READING COMPREHENSON COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR BACHELOR OF

SECONDARY EDUCATION STUDENTS

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Reading is a mental process. It starts with recognition of words and absorption of the

linguistic message. It contributes to overall competence according to Krashen & Terrel (as cited in

Nurul, 2014). The major goal of reading instruction is to foster in each student the ability to

understand printed language.

Reading comprehension is an activity aimed to understand the message of a particular text

(Cahyono, 2011). Khoiriyah (2010) explicitly defines it as the act of combining information in a

passage with prior knowledge in order to construct meaning. It is a thinking process through which

readers become aware of an idea, understand it in terms of their experiential background and

interpret it in to their own needs and purposes.

For the past years, Filipinos have been priding themselves to being proficient in English

Language. However, the 2017 report of Hopkin’s International Partners reports that Philippines lags

behind most ASEAN neighbors in English proficiency.

Before the said report, Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey in 2008

unveiled that the number of Filipinos, aged 10-64 years old, who do not understand what they read,

has grown to 20.1 million. Those who lack comprehension abilities increased from 19.6 million in

2003 to 20.1 million individuals in 2008.

This alarming issue encouraged the researchers to study the reading comprehension

competence of the first year Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English students.

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 Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to assess the reading comprehension skills of the Bachelor of Secondary

Education major in English students of Cagayan State University.

Specifically, it sought answers to the following:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 sex
1.2 highest educational attainment of mother
1.3 highest educational attainment of father
1.4 first language
2. What is the reading comprehension competence of the first year college students along:
2.1 Literal
2.2 Interpretive
2.3 Applied

3. Is there significant difference in the reading comprehension competence of the students when

grouped according to profile variables along the three levels?

Conceptual Framework

This study is framed on the levels of comprehension by Herber (1978) presenting that there

are three levels of comprehension which are literal, interpretive and applied. The literal level is

simple getting information which is captured by “reading the lines” statement; the interpretive level

is making inferences which is also simply summarized as “reading between the lines” which is

sometimes called the critical level of comprehension; and the applied level is “reading beyond the

lines” which puts onwards the integration to real life situations and the creation of new knowledge

or A Profile of Respondents:
concepts.

Sex Reading Comprehension

Competence
Educational attainment of parents

First language (L1) Research Paradigm

B.INDEPENDENT
Reading VARIABLES
comprehension DEPENDENT VARIABLE

competence

Figure 1: Research Paradigm

 Scope and Delimitation

This study dealt on the reading comprehension competence of the first year Bachelor of

Secondary Education major in English students of Cagayan State University for the school year

2018-2019. The reading comprehension skills of the respondents tested are the literal, interpretive

and applied levels. There were four passages with 36 questions only. These passages taken from

Classical Learning Test, an alternative to the aptitude examination Scholastic Assessment Test

(SAT) of the United States of America. Only the first year students were taken as respondents

since they are currently enrolled in Developmental Reading subject.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will redound to the benefit not only of the students but also to

those individuals involved in the educative processes of reading and teaching English.

Teachers

The findings of this study will provide necessary information concerning the amalgamated

profile of the students and its link to their level of reading comprehension skills. Necessary

information that this study will uncover may lead to the development of the pedagogy of the

teachers.

Administrators

The administrators may also have a basis in planning measures to improve the reading

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comprehension skills of the students. They may use the results as basis in providing special

seminars, workshops, trainings, as the necessary inputs to support the efforts of the language

teachers.

Future Researchers

Moreover, researchers, policymakers, textbook writers may find the result of this study

useful as they pursue their continuous effort to improve the English-language instruction, policies

and researches.

Definition of Terms

Applied comprehension which is also called “reading beyond the lines” is the highest level of

reading comprehension which refers to ability to extend concepts beyond the situation and applying

the message of the author to other circumstances.

Competence refers to the score of the respondents along the three levels of reading comprehension.

Interpretive comprehension is the second level of reading comprehension which refers to the

ability to “read between the lines” and distinguishing the implication of the author’s words.

Literal comprehension or “reading the lines” is the first level of reading comprehension which

refers to the ability to recognize and memorize stated facts and details.

Reading Comprehension is a process of interacting with the information of a given text.

