Enhancing Reading Comprehension of Intermediate Pupils through the

Implementation of the 4R’s Strategy

An Action Research

Presented to the Faculty of the College of Education

Carlos Hilado Memorial State University

Talisay City, Negros Occidental

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Course

Teaching Internship

By:

Casama, Shella Mae V.

delos Santos, Angel F.

Rodriguez, Belle Katleen G.

Senadre, Aineeh Rachel P.

Vito, Allen Rose A.

January 2024
 Chapter I

Context and Rationale

Background of the Study

The ultimate purpose of reading is to understand and make sense of the text

being read. When learners comprehend written text and combine it with prior

knowledge, they can perform comprehension skills (Tadesse, 2017). This

emphasizes the importance of reading as an indispensable tool to improve pupils'

learning skills, serving as the foundation for academic skills built and developed

through various studies and training.

As one of the basic skills required in the classroom, reading takes a

significant role in a child's learning process, being the most prominent language

skill (Sadiku, 2015). As claimed by Helarde (2021), it is the mother of all study

skills. However, despite long-standing awareness of reading comprehension as an

integral component of the learning process, studies have shown that most children

in third-world countries have not acquired this skill to an acceptable level,

hindering learners' reading ability in later life (Mangarin, 2023). Poor reading

comprehension among children and youth is an ongoing concern. Data show

stagnant performance in reading achievement over the past decades only about

one-third of fourth-graders exhibiting proficient reading skills (Snyder, De Brey, &

Dillow, 2016). This problem is also a critical concern in Philippine education.

 Numerous programs have been implemented to support the learners'

reading comprehension of students in the country. Literacy enhancement is one of

the Department of Education's top priorities, anchored on the flagship program of

the Department: the "Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP)" (DepEd Order

Number 14, 2018). Nevertheless, some public elementary schools across the

country were not successful in implementing it. A study by Adriano in 2015

revealed that in Bulacan public elementary schools, ECARP was not effective in

improving the reading abilities of the students. Moreover, there was a problem

with the school’s capacity to implement the program due to the lack of monitoring

and follow-through by the administration.

Findings from the 2018 PISA (Program for International Student

Assessment) indicated that, among 79 nations, the Philippines ranked the lowest in

reading comprehension. Elementary school pupils in the Philippines are falling

behind their counterparts in some Southeast Asian countries in reading, writing,

and mathematics, with a significant percentage of students still performing at

levels expected in the early years of primary education, as shown by a regional

study (Balinbin, 2020). With this, it could be inferred that the reading

comprehension of Filipino students is very alarming. Thus, this study aims to

improve reading comprehension among Intermediate students in a public

elementary school in the Division of Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines.

Research Questions

Specifically, this research would like to address the following questions:

1. What is the pre-test reading comprehension level of students?

2. What is the post-test reading comprehension level of students using 4R

strategy?

3. Is there a significant difference between pre-test and post-test

comprehension levels of students using 4R strategy?

Proposed Innovation, Intervention Strategy

The researchers will employ an intervention that addresses students'

reading comprehension through reading, retelling, reacting, and

reflecting—hence the 4Rs. This strategy is a combination of reading approaches

designed to address important factors required for effective reading.

The researchers used the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory

(Phil-IRI) Tool to assess students’ reading comprehension levels and gather

participants that are included in frustration levels. The intervention will be

implemented after the students are introduced to the 4Rs reading intervention

and discuss how to apply it while reading. The researchers will provide practice

text materials.

Read, Retell, React, Reflect Strategy

Read. The intervention requires the students to read a literary form, such as short

stories.

Retell. Following the reading, the researchers will encourage the students to
retell the story in their own words.

React. Afterward, the students will respond or share their feelings.

Reflect. The researchers will question the students about the underlying values

presented in the story, allowing them to reflect on the message.

This strategy will be implemented for a two-week intervention, during

which progress will be monitored and regular follow-ups will be conducted.

The researchers will use the same instrument for a posttest after implementing

the intervention to determine whether the participants' reading comprehension

levels have improved as a result of the strategy.

 Chapter II

Methods

Research Participants

The respondents of this study are the intermediate pupils under

frustration level from Talisay South Elementary School enrolled during the

school year 2023-2024 utilizing a purposive sampling technique. The

intervention that will be used in this study aims to address only reading

comprehension, considering the grade level of the participants. Moreover, the

researchers consider intermediate pupils, specifically, Grade 6 pupils only since

they are the group who are susceptible to having difficulties transitioning from

the elementary level to the secondary level.

Data Gathering Methods

The researcher utilized Phil-IRI as it is aims to measure and describe the

learners’ reading performance in both English and Filipino languages in oral

reading, silent reading and listening comprehension. These three types of

assessment aim to determine the learner’s independent, instructional and

frustration levels. The Phil-IRI data shall also serve as one of the bases in

planning, designing/redesigning the reading instruction of the teachers and the

school’s reading programs or activities to improve the overall school’s reading

performance (DepEd Order No. 14, s 2018). With this, the researcher used this

instrument in identifying the reading levels of the Grade 6 pupils to identify

which pupils need help in enhancing the reading levels.

a. Prior to the conduct of the study, the researchers sent a request to the
 principal of the respective schools where the participants are from.

b. The researchers conducted a pretest using the Phil-IRI tool to assess the

entry reading comprehension level of the participants.

c. After the pretest, the 4Rs strategy was introduced and was then followed

by a two-week intervention implementation.

d. Concluding the research process, the researchers conducted a posttest

still using the same tool to assess whether the reading comprehension

level of the participants have improved after using the strategy.

e. The data gathered from the pretest and posttest have been collated and

tabulated.

Data Analysis Plan

The scores from the pre-test and post-test were tabulated and analyzed.

The Mean and Standard Deviation will be used to determine the comprehension

level of the students during pretest and posttest, and to determine how dispersed

the scores were Paired Sample t-test will be used to determine the significance of

the difference between the pretest and posttest scores.

 REFERENCES

Adriano, M. N. I. (2015). Evaluation of the Implementation and Effectiveness of

Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP) in a Bulacan Public

Elementary School. *Harvest, 11*(1), 0. Retrieved from

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_the_Implementation_and_Effectiveness_of_Every_Child_a_

Reader_Program_ECARP_in_a_Bulacan_Public_Elementary_School

Balinbin, A. (2020). Filipino students are falling behind in reading and writing

levels in Southeast Asia. Retrieved from

https://www.bworldonline.com/editors-picks/2020/12/03/331914

/filipino-students-falling-behind-in-reading-writing-levels-

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Hernandez, C. M. (2019). Reading comprehension level and vocabulary skills of

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Mangarin, R. (2023). Enhancing Reading Skills of Grade 6 Pupils Through

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University of Mindanao

Sadiku, L. M. (2015). The Importance of Four Skills Reading, Speaking,

Writing, Listening in a Lesson Hour. European Journal of Language and

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Snyder, T. D., De Brey, C., & Dillow, S. A. (2016). Digest of Education

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Statistics. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED565675

Tadesse, T. (2017). Re: What is reading skill and its significance? Retrieved

from https://www.researchgate.net/post/what_is_reading_skill_and_

its_significance
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