital age treats the needs to meet the 21st century skills. The

curriculum makers concentrate on honing these skills. In the k to 12 program it addresses the

need to instill the 21st century skills and to name few of these skills; effective communication

skills and information, media and technology skills must be possessed by the millennial learners

(Corpuz, 2012).

The K to 12 curriculum basic education curriculum addresses and contextualized the needs

of the learners and they considered the learners to belong in Generation Z. Members of this

generation are fully acquainted with technology. They are often termed as digital natives and are

completely comfortable with technology. Students especially in Grades 11 to 12 should be able

to integrate communication and language skills for creating meaning using oral and written texts,

various genres, and discursive contexts for personal and professional purposes. Although in the

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curriculum guide for Basic Education emphasized that learners for having fully equipped with

technology has led to reduced attention span (K to 12 Curriculum Guide for English, 2013).

Perhaps, Philippines does not encourage the full immersion of technology especially in reading

because of the reduced attention span of the learners may be in the long run and through action

researches, curriculum makers can reconsider the use of reading on screen such as e-books.

Reading from a digital screen is comfortable and familiar for most K to12 students and they are

motivated to use personal devices to gain immediate access to answers and to communicate with

peers. (Brown & Jones, 2011)

Accordingly, the new level of interaction with the text is provided through e-books. The

determination of E-book impact on reading comprehension must be made prior to widespread

implementation of this technology within the K-12 setting (Wells, 2012). As educators integrate

new technologies into teaching, the book is undergoing a transformation to include what is

known as the electronic book (or e-book), which includes a wide range of technologies, from CD

storybooks to audio books to online books. Our paradigm of the book needs to shift to

encompass today's wide variety of book formats, both print and digital (Short, 2010).

The printed format has now a digital counterpart. And now literacy has expanded its

definition to a new level which is the digital literacy with the advent of technology. Digital

literacy involves any number of digital reading and writing techniques across multiple media

forms, including words, texts, visual displays, and motion graphics, audio, video, and

multimodal forms. In the same way that literate individuals can negotiate print text through the

processes of reading and writing, literate users of technology are able to consume and produce

digital compositions. Digital literacy continues to have an impact on contemporary education.

Information is readily available to students, and educators are working to teach adolescents how

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to use this information effectively, ethically, and responsibly (Kerkhoff, Paul, et al., 2017).

Hence, learners must cope with these more complex technological innovations in reading.

History of E-books and its Definition

Electronic books (e-books) were introduced in the late 1970s with Project Gutenberg, the

original source for e-books on the internet. At the time, e-books were meant to be read from

computers, as this was the only device with the capability to do so (Kossey & Brown, 2011).

Upon the arrival of personal computers in the 1980s, the differences between reading from paper

and from computer screens became a popular area of research, and in particular, whether people

were able to comprehend information effectively and read text with adequate speed from digital

media (Ball & Hourcade as cited in Jenkins, et al., 2015).

E-books have been defined in various ways as it transcends from time to time. A common

definition of E-books is texts that are digital and accessed via electronic screens. (Rockinson, et

al., 2013). An e-book is an electronic edition of the text that would traditionally be printed and

considered literature. For example, novels, nonfiction books, short stories, poetry, long form

journalism. (Lichti, 2012).

For some researchers, an e-book is viewed as a text or book that can be read in a digital

format using technology devices such as computers, smart phones, tablets or any portable

reading machine (Liaw & Huang, 2014 as cited in Al Saadi, et al., 2017). Accordingly, E-books

can be read on smartphones which are mostly used and owned by students nowadays.

Accordingly, smartphone is a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer,

typically having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, and an operating system capable of

running downloaded apps (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.).

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 Portable Digital Format (PDF) is a file format designed to present documents consistently

across multiple devices and platforms (Tech Terms, 2018). The reader's experiences changes as

it reads on digital formats on computers, smart phones, and designated e-readers like Kindle. The

physical act of reading shifts from turning pages of a bound print book, the codex to pressing the

buttons or touchscreen of an electronic device to make text materialize on screen (Burritt, 2010).

Wherefore, it will be beneficial to elaborate the advantages of e-books to the learners.

