Reading Comprehension Achievement Test Research Articles

Determining the Reading Comprehension Levels of Students Who are Braille-Readers on Informative Texts

The purpose of this study was to determine the reading comprehension levels of middle school students who are braille readers in informational texts and to examine whether they differ in terms of certain variables. 23 of the participants were male and 16 were female; 11 of them were attending 6th grade, 18 were attending 7th grade, 10 were attending 8th grade. The data of the study were collected through the 'Reading Comprehension Achievement Test', which was prepared by the researchers and included 24 open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics analysis and one-way analysis of variance test. The significance level of p0.05 was taken into consideration in the interpretation of the results obtained from the statistical tests conducted in the study. As a result of the study, middle school students who are braille readers needed to improve their reading comprehension performance in informative texts. The study also found that using braille abbreviations had a great effect on reading comprehension. Findings showed that the reading comprehension levels of male and female students who read braille were similar to each other and the reading comprehension levels of students who read braille were similar to each other regardless of their grade level.

Effect of Readers Theater on Reading Comprehension Skills and Reading Motivation among Students of Turkish as a Foreign Language

Different methods, techniques and strategies are employed in teaching to improve reading, especially comprehension skills to ensure reading motivation. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of readers theater on reading comprehension skills and reading motivation in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. In the study, in which an exploratory mixed design in which quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together was preferred, the subjects were determined by convenience sampling. Accordingly, 61 B1 level students (31 experimental, 30 control) learning Turkish as a foreign language at a state university in southern Turkey were assigned as the experimental and control groups. Reading comprehension achievement test was used to collect data in the study., reading motivation scale and semi-structured interview form were used to collect data. Dependent and independent groups t-test was used to analyze quantitative data; descriptive analysis and content analysis were used to analyze qualitative data. The results reveal that the reading theater technique had a positive effect on the reading comprehension skills and reading motivation of the students in the experimental group. In addition, it was determined that the students expressed positive opinions about the reading theater. Based on these results, it is suggested that reading theater technique should be used to increase the reading motivation of Turkish as a foreign language learner and improve their reading comprehension skills.

Effects of Story Map Method on Listening and Reading Comprehension of 1st Grade Elementary School Students

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the story map on elementary school first-grade students’ listening and reading comprehension levels and their attitudes towards reading in literacy teaching process. It was conducted on 69 students studying in the first-grade in an elementary school in the Western Black Sea region and assigned by matching. In the research, “Quasi-experimental Design”, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. During the data collection process, the Reading Attitude Scale with “Garfield Picture” for 1-6th-Grade Students to Turkish was implemented in the experimental and control groups as a pretest and post-test. While the story map was implemented in the lessons in the experimental group, the implementation process was completed by teaching the lesson without any implementation in the control group. The texts in which listening and reading comprehension questions were implemented included 26 narrative texts in the elementary school 1st-grade Turkish book. The data collected with the “Listening and Reading Comprehension Achievement Test” and Reading Attitude Scale with “Garfield “Picture for 1-6th-Grade Students to Turkish implemented after the experimental procedure were evaluated with the SPSS 20 statistical software. At the end of the study, it was concluded that the experimental group, in which the story map was implemented before the listening and reading comprehension questions, was more successful in comprehension than the control group. When the effects of the story map on the attitude towards listening and reading comprehension were examined, a positive improvement was found in listening and reading comprehension in the experimental group.

Vocabulary size and comprehension of academic texts by Tanzanian university students: An exploratory study

This study aimed at determining the influence of vocabulary size on comprehension of academic texts among 256 university entrants to whom English was a foreign language (EFL) and a medium of instruction. The study was carried out at the University of Dodoma (UDOM) involving first-year students who were taking English Vocabulary Building as one of the core courses. The study used the vocabulary size test (VST) and a reading comprehension achievement test (RCAT). The results show that, on average, participants had a vocabulary size of 4 300 word families and the mean score of 39.83 in RCAT. With regard to relationship between scores of VST and RCAT, the results show that the two variables had positive correlation, r = 0.75, p < 0.001, and R2 = 0.565, indicating that about 56.5% of the variability in reading comprehension was explained by vocabulary size. Further, the linear regression analysis showed that B = 1.13, p < 0.0001, meaning that an increase of one score in VST (100 word families) influenced an increase of 1.131 in the text comprehension score.

