Reading Comprehension in Both Spanish and English as a Foreign Language by High School Spanish Students

Several studies have highlighted that reading comprehension is determined by different linguistic skills: semantics, syntax, and morphology, in addition to one’s own competence in reading fluency (accuracy, speed, and prosody). On the other hand, according to the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis, linguistic skills developed in one’s own native language (L1) facilitate the development of these skills in a second one (L2). In this study, we wanted to explore the linguistic abilities that determine reading comprehension in Spanish (L1) and in English (L2) in Secondary Education students. To do this, 73 Secondary Education Students (1st and 3rd year) participated in this study. The students carried out a battery of tasks in English and Spanish, all of them related to reading comprehension (expository text) and different linguistic skills, which included syntactic awareness tasks, synonymy judgment tasks (vocabulary), and morphological awareness tasks. The results indicated a positive correlation between linguistic competencies in both languages (indicating a transfer effect between languages), which were determined by school year, with a lower performance in the 1st year than in the 3rd year. Moreover, we found more skills with correlations in English reading comprehension than in Spanish. Finally, reading comprehension in L1 was mainly explained English reading comprehension, while English reading comprehension was predicted by grade, and syntactic awareness, as well as Spanish reading comprehension. This could be explained by the different levels of exposure to L1 and L2 of sample subjects, as the linguistic variables have different influences on the reading comprehension of both languages.

Use of a Graphic Organiser as a Pedagogical Instrument for the Sustainable Development of EFL Learners’ English Reading Comprehension

As a visual teaching tool, a Graphic Organiser aids students by constructing and displaying a graphic of the text’s structure, improving students’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension. However, few studies have investigated sustainable development in English reading comprehension using Graphic Organisers, although they might play a critical role in this. Thus, by adopting the methods of quasi-experimentation, observation and interview, this paper aims to address the following two questions from the perspectives of Schema Theory and Dual Coding Theory: (1) What is the effect of Graphic Organisers implemented in English reading on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension? Is it positive? (2) How do Graphic Organisers affect various groups of EFL learners’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension? One hundred students in an EFL school were chosen as research participants for this experiment, and the whole treatment lasted for three months. The results revealed that the application of Graphic Organisers improved EFL learners’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension overall. In addition, Graphic Organisers benefited EFL learners with a medium reading ability most in their sustainable development of English reading comprehension; Graphic Organisers also made a certain difference for students with low and high reading abilities.

The Influence of Theme-Based Language Teaching toward Indonesian Students’ Reading Comprehension

Reading is one of the essential skills in English language learning. In the Indonesian context, reading has been one of the essential subjects to be taught among schools and universities since English is one of the compulsory requirements for graduation. Theme-based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a prominent approach used by the teacher and the students to understand the reading. This study aimed at examining the influence of TBLT on the students' reading comprehension. This research used quantitative research with an experimental study. The study selected participants from Madrasah Aliyah (MA) NW Narmada, Indonesia. The study recruited 20 students taken from the second grade of MA NW Narmada. Pre- and post-proficiency tests were used to assemble data of the study. To analyze data, this study employed a T-test to determine the significant result. The result indicated that the pretest score achieved 71.12 and the posttest value reached 89.05. It performed that different values occur on the students' reading comprehension after the TBLT implementation. The significant value (p) also indicated that the output reaches 0.00 < 0.05, which represented the result is under the significant level (0.05). It means that there is a significant influence of the TBLT method on the students' reading comprehension. In other words, TBLT method contributes positive in+uence on the students' English reading comprehension.

TECHNIQUES IN CONDUCTING ENGLISH READING SKILLS TEST PERFORMED BY INDONESIAN TEACHERS ON ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL EDUCATION STANDARD 2021

One of the ways to measure the students' English reading comprehension skills is through testing. Despite its significant value, students frequently construct bad tests without considering the main rules in doing English reading comprehension tests. This research concerns to study of techniques in testing English comprehension reading skills performed by teachers in Indonesia on Assessment of Local Education Standard in the year 2021. Assessment of Local Education Standard abbreviated as ASPD in a provincial- standardized test to maintain the quality of learning. Four EFL teachers in Indonesia were chosen based on their teaching experience in high schools. The researcher used document observation and in depth- interview techniques to collect data which were transformed into observation notes and interview transcription. The data were then analyzed qualitatively. Findings from this study shown that there are three main themes regarding the most used techniques performed by the teachers, first, students must be able to analyze the bloom taxonomy theory, second, students must be able to identify the scope of material, and third determining the keywords of the question. From understanding and doing those three themes, teachers believe that these techniques could help and improve student's ability in facing English reading comprehension tests.

The influence of Reader’s Theater on High School Students’ English Reading Comprehension-English Learning Anxiety and Learning Styles Perspective

The study aimed to investigate the effects of Reader’s Theater on EFL learners’ English reading comprehension. The roles of English learning anxiety and learning styles in the RT instruction were also explored. Mixed methods research was conducted to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data. The subjects were 11 graders in a senior high school in New Taipei City. There were 25 students in the experimental group and 26 in the control group, and the total number of students was 51. Experiment group received RT instruction for 16 periods in 16 weeks, while the control group was distributed with the same scripts without RT instruction as outside reading. Reading tests based on scripts were adopted to examine the difference of learners’ reading comprehension with RT instruction intervention. Questionnaires of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and learning styles were conducted to realize the correlations among learners. To understand students’ views on RT instruction, 24 subjects from the experimental group received an interview. The results of the study indicated that most students thought RT helped improve their reading comprehension. In addition, most students regarded that RT decreased English learning anxiety. However, among the six stages of RT, Instant Reading was the stage that students felt most anxious because they were worried about others’ opinions. Finally, the study found that RT was a suitable platform for students with different learning styles. However, RT provided less time for students with visual modality to practice and learn best. It was suggested that instructors adopting RT instruction could use more pictures or graphic organizers.

The Levels Of Questions Used In The English Textbook Entitled “Stop Bullying Now”For The Xi Grade Of Senior High School

Reading comprehension in Indonesian students is very weak. It is proven by Pisa 2018, a result which states that from a comparison between science, mathematics, and reading comprehension, Indonesian students are ranked 74th in the sixth from bottom. This article aims to analyze the level of questions used in an English textbook entitled "Stop Bullying Now" for class XI SMA published by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia in 2017. This analysis uses Barrett's taxonomy to test reading comprehension. Questions in the book with content analysis of qualitative research. Based on Barrett's taxonomy, there are five levels of reading comprehension questions: literal comprehension, reorganization, inferential, evaluation, and appreciation. The results showed that the level of literal understanding (7.45%), reorganization (0 %), inferential (39.36%), evaluation (36.17%), and appreciation (17.02%). This shows that the higher-level comprehension is dominant over lower-level comprehension, but the level is not evenly distributed in all texts. The results of this study can provide an overview of the level of reading comprehension questions used in the English textbook entitled "Stop Bullying Now," which is helpful for teachers as a guide in learning English reading comprehension.