UTILIZATION OF READING WORKSHEET AS AN INNOVATIVE

TOOL TO IMPROVE THE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS AND

PROFICIENCY OF THE GRADE VII STUDENTS OF GUMAUS
NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL

An Action Research Proposal

By:

Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region V Bicol
Division of Camarines Norte
Paracale District
GUMAUS NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL
The Schools Division Superintendent
Division of Camarines Norte
Daet, Camarines Norte
Sir:
I have the honor to request permission to conduct an action research
entitled Utilization of a Reading Worksheet as an Innovative Tool to Improve the
Reading Comprehension Skills and Proficiency of the Grade VII Students of
Gumaus National High School
Attached herewith are the copies of the Action Research Proposal. I am
hoping for your positive response and approval. Thank you very much and
Godspeed.
Very truly yours,

Teacher - I
Noted:

Principal-I

Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region V Bicol
Division of Camarines Norte
Paracale District
GUMAUS NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL
The Schools Division Superintendent
Division of Camarines Norte
Daet, Camarines Norte
Madam:
I have the honor to request permission to produce a reading worksheet as
an intervention or tool to help the Grade VII students of Gumaus National
Highschool improve their reading comprehension skills.
Hoping for your positive response and approval. Thank you very much
and Godspeed.
Very truly yours,
T
eacher - I
Noted:

Principal-I

I-CONTENT AND RATIONALE

Reading is the most indispensable among all the basic literacy

skills. This is because reading is where all the other academic abilities like
writing,

numeracy

and

language

related

competencies

come

in

conjunction with. Reading is integrated in all areas of discipline and fields

of learning. It is the most important literacy skill which students need to
master.
Reading includes multiple and specific skills or components like
phonetic reading skills, structural reading skills, vocabulary-based reading
skills and reading comprehension. Among these specific reading
competencies, reading comprehension is considered to be the most
complex yet the most significant. This is because reading comprehension
is reflected through the students level of understanding of the concepts,
theme, message or ideas conveyed by any reading text.
Reading comprehension is of utmost importance among the
learners since it is the reading ability that enables a student or reader to
understand every component, element or features of a reading. These
elements include words, symbols, lexical structures, grammar, syntax and
most of all the messages conveyed by a reading selection. Among the
elements of a reading text, it is the message or theme of the selection
which is the most important to be comprehended by the learners or

readers. This is because messages or concepts well comprehended pave

way for better and more successful learning gains and outcomes.
However, it is a deplorable reality in our current educational system,
that poor reading comprehension or reading comprehension problems
among students continue to prevail. The results of reading comprehension
tests and assessments in the frustration level indicate the continuous
decline in the reading comprehension skills and proficiency of the Filipino
students. Reading comprehension problems pose enormous adverse
impacts against the development of the various academic and literacy
skills. Without effective reading comprehension, instructional concepts in
language, numeracy, science and other fields of learning would not be
understood, learned and imbibed well by the learners, thus multiple
academic problems and learning disabilities tend to worsen.
In response to these academic problems, the proponent of this
study was motivated to introduce and produce an intervention that would
address the reading comprehension problems specifically among the
Grade VII students in Gumaus National High School. This intervention is
in the form of a reading worksheet which features instructional inputs,
activities and exercises which are all geared towards improving the
reading comprehension skills of the learners.

II- REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The researcher gathers literatures and studies which pose
relevance or connection with the concepts of this present study.
According to Smith (1994) provided a definition of reading
comprehension. Accordingly, it is the ability to make sense of what you
read by using what you know. During the process of comprehending the
reading text, the reader can make use of prior knowledge and experience
and relate it to what he is reading in order to construct his own meaning.
Likewise, Caretti (2006) defined reading comprehension as a
complex cognitive-based skill which requires an individuals ability to
process the integration of text information with the knowledge of the
reader paving the way to the elaboration of mental concepts or
representation. Reading comprehension is a component of reading in
which a person is adept in terms of the various cognitive processes
involved in comprehension like critical thinking and reasoning.
Reading comprehension difficulties are observed to be one of the
typical reading problems among Filipino students. This was attested by
the study of Cruz (2007) who provided a discussion of the real picture of
the reading profile of the students in the Philippines. Our schools are
lacking valid data showing the real status of the Filipino students in terms
of reading skills particularly in reading comprehension. It is said that the
result of Philippine Reading Inventory (Phil-Iri) is considered as an
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insufficient basis of providing a reliable description of the average or