BOOSTING READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT AND VOCABULARY MASTERY: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN WITH RAP

The aim of this research is to ascertain the impact of the RAP reading strategy on the academic progress of pupils in vocabulary and reading comprehension. The sample for this study comprised 45 pupils (22 females and 23 males) from Sriwijaya State Polytechnic who were in their second semester during the 2022-2023 academic year. This research was conducted using a quasi-experimental approach. The study employed a vocabulary test, a reading comprehension test, and the RAP reading strategy. The data analysis used mean, standard deviation, standard error mean, and t-tests for both the vocabulary test and the reading comprehension achievement test. The statistical significance level was set at .05. The study demonstrated that there were significant differences in reading comprehension achievement and vocabulary mastery between the experimental group and the control group. However, the RAP reading strategy was found to be more effective in enhancing reading comprehension achievement and vocabulary mastery than the traditional reading strategy. Overall, the RAP reading strategy can be a valuable tool for improving students' vocabulary and reading comprehension.

COLLOCATION KNOWLEDGE AND READING ABILITY: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY AT 5TH SEMESTER STUDENTS

Collocations are always present in every reading. Reading comprehension followed by collocation mastery. The objective of this research is (1) to investigate the students’ lexical mastery of collocation (2) to investigate the students’ reading comprehension achievement (3) to investigate significant correlation between students’ lexical mastery of collocation and their reading comprehension achievement in English Department at 5th Semester of UIN Fatmawati Sukarno Bengkulu. Correlational study was applied as a method. There were 30 students taken as the sample of this research. The data were collected by using lexical collocation and reading comprehension achievement test. In analyzing the data, this research used Pearson Product Moment Correlation and SPSS 25. The result showed that (1) the score of lexical collocation test was 93.3 % with category is poor (2) the score of reading comprehension test was 66.7% with category is very poor. Finally, it can be conclude that the correlation between students’ lexical mastery of collocation and their reading comprehension is fair. It means alternative (H1) was accepted while null (H0) was rejected. Moreover, since low lexical collocation mastery can affect low reading comprehension achievement, it is hoped that the knowledge and ability of students on lexical collocation can be improved better by the teacher.

Are different responses related to the different affective features? CHAID analysis study

In education, examining students' learning in detail, determining their strengths and weaknesses and giving effective feedback have gained importance over time. The aim of this study is to determine the distribution of students’ answers to the reading comprehension achievement test items which were written at different cognitive levels and to investigate the affective variables that are effective in classifying students based on their incorrect, blank, and unrelated answers identified via rubric. For this purpose, a reading comprehension achievement test, a student information form, the perceived academic self-efficacy scale and the learned helplessness tendency scale were used to collect data. The student information form included perseverance, achievement motivation, exposure to bullying and test anxiety subscales. A rubric was used to determine the students’ response categories. According to the findings of the study, the rate of blank and incorrect answers increases as the cognitive level of the items become more complex. While the most correct response rates are decreasing, partially-correct answers are increasing relatively. While students' learned helplessness tendencies were effective in classifying their blank and unrelated answers at the most basic reading comprehension level, as the cognitive process became more complex, the affective characteristics classifying the student responses increased in number. It was concluded that these variables are important in improving the students’ answers and in leading them to the partially correct and the most correct answer. It can be suggested to create trainings and classroom environments that will equip and improve students’ features about these variables.

