“WHY MANY STUDENTS OF SILANGA NHS STRUGGLE IN ENGLISH READING

COMPREHENSION”

Sheryl Joy D. Dedama

Caila Jein G. Vacunawa
Leah D. Manga
Fiona C. Bacabag
Frescian A. Liao
Remie Jhon A. Lumungsod

LANIE L. LAURENCIANA
 ABSTRACT
Title: “WHY MANY STUDENTS OF SILANGA NHS STRUGGLE IN ENGLISH
READING COMPREHENSION”
Author: Caila Jein G. Vacunawa
Sheryl Joy D. Dedama
Leah D. Manga
Fiona C. Bacabag
Frescian A. Liao
Remie Jhon A. Lumungsod
English teacher: Lanie L. Laurenciana
___________________________________________________________________________

The purpose of the study is to determine the factors that affects reading
comprehension of Silanga NHS students in English and the underlying factors for such
difficulty. A total of 100 students with ages 12 to 19 were targeted. The data in this research is
obtained using the different risk factors to determine why the reading comprehension of
Silanga NHS students in English is very low. We use table and graph for frequency and
percentage to determine the factors that affect their reading comprehension in English. The
result indicates that low English reading comprehension occurs due to eight unusual factors;
too much use of gadgets, poor reading habits, disability, lack of vocabulary and fluency,
inactive reading skills, poor critical thinking, and poor background knowledge. This problems
causes reducing and dropping students.
 DEDICATION
We dedicated our hardwork to all of the students in Silanga NHS that participated in
our survey, for all of the support from our parents, to our supportive English teacher, and to
all of our efforts for the development of this research.
To our school, Silanga NHS, this research can be used to determine why most of
students are having poor reading comprehension in English so that, the teachers and students
can help them improve their selves. To the Lord, for giving us wisdom and knowledge which
led to the development of our research.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, we would like to thank the Lord for giving us wisdom, knowledge, and
strength that we need to overcome all the difficulties in doing this research. We are also
greatful and thankful to our English teacher, Ma’am Lanie Laurenciana who gave us
opportunity to improve, and develop our wisdom and knowledge by doing this research. We
are also proud of ourselves, for all of our efforts to complete this research. We also owe the
students in Silanga NHS for their participation in our survey which led to the development
of our research.
 Chapter 1
Introduction

Reading is one of the most important skills and starting point of the individual to learn
everything around him. The most important is to attain and achieve learning in School and
throughout life. This skill helping students to understand text, images, and their message, to
deepen their knowledge about beliefs, practices, and to ensure that these will be transferred to
the next generation, and to connect his/her previous experiences with their new learning.
Being one of the macro skills in language learning (Cabigao(a),2012; Cabigao(b),2012),
reading skills must be developed among students in preparation for the higher stages of their
studies.
Alexander (2007) said, “Reading is more important today than it ever was as it is
crucial to being an informed citizen, to succeed in one’s chosen career, and to personal
fulfillment. People thought technology would decrease the need to read. On the contrary,
today one finds more access to text than ever, more specialized magazines, more books
published, more newspapers, and more articles read on the internet”. This means that reading
has become more important even before the expansion of technological advancements.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) emphasize the importance of reading to everyone. According to
him, “Reading making a full man” that is how readers have personal fulfillment. According to
Brynes (1998) in Dala (2008), good or capable readers read briefly, combined information in
the text with existing knowledge, have a flexible reading style depending on what students
are reading, are motivated, depends on different skills interacting such as comprehension
processing, recall, and read for a purpose.
Most of the students in Silanga NHS are facing difficulties when it comes to reading
comprehension in English. Some of them can read but can’t understand what they read. It’s
because of the risk factors that affects their reading comprehension such as too much use of
gadgets, poor reading habits, disability, poor parental support, poor background knowledge,
lack of vocabulary and fluency, inactive reading skills, and poor critical thinking. This
problem should have solution to overcome the low level in English reading comprehension of
Silanga NHS students.
  Theoritical Framework

Schema Theory
Gunning (1996) defined the schema as the organized knowledge that one already
has about people, places, things, and events.
According to this theory, readers understand what they read only when it has a
connection to what they already know. The readers construct meaning from text by
connecting information in the text with their background knowledge (Ambruster & Osborn,
2002).
According to Nunan (1999), as cited by Fernandez (2008),Schema theory is based
on the notion that past experiences lead to the creation of mental frameworks that help us
make sense of new experiences. About the present study, Schema theory explains how
learners’ knowledge is used for making connections for better reading comprehension and
how Schema (prior knowledge) can be a big factor and plays a vital role in students reading
comprehension.

