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Effectiveness of Contextualized Learning Materials in Improving the Reading

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 EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTEXTUALIZED
LEARNING MATERIALS IN IMPROVING THE
READING SKILLS AND COMPREHENSION LEVEL
OF THE STUDENTS

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

2023
Volume: 7
Pages: 435-444
Document ID: 2023PEMJ564
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7702258
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-05-3
Psych Educ, 2023, 7: 435-444, Document ID:2023 PEMJ564, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7702258, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Effectiveness of Contextualized Learning Materials in Improving the

Reading Skills andComprehension Level of the Students
Janice T. Sambayon*, Danica P. Luceñara, Crisanta P. Luceñara, Queennie M. Bayron,
Romnick A. Peñaloga, Emelyn A. Larombe
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
The learners are placed in an engaging, significant, and real scenario when reading comprehension teaching is
contextualized. Contextualization can be achieved by focusing reading lessons and exercises on the context and
area of interest of the learners. The study aimed to find out and evaluate the reading skills and comprehension
performance of seventh-grade students and the effectiveness of the contextualized learning materials. In addition,
the study used a descriptive-quantitative research method with an emphasis on experimental design. The study
utilized a complete enumeration technique in selecting the student respondents, which included 420 seventh-
grade students from all sections of the school. The study had been conducted for 1 month and 2 weeks in the first
quarter of the academic year 2022–2023. The collected data were interpreted using IBM SPSS; also, frequency
and percentage were used to present the data on the reading comprehension performance level of the seventh-
grade students categorized as independent, instructional, frustrated, and non-readers. The weighted mean value
was used to evaluate the reading comprehension level of the learners, while the paired t-test was used for
analysis. The level of significance (α) was set to 0.05 with a high level of confidence. The results revealed that
the reading comprehension level of the learners in the pretest is above average (m = 11.75, SD = 4.16), whereas
in the posttest, the student’s reading comprehension performance level is "outstanding" (m = 16.48, SD = 4.97).
Nonetheless, it has been revealed as well that there are significant differences between the students’ pretest and
posttest reading performance levels (t-value = 9.1864; p-value = 0.000). Furthermore, there was a mean score
difference of 4.73 in the students' reading comprehension performance from the pretest to the post-test. A study
has shown that reading comprehension and skills can be improved through contextualized teaching and learning.
Also, it was important to use contextualized learning resources when teaching English to help students score
better on reading comprehension tests.

Keywords: IBM SPSS, seventh-grade students, reading comprehension, contextualized, Phil-IRI

Introduction struggle with reading at a proficient level, according to

Numerous intervention and remediation programs
have been launched by the Department of Education to
help students who struggle with reading. Reading
proficiency is essential for academic success, and
issues with reading will have an impact on all facets of
a child's academic performance. Early literacy is
crucial for this reason. Early readers go on to excel in
their reading abilities and have more academic success
in school. Students who are struggling in reading also
suffer in other subject areas and have a hard time
keeping up with their schoolwork. It turns into a
downhill spiral as they grow demoralized, lose
motivation, and fall further behind (Culaste-Quimbo,
2021).
DepEd has made programs available to help students
with their reading needs. The DepEd Order No. 45 s
was established. To ensure that every child is a reader
by the end of third grade, Every Child A Reader
Program (ECARP) was established in 2002. Teachers
ran many intervention and remediation programs in
response to the DepEd's demand. Most students who
make it to grades four and above, however, still
the research. According to the results of the English
Post-Test for the Philippine Informal Reading
Inventory (Phil-IRI) at Kibacania Elementary School
for the academic year 2018–19, 24% of the students in
grades 4-6 were frustrated readers, 31% were
instructional readers, and 36% were independent
readers. The class counselors thoroughly investigated
the dissatisfied readers' word recognition issues on
words with consonant blends and consonant digraphs
during individual oral readings of graded passages.
Additionally, it was discovered that both instructional
and irritated readers had issues with fluency,
vocabulary, and reading comprehension. This finding
shows that the students' level of reading competency is
depressingly low (Department of Education, 2002;
Culaste-Quimbo, 2021).
Students' academic performance has been shown to be
significantly impacted by contextualized teaching and
learning (CTL). It encourages good student
engagement and enhances student learning abilities.
Berns and Ericson describe "contextualization" in
teaching and learning as the idea that links a course or
subject matter to a real-world situation (quoted in
Center for Student, Research, and Planning Group, and