Advantages of E-books

Reading e-books comes with a lot of advantages for users compared to reading printed

books. Take for an instance, using less paper, -books take up less space and are easy to carry

(Burritt, 2010). Anderson (2007) as cited by Embong, et al., (2012) instigated the benefits of E-

books on the learners physically and academically. An e-book can compress the contents of a

conventional textbook. Physically, the reduce weight enables the students to grow healthily

without any damaging effects such as lower back pain, poor posture, spinal deformity over time

and back problems in adulthood. It reduced the burden of carrying heavy conventional textbooks.

Academically, in terms learners may find the reading process fun due other features of e-books

such as enlarged text size and attractive graphics.

Another advantages of using e-books include the ability to search text, reduced paper

consumption, the use of a built-in dictionary, increased storage capacity, portability, wireless

connection to the Internet, ability to download materials, fewer distractions compared to a laptop,

cost of e-books, and the number and variety of books available to instantly download (Barron

and Rabb as cited in Rich, 2012)

Picton (2014) claimed that e-books recreate many best features of printed books, such as

the ability to see whole pages, and turn pages with the flick of a finger. Aside from those

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aforementioned apparent physical advantages of e-books, the use of e-books in terms of

enhancing student knowledge is apparent and accordingly, e-book could ensure high levels of

knowledge delivery and accessibility, and it created long-lasting memorization of knowledge and

increase reading comprehension (Letchumanan & Tarmizi, 2010).

Levels of Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension as one of the receptive communication skills most commonly

tested skills in school. Many qualifying examinations in elementary, secondary, and tertiary

schools focus on reading or consist largely of reading comprehension. Perhaps, educators believe

that one's reading proficiency is a reflection of his/her written language skills and other sub-skills

such as constructing correct sentences, using appropriate words to express ideas, organizing

ideas logically, etc. Reading tests may consist of the following: skimming to identify the gist or

intent, scanning to locate specific information, identifying a story line, identifying examples

presented in support of a fact or an opinion, using context to guess the meaning of unfamiliar

words or structures, recognizing organizational features of text, identifying referents of

pronouns, etc. (Go & Posecion, 2010).

There are different levels of reading comprehension yet to sum it up they are closely

related to each other. It comes with three levels such as literal, inferential, applied or evaluative;

and other authors they considered it with four levels such as literal, inferential, critical, and

creative level. For the five levels, these are literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluative, and

appreciative. According to Delos Santos and Villanueva (2008), there are four levels of reading

comprehension such as the literal level, inferential level, critical level, and creative level. The

first one is the literal level; this refers to recognition of what is simply, directly and explicitly the

textual message. In addition, by Kent State University (20119), the reader finds the answer in the

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text. The reader might be asked identify the main ideas of the paragraph or short story, recall

details that support the main ideas organize the sequence in which the main events occurred.

Second one is the inferential level; this goes beyond the direct and explicit statement and

adds on by enriching the meaning of the textual message. In inferential level or interpretive level

is reading between the lines. The reader interprets the information to find answers or it involves

integration of information and making inferences. They make inferences about the meanings of

unfamiliar words from the context. The reader might be asked to any of the following predict

endings and anticipate consequences state reasons for events, and make generalizations.

According Park & Day (2005), making inferences involves more than a literal understanding.

Students may initially have a difficult time answering inference questions because the answers

are based on material that is in the text but not explicitly stated. An inference involves students

combining their literal understanding of the text with their own knowledge and intuitions.

Third, is critical level, wherein the reader raises questions and evaluates the text the texts

for it veracity, style, pattern etc. And lastly, creative level which the reader sees new ideas or

insights from the textual materials. In relation with these different numbers of levels of reading

comprehension, the applied level which was used by the researcher from Kent State University

(2019) can be related with the critical, creative and evaluative levels. They are most like

synonymous to each other. Applied level is defined as reading beyond the line. Here the reader

makes links between the text and his or her own experience and knowledge to develop an

answer. The reader asks open-ended questions to promote deeper understanding and make

generalizations, make comparisons, make judgments, make recommendations and suggestions,

make decisions, and create alternative endings. Since applied level of reading comprehension

needs to answer open-ended questions, the readers mostly express it through an essay. Thus the

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researchers have based on scoring rubrics in evaluating their applied level of reading

comprehension.