CHAPTER 2

This chapter focuses on the previous studies that were done regarding the measurement of

reading comprehension skills and other theories about reading comprehension. The most important

part of the literature in this study is to look at researches which have been conducted before on the

aspect of reading comprehension, and its relationship to the profile of the respondents to understand

the topic better.

Reading Comprehension

Various scholars and authors tried to get the gist of the complex definition of reading

comprehension. As cited by Imam (2016), according to Maria (1990), by definition reading

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comprehension is a holistic process of constructing meaning from written text through the

interaction of the knowledge the reader brings to the text, i.e., word recognition ability, world

knowledge, and knowledge of linguistic conventions; the reader's interpretation of the language that

the writer used in constructing the text, and the situation in which the text is read.

Durkin (1989) viewed reading comprehension is ‘‘the essence of reading’’ thus, reading

comprehension is the purpose of the process of reading. Underscoring “process,” William Gray, the

known Father of Reading, defined reading as a four-step process which includes perception of the

word, comprehension of its meaning, reaction to the meaning in terms of prior knowledge, and

integration of idea into one’s background of experience (Villamin, Salazar, Bala & Sunga 1994).

Calahan and Clark (1988) put together reading comprehension into three levels: reading the

lines, reading between the lines, and reading beyond the lines. In support, Herber (1978) also

suggested three levels of reading comprehension: literal comprehension, interpretive

comprehension, and applied comprehension.

Levels of reading comprehension

Reading comprehension has various levels as espoused by experts. Villamin et.al. (2001)

proposed four levels, the Barrett Taxonomy proposed five levels, and Compton College proposed

six levels. The model which has the least levels is proposed by Herber (1978) -it only contains three

levels.

The first level of reading comprehension according to Villamin et. Al. (2001) is the literal

level which only requires answering of knowledge questions: who, what, when, and where.

Moving higher, the second level which is termed as the “interpretative level” includes

making inferences and answering how and why questions while the applied level highlights using

information to express opinions and form ideas. It also involves application, analysis, and synthesis.

Lastly, evaluation of characters, plot, and style in a given text is under the evaluative level of

reading comprehension. This level also includes answering open-ended questions regarding the

behaviour of the major and minor characters and the style of presentation of the author.

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 Barrett’s Taxonomy offers five levels of reading comprehension namely: Literal

Comprehension; Reorganization; Inferential Comprehension; Evaluation; and Appreciation

(Clymer, 1968).

Literal comprehension focuses on ideas and information which are explicitly stated in the

selection. The subskills under this level includes recognition and recall.

Recognition requires the student to locate or identify ideas or information explicitly stated in

the reading selection itself or in exercises which use the explicit ideas and information presented in

the reading selection. Recognition tasks are: Recognition of Details (e.g. names of characters, the

time of the story, setting of the story); Recognition of Main Ideas; Recognition of a Sequence;

Recognition of Comparison; Recognition of Cause and Effect Relationships; and Recognition of

Character Traits.

Meanwhile, recall, the second subskill of reading comprehension includes: Recall of Details;

Recall of Main Ideas; Recall of a Sequence; Recall of Comparison; Recall of Cause and Effect

Relationships; and Recall of Character Traits.

Reorganization, the second level of reading comprehension, requires the student to analyse,

synthesize, and/ or organize ideas or information explicitly stated in the selection. To produce the

desired thought product, the reader may utilize the statements of the author verbatim or he or she

may paraphrase or translate the author’s statements.

The subskills under this level include: Classifying which requires a student to place people,

things, places, and / or events into categories; Outlining which involves organize the selection in

outline form using direct statements or paraphrased statements from the selection; Summarizing

which requires a student to condense the selection using direct or paraphrased statements from the

selection; and Synthesizing involves consolidation of explicit ideas or information from more than

one source.

Thirdly, Inferential Comprehension is stimulated by purposes for reading and teachers’

questions which demand thinking and imagination that go beyond the printed page. It is

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demonstrated when a student uses his or her ideas and information explicitly stated in the selection,

his or her intuition, and his or her personal experience as a basis for conjectures and hypotheses.

The subskills under inferential comprehension includes: Inferring Supporting Details

wherein the student is asked to guess about additional facts the author might have included in the

selection which would have made it more informative, interesting, or appealing; Inferring Main

Ideas (e.g. provide the main idea, general significance, theme, or moral of the story); Inferring

Sequence; Inferring Comparisons; Inferring Cause and Effect Relationships; Inferring Character

Traits; Predicting Outcomes; and Interpreting Figurative Language.