Sambayon et al. 435/444

Psych Educ, 2023, 7: 435-444, Document ID:2023 PEMJ564, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7702258, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
Acad e m ic Sen ate for Cal if o r n ia, 2 0 0 9 ).
Contextualization was defined by Mazzeo, Rab, and
Alssid (2003) as instructional strategies created to
seamlessly link the learning of fundamental abilities to
knowledge linked to careers through teaching and
learning that is purely based on real-world applications
in a particular environment.
According to Moghaddas (2013), contextualization is a
significant learning process that takes place by linking
ideas and principles from other disciplines. This
indicates that in order to make learning meaningful to
students, teachers must situate the goal skill in an
authentic setting. When a teacher organizes, designs,
and creates instructional learning activities, context
should be considered.
The functional literacy rate among Filipinos aged 10 to
64 increased in 2019, hitting 91.6%, according to the
Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media
Survey (FLEMMS) conducted by the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA). According to a definition
of "basic literacy," reading and writing "with the
understanding of simple messages in any language or
dialect," there are an estimated 90.8 million Filipinos
who are literate at the basic level, out of a total
population of 96.8 million, or about six million adults
over the age of five who are illiterate (Angeles et al.,
2022).
Additionally, the K–12 Basic Education Curriculum
and our spiral curriculum have both led to an increase
in reading difficulty, which is problematic for reading
teachers. If a youngster struggles with reading, their
performance in other areas will probably suffer, which
will ultimately limit their capacity to learn (Dacalos et
al., 2016). Therefore, it is essential to support students'
reading abilities while also demonstrating the efficacy
of these measurements. Establishing evidence-based
programs would inspire professionals to continue their
efforts since they are occasionally asked to assist with
administrative duties rather than deliver counseling
programs to improve student progress. School
counselors must also be prepared to support their
activities with statistics from program assessments that
demonstrate how their efforts have improved student
achievement as funding for education declines (Saro et
al., 2022).
Accordingly, reading is the skill that is most crucial for
success in all educational settings (Brown, 2004; Acita
et al., 2022). The reading process involves knowing,
comprehending, and feeling the content of the book.
Reading provides people with the chance to learn a lot
about a topic. Both word recogn itio n and
Sambayon et al.
comprehension are necessary for reading. Identifying
symbols in written text that correlate to spoken
language is the process of word recognition (Yang,
2020). Intentional, selective, anticipatory, and
comprehension-based are Smith's (2004) list of four
qualities of reading as a task. Nunan (2003) asserts that
readers must fluently combine a sizable amount of
information from the reading text with prior
knowledge in order to produce meaning when they
read. Understanding is achieved by reading. Reading
is, in a nutshell, the process of learning, understanding,
and experiencing the content of a text.
Most teachers and students find it challenging to deal
with the vital duty of improving students' reading
comprehension abilities. Like this, students today do
not read as much because they have high-tech devices
to occupy their free time. Occasionally, books and
printed materials are put aside in favor of reading
online content. Additionally, students today rarely read
items that are unrelated to their interests and needs.
The reading teacher had a problem because of this
circumstance. If a teacher is unable to engage the kids'
interest during reading lessons, problems will result.
Teachers must create a lesson that is engaging for the
children to capture their attention in reading teaching.
Teachers must contextualize their reading lessons in
order to solve this issue. Materials should be relevant
to students' interests and contexts in order to promote
improved reading comprehension performance
(Bonganciso, 2016).
The students' reading comprehension and word
recognition issues are caused by their issues with
pronunciation, omission, and punctuation. They read
mostly in syllabic units. As discovered during the
execution of Brigada sa Pagbasa with the project title
"Mobile Reading on Read to Raid COVID 19
Pandemic 2.0," the students struggle to respond to
interpretative, applicative, valuing, and higher-order
thinking questions. Here, the following observations
and the preliminary research suggest that the causes
may include the following: the absence of in-person
instruction; the lack of adequate reading materials and
supplemental reading resources; the absence of reading
habits; the absence of reading interest; the absence of
concrete conceptualization of reading lessons; the
absence of ongoing and follow-up reading activities;
and the absence of rigid reading lessons (Manlapaz,
Cabahug, & Divina, 2022).