Effect of Teaching Metacognitive Reading Strategies on Reading Comprehension of Engineering Students

This experimental research investigates the impact of teaching metacognitive reading strategies on the reading comprehension of engineering students in the English for Science and Technology(EST) context. This research is the first empirical study of its kind in Libyan English as a Foreign Language (EFL/EST) context. The study utilizes the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) and a reading comprehension achievement test extracted from ‘Oxford English for Computing’ by Boechner and Brown (instruction manual). The treatment incorporates the explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies to the participants in the experimental group via the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) model. Paired-samples t-test results signify a considerable treatment effect among the experimental group. In conclusion, the findings support previous research indicating that explicit instruction effectively improves Libyan EST students’ metacognitive awareness and produces statistically significant gains in reading comprehension.

Öğretmen Rolüyle Etkileşimli Okuma Uygulamalarının Dördüncü Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Okuduğunu Anlama Başarısına Etkisi

Bu araştırmanın amacı, öğretmen rolüyle etkileşimli okuma uygulamalarının dördüncü sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama başarısına etkisini araştırmaktır. Araştırmada geleneksel etkileşimli okumadan farklı olarak öğrencinin okuma sürecini yönettiği öğretmen rolüyle etkileşimli okuma tercih edilmiştir. Etkileşimli okuma, öğrenci ve öğretmenlerin kitabın başından sonuna kadar kitabın resimleri, içeriği ve kitaptaki olaylar, karakterler, yaşananlar ile ilgili yorum yapma, çıkarımda bulunma ve değerlendirme eylemlerini içeren sesli okuma stratejilerinden bir tanesidir. Mevcut araştırmada ise alanyazında ifade edilen etkileşimli okuma uygulamasından farklı olarak öğrencilerden çalışmanın daha merkezinde yer almaları ve bu süreci bizzat kendilerinin yöneteceği bir sorumluluk üstelenmeleri istenmiştir. Araştırmada yarı deneysel desen tercih edilmiştir. Araştırma 50 ilkokul dördüncü sınıf öğrencisi ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak Tavşanlı (2014) tarafından geliştirilen “Okuduğunu Anlama Başarı Testi” kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde normallik ve t testleri kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda elde edilen veriler, öğretmen rolüyle etkileşimli okuma uygulamalarının, ilkokul dördüncü sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama başarısını olumlu yönde etkilediğini ve desteklediğini göstermektedir. Araştırmanın sonuçları doğrultusunda gelecekteki araştırmalar için öneriler sunulmuş ve uygulamaya yönelik çıkarımlar tartışılmıştır.

The Relation between Primary School Fourth Grade Students’ Attitudes towards Reading and Reading Comprehension Levels

This study aims to determine the relation between primary school fourth grade students’ attitudes towards reading and reading comprehension levels and make a comparative analysis of these variables in terms of number of books read in a month, reading frequency, and regular reading habits. Population of the study is primary school fourth grade students studying in public schools. “Reading Attitude Scale” developed by Yurdakal and Kırmızı (2019) and “Reading Comprehension Achievement Test” developed by Ergen and Batmaz (2019) are used as data collection tools of the study. The scales were applied to 300 students in spring semester of 2019-2020 educational year. The results of the study revealed that students’ attitudes towards reading were at a positive level; however, their reading comprehension achievements were at medium level. There was a weak positive correlation between attitude towards reading and reading comprehension achievement level. It was also found that as number of books students read, time allocated for reading, and regular reading habits increased, their achievement levels increased as well.

The Correlation Student Reading Speed and Reading Comprehension Achievement of The Tenth-Grade Students in Indonesia

The research objective was to find out the correlation between students’ reading speed and reading comprehension achievement of the tenth-grade students of MA Al Fatah Kota Mulya. The formulation of the problem in this research was “Is there any significant correlation between students’ reading speed and reading comprehension of the tenth-grade students of MA Al Fatah Kota Mulya?”. For the population, this research is from the tenth grade of MA Al Fatah Kota Mulya and contains 20 students. In here sample of the research was all of the population. Then sampling this research was done by utilizing purposive sampling. A descriptive method as a method in this research. Type instrument in this research was a test, and the test is the reading speed test and the reading comprehension achievement test. The result indicated r-obtain 0.862 higher than r-table 0.4227. So that there was a correlation between reading speed and reading comprehension achievement of the tenth-grade students of MA Al Fatah Kota Mulya or null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted.

