Addressing Reading Comprehension Difficulties in Printed Modular Distance Learning: A Case Study

Judequi Aquino,Junilyn Tingson

doi:10.32996/ijels.2021.3.10.1

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how the teachers address the reading comprehension difficulties of students in Printed Modular Distance Learning (PMDL) amid the prohibition of the traditional face-to-face session during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used the semi-structured interview to gather in-depth data from the four Junior High School English teachers who are handling the students in the PMDL. Consequent to the pandemic, the researcher gave interview guide sheets and used audio recorders to document the responses accurately. This study utilized thematic analysis. The study showed that teachers managed to ascertain or find out students' reading comprehension difficulties through assessment scores or task outputs then verified through the background of the students from their previous English teachers. Moreover, teachers guide the students who adopt PMDL in improving their reading comprehension skills by keeping open communication and close collaboration with the parents or guardians and providing reinforcement activities.

Highlights

Reading comprehension is the ability to decode and understand the meaning of written words (Arnold, 2020; Yusmalinda & Astuti, 2020)
The study showed that teachers managed to ascertain or find out students' reading comprehension difficulties through assessment scores or task outputs verified through the background of the students from their previous English teachers
Reading comprehension skill is challenging for many students worldwide and has been attributed to various factors such as having low or poor inference making skills, vocabulary, low motivation, grammatical boundaries (Elbro & Buch-Iversen, 2013; Anastasiou & Griva, 2009), and poor critical thinking skills (Mohseni, Seifoori & Ahangari, 2020).To date, there have been various studies conducted in exploring ways and varied strategies to improve students' reading comprehension

Summary

Introduction

Reading comprehension is the ability to decode and understand the meaning of written words (Arnold, 2020; Yusmalinda & Astuti, 2020). With our current situation in the "New Normal" in Education where modular distance learning is employed, the suggested means of improving students' comprehension skills and the commendable methods and strategies undertaken by the teachers such as Directed Reading Activity (Audina, et al.,2020) or applying an approach of Inquiry-based learning (Rahmasari, 2020) are being challenged because face-to-face sessions are prohibited in carrying out Distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to know how teachers address students’ reading comprehension difficulties in Printed Modular Distance Learning in the “new normal.”. This present study aims to investigate how the teachers address the reading comprehension difficulties of students in Printed Modular Distance Learning by collecting detailed and in-depth information from the teachers

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Conclusion