The Acquisition of Comprehension Skills among High and Low Achievers of Year 4 to 6 Students in Primary School

Abstract

Comprehension skill is one of the main skills which need to be acquired by primary school students. In the primary school, most of the Years 4 to 6 students is expected to achieve the necessary level of reading fluency based on the prescribed syllabus. Research finding on Year 5 students indicated that they were able to read fluently but could not comprehend what was being read (Nor Hashimah Hashim, 2000). In another study which observed the primary school teachers teaching reading comprehension showed that teachers did not stress on the acquisition of basic comprehension skills (Nor Hashimah Hashim, 2001). Thus, the objective of the present study is to identify the acquisition of comprehension skills of Year 4 to 6 primary school students. Altogether, 4101 students were involved in a comprehension test which consist of 50 multiple choice questions. These items were categorized into three main comprehension categories, namely literal, inferential and critical-creative. Twenty items were developed for literal category, 20 items for inferential category and ten items for critical-creative category which measured six, five and four comprehension skills respectively. This paper discussed the findings on the acquisition of comprehension skills among high and low achievers.