Darwin Real Thesis
Darwin Real Thesis
Darwin Real Thesis
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
At one time in the history of man, the ability to read carried a social prestige as well
as economic value. Long ago, most men might well have lived within the narrow confines
of their brows and the brown of their hands. There were those few men who were destined
for their religious life of the scholars and they were often inseparable. They were isolated
from their fellows in a world so completely different from that of the average man of the
Reading is so much a part of everyday living that one could hardly imagine modern
life without it and that the man who cannot read and comprehend is an economic cripple.
Studies, surveys and researches have shown that people fulfil many needs in life through
it.
Reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading. While
the definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach, learn or practice. Reading
comprehension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and
Reading comprehension is one of the pillars of the act of reading. When a person
language), phonics (connection between letters and sounds and the relationship between
sounds, letters and words) and ability to comprehend or construct meaning from the text.
This last component of the act of reading is reading comprehension. It cannot occur
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independent of the other two elements of the process. At the same time, it is the most
text, the reader must be able to comprehend the vocabulary used in the piece of writing. If
the individual words don’t make the sense, then the overall story will not either. Children
can draw on their prior knowledge of vocabulary, but they also need to continually be
taught new words. The best vocabulary instruction occurs at the point of need. Parents and
teachers should pre-teach new words that a child will encounter in a text or aid her in
understanding unfamiliar words as she comes upon them in the writing. In addition to being
able to understand each distinct word in a text, the child also has to be able to put them
comprehension. Text comprehension is much more complex and varied that vocabulary
knowledge. Readers use many different text comprehension strategies to develop reading
questions, summarizing and being aware of and using a text’s structure to aid
comprehension.
by parents and teachers who have knowledge and experience using them. It might seem
that once a child learns to read in the elementary grades he is able to tackle any future
text that comes his way. This is not true. Reading comprehension strategies must be
refined, practiced and reinforced continually throughout life. Even in the middle grades
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and high school, parents and teachers need to continue to help their children develop
reading comprehension strategies. As their reading materials become more diverse and
challenging, children need to learn new tools for comprehending these texts. Content area
materials such as textbooks and newspaper, magazine and journal articles pose different
reading comprehension challenges for young people and thus require different
process that changes based on the depth and breadth of texts the person is reading.
with your eyes and sounding them out. Imagine being handed a story written in Egyptian
hieroglyphics with no understanding of their meaning. You may appreciate the words
aesthetically and even be able to draw some small bits of meaning from the page, but you
are not truly reading the story. The words on the page have no meaning. They are simply
symbols. People read for many reasons but understanding is always a part of their
Beyond this, reading comprehension is essential to life. Much has been written
about the importance of functional literacy. In order to survive and thrive in today’s
world individuals must be able to comprehend basic texts such as bills, housing
documents (bus and train schedules, maps, travel directions). Reading comprehension is a
critical component of functional literacy. Think of the potentially dire effects of not being
of dangerous chemicals. With the ability to comprehend what they read, people are able
not only to live safely and productively, but also to continue to develop socially,
The current explosion of research in second language reading has begun to focus
on readers' strategies. Reading strategies are of interest for what they reveal about the
way readers manage their interaction with written text and how these strategies are
related to text comprehension. Research in second language reading suggests that learners
use a variety of strategies to assist them with the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of
study skills which make learning more effective and efficient (Oxford and Crookall,
1989).
strategies that make learning more effective, versus strategies that improve comprehension.
The former is generally referred to as learning strategies in the second language literature.
Comprehension or reading strategies on the other hand, indicate how readers conceive of
a task, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they don't
understand. In short, such strategies are processes used by the learner to enhance reading
understand current events to gain information and to satisfy emotional and spiritual needs.
5
reading comprehension in subjects like Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and other
subjects that utilize English as the medium of instruction. It can be stated therefore that
The major responsibility of training and molding the students to become dynamic
agents of development lies on the shoulders of educators. The teachers’ role is to expand
and deepen students’ interests, motivation and appreciation and develop their powers of
critical thinking so that they will be well—armed to face the challenges of development.
With the recent instructional and curricular innovation ushered by the Department
Framework and the curricular enhancement proposed through the Kindergarten Plus
Twelve (K+12) educational system, it is hoped that the achievement level of the learners
could be improved.