Go and Posecion (2010), elaborated the test for literature on literal, reorganization,

inference, evaluation and appreciation levels of reading comprehension. In testing literal

comprehension includes recall of details, main ideas, sequence, comparisons, cause and effect

relationships and character traits. Inferential tests require students to use information explicitly

stated in the text along with personal experience and knowledge in order to use information

explicitly stated in the text along with the personal experience and knowledge in order to

conjecture and to form hypothesis. Evaluation tests require the students to compare information

and ideas in a text with material presented by the instructor or other authorities and with student's

own knowledge and experience in order to form judgement of various kinds. For evaluation and

appreciation tests, however, elicits opinion answers, thus the substance does not depend on the

literary text but on the student's ability to expound his or her ideas. In addition, according to

Nation and Oakhill (2009) as cited in Jenkins, et al., (2015) that various types of tasks are used to

measure reading comprehension including multiple choice tests, oral reading, recall, true-false

judgements, sentence completion, and open question-answer tasks.

Saclote (2015) affirmed that, certainly one cannot be too dogmatic about the sequence or

order of the levels of comprehension that the linear ordering of the levels should remain

inviolable is not etched in the stone. However, logic dictates that to be able to apply the higher

level of thinking like inferencing and evaluating or applying, the reader must have a grasp of the

essentials of the piece of fiction under consideration. The construction of the meaning of the

selections can be explained by the Top-down approach the reader concentrates on the whole

idea.

24
 Top-Down Approach and Transactional Theory

Top-down approach is known as whole to parts reading. It involves looking at the picture

of the whole puzzle and then putting the pieces together (Wink as cited in Saclote, 2015).

According to Delos Santos and Villanueva (2008), it uses meaning given by the reader to the

text. It allows readers to decode a text even without understanding the meaning of each word. It

gives emphasizes reading for meaning instead of giving attention to each word, its letters and

sounds.

In relation with theoretical explanations of reading comprehension, the transactional theory

of Rosenblatt (1995) is significant in this study as well. According to Rosenblatt, each reader

considers the material through the lens of their individual experiences, and transaction between

the reader and the text that comprehension occurs. The transactional theory of reader response

supports the idea that readers understand or "make sense" of their reading based upon their

personal experiences. Every time a person reads, there is a transaction and responses between the

readers, the text, and the context (Szabo and Long, 2016).

Different response or emotions can be elicited depending upon the format of the text. There

are two types of text namely informative and narrative text. According to Peregoy and Boyle

(2000) as cited in Aydemir, et al. (2013) in order to comprehend an informative text, it is

necessary to look for an answer for the five W's and one H questions such as who, what, when,

where, how and why, and to find a main idea and supporting ideas. According to Akyol (2006)

the narrative texts contain "Stage" phase which gives information about when and where the

event takes place; "Main and supporting characters" phase in which the characters are affecting

the plot, the "Event" phase that initiates the problem in the text and forms the basis of the text,

"Problem solving attempts" phase in which the activities are realized for the solution of the

25
event; "Result phase which contains the things narrated, and is necessary to be consistent; "Main

idea" phase which represents the idea inferred from the text, and finally the "Reaction" phase that

states the views of the main character and the reader on the text.

Reading narrative texts or short stories can fall under ludic reading. Nell (1988) as cited by

Burritt (2010) refers ludic reading as reading for pleasure which requires for more attention from

the reader than reading informational articles because the reader has to internally transform the

textual material, like dialogue, character, and storyline, into mental images and emotional

reactions. Because character and plot are constant factors throughout fictional stories, the

cognitive activity of the reader is on-going and creates a continuous draw on the reader's

attention.

Adolescent Motivations for School Reading

The most significant questionnaire used in this study to assess the reading motivation of the

participants is Adolescent Motivations for School Reading questionnaire (AMS) by Coddington

(2009). The questionnaire is a measure of six constructs of motivation in Reading or Language

Arts class. Three of the constructs intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, prosocial interactions

represent aspects that affirm reading related activities. The other three constructs avoidance,

perceived difficulty, antisocial interactions represent volitional aspects of the self that undermine

reading related activities.

According to her, studying motivation requires a perspective that motivation is

multifaceted. An individual is either motivated or they lack of motivation. Thus, Coddington

studied the affirming and undermining aspects of Motivation for Reading. There are three

affirming reading aspects of motivation. First is the intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is

defined within the reading domain as students' enjoyment and pleasure in reading for the sake of

26
reading. A student who has intrinsic motivation for reading is better able to pursue the reading

task. Thus, intrinsic motivation for reading affirms his ability to persevere in the face of

difficulties and successfully complete the reading task (Coddington, 2009)

Second affirming reading aspect is Self-efficacy. A student who reports high levels of self-

efficacy believes that he is capable of performing the reading task. Specific to reading, a

student's strong beliefs about his ability to read provide support and facilitate his ability to

perform the reading tasks. Thus self-efficacy affirms reading (Coddington, 2009).