Evaluation requires answers by the student which indicate that he or she has made an

evaluative judgment by comparing ideas presented in the selection with external criteria provided,

other authorities, or other written sources, or with internal criteria provided by the reader’s

experiences, knowledge, or values. Evaluative thinking may be demonstrated by asking the student

to make the following judgments: Judgments of Reality or Fantasy; Judgments of Fact or Opinion;

Judgments of Appropriateness; and Judgments of Worth, Desirability and Acceptability.

Lastly, Appreciation involves all the previously cited cognitive dimensions of reading, for it

deals with the psychological and aesthetic impact of the selection on the reader. Appreciation calls

for the student to be emotionally and aesthetically sensitive to the work and to have a reaction to the

worth of its psychological and artistic elements. Appreciation includes both the knowledge of and

the emotional response to literary techniques, forms, styles, and structures.

Emotional Response to the Content requires students to express his or her feelings about the

selection in terms if interest, excitement, boredom, fear, hate, or amusement among others. Thus,

this subskill is concerned with the total impact of the text on the reader.

The rest of the subskill under this level includes: Identification with Characters or Incidents;

Reactions to the Author’s Use of Language; and Imagery.

Compton College’s level of reading comprehension includes literal, inferential, evaluative,

appreciative, evaluative, essential, and critique level which are summarized in this graphic

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organizer:

Herber’s Reading Comprehension Competence

Literal Comprehension

Literal comprehension is the first level of reading comprehension according to Herber. The tasks

under this level require readers to simply retrieve information that has been explicitly stated in a

passage (Carnine et al., 2010).

Common questions used to elicit the literal level of comprehension includes what, who,

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when, and where questions. These questions are easiest to answer, and the answer is expressed

directly (Ruddell, 2001). According to Rupley and Blair (1983), literal comprehension is composed

of two strategies: recall, or the ability to provide an idea (e.g., main idea or detail) that was part of a

passage; and recognition, or the ability to recognize whether specific information is provided in a

passage. To further enumerate the skills under the literal level of comprehension, the Centre for

Canadian Language Benchmarks adapted the model of Vacca and Vacca (1986) summarized it in

this table:

Interpretive Comprehension

In the second level of reading comprehension, students must interact with the text

and read between the lines and draw inference(s) from the text given (Applegate, Quinn, &

Applegate, 2002; Snider, 1988). Day and Park (2005) reflected from the work of Pearson and

Johnson (1972) that inference requires students to identify meaning that is in the text but not

explicitly stated.

The Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks adapted the model of Vacca and Vacca (1986)

summarized interpretive level this table:

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 Considering the table above, we can infer that at this stage, it is no longer enough for the

reader to recognize and understand what the author has said. Instead, the reader is required to

manipulate information in the text to search for relationships among the main idea and details and to

use that information to interpret and draw conclusions about the author’s intended meaning (Vacca

et al., 2009), fill in omitted details, and/or elaborate upon what they have read (Dole et al., 1991).

Applied Level

Also known as critical or evaluative comprehension, applied comprehension

extension of the knowledge, skills, and strategies required of literal and inferential comprehension

tasks.

According to Vacca and Vacca (1986), the thought process in this level could involve

judging, evaluating, defending choices, predicting, hypothesizing and interpreting.

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Theories of reading comprehension

Literature on reading processes has seen a prominent shift from a perception of reading as a

rather passive process towards that of an interactive process (Grabe and Stoller, 2002; Koda, 2005).

Early work on Second Language Reading assumed a rather passive, bottom-up view (Carrell,

Devine, and Eskey, 1988), which asserts that readers need to analyse and synthesise different types

of information such as; the symbol system (sounds in oral languages and graphic shapes in written

languages), the language structure (the grammar of the language) and the semantic system

(language meanings, organised as conceptual structures), to get the author’s meaning (Goodman,

1971; 1988).