The Grade 7 students' reading deficit requires an
immediate intervention that immediately targets the
reading issues by using contextualized learning
resources, streamlined reading modules, and
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Research Article
differentiated activities for the students as identified in
the reading lesson. The teacher may investigate the
desired abilities of the learners to be developed,
arranged in accordance with the progression of the
focal skills, when teaching reading. The reading lesson
piques the interest of the students and encourages
participation in the activities, which promotes
understanding and a love of reading. Most of the
reading exercises in the modules are based on actual
experiences and are self-contained. Students can
complete the exercises alone, with a partner, or in a
group. Additionally, it enables them to independently
discover and develop ideas. The learning and cognitive
processes of the students are facilitated and pushed by
the teacher. This research seeks to examine and assess
the reading comprehension and basic word recognition
of Grade 7 students within the framework of the
educational process.
Research Questions
The main goal of the study was to find out or evaluate
the reading skills and comprehension of the seventh-
grade students and assess the effectiveness of the
contextualized learning materials utilized in the study.
Specifically, the researchers sought to answer the
following research questions in the study:
1. What is the reading comprehension performance
level of the Grade 7 students in their pretest and
posttest utilizing the contextualized learning materials?
2. What are the English oral reading posttest and
pretest scores of the Grade 7 students based on the
assessment levels of reading?
3. Is there a significant difference between the reading
skills and comprehension level of the Grade 7 students
in the pretest and posttest after using the
contex tualized learning materials?
Literature Review
Almutairi (2018) claimed that becoming proficient
readers who can successfully run the class on their
own is one way for students to satisfy the objectives
and standards of education. Understanding the
concepts contained in a paragraph and how they
connect to one another is comprehension, according to
McNamara's definition from 2007. "Comprehension"
refers to knowing a word, a sentence, or a group of
related texts. The ability to study and comprehend a
text, notice implicit and explicit information within a
text, and draw links between the reader's
understanding of what the author is saying and their
own, according to McKee (2012), are all examples of
Sambayon et al.
comprehension. For instance, when students can
absorb textual material, find information related to the
text, and identify important information that was
offered in the text.
Reading comprehension is a difficult task that requires
several cognitive abilities and skills, including word
recognition, decoding, and text-specific language
proficiency, according to Oakhill, Chain, and Elbro
(2015). Cracking the author's codes, which are
frequently employed in texts by the author with
idioms, synonyms, and antonyms, is the reader's task.
It implies that in order to comprehend what they are
reading, recognize words, and decode the text, readers
must be literate in the language.
According to Malcolm Knowles' theory of andragogy,
commonly known as the adult learning theory (Pappas,
2013), students play roles in the learning process and
understand information differently than children do. It
is considered that conceptual learners are independent,
possess a variety of personal experiences, are driven to
learn, are life-centered, activity- and problem-focused,
and are influenced by internal forces. The Center for
Students, the PR Group, and the Academic Senate for
California (2009) claim that the fundamental structure
of the andragogical model is a procedural framework
based on real-world examples. The "meaning system,"
as described by Mezirow (2000), functions as
information strainers when students try to connect new
information.
All learning requires the ability to read, hence it is a
necessary talent. Language development lays the
foundation for reading and writing skills as students’
progress through school. Since language development
is inextricably related to long-term academic and
professional success, it is essential for every child's
future success. In the past 10 years, early reading
interventions in elementary schools have drawn a lot
of attention for the development of foundational
reading skills. Early reading intervention has been
shown in numerous studies to affect children's
thinking, learning, and performance. Early elementary
grades are significant since students are developing
their reading proficiency currently. Reading treatments
given in the lower elementary classes had a smaller
average influence on reading outcomes than reading
interventions given in the early elementary grades.
Reading difficulties are more likely to persist
throughout a student's academic career if they do not
develop reading skills that are consistent with
expectations for their grade in elementary school