Lastly, prosocial interaction can affirm reading aspect. Prosocial interactions included

desires and behaviors to share opinions about reading, show interest in classmates' and friends

reading, and offer help to classmates and friends with reading. Thus, prosocial goals for reading

refer to the intention to assist other students in reading activities, the goal to exchange reactions

to reading and the aim of enjoying relating to other students about the content of reading. Thus,

the individual possesses the goal to help, cooperate, and follow the rules with other students in a

reading specific context. Interacting interpersonally with other students in reference to reading

enhances the well- being of the individual, the self and the relationship (Coddington, 2009).

On the other hand, the undermining aspects of motivation for reading achievement are

those tendencies, which lead students to behave in a way that decreases their proficiency on

achievement tasks. Thus a student who perceives that a task is difficult or wishes to avoid

specific academic tasks is motivated to undermine the learning context. There are three

undermining aspects of motivation for reading as well.

First is the avoidance; which refers to intentionally performing activities that prevent one's

self from completing a reading activity or shorten the duration of the activity. In this measure,

work avoidance for school reading reflects behaviors and strategies, which allow a student to

27
evade reading the books and materials provided in the classroom. Hence, it undermines the

reading related activities.

Second is the perceived difficulty, is a concept discussed by Bandura as perceptions or

beliefs about a task that it will be hard to complete. For reading, these perceptions could refer to

a topic, text difficulty, word difficulty, or the length of a book, as examples. Perceptions of social

dismissal of reading refer to an individual's belief that their peer group devalues and dismisses

the individual's reading as an activity.

Lastly, antisocial interaction refers to the intention to avoid assisting other students in

reading activities. The term antisocial in this study reflects the intention of students not to

comply with formal rules of surrounding reading activities. A student may have interjected

reasons for avoiding interactions with peers in the classroom settings. Thus, it undermines their

social learning or the reading related activities.

The study of motivation is necessary due to the question of whether students assign greater

value to reading when using e-books. If the e-books positively affect comprehension, then they

hold the potential to also positively impact motivation as students experience greater success in

reading. If comprehension and motivation are positively affected, then the incorporation of e-

books will promote student reading (Wells, 2012).

Related Studies

Numbers of studies on the effect of e-books on the reading comprehension and motivation

has been carried out all over the world and the following related studies served as the references

of the present study in justifying its findings.

Foreign Studies

28
 A study of Rich (2012) on "The Influence of Electronic Books on Third Grade Reading

Comprehension" compared the reading comprehension of the participants based on two formats

such as e-books and printed books and the provided evidence from her study which indicated

literal reading comprehension appears to be better when participants read e-books than printed

texts. E-book readers appeared to be better and increased in reading comprehension.

Another quasi-experimental study conducted from South Africa by Jenkins, Sackstein and

Spark (2015) investigated the effectiveness of e-books on the reading speed and comprehension

among sixty-eight (68) students and accordingly they provide evidence that e-books are suitable

tools for reading and learning.

Korat (2009) studied the effect of electronic storybook (e-book) on reading of ninety (90)

Israeli children, kindergarten and first graders on their comprehension skills, word reading and

vocabulary. The experimental group, who repeatedly read the e-book five times, had better

results than the group who read the regular book, in the areas of word recognition, word

meaning, and story comprehension. Accordingly, children who read the e-book exhibited

significant progress in word meaning and word reading compared to the control group. They

assumed that e-books that incorporate these features have the capacity to increase children's early

literacy at a stage whose importance is not doubted.

Chen, et al. (2013) conducted a study on "The Effects of Extensive Reading via E-Books

on Tertiary Level EFL Students' Reading Attitude, Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary"

with eighty-nine (89) participants and were assigned in two groups, with 46 students in the

experimental group and the other 43 students in the control group. In the experimental group

they used extensive reading with e-books whereas on the control group, no treatment was

applied. Based on their findings, they concluded the integration of e-books extensive reading

29
program into EFL program since the help of e-books significantly promoted better reading

attitude, reading comprehension and vocabulary than the control group.