Bottom-up Models

Bottom-up models of the reading process view reading as basically a translating, decoding,

or encoding process. Here the reader starts with letters or larger units, and as he attends to them he

begins to anticipate the words they spell. When the words are identified, they are decoded to inner

speech from which the reader derives meaning in the same way as listening. In this process reading

comprehension is believed to be an automatic outcome of accurate word recognition. The

followers of these models have argued that reading is essentially the translation of graphic symbols

into an approximation of oral language. These models are influenced by behaviourist psychology

and thus structural linguistics in which they are mostly appropriate for beginning readers.

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 Top-down Models

A top-down model of reading which emphasises what readers bring to the text (Carrell,

1983; 1984) has been proposed as an alternative view to early conceptions of the reading process. In

such a model, the reader is characterised as having a set of expectations about the text information

and samples enough information from the text to confirm or reject these expectations (Alderson,

2000). The top-down model of reading processes is especially valid for explaining the reading

experiences of skilful readers in directing the reading process (Eskey, 1988) who are autonomous

while reading in that they can build expectations and predict meaning by making use of contextual

clues and combine these clues with their background knowledge, which less skilled readers seem to

lack (Grabe and Stoller, 2002).

In top-down models of reading, the reader’s cognitive and language competence plays a key

role in the construction of meaning from printed materials. Most of these models (Goodman, 1967;

Smith, 1971) are based on psycholinguistic theory, that is, the theory in which there is an interaction

between thought and language. Goodman (1967) defines reading as a process which involves using

available language cues that are selected from perceptual input on the basis of reader’s predictions.

As the information is processed, tentative decisions about meaning are confirmed, rejected, or

refined as the reading progresses. Graphic information in the top-down models is used only to

support or reject hypotheses about meaning. Meaning, in this case comprehension, according to

these models is obtained by using only as much information as necessary from the graphic,

syntactic, and semantic cue systems. Other cues are based upon the reader’s linguistic competence.

In contrast to reading as translation models, that is, the bottom-up ones, top-down models theorists

believed that skilled readers go directly from print to meaning without first reading to speech

(Harris & Sipay, 1984). These models are influenced by psycholinguists, and they are mostly

appropriate for skilled readers at the level of advanced or more advanced.

Interactive Models

Recently, it has been acknowledged that the reading process is one that may involve both

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top-down and bottom up processes, giving rise to an interactive model of reading (Eskey and Grabe,

1988; Murtagh, 1989; Adams, 1990; Stanovich, 1992; Anderson, 1999; Grabe and Stoller, 2002;

Koda, 2005), where reading is viewed as a kind of interaction that occurs between the reader and

the text (Carrell and Eisterhold, 1983). The role of the reader is described as extracting meaning

from the text as the meaning does not reside in the text alone but lies in the interaction between the

reader and the text (Grabe, 1991). The reader uses a variety of clues to understand what the writer is

implying or suggesting. In that way the reader is able to see beyond the literal meaning of the words

(Harmer, 2001).

Theorists on interactive models such as Rumelhart (1980) believe that, at

least for skilled or advanced readers, topdown and bottom-up processing in reading seem to occur

simultaneously. Rumelhart believes that comprehension is dependent on both graphic information

and the information in the reader’s mind. Comprehension, therefore, may be obstructed when a

critical skill or a piece of knowledge is missing. In a case such as this, the skilled reader

compensates by decoding a word, relying on context, or both word and context. In conjunction

with these theories, reading is defined as the meaningful interpretation of printed or written

symbols, while comprehending is a result of the interaction between the perception of graphic

symbols that represent language and the reader’s language skill, and his knowledge of the world. In

this process the reader tries to create meanings that are intended by the writer (Harris & Sipay,

1984:8). Therefore, the nature of reading task changes as the learners progress from less mature to

more mature levels. Reading in this case is not one skill but a large number of interrelated skills that

develop gradually over a period of years. So, it is a complex process in which the recognition and

comprehension of written symbols are influenced by reader’s perceptual skills, decoding skills,

experiences, language backgrounds, mind sets, and reasoning abilities. This last model will be

discussed further as this model has become the centre of interest for recent theories, research, and

practice in teaching reading. The discussion will be covered in schema theory.