Automaticity Theory
According to Brown, 2000, this theory was developed by La Berge and Samuels
in 1974 wherein the idea is based on the premise that the human mind functions like a
computer and has limited capacity for multitasking. Therefore, the process of decoding the
written text and understanding what has been read cannot happen simultaneously. In this
theory, all readers start in the same position: by knowing nothing, or at least very little about
letter words, and sentence structures. One process will undeniably interfere with the other and
diminish the process of each. In this manner, the readers tend to repeat reading the text, again
and again, to comprehend its meaning and place it in their brain where they will never be
forgotten. In relevance to the present study, automaticity theory will provide some ideas why
some learners could not comprehend a text in just one reading.
  Statement Of the Problem
Many students, when ask of the challenges encountered in school, they would
always say English is a problem.
Phil IRI Pre-test in English results of Silanga NHS conducted during the beginning
of school year 2022-2023 shows that 74% can read instructionally, while there are only more
than 20% independently. The 6% struggling readers is an alarming number if we are going to
compare the ratio of independently readers to the non-readers
The researcher considered 8 different risk factors that affect their English reading
comprehension such as too much use of gadgets, poor reading habits, disability, lack of
vocabulary and fluency, inactive reading skills, poor critical thinking, and poor background
knowledge.

 Hypothesis Of the Study

Most of the students in Silanga NHS are really facing difficulties when it comes to
reading comprehension in English and influence from surroundings are considered as a factor
including too much use of gadgets, poor reading habits, disability, lack of vocabulary and
fluency, inactive reading skills, poor critical thinking, and poor background knowledge.

 Significance Of the Study

This research benefits the following;
Students. This research will help the students reveal the factors that affects their
reading comprehension in English.
Parents. This research will help the parents know why their son/daughter are having
poor reading comprehension in English.
Silanga NHS. This research will help the school determine the number of students
having poor reading comprehension in English and the factors that affects them. Therefore,
the teachers and students will make solutions for this problem.
 Scope and Limitations
Accordingly, the study focused on determining the students of Silanga NHS
that are facing the risk factors affect their reading comprehension in English.
The subjects of this study were one hundred (100) Junior High School
students enrolled in Silanga NHS. We believe that some of the students in Silanga NHS
were facing difficulty in English reading comprehension because of the risk factors such
as too much use of gadgets, poor reading habits, disability, poor parental support, poor
background knowledge, lack of vocabulary and fluency, inactive reading skills, and poor
critical thinking.
This research considered students, parents, and teachers in Silanga NHS for
the S.Y. 2022-2023 due to the time that research was performed and gathered.
 Chapter ll
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
This chapter presents few relevant literature regarding reading. Reading comprehension
is the ability of organize meaning from a text. As learn to read, the focus is more on
understanding the meaning of words and how to form sentences in order for them to
communicate basic and simple ideas. As children getting elder stage, reading comprehension
progress and includes semantic and meaningful understanding of a given written text. Many
researchers have done that include reading comprehension. This research is designed to look
for more distant factors in relation to reading comprehension and how it affects the reader
valuable ability.

 Reading as an Valuable ability

Reading is an important skills to help people learn from human knowledge and
experience. Through reading knowledge has greatly contributed to the expansion of
humankind. Reading is the fastest and simplest way to race the educational level of
Silanga NHS students. Reading is lake opening the door of understanding you must
past, where it can serve as a looking glass for our present. Reading also encouraged
the development of brain cells, strengthen language skills, enhances organizational
abilities, improves one’s habit, and stability and provides strength to endure
disappointment. In short, reading is the best and only way of afford human to absorb
new experience and replace old views.