Similarly, with the finding of the study of Selly (2016), entitled "The Influence of E-Books

on Reading Habit and Reading Comprehension Achievement of the Eleventh-Graders of

Palembang", she concluded that e-books help students in improving their reading comprehension

achievement because there was a significant different in reading comprehension achievement

between the eleventh-graders who use -books and those who used printed books. Additionally, in

the study of Melinis (2011), she concluded that e-books positively affected comprehension. She

recommends the use of e-books in the classroom to teach literacy and digital literacy.

Another study conducted from Turkey conducted by Aydemir, Ozturk, and Horzum (2013)

conducted in Turkey, entitled, "The Effects of Reading from Screen on the 5th Grade Elementary

Students' Level of Reading Comprehension of Informative and Narrative Type of Text", it was

revealed in their study that the levels of reading comprehension of the students who read

informative text from screen were significantly higher than other yet for the narrative text, there

were no significant effect of e-books.

Most of the studies focus solely on the effect of e-books mainly to the reading

comprehension only and with elementary grader only. However, a study conducted to determine

the effect of e-books on reading comprehension and motivation was carried out by Wells (2012)

entitled "Do Students Using Electronic Books Display Different Reading Comprehension and

Motivation Levels than Students Using Traditional Print Books?" Middle and high school

students were her participants. The effect of electronic books on the reading motivation of

middle and high school students was examined using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest

control-group design. Based on the results, electronic books were found to have no effect on the

30
motivation reading comprehension and of middle and high school students. She found out that

there was no significant difference in comprehension based on book format. Students in the

experimental group did not display significantly different levels of reading comprehension when

compared to students in the control group.

Likewise, in a study conducted in Oman by Al Musawii, et al., (2017) on "Effectiveness of

E-Book in Improving Omani Kindergarten Kids Comprehension and Motivation Towards Stories

Reading" found no significant difference on the reading motivation between the participants on

reading the two formats; printed and e-books.

Another study which addresses the reading motivation in reading e-books is Szabo and

Long (2016) who carried out a quasi-experimental mixed methods study with a title of "E-

readers and the Effects on Students' Reading Motivation, Attitude and Comprehension during

Guided Reading", on thirty 5th grade pupils from suburban elementary school in Texas. For ten

(10) weeks, nineteen (19) participants received guided reading instruction by means of the

traditional paper or text format, while sixteen (16) participants from experimental group received

guided reading instruction by means of e-readers using the same stories but in digital text format.

They used The Motivation to read Profile to measure their motivation and in measuring the

levels of their reading motivation, they administered Gates-McGinite Reading tests. Based on the

findings of their study it showed no significant difference between the students who used e-

reader digital text format and those that used paper or text format in regard to reading

motivation, attitude toward reading or reading comprehension. According to their public interest

statement, they were surprised with the findings of their study when it did not support the

hypothesis expecting to find big differences between the two groups since these participants are

labelled digital natives who were raised with access to a variety of technology and have spent

31
many hours using such devices as computers, video games, digital music players, iPads, e-

readers, and cell phones. However, the qualitative information helped them to understand the

phenomenon. Based on the qualitative data they have, the students felt that the technology got in

the way of their reading and they would have liked to have had traditional text as an alternative

when the technology was not working properly.

Local Studies

Few local studies conducted on the effect of e-books on the reading comprehension and

motivation of the students yet the researcher found a most likely parallel study which uses

technology and the following studies as follow:

Cabural (2009) carried out a study; "Differential Effects of CD Assisted Technique on the

Reading Comprehension of High School Students of Misamis Occidental National High School."

the result of the study revealed that there were significant difference in the mean scores in literal

comprehension and evaluative skills of the experimental and control groups, while mental ability

had low and insignificant correlation to reading performance of the participants. Thus, this CD-

assisted technique turned out to be beneficial in improving the evaluative skills of the students.

This could only imply that the evaluative skills can be enhanced and developed with the use of

the

technique (Acmed-Ismael, 2012).

Minalang-Limbona (2016) studied on the effects of viewing video materials with

intervention to the viewing comprehension and vocabulary and she conclude that with the help of

technology, it helped the participants in increasing their comprehension. Similar findings

conducted by Mipanga (2017) entitled, "Effects of the Use of Captioned Video Materials Among

32
the Grade 4 Pupils in MSU-ILS" and concluded that viewing captioned video materials enhanced

the comprehension of the learners.