general reading comprehension abilities of Filipino school-age children.
This is because most often Phil-IRI results submitted by class advisers do
not reflect the actual and real outcomes or results of the reading
assessment of the pupils.
In reality, the results of literacy tests continue to show an alarming
decline in the reading comprehension skills of Filipino children. For
instance, the 2012 NAT results showed that Filipino students obtained a
mean percentage score of 54.42% in English reading comprehension and
58.61% in Filipino. This figure only shows that grade 3 pupils at present
are generally encountering problems or difficulties in terms of reading
comprehension either in English or Filipino.
Corroborative to the study of Cruz was the research conducted by
Nolasco (2008) said that reading comprehension and counting skills are
two of the most declining academic skills of the Filipino students
nowadays. He claimed that the performance of students remain dismally
low in the areas of reading comprehension and numeracy. This was
attested by the figures from a 2008 educational survey which showed that
19.6 million of Filipino students are burdened by poor reading
comprehension.
Relevantly, the study of Mendres (2008) found that poor
comprehension is a manifestation of poor reading skills. Adverse effects

on the academic, social and psychological development of students can

be expected if this poor reading comprehension will not be addressed
earlier or if proper intervention will not be applied immediately. This is
where the accurate and early detection or diagnosis of pupils reading
problems is considered essential and necessary.

III- RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study is centered on the utilization of a reading worksheet as
an innovative tool to improve the reading comprehension skills and
proficiency of the Grade VII students of Gumaus National High School.
Specifically, it seeks to answer the following research questions:
1.) What are the results of the pre-test in reading comprehension
prior to the development of the reading worksheet?
2.) What are the specific reading comprehension difficulties of the
students?
3.) What are the features of the reading worksheet to be developed
that can help students in improving their reading comprehension skills as
to:
a.) contents
b.) designed activities
c.) competencies covered and
d.) assessment?

4.) What are the results of the post-test after the intensive utilization
of the reading worksheet?
5.) What is the level of effectiveness of the developed reading
worksheet as an innovative reading comprehension enhancement tool as
based from the comparison between the pre-test and post-test results?

IV-SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This study will be focused and limited on the discussion of the
utilization of a reading worksheet developed by the proponent as an
innovative tool to improve the reading comprehension skills and
proficiency of the students. This study will be conducted to determine the
effects of using this reading worksheet also as an intervention geared
towards addressing the reading comprehension abilities of the students.
The respondents of this study are the 30 selected Grade VII students of
Gumaus National High School as well as the two teachers handling these
students.
This study will apply the use of descriptive-survey research and
quasi-experimental method. This research is limited on the following
research objectives: 1.) to identify the pre-test results prior to the
development and utilization of the reading worksheet; 2.) to determine the
specific reading comprehension difficulties of the students; 3.) to develop
a reading worksheet with features that can help students enhance their

reading comprehension skills; 4.) to analyze the post-test results after the
intensive utilization of the developed worksheet and 5.) to analyze the
effectiveness of the developed worksheet as an innovative reading
comprehension enhancement tool as based on the comparison of the pretest and post-test results.

V. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research will make use of the descriptive-survey method of
research. Descriptive-research method provides discussion and analysis
on various research problems, issues, concerns and phenomena. In this
present study, the descriptive-survey method will be applied in the
discussion and analysis of the specific reading comprehension difficulties
of the students and its possible causes or factors triggering these
difficulties.
Likewise, this study will make use of the quasi-experimental
method of research. This method makes use of pre-test and post-test
design. It also requires two groups of respondents-the controlled group
and the experimental group. In this study the experimental group of
students will be exposed to the use of the reading worksheet while the
controlled will only rely on the typical instructions on reading without the
use of innovations like this reading worksheet. This will serve to establish

10

comparison on the effects of the reading worksheet as a reading

comprehension enhancement tool for the students.

VI- WORK PLAN

The selected respondents or informants of this research will be the
30 Grade VII students of Gumaus National High School. They are
selected using the simple random sampling technique. Out of these 30
respondents, 15 will be included in the controlled group while the other 15
will be in the experimental group. The controlled group will be exposed to
typical or usual type of instruction in reading while the experimental group
will be exposed to the utilization of the reading worksheet.
Two selected teachers will be also included as participants of this
study. They are the two teachers handling these selected Grade VII
students. These selected teachers are the ones who can actually provide
concrete data regarding the problems on reading comprehension which
they directly observe to be present among their students. These data can
be obtained from their teachers records, class observations and results of
reading comprehension tests. These selected respondents will be also
tasked to utilize the actual reading comprehension workbook developed
by the proponent as a supplementary device or intervention in reading or
as an instructional reading tool. After the specific period of utilization, this
reading comprehension worksheet will be subjected to the evaluation of
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these selected teachers. Evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of this

worksheets will be based on the assessment of its objectives, contents,
designed reading comprehension activities and performance level of the
students in answering the worksheet exercises.
The necessary responses, information and data of this research will
be gathered primarily through the conduct of interviews and distribution of
questionnaires to the selected respondents. Therefore, there will be two
data gathering instruments to be used in this study. These are interview
guide and survey-questionnaires. Likewise, pre-test and post-test in
reading comprehension will be also utilized as tools to obtain data as to
the levels of the reading comprehension skills and proficiency of the
students prior or after the intensive utilization of the developed reading
worksheet.
Interview guide will be used by the researcher at the course of
asking pertinent questions to the teachers selected as the respondents of
this study. Interview questions will focus on the reading comprehension
skills, performance level as well as difficulties of the students based on the
teachers observations, records and results of reading tests. On the other
hand, survey-questionnaires will be utilized in order to obtain responses
and data along with four main objectives of this research.
The survey questionnaires to be used as the data gathering tool in
this study will be composed of four salient parts. The first part of the