The teachers’ important goal is to see what happens to the students as the results of
the skills they are applying. This may be in terms of clearer insights and broadened
values, students meet difficulties not only in analyzing and interpreting concepts found in
their textbooks but also in synthesizing meanings of these concepts and assimilating them
written matters in clear words it is to cognize in all respects the information in all respects
the information, feelings and thoughts that are desired to be transmitted, without having
caused any misunderstanding, in its course and without leaving any doubtful points behind.
reader, commencing a arranging the reading process on his own. In this context, the control
cognitive strategies and cognitive awareness (Harris & Sipay, 1990). As matter of fact,
when the sources upon reading comprehension is examined, it will be noticed that the
structure
analytically and imaginatively. Therefore, Aksan and Kisac (2009) stated that reading as a
fundamental learning that helping individual for getting knowledge, because reading
activity will shape the ability to think through the processes of capturing ideas or
understand what he reads, thus, enabling him to apply his prior reading skills to more
Indian subjects said that drills with timed reading passages, each followed by a test of
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comprehension is considered to be the easiest, quickest, and the best of the methods known
students, while the above metaphor, Education as a delivery system sounds reasonable.
policy makers to insist information that students demonstrate knowledge of on test for
many people the importance of education lies in future job prospects, for others its quality
of citizenship, and yet others want literacy, critical thinking and creativity. A better
understanding of what education is one that builds upon this idea is crucial to enable people
The problem causing the poor quality of education among Filipino students has
been attributed to limited instructional resources such as school buildings, textbooks, and
the like. Indeed, the problem also sprouts because of learner factors that might involve their
learning. This skill is not only necessitated in language subjects, the more it is needed in
other academic subjects. Learners apply what they learn in English and Filipino subjects
in other disciplines. It is therefore imperative that language teachers make a strong point
for many reasons. For one, you can’t get a great job if you can speak and comprehend it
well, it teaches you great things even about history (poets, etc.) There are definitely a lot
of reason why it is important and now a day many students experience obstacles in reading
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comprehension in taking English test. Sometimes students can’t really comprehend and
Language teachers shall therefore not only consider objective measures of learners’
comprehension level but need to find out what behaviors and attitudes they have with
their comprehension is through comprehension tests. Through these, the teacher is not only
comprehension be described?
described?
described?
4. What implication to ELA can be drowned from the findings of this research?
9
Conceptual Framework
comprehension and students test taking skills. Hence, it shall help to draw the possible
implications.
This study aimed to determine the students’ perception in English and test in
This study has been limited to the reason of the students of liking and disliking
reading comprehension in English. This study also determining the weakness of the grade
This study looked at Grade 7 students of the St. Vincent School Foundation Inc.
their English tests, self-esteem towards reading comprehension and test-taking skills.
English Teachers. PE Teachers, not only in the school where this research has been
and tests on reading comprehension, self-esteem towards reading comprehension and test-
taking skills in reading comprehension which they can use in addressing such problems in
comprehension performances.
To the school administrator. The findings of this research may be utilized by the
school administrator as bases in formulating over-all plans that address the improvement
of students’ academic performance. The school head will be hoped to be benefited from
this study through integrating the findings of this study in the formulation of school-based
policies that concern learners’ achievement in English, particularly how English subject
affect the life of the student, and what are the obstacle that they have already experience in
aware of the importance of English, not only as a subject but also as part of their leaves.
reading comprehension are accessed, English teachers will thereby be prompted to improve
their teaching strategies in English and be able to improve the reading comprehension
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capabilities of students. The students will be given a treatment, so that the students develop
their self-confidence when it comes to English test, proper teaching strategies is important
to overcome their weakness to that subject. Because the role of the teacher is to make their
For the purpose facilitating understanding the following terms are operationally
defined.
understanding the words on the page together with understanding the ideas being expressed
by the writer.
(google.com)
Perception. Perception is a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based
which a reader is led process; and create a new similar to that of the original one
(Alderson:1980), while Karlin defines reading as a complex of skills that the individual
syntactic, semantic and rhetorical information found in printed text to reconstruct in the
reader’s mind, using the knowledge of the world he or she possesses, plus appropriate
or personal value. In other words, how much you appreciate and like yourself, it can also
involve a variety of beliefs about yourself, such as the appraisal of your own appearance,
Strategies. Strategies is method or plan chosen to bring about a desired future, such
marshaling resources for their most efficient and effective use. The term is derived from
Skills. Skills is the knowledge and ability that enables you to do something well. It
is also the ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort
to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities or job functions involving ideas
Chapter 2
This chapter presents are review of literature taken from books, journals, internet
and other references, and other studies conducted within the Philippines and abroad which
are related to the study. It aims to provide the basic foundation and relevant information
that will facilitate clearer understanding on how each of these information and studies relate
Related Literature
the reader through the eyes, so these symbols need understanding meaning and then
integrating this meaning into personal experiences. Therefore, there are some highly
complex psychological processes concerned with reading (Ward and Skailand, 1983).