Although this study of Laban and Sabacajan (2002) has nothing to do with technology, the

reading comprehension was noted its relatedness to this study. Laban and Sabacajan (2002)

conducted a study with a title of The reading Comprehension Skills among First Year High

School Students from MSU- Integrated Laboratory School Students", another study conducted

for the purpose of determining the reading comprehension skills of the respondents. These

comprehension skills were noting detail, getting the main idea; predicting outcomes of given

event, making inferences and drawing up conclusions and were taken into account.

The result of the study revealed that in terms of the reading comprehension skill, majority

of them belong to the moderate level in almost of the skills that were evaluated except in the

literal level which noting details are emphasized which garnered a higher level.

On the other hand a study conducted by Satar (2013) entitled "Dimensional Approach in

Teaching Reading: Its Effect on Reading Comprehension among Grade 5 Pupils", concluded

from its findings a significant improvement on the literal level yet there was no significant

improvement on the interpretive or inferential level and critical or applied level of reading

comprehension.

33
 Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the research methodology which will be used in the study. This

includes the discussion of research design, locale of the study, the participants of the study, the

research instrument, data gathering procedure and the statistical tools used.

Research Design

This study will employ quasi-experimental research design. The qualitative and

quantitative approaches will be utilized in the interpretation of data. To see to it that control and

experimental group will be of the same footing, a matching will be done using the pretest score

where symbol O in the following table corresponds to observation during reading sessions, in

which O1 and O2 represents the pretest administered to the experimental group and control group

respectively; O3 and O4 represent the posttest administered to the Experimental Group and

Control Group. The symbol M means the participants will be matched based on the raw scores

from pretest score reading traditional printed reading materials. The symbol X represents the use

of e-books, while symbol C depicts the use of e-books on reading the materials.

Table 1. Matching Pretest-Posttest Design

Matching Pretest Treatment/ Posttest

Intervention

34
 Experimental
M1……………..M15 O1 X O3
Group

Control Group M1……………..M15 O2 C O4

In this design, a pretest will be administered to the participants before the treatment or

reading sessions commenced. The raw scores to be obtained after the pretest will be used to

match and segregate them for experimental and control group. Both groups will take the posttest

at the end of the sessions.

Locale of the Study

This study will be conducted in Pooni-Lomabao Memorial National High School in the

province of Poona-Bayabao, Lanao del Sur. Poona-Bayabao is one of the municipalities of

Lanao del Sur and known to the rest of the province of Lanao del Sur perhaps because of its rice

production. Poona-Bayabao is known by the name "Basak Area". It is situated in the south from

Marawi City to Lumbatan and Butig. It is neighbouring municipality between Masiu in the south

and the municipality of Tamparan and Taraka in the north.

The schools established in Poona-bayabao were all public schools. The very first national

high school established in Poona Bayabao is the Pooni-Lomabao Memorial National High

School. Due to the strong earnest desire of the Late Sultan of Bansayan Hadji Palawan Pooni-

Lomabao Lucman to improve and uplift the educational system of Poona-Bayabao where he

served also as a Mayor for over 15 years, he donated the lot of his parents where the school site

of Pooni-Lomabao Memorial National High School is established during June 1998-1999.

The school is also widely known in Poona Bayabao as POLMENAHS. During the school

year 2016, the said school started to operate Senior high school offering two strands; General

Academic Strand and Technological Vocational Strand. This school has a large number of

35
students which accommodates students from its neigboring municipalities such as Masiu, Lumba

Bayabao, Tamparan and Taraka.

36
 Figure 2. Locator Map of Pooni-Lomabao Memorial National High School

Participants of the Study

This study will be conducted among matched thirty (30) Grade 11 students from section

Socrates and section Aristotle enrolled in Pooni-Lomabao Memorial National High School in the

School Year 2022-2023. There are 40 enrolled students in section Aristotle and 43 from Section

Socrates. These sections will be separated heterogeneous hence they are well suited and capable

of participating in this study. Both population of each section will take the pretest. The scores of

the pretest will be ranked from the highest to lowest. The matching of the scores of the

participants will be followed in which students who will get the same score or nearly the same

score will be assigned to be separated; that is, one will be assigned for experimental and the other

one in the control group. The matching procedure will be done until fifteen (15) participants

completed the Experimental Group and another fifteen (15) participants for the Control Group

and the rest of the population will be disqualified and will not be included in the study.

Research Instruments

There will be two instruments to be used in the study; a researcher-made questionnaire for

the levels of reading comprehension and an adopted questionnaire for reading motivation of the

participants. The first one is the researcher-constructed questionnaire based on the two sets of

short stories approximately one thousand seventy (1070) words each stories. These short stories

are "A Letter to God" by Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes and "The Chaser" by John Collier which was

37
used to assess the level of reading comprehension of the experimental group and control group.

