Improving reading comprehension skills among students The case of Zorkor Senior High School

Abstract

This qualitative study identified the common reading problems that negatively impact students‟ reading comprehension. It also investigated the effective reading strategies that teachers of English have utilized to improve reading comprehension levels of the students. For the purpose of this study, “effective reading comprehension strategies” are defined as any strategies that have been found by teachers as beneficial for improving reading comprehension levels of students. Importantly, a particular reading comprehension strategy could be beneficial based on these teachers‟ experiences while working with students who have difficult in reading, but it might not have been found to be an effective reading strategy in the literature. Thus, the focus of this research was on determining the effectiveness of using a particular strategy based on teachers‟ teaching experiences, rather than strategies only found in the literature. The data collection procedure involved interviews and questionnaire. The teachers in this research pointed out that the reading problems that negatively influence reading comprehension of their students include (a) issues with background knowledge, (b) trouble with fluency, (c) difficulty with informational text, (d) difficulty with making inferences, (e) issues with vocabulary, and (f) low reading level. According to the teachers, there are numerous reading comprehension strategies found to be effective to improve comprehension. These include graphic organizers, questioning, story mapping, peer-assisted strategy, think aloud, discussing the text with students, and different grouping. The teachers informally assess their students‟ reading comprehension through retelling, questioning, Cloze procedure, having students fill in graphic organizers, and writing activity.