 The perspective Of Reading

To help student’s derive meaning from a text, a teacher has to understand the
process of reading. Reading can easily be defined as the process in which a person
receives and interprets a message from printed materials. Reading is a way how
information is processed from the text into meanings, starting with the information,
etc.,
Wide reading comprehension is a abstract cognitive ability requiring the skill to
integrate the text information with the knowledge of the listener/reader and resulting
in the cooperation of a intellectual statement.
Related Studies
According to Bernardez (2009), “reading is the art of knowing and of understanding
the meaning of printed words or written symbols hence, reading is plain comprehension”.
Comprehension is essentially the ability to understand what has been read. According to
Melon-Galvez and Dela Cerna (2010), the word comprehension is derived from the Latin
word “prehendre” meaning “to seize”, which is the art or capacity to understand.
Bernardez (2009) added that there are four levels of comprehension namely: literal
level, interpretative level, critical level, and application level. On the literal level, learners are
expected to understand the basic information of what they read, this may include identifying
the characters in the story. The second level is the interpretative level, this is where the
learners are expected to read between the lines. Readers are expected to see what the writer
wants to imply regarding a certain situation in a reading passage. In the critical level, the third
level, learners are expected to judge or criticize the work of a writer. For example, a teacher
may ask the learners if the ending or the title is appropriate for a piece of written work and
they need to justify their answers. And lastly, the highest level which is the application level
is where the learners are expected to apply what they have read through different activities.
For example, the learners will write a short paragraph about the theme of a certain piece of
written work.
Through reading and by the grasping of information in the text, comprehension d
Comprehension development requires that learners draw meaning from the processes of
analyzing, interpreting, and responding to narrative and expository text. Analyzing is to
examine and explore how ideas are organized and how that organization contributes to the
meaning of a text. Then interpreting follows, as you are trying to find the meaning and the
significance of the text as in making adaptation and representation. You are asking yourself
both what the text means and why it is important, seeing how they relate to each other to find
the meaning and importance of it. While the purpose of an expository text is to explain,
discuss, give directions, or inform the readers of what the text is all about and why it exists.
www.ijeais.org/ijamr
 Chapter lll
This chapter discusses the research design or method used by the researcher in gathering
the data required by the problem.

Research Design
The researcher used the descriptive-correlational method, which is designed to
determine the main problem why the students encounter difficulties in English reading
comprehension. We used related studies to define the true meaning of reading comprehension
so that we can determine the factors or main cause of the problem.

Sampling Design
Purposively random sampling is being used in the study.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study were 100 students aged 12-17 in Silanga NHS who are
enrolled for the school year 2022-2023. The researcher chose the respondents believing that
they are more affected by the factors that cause difficulties in English reading
comprehension.
In the data gathering procedure, the researcher have considered the students who are
enrolled for the school year 2022-2023 due to the time that the research has performed.

Locale of the Study

The researcher conducted the study, at Silanga NHS which is located in Silanga, Taytay,
Palawan.

Research Tools and Instruments

The researcher used 8 factors that affects reading comprehension in English such as too
much use of gadgets, poor reading habits, disability, poor parental support, poor background
knowledge, lack of vocabulary and fluency, inactive reading skills, and poor critical thinking.
 Chapter lV
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
This chapter presents data gathered from the survey. They were presented in tabular form,
interpreted and implement with inference and implications bases based on the posited
research question in chapter 1.

Risk Factors

Table 1.0 presents the 8 risk factors. As shown most of the students considered that too
much use of gadgets having the greatest impact when it comes to reading comprehension
in English of the students.

Factors Frequency Percentage Rank

Too much use of gadgets 32 32% 1 T
Poor reading habits 20 20% 2
h e
Disability 4 4% 6
r e
Poor parental support 14 14% 3
Poor background 7 7% 5
knowledge
Lack of vocabulary and 8 8% 4
fluency
Inactive reading skills 20 20% 2

Poor critical thinking 7 7% 5

Total 100 100%

are about 30 students considered too much use of gadgets, 20 students considered poor
reading habits and inactive reading skills, 14 considered poor parental support, 8 students
considered lack of vocabulary and fluency, 7 students considered poor background
knowledge and lack of critical thinking, and 4 students considered having disability.
 Chapter V
CONCLUSION
In conclude, English reading comprehension is the topmost problem of Silanga NHS.
Many students can read but can’t understand what they read and this problem is causes by
different risk factors. Our research prove that there are different risk factors that affect the
students reading comprehension in English.
The most or number one factor that affect their English reading comprehension is too
much use of gadgets. Students nowadays are truly addicted in social media and mobile
gaming which leads them not to focus on reading comprehension. Second one is the poor
reading habits, as we say in previous sentence students are addicted in using gadgets that’s
why students can’t read during leisure time of free time.
All in all students reading comprehension are affected by different risk factors.

Findings:
 Parents should teach their children on understanding what they read.
 Students should focus on reading and understanding the text than exposing their
selves on social media and mobile gaming.
 Students should come for a tutor in reading and understanding the text.
 Teacher should pay attention to the reading comprehension of the students.

Bibliography

Melon-Galvez, S. & Dela Cerna, I. (2010). Lectures &

Exercises for Comprehension and Related Skills
(Developmental Reading 1). Bulacan. TCS-Publishing
House. 2, 11.
1 William Grabe, Reading in a Second Language (Moving from Theory to Practice).
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p.5.
2
Sandra Silberstein, Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading, (New York:
Oxford American English, 1994), p.12
3 William Grabe and Fredricka L. Stoller, Teaching and Researching Reading, (
London: Pearson Education, 2002), p.9
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rossana.cabigao@deped.gov.ph