12

questionnaire will provide for the identification of the specific reading

comprehension difficulties of the students. The second part will provide to
determine the possible causes of the reading comprehension difficulties of
the students. On the other hand, the third part will seek to evaluate the
quality of the worksheet as a reading intervention. Evaluation of the
worksheet will be based on its objectives, contents, designed activities or
exercises in reading comprehension and the performance level of the
students in answering or performing the reading comprehension exercises
provided in the workbook. Finally, the fourth part of the questionnaire will
seek to propose recommendations on how to further improve the quality of
the worksheet as reading comprehension enhancement tool.
Before the formal conduct of this action research, the proponent or
the researcher herself will first seek for the approval of the authorities to
conduct the study including the school head of Gumaus National High
School, the Schools Division Superintendent, DEPED superiors and the
teachers selected as the respondents or informants of this study. The
proponent will also assure the consent of all the selected informants to
fully participate in the conduct of this research. The researcher also
guarantees the respondents that all their responses written or provided on
the questionnaires will be treated with utmost confidentiality.
All the responses provided by the informants particularly on the
distributed questionnaire play key roles in determining the outcomes of
this study. That is why in order to obtain the most valid and reliable data
13

possible, the responses will be statistically treated with utmost care and
accuracy using percentage, frequency count and weighted mean
techniques.
Percentage and frequency count techniques will be applied in the
treatment of the frequency of the responses of the selected teachers in the
questionnaires. On the other hand, weighted mean technique will be used
for the interpretation of the data and responses gathered.

VII-COST ESTIMATES
The table below shows the estimated costs of the actual conduct of
this action research study:
Expenses
Estimated Costs
1.) Preparation and formulation
of action research proposal
Php 1,500
2.) Production and Distribution
of the Reading Worksheet
Php 2,000
3.) Production and distribution of
survey-questionnaires
Php 100
4.) Preparation and Formulation
of the completion report of Php 500
the action research project

VIII-ACTION PLAN

14

The conduct of this study will follow an organized flow of

procedures, processes or research-based actions divided into three
stages. These stages are pre-implementation, during implementation and
post-implementation.
During pre-implementation, the most important action which needs
to be undertaken by the researcher is to conduct a pre-test in reading
comprehension. Pre-test will identify the specific reading comprehension
skills and difficulties of the students prior to the development and
utilization of the reading worksheet.
During implementation or actual conduct of the study, the
researcher will develop a reading worksheet as an innovative tool and
intervention to help students improve their reading comprehension skills
and proficiency. This developed worksheet will be utilized by the two
teachers for a period of 3-4 months. This output will be intensively utilized
within this time frame to determine its effectiveness as a reading
comprehension enhancement tool. However, only the experimental group
composed of 15 students will be exposed to the use of this reading
worksheet.
Finally, on the post-implementation stage, the researcher will
conduct a post-test on reading comprehension. Post-test will be
distributed to both controlled and experimental groups. This is to

15

determine and compare the actual effects or level of effectiveness of the

worksheet after its intensive utilization.

IX- REFERENCES
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Smith, Bernie. Reading Comprehension. 1994.Retrieved on April 12, 2016

from https://www.Edutopia.org/discussion/readingcomprehension.pdf

Caretti, Marly. Reading Comprehension as a Complex Cognitive-Based

Skill.2006.Retrieved on April 12, 2016 from
www.sciencedirect.com/reading comprehension-as-a-cognitivebased-skill.pdf

Cruz, John. A Descriptive Study of the Reading Profile of Filipino

Children.2007.Retrieved on April 12, 2016 from
www.academia.edu/2469690/a-descriptive-study-of-the-readingprofile-of-filipino-children.pdf

Nolasco, Jayson. Evaluation of the Reading Comprehension and

Numeracy Skills of Filipino Students. 2008.Retrieved on April 12,
2016 from www.slideshare.net/joeplasabas/thesis-proposalpresentation-33783311

Mendres, Christopher. A Case Study of the Effects of Poor Reading

Comprehension.2008. Retrieved from https://www.ieexplore.com/acase-study-of-the-effects-of-poor-reading-comprehension.pdf

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