Examination of the Relationship Between Creative Thinking Skills and Comprehension Skills of Middle School Students

The relationship between language and thinking and the effect of these two skills on each other is accepted by field experts, but the level of the relationship is still a matter of debate. In this research, some part of the relationship between language and thought has been dwelled upon. The aim of the research is to determine the 7th grade students' reading, listening comprehension and creative thinking levels; to determine the relationship between reading comprehension and creative thinking and listening comprehension and creative thinking skills. The data of the study, which is a descriptive field study in the relational screening model, was collected from a total of 380 7th grade students, 199 women and 181 men, in the 2019-2020 academic year. As a data collection tool within the scope of the research; "Reading Comprehension Achievement Test", "Listening Comprehension Achievement Test" and "Torrance Creative Thinking Test Verbal A Form" were used. The analysis of the data was done by pearson correlation analysis. Secondary school students' reading comprehension levels are medium, and their listening comprehension levels are medium. As a result of the correlation analysis, most significant correlation is between reading comprehension and listening comprehension, and the least significant correlation is between reading comprehension and fluency, which is a sub-dimension of creativity. There is a positive, statistically significant relationship between the listening comprehension and creative thinking skill scores. There is a positive and statistically highly significant relationship between reading comprehension and listening comprehension skill scores. There is a positive, significant relationship between reading comprehension and creative thinking skill skills. All of the relationships are statistically significant.

THE INFLUENCE OF HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS, VOCABULARY MASTERY AND READING MOTIVATION ON READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT

This research aims at finding out the influence of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), vocabulary mastery and reading motivation on reading comprehension achievement among State SMP Students in Magelang Regency. This research was an ex post facto involving three independent variables; students’ HOTS (X1), vocabulary mastery (X2), and reading motivation (X3) and one dependent variable, students’ reading comprehension achievement (Y). The sampling technique was the proportional cluster random sampling. The research instruments were three tests and a questionnaire. The kind of validity of the tests was the content validity by experts’ judgment. The construct validity of the questionnaire was measured by factor analysis. The reliability of the tests was measured by Cronbach’s Alpha with the Alpha of HOTS test is 0.768, vocabulary mastery test’s is 0.757 and the reading comprehension achievement test’s is 0.716. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured by Cronbach’s Alpha with the Alpha is 0.862. The data were analyzed using the multiple regression analysis continued by the partial correlation. The result of the multiple regressions indicates that HOTS, vocabulary mastery and reading motivation influence reading comprehension achievement with the F=236.709 with the significant level below 0.05 which means that the three independent variables influence significantly on reading comprehension achievement. The Adjusted R Square is 0.653 which means that the reading comprehension achievement is 65.3% predicted by the three independent variables. The contribution of HOTS on reading comprehension achievement is 38.7%, vocabulary mastery is 50.3%, and reading motivation is 8.2%.

Enhancing the Students’ Reading Comprehension Achievement through Skimming and Scanning Techniques in Senior High School

This research was intended to enhance the students’ participation and reading comprehension achievement by using Skimming and Scanning Techniques at MAN 1 Jember that was conducted collaboratively with the English teacher. The design of the research was classroom action research. The research participants was the X IPA 4 grade students of MAN 1 Jember. The implementation of skimming and scanning techniques could improve the tenth IPA 4 grade students’ active participation in the reading teaching learning process. The result of the observation showed that the percentage of students’ active participation improved from 75.76% in meeting 1 to 78.79% in meeting 2. Furthermore, the implementation of skimming and scanning techniques could enhance the tenth IPA 4 grade students’ reading comprehension achievement in the reading teaching learning process. The result of the reading test showed that the percentage of the students who got at least 75 was 78.79% or 26 students of 33 students. Based on the result above, it could be concluded that both the result of observation and reading comprehension achievement test had achieved the success criteria of this classroom action research in cycle 1.