Schema Theory

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 The notion of schema and related concepts results from the development of research in

cognitive science where the importance of background knowledge in language comprehension is

found to exist. Rumelhart (1980:34) points out that A schema theory is basically a theory about

knowledge. It is a theory about how knowledge is represented and about how that representation

facilitates the use of knowledge in particular ways. According to schema theories, all knowledge is

packaged into units. These units are the schemata. Embedded in these packages of knowledge is, in

addition to the knowledge itself, information about how this knowledge is to be used. A schema,

then, is a data structure for representing the generic concepts stored in memory.

In relation to the definition above, McCormick & Pressley (1997:62-63) define schemata as

generalised knowledge about objects, situation, and events. Activation of schema, according to

them, can dramatically affect comprehension, inferences, attention allocation, and memory of what

is read. The title of passage can also activate schemata.

Related to reading, according to schema theory, a text only provides directions for readers as

to how they should retrieve or construct meaning from their own previously acquired knowledge.

The previously acquired knowledge is called the reader’s background knowledge, and its structures

are called schemata (Rumelhart, 1980). Then, on the basis of this theory, comprehending a text is an

interactive process between the reader’s background knowledge and the text.

Efficient comprehension, then requires the ability to relate the textual materials to one’s own

knowledge. Comprehending words, sentences, and entire texts involves more than just relying on

one’s linguistic knowledge (Carrell & Eisterhold, 1988:76).

The process of interpretation is guided by the principle that every input is mapped against

some existing schema and that all aspects of that schema must be compatible with the input

information. This principle results in two basic modes of information processing: bottom-up and

top-down. Bottom-up processing is evoked by the incoming data, while the features of data enter

the system with the best fitting, bottom-up schemata. In this mode schemata are hierarchically

organised, starting from the most general at the top to the most specific at the bottom. As these

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bottom-up schemata converge into higher level ones, they become activated. Therefore, bottom-up

processing is called data-driven. Or in other words, the interpretation is from parts to whole. Top-

down processing, on the other hand, occurs as the system makes general predictions based on

higher level, general schemata and then searches the input for information to fit into these partially

satisfied, higher ordered schemata. Top-down processing is, therefore, called conceptually-driven

processing. The process starts from whole to parts (Rumelhart, 1980; Carrell & Eisterhold, 1988).

An important aspect of top-down and bottom-up processing is that both should be occurring

at all levels simultaneously. The data needed to instantiate or fill out are available through bottom-

up processing, while top-down processing facilitates their assimilation if they are anticipated by or

consistent with the reader’s conceptual expectations. Bottom-up processing ensures that readers will

be sensitive to information that is novel or that does not fit their ongoing hypotheses about the

content or structure of the text, while top-down processing helps the readers to resolve ambiguities

or to select between alternative possible interpretations of the incoming data. Rumelhart (1980),

furthermore, says that these two basic modes of information processing are used as sources of

activation for schemata. Schema-theoretic processes as discussed above all led to new, interactive

models for reading.

Based on Rumelhart’s proposal of the interactive processing, Lee & VanPatten (1995) state

that the model consists of several knowledge sources representing different levels of linguistic

representation (feature, letter, letter cluster, lexical, and semantic knowledges). Interactive models

of reading posit that the components of the model, the knowledge sources, all act simultaneously

and in parallel on the incoming input. This shows that each knowledge source is connected to each

of the others. Each can influence the others, either singly or in combination, so that semantic

knowledge can aid feature analysis or syntactic knowledge can aid letter analysis.

Feature analysis refers to the act of recognising a loop in a letter and the direction of the

loop (p), whereas letter analysis is recognising that the loops make a specific letter (p) versus d

versus b). Certain letters do and do not cluster in particular languages, and the clusters syllabify in

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particular way.Letter cluster analysis tells us that the letter th cluster in English as in the and ar-thri-

tis.

Syntactic knowledge identifies the order of words in a language. This means that the same

words ordered in different ways can produce different meanings. So, it is our syntactic knowledge

that identifies the meaning in the order of the words.

Lexical knowledge concerns individual word properties and meaning, so that the word work

is identified as different from word and fork, though the last two words are only different from the

first in one phoneme.

Lastly, semantic knowledge governs meaning at all levels (word, phrases, clauses, sentences,

and paragraphs). According to interactive models of reading, comprehension is built up or

constructed from knowledge sources which interact with each other on the input from the written

page.

Comprehension, then, is the process of relating new or incoming information to information

which is already stored in the memory. Here, readers make connections between the new

information on the printed page and their existing knowledge. They must allow the new information

to enter and become a part of their knowledge store.