(Bajaj, 2022). In addition to imparting knowledge, a
teacher's job is to make it easier for students to learn
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Research Article
and use it. In the new model of teaching and learning,
teachers act as learning catalysts by planning and
facilitating classroom activities that can stimulate and
expand students' ideas (Blair, 2012).
Lev Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism
(Aljasan, 2011) claims that one's initial notion of their
knowledge is influenced by their social environment.
According to social constructivists, as learning is a
dynamic process, learners should independently
discover the principles, theories, and realities that they
are learning about. As a result, it is important to
promote and support critical reading learning.
Constructivists see learning as a dynamic process that
comes from self-constructed meanings; a significant
link is made between prior knowledge and the current
learning activity, according to Curpoz and Salandan
(2006). They went on to explain that this is based on
the idea that every learner creates and reconstructs
meanings considering prior knowledge.
The contextual learning theory, according to Berns and
Erickson (2005), assumes that learning makes sense if
the learners can handle novel input within their own
frame of reference. With this method of learning, the
reader's mind will connect what is written on the page
to his or her prior knowledge and experiences so that
the text emerges as valuable by searching for the text's
meaning within the context (Contextual Learning,
n.d.). Since students will be reading an article based on
their area of interest, contextualizing the reading
lesson must be necessary for improving reading
comprehension because it offers a way to increase both
the reader's content knowledge and career-related
options (Berns & Erickson, 2005). According to
Resnick (1987), the education department prioritized
conceptualization and symbol manipulation over
learning skills that are applicable outside of the
classroom or in the real world. She continued by
saying that by decontextualizing the lecture, the
students are left with no understanding of its content,
rendering it useless.
Different sources are referenced by Moghaddas (2013)
for the contextualization's components. In order to
meet the requirements of the students, sources include
interdisciplinary teaching and learning, the experiences
of learners outside of school, which recognizes the
importance of the kids' outside-of-school experiences
inside the classroom, and a variety of instructional
content. The cooperation and coordination of teachers
in selecting real materials and activities to be
incorporated into lessons; student-focused learning,
which focuses on placing the students at the center of
the educational process; the use of clear learning
Sambayon et al.
strategies that emphasize straightforward lesson plans
that are appropriate for the students' level of interest;
and authentic assessment, which aims to measure
learning in a real-world setting.
According to Mahabadi (2012), the idea of localization
assumes that students learn more effectively when
their classroom experiences are meaningful and
significant to them. The learning that students engage
in and feel a connection to is the learning that sticks.
The learning-by-doing, applied learning, and
manipulative learning rules must be adhered to in
order to implement the technique in education. If
children are placed in a real-world learning setting that
enables them to control, relate to, and adapt to a
variety of learning opportunities and resources
accessible in their neighborhood or community, deep
learning will be ensured and completed.
According to Tinong (2018), teachers should be
flexible and inventive when utilizing localization and
contextualization in the classroom. These concepts
were developed and implemented in academia to
guarantee that the curriculum responds, adapts,
reflects, and is flexible to the demands of students,
particularly 21st-century students who require holistic
and skillful development. By making connections
between abstract ideas and ideas that are easy to
understand, enjoy, and relate to in daily life, learners
are better able to comprehend abstract ideas. However,
customized, and contextualized lessons should never
come at the expense of quality and appropriate
educational standards.
Dimacali (2018) noted that there are many advantages
to implementing or adopting localized materials in our
educational system. First, it raises awareness of what is
happening or the current status of a particular topic
being discussed. Second, because it is more specific
and closely related to us, it will inspire students to
learn more about it because it has become familiar to
them. So, if the subject is a problem, they can easily
relate, and it can be a great chance for youngsters to
get involved in solving societal issues. There will be a
meaningful discussion with each student, and everyone
will be urged to participate.
According to the research done by Garin et al. (2017),
students who received contextualized and localized
instruction performed better on the pretest and posttest
than students who received contextualized but not