Teachers’ Qualification and Questioning Styles as Correlates of Achievement in Reading in Secondary Schools in Ido Lga, Nigeria

The study examined teachers’ qualification and questioning style as determinants of senior secondary students’ achievement in reading comprehension in Ido LGA, Nigeria. Studies have shown that several teacher-related factors, especially subject mastery, experience, qualification, and questioning styles contribute to students’ learning outcomes in ESL classrooms. Hence, there is the need to conduct this study. The study adopted a correlational type of descriptive research design. Four research h questions were raised and 20 English language teachers were randomly selected to participate in this study. Two research instruments were used: Teachers’ Questionnaire on Pedagogical Factors in Teaching (TQPFIT) (r = 0.74) and Reading Comprehension Achievement Test (RCAT) (r = 0.71) were used for data collection. The results indicated that there was no significant relationship between the in dependent variables and students’ achievement in reading comprehension. Also, there were no relative and composite contribution of teachers’ qualification and questioning styles to students’ achievement in reading comprehension. However, questioning styles predicted students’ achievement higher than teachers’ qualification. Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should develop and adopt quality questioning styles during lesson delivery to stimulate learners’ interest, engage them in the learning task, and improve students’ achievement.

Explaining reading variance by student subgroup: should we move beyond oral reading fluency?

BackgroundStudies have demonstrated strong predictive and concurrent validity of curriculum‐based measures (CBMs) with high‐stakes reading tests, mainly using oral reading fluency (ORF) to predict outcomes. Some studies have found that CBMs' predictive accuracy might vary across demographic subgroups of students. In this study, we investigate whether additional CBMs of reading comprehension account for variance beyond ORF and whether these reading variables predict reading comprehension differently for demographic subgroups.MethodsCurriculum‐based measures were administered to 9,967 students at the end of Grade 3 in the United States, concurrent with a high‐stakes standardised state reading comprehension achievement test (RCAT). Hierarchical regression models with RCAT as the outcome were used to test (a) whether CBMs of reading comprehension accounted for significant variance beyond ORF and (b) if the reading variables differentially predicted RCAT for different subgroups of students.ResultsOral reading fluency explained significant variation in RCAT, and the addition of comprehension CBMs accounted for small amounts of unique variance. The contribution of ORF in explaining variation in reading comprehension varied by demographic subgroups.ConclusionsThe contributions of comprehension CBMs in predicting high‐stakes standardised reading comprehension tests were not meaningful, only accounting for small amounts of unique variance. Additionally, the contribution of ORF in explaining variation in the high‐stakes standardised reading comprehension test varied by student demographics, likely due to complex reasons specific to those individual factors.HighlightsWhat is already known about this topic CBMs of ORF account for significant variance in reading comprehension achievement on high‐stakes standardised reading tests. Failure to include some measure of comprehension in CBMs could be problematic because fluency does not ensure comprehension. When comprehension CBMs have been included, findings have been mixed. Some studies have pointed to differences in how well ORF predicts reading comprehension for various subgroups of students. What this paper adds We examine the contribution of comprehension CBMs over and above ORF in predicting student performance on a high‐stakes reading comprehension test using a large, diverse sample in the United States. We replicate others' findings on the contribution of ORF in predicting variance in students' high‐stakes reading comprehension test scores. We find that the contributions of ORF differ by student subgroups, specifically socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency, and race/ethnicity. Implications for theory, policy or practice Conducting and analysing assessments takes a significant amount of teachers' time. Our findings suggest a lack of utility in using additional CBMs beyond a measure of ORF. Given the consistency of our findings with prior studies, teachers should use ORF as a screening measure and then shift to diagnostic measures to better understand students' performance. Because ORF differentially predicts performance on a high‐stakes reading comprehension test based on subgroups of students, alternative assessments should be considered for particular groups of students.