In short schema theory as a learning theory that asserts language comprehension involves an

interactive process between the learner’s background knowledge and the text. In an interactive

processing, the reader uses top-down processing when he relates what he already knows to the text

being processed and uses bottom-up processing when he relates the text being processed to what he

already knows.

Reading Comprehension and Sex

Sex refers to the social characteristics of people which are commonly associated with being

male or female (Millard, 1997). Differences in the learner’s sex often lead to differences in

intellectual activities including reading.

Arellano (2013) assures that females are more superior to males in verbal ability. Progress in

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International Literacy Study on 2003 showed that females scored significantly higher than males in

thirty-five countries (Ay and Bartan 2012). Aside from this, various studies also proved that females

scored higher in reading comprehension compared to males (Logan and Johnston, 2009; Saidi,2012)

In the study of Logan and Johnston (2009) about the relationship between reading

comprehension and gender, they found out that girls read more frequently than boys do, and girls

have more positive attitude to reading. Thus, this results to the higher scores of girls in reading

comprehension.

Same result was also found by various researchers. Girls reported higher interests in reading

activity than boys (Guthrie & Greaney, 1991) and girls tended to be more motivated to read

(Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). As well, girls preferred to read more books than boys (Elley, 1994).

In contrast Arrellano (2013) looked at the issue of men in a different angle stating that

“men’s underachieving in reading might be the reason behind the fact that few men are in the field

of education and humanities.”

Contrary to the abovementioned researches, a research conducted in 2017 titled “The

Relationship between Gender and Reading Comprehension at College Level” by Oda and Abdul-

Kadhim found out that there are no statistically significant differences between the two groups of

gender on three levels of reading comprehension (literal, inferential, and appreciative), but for the

“critical level”, females are outperforming males to a statistically significant level.

Some studies found no significant differences between males and females with respect to

text comprehension. Yazdanpanah (2007) carried out a study involving 187 intermediate-level

students studying in Cyprus. The author gave the participants three reading comprehension

passages. The topics of the two passages were male-oriented and one was gender neutral.

According to the results, males were better at finding specific information in the passage,

identifying referential information and matching titles with paragraphs than females while

females obtained higher scores than males on identifying main ideas, guessing meaning from

context and text coherence questions. Gender did not have a significant effect on reading

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comprehension. A recent study (Asgarabadi, Rouhi & Jafarigohar, 2015) analysed whether male

and female learners differed from each other with respect to their reading comprehension as well

as use of reading strategies in descriptive and narrative macro-genres.

In support, the authors of “The Role Of Gender In Reading Comprehension: An

Analysis of College-Level Efl Students’ Comprehension Of Different Genres” by Didem Koban

Koç attributed this result to the fact that both male and female students were in the same field of

study and had a common background in which they dealt with reading comprehension problems

in similar ways. The same situation may hold true for Turkish EFL students in the current study.

That is, most of the Turkish students graduated from the same type of high school but more

importantly, in order to pass the nation-wide university exam, they attended a private course in

which they are trained to use similar reading strategies.

Reading comprehension and educational attainment

Acquisition of literacy is best conceptualized as a developmental continuum, with

its origins early in the life of a child, rather than an all-or-none phenomenon that begins

when children start school. How parents expose their children to literacy even before

they enter school is important for the later development of reading. (Caroll, 2013)

In most countries, parents’ formal educational level has been identified as the key

component of cultural capital (Yang, 2003). The aim here is to unfold the influence of home

background and more specifically, to reveal some important mediating factors between the

educational levels of parents and the reading achievement levels of their children.

Learning to read is related to children’s phonological awareness, their orthographic

processing skills, their knowledge of letters, their knowledge of the functions of print, and their

language skills (Adams, 1990; Cunningham & Stanovich, 1993). The development of literacy is not

only a cognitive process though, but also a social process embedded in the relationships in the

family and neighbourhood as well as it is a cultural process connected to different practices and

preferences among social classes.

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 In a previous study of reading literacy levels among students in public and independent

schools Myrberg and Rose ´n (2006) showed that parents’ educational level shows a strong

relationship with the respondents.