localized instruction, but less well on theoretical
assessments. In general, students who received
contextualized and localized instruction did better than
those who received contextualized instruction just. In
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Research Article
order to improve students' arithmetic performance, it
was also recommended that teachers use localized
examples, activities, and illustrations when teaching
statistics. The use of local data in teaching statistics
may be cited by curriculum writers as a key teaching
and learning strategy. Activities, demonstrations, and
examples of instructional material used by teachers
must be genuine and indigenous in order to be
effective. Using localized resources in English has an
impact on the performance of undergraduate Political
Science students, according to Khazani and Mowlaie
(2017). The use of locally produced materials raised
the participants' results in the experimental group. To
increase students' arithmetic ability, Garin et al. (2017)
suggested that teachers use examples, activities, and
illustrations when teaching numeracy. Use of local
data in teaching statistics is one of the main teaching-
learning strategies that curriculum designers may
incorporate. The exercises, examples, and educational
materials a teacher should use must be reliable and
local if they are to be more effective.
Both localization and contextualization adhere to the
principles of making the lesson flexible, imaginative,
pertinent, meaningful, and adaptable to students'
cognitive levels and instructional needs. However,
these methods undermine the objectives of the courses
and lead to misinformed and haphazard learning
because of concepts and materials that were overtly
localized and contextualized. On the other hand,
teachers must be adaptable and imaginative while
utilizing localization and contextualization in the
classroom (Pecson, 2014).
Methodology
Research Design
The study utilized a descriptive and quantitative
method of research with an emphasis on experimental
design to evaluate the r ead ing skills and
comprehension performance level of the seventh-grade
students and assess the effectiveness of the
contextualized learning materials (Phil-IRI) used in the
study. Nevertheless, quantitative research methods are
frequently used since they are appropriate and capable
of producing accurate and legitimate data (Bloomfield
& Fisher, 2019). Fraenkel & Wallen (2006) indicated
that the purpose of descriptive design is to describe the
readers' and learners’ preferences, reasons, and even
the utilization of the learning module and its
effectiveness. To achieve the pretest and posttest
procedures, one-group or more methods were heavily
used in the experimental design (Calmorin et al., 2007;
Sambayon et al.
Creswell, 2014).
Regarding the earlier studies under review, the design
was heavily utilized to gather and examine the data for
the authors' evaluation, and it is one of the most
common tools that many researchers might potentially
choose as their study design. The researchers
specifically oversaw the data gathering within the
allotted period for the procedure, adhering to the
prescribed standards and procedures.
Research Respondents and Sampling
The study’s respondents were the seventh-grade
students in all the sections of San Luis National High
School in San Luis District I. These students were
enrolled in the first quarter of the academic year 2022-
2023. Furthermore, the data was duly recognized by
the head of the school registry and the school principal.
Also, the research participants had followed a
sampling procedure, which is a complete
enumeration technique, to get the student respondents
in the 7th grade at the said school. A total of 420
seventh-grade students from the population
participated in the assessment, which had been
conducted for 1 month and 2 weeks at the school.
Research Instruments
In this section, the Phil-IRI (the Philippines Informal
Reading Inventory, Manual 2018) has been used in the
study. For the assessment of the pretest and posttest
results on the level of read ing skills and
comprehension performance of the Grade 7 students
and their effectiveness, the manual was utilized.
Furthermore, the DepEd had implemented and
developed this contextualized learning material (Phil-
IRI) as a reading inventory of the public schools for
students' reading issues and to explicitly guide them in
a manner. Before beginning the study, the researchers
consulted with experts, including the master teacher at
the mentioned school, who specializes in teaching
English.
Research Data Gathering Procedure
Before conducting the assessment, the researchers
obtained approval or permission from the school
principal. Afterwards, an orientation was provided to
the advisers of the involved sections of 7th graders for
the assessment procedure and a briefing will be given
to the students who will take part in the study. In the
first session, the students took a pretest of their reading
skills and comprehension levels through a face-to-face
interaction utilizing the learning materials prepared by
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Research Article
the proponents. As a result, a large amount of data was