Effect of Drama Technique on Achievement in English Reading Comprehension of Junior Secondary School Students

The study examined the effect of drama technique on achievement in English reading comprehension of junior secondary school students. This study adopted the pre-test – post-test quasi-experimental design. The population of the study comprised all junior secondary school students in Ijebu-North local government, Ogun state. Two junior secondary schools were randomly selected for the purpose of the study. The students in the two schools were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The instrument used for data collection was the Reading Comprehension Achievement Test which has a reliability coefficient of 0.72. The experiment lasted for six weeks. The data were analyzed by Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. The results show a significant main effect of drama technique and gender on students’ achievement in reading comprehension. The results further show a significant interaction effect of drama technique and gender on students’ achievement in reading comprehension. The study recommends that teachers should adopt the use of drama techniques in teaching comprehension.&#x0D; Keywords: drama technique, reading comprehension, achievement in reading

The Influence of Higher Order Thinking Skills, Vocabulary Mastery and Reading Motivation on Reading Comprehension Achievement

This research aims at finding out the influence of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), vocabulary mastery and reading motivation on reading comprehension achievement among State SMP Students in Magelang Regency. This research was an ex post facto involving three independent variables; students’ HOTS (X₁), vocabulary mastery (X₂), and reading motivation (X₃) and one dependent variable, students’ reading comprehension achievement (Y). The sampling technique was the proportional cluster random sampling. The research instruments were three tests and a questionnaire. The kind of validity of the tests was the content validity by experts’ judgment. The construct validity of the questionnaire was measured by factor analysis. The reliability of the tests was measured by Cronbach’s Alpha with the Alpha of HOTS test is 0.768, vocabulary mastery test’s is 0.757 and the reading comprehension achievement test’s is 0.716. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured by Cronbach’s Alpha with the Alpha is 0.862. The data were analyzed using the multiple regression analysis continued by the partial correlation. The result of the multiple regressions indicates that HOTS, vocabulary mastery and reading motivation influence reading comprehension achievement with the F=236.709 with the significant level below 0.05 which means that the three independent variables influence significantly on reading comprehension achievement. The Adjusted R Square is 0.653 which means that the reading comprehension achievement is 65.3% predicted by the three independent variables. The contribution of HOTS on reading comprehension achievement is 38.7%, vocabulary mastery is 50.3%, and reading motivation is 8.2%.

CORRELATION BETWEEN CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT

Conscientiousness is one of the personality traits that defined as an individual tendency to be organized, thorough, controlled, decisive and dependable. This study was done to find out (1) the correlation between conscientiousness and reading comprehension achievement, (2) the significant difference in conscientiousness and reading comprehension achievement between male and female students, (3) the significant difference in conscientiousness and reading comprehension achievement between social science students and natural science students, and (4) the contribution of conscientiousness to reading comprehension achievement. The population of the study was the eleventh grade students of SMA Negeri 20 Palembang. One hundred students were purposively taken as sample on the basis of equal numbers of gender and major. To collect the data, reading comprehension achievement test and conscientiousness questionnaire were distributed to students and analyzed statistically. The findings showed conscientiousness and reading comprehension achievement significantly correlated (p value = 0.460) and the contribution of conscientiousness to reading comprehension achievement was 20.4%. The significant difference in reading comprehension achievement in gender and major was found; female and natural science students were better. The different result was obtained in conscientiousness. It implied that students tend to had similar perception toward conscientiousness regardless their gender and major.

The Use of Voca-Lens to Enhance the Students Vocabulary Repertoire

Education has shifted to the digital era. The primary pupils whom known as the alpha generation, grow up with technology, were no longer passive learners. Information and communications technology (ICT) is used as teaching tool in which claims to help in dissemination of learning contents. English language educators play the role to bridge the gap between ICT and English language teaching in order to optimize its benefits in education field. This current study which employs mixed method triangulation design model is intended to (1) enhance the repertoire of vocabulary and (2) reading motivation among primary pupils. A total of 56 respondents were chosen from 3 schools in Song and Mukah. The quantitative data was collected from pre and post tests of reading comprehension achievement test to answer first research question. Quantitative data from semantic differential scale questionnaire which comprises of 20 items was analysed to answer the second research question. It was also justified by qualitative data from semi structured interview. The positive findings from the three instruments showed the effectiveness of Voca- Lens. The innovation of Voca- Lens could be further utilized in the lesson if the availability of devices and internet connection were enhanced.