Reading is sometimes referred to as a passive skill, but if we study the abilities that come
into play in fluent direct reading with comprehension of meaning it is clear that readers are
far from passive during this activity (Rivers, 1981). Accordingly, we may conclude that
understanding of the content of the written texts. Hedgcock and Ferris (2009) reflected on
psycholinguistic processes. It goes far beyond the ability to state the main idea of a text in
one sentence, answer questions about details, define vocabulary, accurately read the text
aloud, and so forth. Comprehension further involves the simultaneous and largely
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process so that the affective factors strongly impact all phases of the writing process"
(p.300). Hence, the lower standards of reading proficiency could be due to many various
and affective processes and to optimize learning, equal attention should be given to the two
sides; cognitive and affective. Learning English as a foreign language is one aspect of that
broad process of learning. Therefore, not having a balance between those two domains,
English learning process will be negatively affected. Andres (2002) argued that language
learning is affected by both domains which are the mental and emotional sides of human
behavior.
The affective domain includes emotions and psychological facets that learners hold
about learning. No wonder, perceptions that the students bring to the learning situation
have been recognized as a significant contributory factor to the learning process (Bernat,
2005). Those facets can be motivation, attitudes, anxiety or self-esteem. They can be
positive or negative factors (Branden, 1994). In recent years, the importance of affective
factors like anxiety, inhibition, motivation and self-esteem has been of interest in the field
language (Andres, 2002). For this reason, researchers (Krashen, 1981; Dornyei, 2001;
Khushaim, 2001; Andres, 2002) called upon reducing anxiety and inhibition and enhancing
one of the important affective factors because success or failure of a person depends mostly
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on the degree of one's self-esteem. Stevick (1990) stated that success depends less on
materials, techniques, and linguistic analysis, and more on what goes on inside and between
the people in the classroom. Indeed, success is not measured of how much one gains but
of how satisfied he is with his work (Daniel and King, 1995; Grandin, 2002). Hence, a
person should put a high value for his performance and be confident of his achievement
because those judgments he makes are the drive for mastering proficiency (Stout, 2001).
Moreover, Branden (1985) indicated that the biggest barrier to success is not lack of ability
or talent but it is lack of self-esteem. Learning English involves challenges and risk-taking;
so to cope with them a learner needs to positively esteem him/herself. Around this issue,
Brown (2007) maintained that "no successful activity can be occurred without some degree
of self- esteem" (p.154). Further, Branden (1994) stated that "the value of self-esteem lies
not in the fact that it allows us to feel better but because it allows us to live better, to respond
esteem could be a manifestation of one's performance. Students who have good feeling
about themselves have in their minds high goals to achieve whereas students with low self-
esteem are likely to think about goals that are extremely low and would protect them from
the anxiety of failure. According to the self-esteem model of Ross and Broh (2000)
adolescents who feel good about themselves do better in school than do those who have
low self-worth. If poor performance in academics can lead to a more negative view of
oneself, then knowing this serves as an important motivator in measuring the relationship
between self-esteem and academic achievement (Osborne, 1995). Self-esteem has been
determined to play a major role in learning outcomes and school influences the process of
accomplishments are coupled with higher self-esteem. Because there is such a strong,
positive relationship and a continuous interaction between these two factors, studying them
together can serve students, teachers, counselors and anyone working in the school
environment in a beneficial manner (Freih, 2005). In fact, there are many studies that
investigated the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievements and revealed
a positive relationship
Low self-esteem can negatively affect language learning and they especially appear
in oral communication (Nogueras and Rosa, 1997.It was found that self-esteem is related
to EFL speaking ability. Kimura (2002) reached similar results when he investigated the
relationship between affective factors (self-esteem, anxiety and risk-taking) and oral
communicative tasks. Results revealed that successful learners tend to take risks but they
do not show higher self-esteem than less successful ones Accordingly, many researchers
(Stevick, 1990; He, 1996; Khushaim, 2001) underlined the effect of teachers on building
or harming student's self-esteem. Based on that, it is the EFL teacher's role to create a
enable students to achieve well because the possibility to make mistakes in foreign
language learning is greater and learners are exposed more to affective problems. It is the
strategies that make students express themselves freely, feel comfortable and believe that