collected and analyzed. In the next sessions, the
researcher explicitly oriented the student-respondents
on reading comprehension. A power point presentation
was used to facilitate the orientation meeting for
students from each section. Hence, after the
orientation, the succeeding sessions were extensively
devoted solely to the experiment, which was merely
related to the main goal of the study. Furthermore, the
strategies and methods on how to develop and attain
the learners’ reading comprehension and skills were
perfectly delivered. The content of the reading
materials, which is the Phi-IRI intervention reading
manual, has been a great help in clearly executing the
purpose of the research project. After all, the
researchers provide the posttest on the reading skills
and comprehension level of the students. The data was
collected and interpreted in a certain manner.
Research Statistical Analysis
The data was tabulated, analyzed, and presented in the
manuscript perfectly. The study had been analyzed
using IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences), a statistical software program that was
utilized to interpret and run the data gathered from the
experiment. In addition, the researchers used Microsoft
Excel to double-check the SPSS results to ensure that
they obtained legitimate results throughout the
process. The frequency and percentage were used to
present the data on the reading comprehension
performance level of the seventh-grade students
categorized as independent, instructional, frustrated,
and non-readers. The findings of the experiment on
reading skills and comprehension would be the basis
for crafting a new intervention or program that suits
the needs of the students. Furthermore, the statistical
tools utilized in the interpretation of the data gathered
include the mean, standard deviation, and paired t-test.
The weighted mean value was utilized to evaluate the
reading comprehension level of the learners, while the
paired t-test was used to understand if there was a
significant difference between the reading skills and
comprehension level of the Grade 7 students in the
pretest and posttest after using the contextualized
learning materials. The level of significance (α) was
set to 0.05 with a high level of confidence.
Results and Discussion
The study had been conducted to find out or evaluate
the reading skills and comprehension of the seventh-
grade students and assess the effectiveness of the
contextualized learning materials utilized in the study.
Sambayon et al.
Specifically, the researchers sought to answer the
following research questions in the study: (1) What is
the reading comprehension performance level of the
Grade 7 students in their pretest and posttest utilizing
the contextualized learning materials? (2) What are the
English oral reading posttest and pretest scores of the
Grade 7 students based on the assessment levels of
reading? (3) Is there a significant difference between
the reading skills and comprehension level of the
Grade 7 students in the pretest and posttest after using
the contextualized learning materials?
The Bureau of Learning Delivery, Department of
Education's effort known as the Philippine Informal
Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) aims to make every
Filipino child a proficient reader in a direct and plain
manner. It is based on the department's flagship
initiative, "Every Child a Reader," which aims to
develop reading and writing skills in every Filipino
child at the grade level appropriate for their age. The
Phil-IRI is a non-formal reading inventory made up of
graded passages intended to assess each student's
proficiency in listening comprehension, silent reading,
and oral reading (DepEd BLR, 2018).
Finding the student's level of independence,
instruction, and frustration is the goal of these three
assessment types. The information gathered from these
tests could be utilized to develop or modify classroom,
small-group, or personalized training to suit the
students' requirements and aptitudes. The Phil-IRI
provides an approximation of students' reading ability
and can be used in conjunction with other trustworthy
assessment instruments; it is not the only instrument
that measures students' overall reading performance.
Additionally, in order to enhance overall school
reading performance, the data must be used to plan,
construct, or restructure reading programs or activities
in the classroom (Department of Education, Bureau of
Learning Resources, 2018).
Furthermore, the collected data directly answers the
research questions, and it was carefully analyzed and
treated with the appropriate statistical tools. In this
regard, the previous secretary of education, Bro.
Armin A. Luistro (2016), emphasized and pointed out
that all academic learning activities have as their
fundamental cornerstone the assessment and
evaluation of students' reading comprehension and
competence. Reading will be a strain and a difficult
part of the learners' lives through other reading
disciplines if they do not master the abilities from the
beginning.
Table 1 shows the results of the English oral reading
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Table 2. Reading Comprehension Performance Level