Each reading selections will be prepared with the same formats. These short stories are selected

and especially designed for pretest and posttest to see any improvement throughout the reading

sessions. The appraisal instrument will be subjected to item analysis before it will be

administered. It will consist of 60 items; 20 items on literal comprehension, 20 items on

inferential comprehension, and 80 items on applied level. Multiple choice questionnaires will be

used on literal and inferential questions yet on the applied reading comprehension, the questions

yield for an essay answer. There will be twenty (20) open questions which seeks into account the

judgement, own beliefs and experiences of the participants into account. The researcher used

scoring rubric in grading the essay of the participants.

The instrument will be reviewed by the researcher's adviser and validated through pilot

testing by twenty (20) grade 11 students from the neighboring school, before the administration

of the test. After the test validation, the researcher will administer the questionnaire for matching

of the groups. At the end of the experiment, the same test will be administered to evaluate their

performance in posttest.

In determining the reading motivation of the participants, a standardized questionnaire will

be adopted from the study of Coddington (2009) entitled "The Effects of Constructs of

Motivation that Affirm and Undermine Reading Achievement Inside and outside of School on

Middle School Students' Reading Achievement. There are six constructs in this questionnaire;

namely Intrinsic Motivation, Prosocial Interaction, Self-efficacy, Antisocial Interaction,

Perceived Difficulty, and Avoidance. The researcher was given permission by the author of the

questionnaire through e-mail.

Data Gathering Procedure

38
 This study employed the following phases throughout the experiment: Pre-Intervention

Phase, Intervention Phase and Post-Intervention Phase

Pre-Intervention Phase

Before the experiment or intervention will commence, the researcher will administer the

self-constructed questionnaire which will be used in the pretest given to the Grade 11 students

from section Aristotle and Socrates. The resulted raw scores will be the basis for matched

segregation of thirty (30) participants for Experimental Group and Control Group. The students

will be given one hour and forty minutes to read and answer the questionnaire. After the pretest,

the matching procedure will be done and followed by the reading sessions in which the treatment

will be applied for the Experimental Group.

Intervention Phase

The expected reading sessions will start from August 25, 2023 to November 25, 2023. Due

to numbers of extra-curricular activities, semestral break and holidays, it will take months to

complete the prescribed sessions. The Control Group shall attend the regular class from 7:30-

8:30 whereas the Experimental Group shall attend 8:30- 9:30. The participants will undergone

the reading sessions and will be given the short stories in traditional printed reading materials

while the Experimental Group will be exposed to read the e-books version of the reading

materials. The participants from Experimental Group shall use their smartphones in reading the

materials. Their smartphones should have the capacity to display and launch the PDF through

Adobe Acrobat. The dimensions of the smartphones shall range from approximately 5 inches by

2 inches wide up to 6 inches by 3 inches.

The researcher will give half an hour to one hour per session to read the short stories

silently. Subsequently, there will always be a test given to the experimental and control group

39
every at the end of reading session. These tests will assess the level of their reading

comprehension such as the literal comprehension, inferential comprehension and applied

comprehension and the participants were given an hour to answer these questions. An individual

oral question and answer subsequently will follow as well.

Statistical Tools

The following statistical tools will be used in order to analyze the data gathered.

1. To determine the performance profile of the control group and experimental group in

pretest and posttest in reading comprehension, the z-test will be used, the formula shown below:

Formula: Where,

hm−am
Z – test = SD Z = Z-test value
√N
Am = actual mean

Hm = hypothetical mean of 75% level

SD = standard deviation

N = number of cases

2. To determine if there are significant mean gains of the students' performance from the

pretest to the posttest among the Control Group and Experimental Group. The T-test of

correlated samples will be used.

Formula: Where,

d
t – test = SD d = mean gain
√N
SD = standard deviation

N = number of cases

40
 3. To determine the mean difference of the achievement of the Grade 11 students between

the Control Group and Experimental Group, the T-test of the uncorrelated samples will be used.

Formula: Where,
1 2
x −x

√
T – test = ( sd 1 )(sd 2 )
N 1 N2
T = t-test value

1
X = mean of the first group
2
X = mean of the second group
1
SD = standard deviation of the first group
2
SD = standard deviation of the second

group

N = Total number of cases

41