the teacher cares about them. In this regard, a warm-hearted interaction between teachers
and learners, as well as among learners themselves would be the most essential factor in
successful language learning (Finch, 2001). Students can achieve well and do their best if
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they feel safe. This occurs when the teacher behaves modestly, be a good listener, cares
about their participation and makes them feel they are worthy and efficient. What EFL
teachers should believe in is that they can affect students' whole life and may change their
future (Moskowitz, 1978). They should allow students talk about their interests, feelings
and do not consider this as deviation from the subject but it is to enrich the subject. The
teacher should specify students' objectives in behavioral and measurable terms, and apply
a variety of materials and teaching aids to the class for achieving these objectives. The
teacher should foster student expectations about the reading and arouse their interest to
read. A number of studies suggested that boys and girls diverge in their primary source of
self-esteem with girls being more influenced by relationships and boys being more
influenced by objective success. For instance, Block and Robins (1993) discovered gender
differences in self-esteem. They found that self-esteem was interpersonally oriented for
adolescent girls, while for boy’s self-esteem was person-oriented. Thus, while self-esteem
was related to the masculine trait of unique superiority for boys, high self-esteem was
on the academic competence scale, peer popularity scale, and personal security scale.
person with great reading comprehension can visualize, question, and interpret what they
are reading, and they can think about their own feelings and opinions while reading text.
involvement or awareness.
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People learn comprehension skills through education or instruction and some learn
by direct experiences. Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly
“the construction of thought processes”. There are specific characteristics that determine
how successfully an individual will comprehend text, including prior knowledge about the
subject, well-developed language, and the ability to make inferences from methodical
questioning and monitoring comprehension like “Why is this important? And “ Do I need
functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). fMRIs are used to determine the specific
The language use strategies employed by learners on the various forms of language
taking strategies are techniques that test takers resort to with the aim of getting correct
answers on a given form of language assessment (cf., Cohen, 1986; Cohen & Upton, 2006).
The successful use of these strategies does not necessarily imply mastery of the testing task
at hand, as Cohen (1986) explains clearly when suggesting that test takers may get their
understanding the text” (p. 132). In a later article, Cohen (1992) notes that test-taking
strategies represent processes that test takers can have control over by selecting what they
believe would help them tackle a test question, suggesting that test-taking strategies are
conscious processes. He adds that these strategies can either be a short move (e.g., looking
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for a clue that links the information in the question to that in the reading text) or a long one
(e.g., reading the whole text after reading the questions). Scholars (e.g., Allan, 1992;
Cohen, 2014; Phakiti, 2008) have referred to two categories of test-taking strategies: test-
management strategies and test-wiseness strategies. The former call for logical and
purposeful response behaviors, are reflective of the underlying competence, and are
responsive to the underlying construct being assessed, whereas the latter involve the use of
textual and/or technical aspects of the test to get the right answers, are not reflective of the
different perspective, Rupp, Ferne and Choi (2006) classify the test-taking strategies used
on reading tests into general strategies that can be applied to any test format, text-related
strategies that test takers employ with the text, and item-related strategies that test takers
use with the question items. Some research evidence suggests that the extent to which test
determine the quality of their test performance (e.g., Wu & Stone, 2015).
Related Studies
Foreign
In 1997, Elin Oliver keene and Susan Zimmermann, partners of the Denver-based
explained how good readers use thinking strategies to build comprehension. Zimmermann
followed with “Seven Keys to Comprehension,” a work designed to give parents and
teachers practical advice on teaching children to read strategically. She explains how
20
readers use their background knowledge and imagination to visualize what they read.
Zimmermann also reveals how children can learn to ask themselves questions to help them
find important details and make key inferences. Finally, she shows how readers can put
comprehend.
Debbie Miller, the author of several books on reading, outlines methods for
Meaning”. Miller discusses setting up a classroom where plan instruction around what
students need individually and help those students with one-on-one conferences. Reading
teachers, Miller believes, need to build relationships with their students based on trust and
open communication. Miller teaches students to work with the same reading strategies.
