Reading Comprehension in Expository Texts through Retelling. A Basis for Developing an Intervention

Content

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Methodology
Research Instrument
Research Procedure
Statistical Treatment of Data

Results

Discussion

References

ABSTRACT

This descriptive-correlational study aimed to assess the level of reading comprehension in expository text of Grade 6 pupils from selected public schools in Angeles Meta-synthesis was used to integrate the qualitative observations of 3 raters on the retellings of the respondents. The expository text used in this study was entitled Friendship, a suggested reading for intermediate students. The text was 490 words long, with average sentence length of 12,8, had a Flesch Reading Ease value of 77.5, and a computed Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 6.1.

Most of the pupils attained a rating of developing for the content (40.57%), structure (61.71%), and vocabulary (46.86%) of their retelling. A small percentage of the respondents attained an exceptional rating on content (13.14%), structure (4.57%), and vocabulary (0.57%). Majority of the pupils (47.43%) were classified as approaching proficiency (80-84) in terms of their Grade 6 English subject grade. Only 1.71% of the pupils belonged to the advanced category. The reading comprehension of the pupils in expository texts has a significant relationship with their grades in their English subject. This means that their reading comprehension in expository text influences their performance in their English subject class.

Results revealed that pupils had difficulty in comprehending expository texts as revealed by their low rating in the content, structure and vocabulary of their retelling. Further, the academic performance of the pupils in their English subject is affected by their reading comprehension.

Introduction

Reading as a learning activity should promote higher-order thinking skills. For it to become effective, the vocabulary level and length of sentences should be suited for the readers. The logical relationship and smooth flow of ideas allows the reader to form connections among the ideas presented in the text (Limiac, 2002).

Reading comprehension involves the active decoding and translation of written texts into understanding and personal reflection to the reader. It goes beyond mere recognition of printed symbols. Skilled readers are constructive, fluent, and strategic, motivated and are actively engaged in the learning process (Anderson, 2004).

Readers commonly use background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written texts. Skilled readers are known to develop their own strategies to comprehend the message underlying in a material (Chambliss & Calfee, 2008). Tagala (2000) stated that reading readiness is not correlated with age, rather, on the training and environment of the child. This includes the type of school, the educational background of the parents and rearing methods of the parents.

Blacklock and others (2010) point out that children tend to poorly comprehend text because of their inability to construct high-level inferences. Pacione (2000) identified formulation of inferences as a crucial process in the reading comprehension process. Poor reading ability and comprehension is one of the prevailing reasons why pupils fail in school (Torres, 2001).

Expository texts are prevalent in the curriculum as they appear in almost all subject areas. Exposition is the common form of delivery of concepts found in textbooks. Pearson & Duke (2002) assert that expository texts are to be taught in the early grade levels to make the pupils familiar with the structure.

Retelling is a highly potent learning strategy, which has direct and beneficial consequences for children’s processing of subsequent text. Tsou (2008) reported that adults and children trained through retelling method can perform better in terms of story structure and length of story recall. While they may not show significant advantage in sentence difficulty, the storytelling group in the study had better story comprehension.

Difficulty in the comprehension of expository text may have significant impact on the academic achievement of the students. If the students do not comprehend the text structure of the material given to them, it is highly likely that they will not gain mastery and much more, an understanding of the concept (Pearson & Duke, 2002).

Garcia (2007) cited the results of the National Diagnostic Test (NDT) in 2002, which revealed that students are experiencing a 2-year lag in their reading skills. Among the difficulties include word recognition, inferring vocabulary words through context clues, diction, and discussing common English expressions. Reading comprehension is further correlated to achievement in Science, Mathematics, Social Studies and Arts. As a result, the teaching of reading to young learners has been intensified by the Department of Education.

Retelling texts helps students progress in both language arts and in English language development while providing a useful assessment tool for the teacher. Hoshino (2007) verified the use of the retelling method in the assessment of reading comprehension. Retelling provides the teacher a venue to clearly identify the gray areas in the reading comprehension ability of the students.

Recognizing the impact of reading comprehension of pupils to their academic performance, this study aimed to determine the reading comprehension of the pupils in expository text. As suggested by cited literature, retelling method was employed to gauge the reading comprehension abilities of the pupils.

Generally, the study aimed to assess the level of reading comprehension in expository text of grade 6 pupils through the retelling method. Specifically, it aimed to answer the following research questions:1 How may the level of reading comprehension of the grade 6 pupils in expository texts be assessed through the use of the retelling method in terms of:1.1 Content;1.2 Structure;1.3 Vocabulary?2. What are the grades of the respondents in their English 6 subject?3. Is there a significant difference between the respondents’ level of reading comprehension of expository texts?4. Is there a significant relationship between the level of the respondents’ reading comprehension in expository text and grades in their English 6 subject?5. How may the reading intervention for the respondents be developed based on their level of reading comprehension in expository texts?

Methodology

The descriptive-correlational method was adapted in this study to assess reading comprehension of the students in expository texts. It involved the descriptive analysis of the level of reading comprehension of the respondents and the difficulty that they have experienced. A correlation of the level of reading comprehension and their grades in their English subject was also identified. A meta-synthesis of the results was used to develop reading interventions for the respondents. Meta-synthesis attempts to integrate results from a number of different but inter-related qualitative results (Walsch & Downe, 2015).

This study was conducted in five selected public schools in the Division of Angeles City.

The respondents of this study were the Grade 6 pupils of the identified schools during the academic year 2014-2015. Random sampling was used to determine the respondents for the study. For each of the Grade 6 section one class in the identified schools, 30% of the population was taken to be part of the respondents.

A non-participant group from Concepcion North Central Elementary School, Division of Tarlac Province, was utilized to validate the research instrument.

The raters were English teachers who are currently handling English 6 subjects in the public schools. They hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. Two (2) of them have been in the service for 9 years, while the other 3 raters have been teaching for more than 20 years.

Research Instrument

The reading material used in this study was an expository text entitled Friendship taken from http://www.thewritesource.com/studentmodels/ws2k-friendship.htm (Accessed September 20, 2014). It is a suggested reading material for intermediate students. The material showed a clear genre-oriented structure with its cause and effect text structure pattern as suggested by Moss (1993). The material was characterized through computer assisted text analysis using word counts, average length per sentence, percentage of occurrences of passive sentences, the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Test to assess the readability of the text.

The Flesch Reading Ease is a simple test to assess the grade level of the intended reading material. It is an accurate measure that uses a 100-point scale to determine the readability of a text written in English. Scores between 90.0 and 100.0 are considered easily understandable by an average 5th grader. Scores between 80.0 and 90.0 are generally understandable for 6th graders. Scores between 60.0 and 70.0 are considered easily understood by 7th to 9th graders; while those between 0.0 and 30.0 are considered easily understood by college graduates (Scott, 2012).

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