CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Reading Comprehension requires a lot of skills to be developed first before the person

acquires it. It differs from just understanding the passage or written text for it pertains to

perceiving, comprising, including grasping mentally and understanding a passage or written

text.

Reading Comprehension is the ability of constructing meaning from a text (Webster’s

Dictionary 1990). As children learn to read, the focus is more on understanding the meaning of

words and how to form sentences in order for them to communicate simple ideas. As children

reaches adult stage, reading comprehension grows and includes semantic and symbolic

understanding of a given written text. Many researchers have done that involves reading

comprehension. This research is design to seek further factors in relation to reading

comprehension and how it affects the reader.

Reading Comprehension is a complex cognitive ability requiring the capacity to integrate

text information with the knowledge of the listener/reader and resulting in the collaboration of

a mental representation.

Current models of reading comprehension highlight the importance of considering the

role of different cognitive processes during text comprehension. For example, both in its short

and long term components is broadly considered to have a fundamental role. Indeed, the

reader has to store and manipulate information in working memory during the processing of
the text, but at the same time in order to construct a coherent representation of the text he or

she has to refer to his/her prior knowledge (Van den Broek, 1994).

In the present study, the researchers extended this line of research exploring the factors

affecting reading comprehension. The first aim of the study was to identify the dominant factor

of the selected Freshmen Secondary Education students of Taguig City University. It is stated

that the factors are categorize into three: the reader, the text and the purpose and in line with

this, the researchers want to identify and determine the factor that affect the reading

comprehension of the students. The second aim is to know how these factors contribute to the

student’s success on their academic work and competency, and third is to provide varied

strategies that would contribute to the comprehension level of the students.

To summarize, this research intends to seek further factors in relation n to reading

comprehension and its effect to the reader.

In BSE-B11, thirty-two (32) students answered the survey. The following are the data gathered

in the said section.

In the statement “ I love to read educational references”, seventeen(17) respondents

answered always, nineteen(19) respondents answered seldom, nine(9) respondents answered

when needed, no one answered never. In “ I love to read magazines”, four(4) respondents

answered always, twenty-five(25) respondents answered seldom, twelve(12) respondents

answered when needed and three(3) respondents answered never. In “ I love to read news

papers and tabloids”, eight(8) respondents answered always, twenty-five(25) respondents

answered seldom, thirteen(13) respondents answered when needed, no one answered never.

In “ I love to read story books”, eleven(11) respondents answered always, twenty-nine(29)

respondents answered seldom, six(6) respondents answered when needed, no one answered

never. In “I love to read…” category, the researchers found out that students of BSE-B11 seldom

read educational references such as books, dictionaries, etc., magazines, newspapers and

tabloids, and story books.

For the statement “I am fond of reading alone”, twenty-eight(28) respondents answered

always, ten(10) respondents answered seldom, three (3) respondents answered when needed,

and four(4) respondents answered never. In “ I am fond of reading with peer group”, six (6)

respondents answered always, twenty-one(21) respondents answered seldom, twelve(12)

respondents answered when needed, and five (5) respondents answered never. In “ I am fond

of reading in silent/private places”, twenty-five(25) respondents answered always, nine(9)

respondents answered seldom, twelve(12) respondents answered when needed, and only one
answered never. In “I am fond of reading with music”, sixteen(16) respondents answered

always, fifteen(15) respondents answered seldom, four(4) respondents answered when

needed, and nine (9)respondents answered never. In “I am fond of reading…”category, the

researchers found out that many students enjoy reading alone while listening to the music.

In the statement “When I am at home I reviewed the lesson being discussed”, ten(10)

respondents answered always, nineteen(19) respondents answered seldom, sixteen(16)

respondents answered when needed, no one answered never. In “When I am at home I read

text materials at least one hour a day”, six(6) respondents answered always, thirty(30)

respondents answered seldom, seven (7) respondents answered when needed, no one

answered never. In “When I am at home I play games in the computer, tablet or phone”,

thirteen (13) respondents answered always, seventeen (17) respondents answered seldom,

eleven (11) respondents answered when needed, and four(4) respondents answered never. In

“When I am at home I text with my peers all night”, nine (9) respondents answered always,

sixteen (16) respondents answered seldom, thirteen (13) respondents answered when needed,

and six(6) respondents answered never. In “When I am at home I play surf the net to watch

movies/videos or read manga series”, nineteen (19) respondents answered always, thirteen

(13) respondents answered seldom, fifteen (15) respondents answered when needed, and

eight(8) respondents answered never. Therefore, in “When I am at home I…” category, the BSE-

B11 students prefer to play games in the computer, tablet or phone when they were at home

and seldom review their lesson being discussed.

 For the statement “Every time I encounter unfamiliar words I check with the dictionary”’

thirty-four (34) respondents answered always, seven (7) respondents answered seldom, four (4)

respondents answered when needed, and no one answered never. In “When I encounter

unfamiliar words I tend to guess it scientifically”, eight(8) respondents answered always,

twenty-one (21) respondents answered seldom, ten (10) respondents answered when needed,

and five (5) respondents answered never. In “Every time I encounter unfamiliar words I don’t

mind at all”, no one answered always, fourteen (14) respondents answered seldom, nine (9)

respondents answered when needed, twenty-two (22) respondents answered never. In “Every

time I encounter unfamiliar words I use context clues to figure it out”, twelve (12) respondents

answered always, nineteen (19) respondents answered seldom, ten (10) respondents answered

when needed, and three (3) respondents answered never. Therefore, in the category “Every

time I encounter unfamiliar words I …”, the students of BSE-B11 checks with the dictionary

every time they encountered words that are unfamiliar to them and they never do not mind it

at all.

Therefore, students of BSE-B11’s studies are not affected by the problems they

encounter at home, at school, or in the community. Only a few of them are affected with the

problems they encounter at home, school, and community.