However, in the book, Miller describes teaching students to apply those comprehension
strategies independently.
receives a special focus for several reasons. It is considered as an important language ability
because it enhances the process of language acquisition and helps students to read for a
variety of purposes. Besides, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes. Therefore,
extensive exposure to linguistically comprehensible written texts can enhance the process
of language acquisition. In addition, suitable reading texts serve as good models for
writing, and provide opportunities for introducing new topics, stimulating discussions, and
studying the features of language. Many foreign language students often have reading as
one of their most important goals. In fact, in most EFL academic situations, the ability to
read in a foreign language is all that students ever want to acquire. Reading, then, is highly
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valued by students and teachers alike. The ability to read, no matter what the purpose of
reading is, requires that readers extract information from the text and combine it with
construction process which involves an interaction between text and reader. During
reading, readers subconsciously try to interact with the passage in order to understand the
text. However, since in this interaction readers approach a text with differing background
interpretations of the same text. Reading is also a problem-solving behavior that actively
involves the reader in the process of deriving and assigning meaning. During this problem-
solving activity, readers have to draw on contextual information that contains syntactic,
semantic, and discourse constraints which affect their interpretation of the passage (Rivers,
1988, 11 p.71). Syntactic constraints are provided by the word order and the syntactic rules
of the language. Semantic constraints include the distribution of meaning within a specific
language and culture. Discourse constraints are those provided by the topic of the text and
its development. According to Chastain (1988, p.26) these constrains make reading
understanding words, sentences, or even texts, along with a complex integration of the prior
have various problems in reading comprehension. Some may have specific difficulties with
phonological skills, others with word recognition. Most, however, have some difficulties
in more than one area. Of course, reading difficulties can be the result of many factors such
as cognitive, affective, and so forth and it is never easy to find the causes. Developing
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reading abilities assists students in overcoming their reading problems and in becoming
competent readers. Another important factor that contributes to students' reading ability is
the extent of their knowledge about various reading strategies (see Chastain, 1988; Rivers
& Temperley, 1978). Beginners have fewer strategies at their disposal and are less skilled
than more experienced readers. Good readers try to create a structure on what they are
reading and this stimulates further expectations about what is to come next. According to
Rivers (1990, p. 30), students can progress in reading if the knowledge of the language in
the oral form precedes reading, as this is the order of learning the mother tongue. Therefore,
it becomes easier for readers to recognize what they already know orally, in its graphic
form. Oral reading fluency has attracted considerable attention as a potentially reliable
indictor of reading competence (Kame'enui & Simmons, 2001, p. 208). Practice in reading
aloud can be considered as a primary step to both reading and writing. Before students can
do either well, the connection between the sound and its written symbol(s) needs to be
recognized because competent reading requires adequate attention to the meaning of the
word while focusing on its sound. As a result, when a word is misread, good readers tend
to recognize the error, because it does not make sense in context. Without this knowledge,
students are not likely to be successful in the typical language class in which all language
skills are stressed. 12 Many reading specialists (e.g., Chodkieiwicz, 2001; Hadley, 2003;
Rivers, 1990; Wallace, 2001) emphasize the importance of selecting authentic materials
for the purpose of both teaching and testing reading comprehension without having to
comprehension tasks that preserve authenticity, students should be encouraged to use their
knowledge of the syntax by paraphrasing, simplifying, avoiding, and even inferring from
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rules they know in the new language. Simplifying an authentic reading passage can
However, simplifying texts for the purpose of publication reduces the texts' natural
redundancy which might actually make them more difficult to read. Therefore, authentic
materials should be presented to students, if possible, in their original form, to allow them
to the ways people read texts in normal life. "Since most test methods are unusual in real-
life reading, the purpose for which readers on tests read, or possibly the manner in which
they read, may not correspond to the ways they normally read such texts" (Alderson, 2000,
p. 248). In other words, the danger is that the test may not reflect how students would
understand the passage in the real world. One resolution to this problem may be employing
test methods that most probably reflect the ways in which readers read in the real world.