of Grade 7 Students Pretest and Posttest Using the
Contextualized Learning Materials for Reading
skills pretest and posttest of the seventh-grade learners
based on the assessment levels of reading utilized with
the contextualized material. As the results showed, the
students had more reading needs based on the pretest
data, which showed a 27.38 percent level of
frustration, or an equivalent of 115 learners who were
frustrated in reading or somehow not confident in
reading, particularly in English. In contrast to the
results on the posttest, after some orientation and
Table 2 displays the reading comprehension
sessions provided by the researchers, the level of
performance level of grade 7 students before and after
frustration now is 1.13%, with two learners who are using contextualized learning materials for reading.
frustrated in reading. The results from the independent The results revealed that the reading comprehension
and instructional reading levels of students on the level of the learners in the pretest is above average (m
pretest and posttest had greatly attained a high value, = 11.75, SD = 4.16), whereas in the posttest, the
but the difference (-) would vary on the results from students’ reading comprehension performance level is
the pretest and posttest. From the conduct assessment, "outstanding" (m = 16.48, SD = 4.97).
there were no non-reader students; all of them can
read, yet they are not confident or hesitate to read due This suggests that based on the reading materials the
to their individual backgrounds in reading. students utilized before to, during, and after the pretest
and posttest, there were disparities in the students'
reading levels. Additionally, Valencia’s (2020) study,
Table 1. English Oral Reading Skills Pretest and
which revealed that the students were still unfamiliar
Posttest of the Seventh-Grade Learners Based on the
with the material, and the pretest and posttest
Assessment Levels of Reading Utilized with the performance results are consistent. To add to that, the
Reading Contextualized Material students have not encountered such competence in any
discussion or reference material.