Parental education and Books at home showed a high correlation (.58) in the study of

Myrberg and Rose ´n (2009). “Parents’ educational level, or in the words of Bourdieu, their

institutionalized cultural capital, has in this study been shown to exert an important influence on

students’ reading performance,” the said study concluded.

Fathers can be a critical link in motivating and engaging their children in reading. However,

many research studies that discuss parental involvement in supporting their children’s literacy

development, or learning in general, report predominantly on the mothers’ perceptions and

experiences (Fletcher, Greenwood, & Parkhill, 2010; Nichols, 2000; Nutbrown & Hannon, 2003;

Wylie & Hodgen, 2007). Other studies when discussing fathers, report on the mothers’ or teachers’

views of how fathers are involved (see, for example, Eirini, 2006; Morgan, Nutbrown, & Hannon,

2009). Undoubtedly, both mothers and fathers have a direct influence on their children’s attitudes to

and success in reading, or lack of it, but as educators we would benefit from having a deeper

understanding of the influence and perspectives of fathers.

In an investigation with colleagues (Fletcher, Parkhill, & Fa’afoi, 2005; Parkhill, Fletcher, &

Fa’afoi, 2005) on Pasifika students’ perspectives on barriers and supports in reading in New

Zealand schools, the influence of fathers on success in literacy achievement was evident. Pasifika is

a term of convenience used to encompass a diverse range of peoples from the South Pacific region

now living in New Zealand, who have strong family and cultural connections to their Pacific Island

countries of origin. In New Zealand, Pasifika students are overall underachieving in reading (Alton-

Lee, 2003; Crooks, Smith, & Flockton, 2009). In our earlier study of Pasifika students who were

achieving in reading and writing according to results from standardised tests, some of the students

reported that their fathers were actively involved in supporting their literacy development. This

included taking their child to the library, teaching spelling words and encouraging reading for

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pleasure.

In a more recent study with colleagues (Fletcher, et al., 2010) parents representing children

from a range of schools were interviewed. The research explored parents‟ perceptions of what

supports 11-to-13 year-old New Zealand students in their reading. These parents had been selected

by the school principals but as it transpired the parents selected were mothers. Accessibility to

fathers as interviewees had been problematic, mainly because of their work and other wider

commitments. In this study many of the mothers reported that their child’s father had a direct

influence on their child’s attitude and interest in reading. For some underachieving boys who had

fathers not interested in reading, this, according to the mothers, appeared to have been influential in

the development of a negative attitude towards reading. This was the case even when the mother

was an avid reader.

A child’s family and community, and to some degree the school have some bearing on their

sociocultural beliefs and values in regard to reading and reading goals (Ruddell, 2004). Thus, it is

possible to assume that fathers‟ contributions can be influential in terms of their own educational

successes and understanding of the importance of reading. Additionally, fathers can offer support to

their child by working and developing reading skills with their children in the home environment.

Vygotsky (1978) is central to such theoretical perspectives, in particular the identification of the

zone of proximal development. This occurs when there is specific teaching and cooperation with

and by fellow students, teachers and arguably fathers and mothers.

Reading Comprehension Competence Assessments

Pearson & Sarrroub in Ginno study, stated that there are three important facets of reading

comprehension assessment:16 (a) norm referenced, standardized, multiple-choicetests, (b) criterion-

referenced assessments of specific skills, and (c) informal classroom assessments of

comprehension.

First, the purpose of norm-referenced multiple-choice tests is to know the students’

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achievement compared to other students with the same measurement. Then, criterion referenced

assessments, which measuring the students’ mastery by giving the score over a skill or concept. In

this test, the students can get the requirement score to mastery the material. Last is the informal

assessment of reading comprehension test. In this test, the teacher assesses the students’ reading

achievement directly in present day classroom. Here is the outline of reading comprehension based

on the students’ level. Adopted from Farr in Djiwandono:

CHAPTER 3

REASEARCH METHODOLOGY

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 This chapter presents the research design, locale of the study, respondents and sampling

procedure, research Instrument, data Gathering Procedure, and Statistical Treatment.

Research Design

The researchers utilized the descriptive-correlation research design to determine the profile

of the respondents and the reading comprehension competence of the first years college students

major in English, and the significant relationship between the reading comprehension competence

and respondents’ profile.