Reading comprehension skills are also improved if learners are exposed to reading
materials that are at the right difficulty level. This has been emphasized by many reading
experts (e.g., Nassaji, 2003; Nunan, 1989; Soranastapon & Chuedoung, 1999; Widdowson
1990; Willis & Willis, 2001). The difficulty level of a reading passage depends on the
degree of structural and lexical complexity of the language used. It should be in accordance
with the readers' current level of competence and permit students to decode the passage's
structure and its lexicon in other to understand it. Decoding a passage consists of both
syntactic and semantic processes. Fluent readers rely more on semantic than syntactic
information except when the meaning is not clear (Rivers, 1988, p.73). During syntacdc
sentences. During semantic processing, they should be able to identify the lexical meaning
of words and try to create a broader meaning for these words within the contexts of phrase,
sentence, and discourse. However, sometimes this semantic processing becomes more
complicated because of the existence of 13 difficult words. One criterion for deciding about
the difficulty level of the words is th length. According to Bernhardt (1984, p. 39), longer
To be good readers, language learners should develop and improve three distinctive
reading abilities that contribute to competent reading: (a) recognizing familiar written
words, (b) using phonic skills to pronounce unfamiliar words, and (c^ understanding what
is being read (Funnel & Morgan, 1995, p. 46). Since these three abilities are, to a
considerable degree, independent of each other, readers may rely mostly on one skill and
rarely make use of the others. One way of helping these students to apply all these skills is
preparing suitable materials in the form of reading comprehension tasks and passages that
www). Materials should also match the learners' objectives, put them in control of their
sensitive, be age appropriate, match the ability of the students, be up to date and authentic,
be well organized and easy to use, and facilitate interaction among learners. Appropriate
reading materials can noticeably help readers to improve their comprehension of textbook
questionnaires. They can also assist students in comprehending the discourse structure and
the organization of the reading passage, if they clarify the passage's function, its general
25
argumentative organization, its rhetorical structure, the use of cohesive devices, and the
also enhanced if students are familiar with various types of reading materials and if such
materials are related to understanding the plain facts as well as the implications,
suppositions, and evaluations of the text (Grabe & Stoller, 2001, p.l93).
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Chapter 3
Research Design
The descriptive method of research was employed to bring forth the result of the
study. The descriptive method was used to describe a situation or given state affairs in
designed to gather information about present conditions. With this method, one can
describe the nature of a situation existed at the time of the study and explore the causes of
a particular phenomenon. Since the study aimed to describe students’ perceptions on their
reading comprehension, the descriptive method of research was the most appropriate.
The twenty-seven (27) Grade 7 students of the St. Vincent School Foundation Inc.
Paniqui, Tarlac, enrolled during the school year 2018-2019 were the respondents of the
study. The researcher used questioner to determine the attitude of the students towards
gathering. The descriptive survey involved the gathering of data through a questionnaire,
to answer queries on the existing or current conditions of the subject of the study and the
forth the necessary data needed to answer the present study’s problems, the descriptive
materials to gain a substantial data. The questionnaire utilized to answer question 1 of this
Meanwhile, the questionnaire used to answer questions 2 and 3 of the research were based
on the instruments developed by Querol (1995) will be utilized and Rosenberg (1986).
Chemistry, the researcher had to revise the items to fit them to English and English reading
comprehension.
The drafts of the questionnaires were checked and revised by Mr. Jonathan
Gamboa, Ed,D (2019), an English reader. He is employed as public school teacher and he
After the school head’s permission has been sought to conduct the study, the
questionnaire which was printed in the form of visual aids had been answered in individual
papers by the students. Questions from the students during the conduct of data gathering
were entertained by the teacher, enabling the respondents to fully understand what they are
answering. The answer sheets were immediately collected by the teacher, tabulated,
interpreted, and analyzed results in accordance with the goals of this research.
Random interview among the students was carried out purposively to verifying
respondents’ answers and to check the correctness of all entries supplied in the
Statistical Treatment
Tables were used to present the findings of the study. To statistically express the
findings, the researcher made use of a five (5)-point Likert scale. The numerical equivalents
of the respondents’ answers were summarized using Average Weighted Means with the
Table 1
Limits
Intervals Interpretation
4.2 - 5 Very True
3.4 - 4.2 True
2.6 - 3.4 Neither True Nor Untrue
1.8 - 2.6 Not True
1 - 1.8 Very Untrue
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Chapter 4
This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of the statistical measures of
the problems. Tabular presentation has been employed by the researcher to cleanly show
This study describes the perception of the grade 7 students towards their reading
comprehension test.
