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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 (2015) 2631 – 2633

WCES 2014

The Use of Graded Reading Materials for Children with Reading

Difficulties
Manisah Mohd. Alia*, Muhammad Nazeri Saidena
a
Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Low reading proficiency skills may impede understanding of the reading materials being read and hence affect interest in
reading. This paper discusses a case study on the use of graded reading materials in increasing reading skills among children
with reading difficulties. A set of two graded reading materials was used on two children with reading difficulties aged 7 years
according to prescribed teaching reading stages. The suitability and challenges in using the materials were observed and noted
qualitatively. The findings showed that the children have increased skills in reading. There were also increased interest and
confidence among these children. There is pedagogical implication for the use of alternative strategies in the teaching of reading
for struggling readers.
© 2015
© 2014TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014
Keywords: Reading; skills; reading difficulties; graded reading

1. Introduction

Basic reading skills are one of the most important skills in the delivery of information and ideas in our culture.
Reading skills too are critical to all learning in school and for a productive life skill (Saunders, 2006). Reading is an
active process which should be acquired at the early learning age. Mastery of reading depends on the reader
familiarity with letters, words and spelling patterns (Yahya, 2006). According to Abdillah (2009), reading skills

* Manisah Mohd. Ali. Tel.:+1-111-111-1111.

E-mail address: manisah@gmail.com

1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.518
2632 Manisah Mohd. Ali and Muhammad Nazeri Saiden / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 (2015) 2631 – 2633

ranging from identifying, recognizing and pronouncing letters and syllables and then reading words, sentences and
passages or essays. Low reading proficiency may affect an individual to take more time to complete his reading.
This in turn would create difficulty in comprehending the materials being read and eventually interest in reading
would be affected ( Meisinger, Bloom & Hynd, 2010). Marina, Fadzilah and Roselan (2011) stress that teachers
should be sensitive to the students’ environment to facilitate interest in early reading interest among their students.
They also stress that teachers need to find or use the techniques, methods and materials appropriate to the abilities of
their students. Inappropriate methods and use of teaching materials suitable to the students’ ability level will affect
students’ interest to learn.

2. Graded Reading

Graded reading or progressive reading material is one of the teaching materials that can be used by teachers to
teach reading. Amran (2009) explains graded reading is a form of literature that was built through a staged process
to enable a pupil to master reading fluently in a short period of time. Graded reading materials are increasingly
popular in the classroom. These materials are suitable for use in pre-school classes, the mainstream classes,
remedial education classes and special needs education classes. According Zainiah (2010), providing reading
materials in accordance with one child’s reading level is pertinent for ease of reading for the child. Thus, a certain
graded reading system is necessary in the development of reading materials for the child. In doing so, teachers can
provide activities and materials to actively engage students in the learning process (Saayah, 2009). Thus, teaching
and learning will be more meaningful, effective and enjoyable. This paper provides a description on the use of
graded reading materials in teaching reading skills among children with reading difficulties. Suitability and
challenges in using the materials were noted. In the following section, the description on the methodology is
provided.

3. Methodology

Two samples, aged 7 years old and attending Year 1 mainstream class were selected. Sample 1 was a female
student and has difficulties in reading words with more than three syllables. Sample 2 was a male student. Unlike
Sample 1, Sample 2 was only able to recognize alphabets and he has some speech delay. He underwent speech
therapy for a year before entering school. Two sets of graded reading materials in Malay were used. Malay is the
medium of instruction in mainstream school and is also taught as a language subject. Set 1 entitled Raju yang Sakit
(Raju, the Sick Boy) and Set 2 entitled Tikus Hitam (the Black Rat). In each story, words consisted of nouns and
verbs familiar to the samples were introduced and repeatedly used. Two different teaching reading strategies were
used. Sample 1 was taught reading Set 1 by the whole word method while Sample 2 was taught through syllabic
spelling method. Observations on the use of the reading materials were made and noted qualitatively in terms of the
suitability and challenges encountered while using the materials.

4. Findings and Discussion

Sample 1:

The teaching strategy employed with Sample 1 was the whole word strategy. The rationale for using this
strategy is that to promote active and positive interaction between the teacher and Sample 1. The sample is
introduced to the new word and later identifies, recognize and understand the word (Bos & Vaughn, 2008). Overall,
the reading material for Sample 1 was found to be useful and have helped increase the reading ability of the
samples, there are a number of strengths observed in using the selected graded reading material. Listed below are
the strengths noted while the reading materials were used
a. The story line in the reading materials is simple, easy to understand with repeated use of new vocabularies.
b. Use of boldly colored and attractive pictures.
c. The story is associated with the sample’s existing body of knowledge and of familiar settings using words
spoken within the sample’s environment.
 Manisah Mohd. Ali and Muhammad Nazeri Saiden / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 (2015) 2631 – 2633 2633

Sample 2:

The selected teaching reading strategy seemed to work well with Sample 2 as he as some history of speech
delay. He was first introduced the alphabets and later on was asked to spell out the words according to the syllables
of the word pointed to him in the reading material. According to Lerner (2003), this strategy is suitable to be used
among students who have reading difficulties including having difficulties in spelling. Support is given by providing
the correct pronunciation of the syllables found too difficult to spell by Sample 2. With Sample 2, it was observed
that he mostly read by referring to the pictures and not according to the words and sentences following the pictures.
He is also found to have difficulties in identifying the following alphabets: [a], [i], [g], [s], [e] and [u]. Flash cards
of the alphabets were made as to provide immediate support to him. Some of the challenges noted in using the
reading materials were that the font size is not suitable and seems inappropriate with the size of the pictures used in
the materials. A bigger font size with color coded syllables can be an alternative means of providing support during
reading the materials.

5. Conclusion

The use of graded seems to be suitable for children with reading difficulties. Appropriate teaching methods to
introduce the reading materials should be based on students’ reading ability and level. Teachers are suggested to use
alternate and varied teaching strategies in order to retain attention and interest in reading as well as to avoid
redundancies. The content of the reading materials is based on children’s familiar surroundings which provide ease
of understanding on the materials being read. In addition, the use of colorful and attractive pictures helps keep
students interest to further reading the materials.

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