Also, the results were the same as the findings of

Manlapaz et al. (2022), which indicates the differences
between the findings from the pretest to the posttest.
This means that while the learners were unable to
comprehend on reading in the pretest assessment, they
were able to read with confidence in the posttest,
resulting in a high level of reading comprehension
with the use of contextualized based-learning materials
(Phil-IRI, a reading inventory manual, 2018).

Table 3. Improvement of Reading and Comprehension

The results of the study were like those reported by Performance Levels Using Contextualized Learning
Schijns et al. (2010), who discovered that using Materials (Phil-IRI)
contextualized learning materials resulted in a highly
significant difference between the pretest and posttest
scores. Furthermore, the students' supervision and
desire in reading the assigned reading materials
determined their level of reading proficiency (Saro et
al., 2022; Manlapaz et al., 2022).
Table 3 shows the improvement in reading and
compreh en sio n p erfo rmance levels using
contextualized learning materials (PHIL-IRI). The

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Psych Educ, 2023, 7: 435-444, Document ID:2023 PEMJ564, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7702258, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
process of this assessment was guided well by the tool,
the Functional Literacy Assessment (FLAT),
specifically in public secondary schools on English
proficiency. As per the results, it was shown that there
was an equivalent improvement and a gain score in the
assessment from the pretest to the posttest with the
assistance of FLAT (the Functional Literacy
Assessment Tool). As shown in the table, the pretest
had a 11.75 mean score and the posttest had a 16.48
mean score; thus, the gain score from both assessments
was 4.73.
Nindy and Kustijono (2017) found that the use of
contextualized learning materials had an extensive
range of changes for students’ perspectives,
intellectual interests, and performances, which allowed
their skills to read, comprehend, and critique the
materials that they were reading interactively.
Nonetheless, Manlapaz et al. (2022) discovered that
using FLAT, or functional literacy assessment tool, in
guiding students through their reading gaps would
result in significant improvement due to the presence
of that learning tool and a high gain score from the
process.
Table 4. T-test Results on Pretest and Posttest Reading
Skills and Comprehension Performance Levels of
Grade 7 Students Using Contextualized Learning
Materials (Phil-IRI, A Reading Inventory Manual,
2018)
Table 4 presents the t-test results on pretest and
posttest reading skills and comprehension performance
levels of Grade 7 students using contextualized
learning materials (Phil-IRI, a reading inventory
manual, 2018). The t-test calculations revealed
significant differences between the Grade 7 students’
pretest and posttest reading performance levels, t (419)
= 9.1864, with a p-value of 0.000. Furthermore, there
was a mean score difference of 4.73 on the students'
reading comprehension performance from pretest to
posttest, according to the findings. Thus,
contextualized learning materials or even
contextualizing Grade 7 students' reading lessons
could significantly improve their reading skills and
p erfo rm an ce. The fin ding s r evealed that
contextualization has a positive impact on students'
reading performance, which strongly supports its
effectiveness.
Sambayon et al.
The study by Kuncoro (2008) on enhancing reading
proficiency through contextualized teaching and
learning for Grade 8 students lends credence to the
findings. According to Kuncoro's research, the use of
contextualized teaching and learning to promote
reading comprehension has a substantial impact on the
development of students' reading proficiency.
Berns and Erickson (2005) also claim that the
contextualized learning approach to teaching offers
ways to enhance educational and career-related
proficiencies at a greater level, which supported
Moghaddas (2013) study on the impact of
contextualization on the performance of Iranian EFL
learners in reading tasks. According to his findings,
students who were taught using the contextualization
framework performed better. It demonstrates that
improving academic achievement would result from
arranging the lesson in the context of the students'
interests. A leading contextualized education thinker
asserts that it is crucial to create a learning
environment that will enable students to reach their
full potential since, in their opinion, learners can
perform well if they feel comfortable in their setting
(Bonganciso, 2016).
Conclusion
Most teachers concurred that a teacher must have a
variety of teaching strategies at their disposal to aid
students in enhancing their academic performance.
Teachers continued by stating that it is not appropriate
to teach language in a one-size-fits-all manner,
particularly when it comes to reading comprehension.
To find methods, strategies, and approaches that will
aid learners in advancing their academic competency,
teachers have been urged by academy professionals.
Thus, the study makes a valid point: improving
learners' reading comprehension and skills through
contextualized teaching and learning has a big
influence. Additionally, it can be said that
contextualization's utilization in the classroom has
once again supported the idea of adult learning.
According to this idea, learning is motivated, students
can connect text and context, use their schema to
interpret the content, and feel more confident reading
instructions since they fit inside their framework.
However, given this study only included one group of
participants, the findings might not be entirely
conclusive. The outcome of the posttest may be
impacted by additional significant aspects.
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Psych Educ, 2023, 7: 435-444, Document ID:2023 PEMJ564, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7702258, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
As shown by the study's findings, it is strongly advised
that all English teachers implement the suggested
course of action to raise all junior high school students'
reading proficiency. In order to solve the students'
reading difficulties, the researcher suggests that the
usage of contextualized learning resources be
institutionalized in the school. Additionally, it was
important to use contextualized learning resources
when teaching English to help students score better on
reading comprehension tests.
The first recommendation is to use contextualized
reading instruction to improve the reading
comprehension skills of Grade 7 students. Second, an
alt ern a tiv e m eth od for teach ing read ing
comprehension might be a contextualized teaching and
learning strategy. Finally, it is strongly advised that
this study be repeated with two other subject groups in
order to validate the assertions made in this paper. In
addition to factors like age, gender, IQ, motivation,
level of learning, learner's self-awareness, and
attitudes toward reading, studies like the link between
fluency rate and reading comprehension level using
contextualized teaching and learning in reading
courses must also be investigated.
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Affiliations and Corresponding Information
Janice T. Sambayon, LPT
Duangan National High School,
Department of Education - Philippines
Danica P. Luceñara, LPT
Ulanguan National High School, Department of
Education - Philippines
Crisanta P. Luceñara, LPT, MAEdEM-CAR
San Luis National High School, Department of
Education - Philippines
Queennie M. Bayron, LPT, MAEd-SPED
Bonifacio Central Elementary School, Department of
Education - Philippines
Romnick A. Peñaloga, LPT
Sabang Adgawan Elementary School, Department of
Education - Philippines
Emelyn A. Larombe, LPT
Langasian Elementary School, Department of
Education - Philippines
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