SOP 1
Indicators WM Interpretation
1. I feel uncomfortable before English exams. 2.6 Neither True nor Untrue
The indicator which states that the students feel uncomfortable before an English
exam received a weighted of 2.6 and is interpreted as neither true nor untrue to them.
This shows that the students do not generally feel
30
I cannot sleep the night before a test because if I fail I may 2.9 Neither True Nor Untrue
be labeled as “slow learner”.
I feel at ease when taking tests in Math. 3 Neither True Nor Untrue
I feel uncomfortable taking tests because if I fail my ego 2.6 Neither True Nor Untrue
will be hurt.
I find the test very challenging and makes me study harder. 3.7 True
I get really tense during tests because if I fail, my friends 2.7 Neither True Nor Untrue
will tease me.
I get scared in taking tests, the result will show my ability. 3.1 Neither True Nor Untrue
I hate tests because failure may create impression of poor 1.7 Very Untrue
ability.
I like tests because they challenge me to strive for a better 3.9 True
performance in class.
I like tests because they show how good I am in class. 3.5 True
I perspire a lot during test because I know I do not have 2.4 Not True
the skill in taking it.
I usually do not worry about my ability to pass tests, if I 3.5 True
study harder.
My mind goes blank and unable to think clearly during test 2.5 Not True
because I am afraid of the result.
Tests in learning reading comprehension are really 3 Neither True Nor Untrue
exhausting because I have to do a lot of reading.
Tests in learning reading comprehension make me feel 3.3 Neither True Nor Untrue
relaxed because the answers are easy to achieve.
Tests make me nervous and uneasy because my teacher 2.9 Neither True Nor Untrue
will find out how I am doing in class.
Total Mean 3 Neither True Nor Untrue
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gamboa, Jonathan (2012), English reader, San Julian-Sta. Maria High School,
Moncada, Tarlac.
Miedel, W.T. & Reynolds, A.J. (1 999), Parent involvement in early intervention
for Disadvantaged children: Does it matter?, Journal ofschool Psychology, 37, 379-404.
Retrieved from http:llww.seldl.org on March 05, 2012.
Nimer, Merlina (2012), School English Leader, Cardona High School, Gerona,
Tarlac.
B. Instruction: Please describe the degree to which you may believe the following
statements which describe your perceptions on English tests and reading
comprehension. Using the legend below, ENCIRCLE THE LETTER of your
answer on each statement.
A-Agree, D-Disagree, U-Undecided
No. Statements A D U
1 I feel uncomfortable before English exams. A D U
C. Instruction: Please describe the degree to which you may believe the following
statements which describe your self-esteem towards English reading
comprehension. Using the legend below, ENCIRCLE THE LETTER of your
answer on each statement.
A-Agree, D-Disagree, U-Undecided
No. Statements A D U
1 At times, I think I am no good in reading comprehension. A D U
2 I certainly feel useless at times especially in my reading comprehension A D U
performance.
3 I feel I do not have much to be proud of in my reading comprehension A D U
ability.
4 I feel I have a number of good qualities in learning English. A D U
5 I take a positive attitude towards myself in learning reading A D U
comprehension.
6 I wish I had the desired amount of patience in learning reading A D U
comprehension.
7 On the whole, I am satisfied with myself towards learning through A D U
reading comprehension.
8 I think I am a student of worth in my learning reading comprehension. A D U
D. Instruction: Please describe the degree to which you may believe the following
statements which describe your test-taking skills in reading comprehension.
Using the legend below, ENCIRCLE THE LETTER of your answer on each
statement.
A-Agree, D-Disagree, U-Undecided
No. Statements A D U
36
1 I cannot sleep the night before a test because if I fail I may be labeled as A D U
“slow learner”.
2 I feel at ease when taking tests in Math. A D U
3 I feel uncomfortable taking tests because if I fail my ego will be hurt. A D U
4 I find the test very challenging and makes me study harder. A D U
5 I get really tense during tests because if I fail, my friends will tease A D U
me.
6 I get scared in taking tests, the result will show my ability. A D U
7 I hate tests because failure may create impression of poor ability. A D U
8 I like tests because they challenge me to strive for a better A D U
performance in class.
9 I like tests because they show how good I am in class. A D U
10 I perspire a lot during test because I know I do not have the skill in taking A D U
it.
11 I usually do not worry about my ability to pass tests, if I study harder. A D U
12 My mind goes blank and unable to think clearly during test because A D U
I am afraid of the result.