Locale of the Study

This study was conducted at the Cagayan State University -Andrews Campus, Tuguegarao

City, Cagayan particularly among the first year Bachelor of Secondary Education students of the

College of Teacher Education who are enrolled in Developmental Reading subject.

Cagayan State University is located at Tuguegarao City, province of Cagayan.

Respondents and Sampling Procedure

The respondents of this study were the 80 first year student of Bachelor of Secondary
Education who are enrolled in Developmental Reading. Total enumeration technique was employed.

Research Instrument

The instrument used was taken from the Classic Learning Test (CLT) series of 2016
developed by Classic Learning Initiatives. This instruments is developed for college admissions for
a number of schools in Canada and the USA to provide an alternative to other standardized tests
such as the SAT and ACT.

Data Gathering Procedure

The test questions were distributed among the first year Bachelor of Secondary Education
who are enrolled in Developmental Reading. Permission was sought from the professors of the first
year students before the test was personally administered by the researchers. Checking of the test
papers follow just after the retrieval.

Statistical Treatment

Frequency count and percentage were used to treat the personal profile and the reading
comprehension competence of the students. T-test was used to test significant difference along the
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three levels of comprehension when students are grouped according to sex. ANOVA (analysis of
variance) was used to test the significant difference along the three levels of comprehension when
students are grouped according to the educational attainment of parents.

The reading comprehension competence is measured through the three levels of

comprehension using score and percentage. The score interval is computed following the Cagayan
State University transmutation table wherein the score of the respondent is divided by the total
number of items times fifty then plus 50. The score interval is shown below.

Score
Percentage Descriptive Value
12 36

10-12 26-36 88-100 Very Competent

75-87
6-9 15-25 Competent

1-5 1-15 Below 75 Not Competent

CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of data

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Table 1. Distribution of respondents according to sex

Sex Frequency Percentage

Male 30 38.96

Female 47 61.04

77 100.00
Total

Table 1 shows the distribution of respondents according to sex. Around 38.96% or 30

are males, while 61.04% or 47 are females. This reveals that the English majors are female
dominated.

Table 2. Distribution of respondents according to first language

Sex Frequency Percentage

Ibanag 9 11.7

38 49.4
Iluko

Isneg 1 1.3

Itawes 25 32.5

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 Gaddang 2 2.6

2 2.6
Tagalog

77 100.00
Total

Table 3. Distribution of respondents according to mother’s educational attainment

Frequency Percentage
Elementary Graduate 8 10.4
Elementary Undergraduate 9 11.7
High School Graduate 12 15.6
High School Undergraduate 9 11.7
College Graduate 23 29.9
College Undergraduate 15 19.5
Vocational 1 1.3
Total 77 100

Table 3. Distribution of respondents according to father’s educational attainment

Frequency Percentage
Elementary Graduate 5 6.5
Elementary Undergraduate 8 10.4
High School Graduate 27 35.1
High School Undergraduate 8 10.4
College Graduate 12 15.6
College Undergraduate 14 18.2
Vocational 3 3.9
Total 77 100

Table 4. Reading comprehension competence along literal level

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 Literal Frequency
(12)
10-12 (88%-100%) 0 Very Competent
6 – 9 (75%-87%) 40 Competent
1-5 (74below) 37 Not Competent
Interpretive Frequency
10-12 (88%-100%) 1 Very Competent
6 – 9 (75%-87%) 36 Competent
1-5 (74below) 40 Not Competent
Applied Frequency
10-12 (88%-100%) 0 Very Competent
6 – 9 (75%-87%) 15 Competent
1-5 (74below) 62 Not Competent

Table 7. Summary table of reading comprehension competence

Literal Frequency
(36)
26-36 (88%-100%) 0 Very Competent
15-25(75%-87%) 39 Competent
1-14 (74below) 38 Not Competent

Table 7. Significant difference in the reading comprehension competence of the students when
grouped according to sex along the three levels

Table 8. Significant difference in the reading comprehension competence of the students when
grouped according to first language along the three levels

Table 9. Significant difference in the reading comprehension competence of the students when
grouped according to mother’s educational attainment along the three levels

Table 10. Significant difference in the reading comprehension competence of the students
when grouped according to father’s educational attainment along the three levels

Table 11. Significant difference in the reading comprehension competence of the students
when grouped according to father’s educational attainment along the three levels

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