MT

S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter incudes the review of related literature and studies related to the present study.

Reading experts describe reading in many ways. J. Caroll ( in Villamin, et. Al. , 2001) and other

reading experts agree that reading is process. It is subtle and complex process. It is subtle and complex

process of getting meaning from printed word symbols which involves sensation, perception,

comprehension, application and integration. Reading is an active dialogue between the integration. The

efficient reader is ready to evaluate, challenge and criticize reading materials. People who cannot read

are what is said to be illiterate, unschooled. The ability is one of the foundation skills into industrialized

societies. It involves not only the fluent, accurate recognition of words but also the fusion of specific

meanings represented by these words in a chain of related ideas. In such societies written language is

the chief means of transmitting culture and the benefits of civilization from one generation to another.

Main Aspects of Reading

Like many human abilities, reading is a leaned skill. It must be taught. Young children learn to

read in a few years of learning to speak. In doing so, they are made to see a connection between the

words they have learned to say and the one they see on the printed page are printed symbols. The mind

interprets those symbols as words it already knows in a rapid recognition process based on the

individual’s past experience. Printed language thus stimulates the recall of ideas that are already in the

mind of the reader. If reading did not do this, the what is visible on the page would be nonsense, like

reading something in a foreign language. Some precious understanding on the part of the reader is

necessary before beginning to read. New readings combine with past experiences to create new

meanings and ideas. Perception or decoding of words is basic to all reading. Perception is an activity of
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

the senses and in the case of reading the same in touch, because a blind person uses the fingers to read

a code called Braille.

Words and their meanings are recognized together. Beyond the decoding of words is

comprehension. This is more than just understanding the words, sentences, and paragraphs. It is a

matter of seeing relationships and of connecting what is state on ah page with what one already knows

about a subject. A good deal of reading stimulates the imagination as the reader pictures what is being

read. Comprehension, assimilation, and interpretation of literature are steps towards building new

concepts through each new reading experience. Part of the reader’s reaction involves making judgments

about the worth of what is read. Some responses are emotional, while others maybe intellectual

assessing the truth of what is read.

Several factors d and determine a reader’s level of comprehension assimilation: intellectual

ability, the range of personal experience, and the speed at which one reads. Intellectual ability and the

breadth of experience are personal matters, and they often have something to do with the age of the

individual. The more one has learned and experience, the more tends to gain from reading.

Skimming, or scanning, is a method of partial reading to get specified information without going

through a whole text line by line. Slow analytical reading is necessary for absorbing details. Following

printed directions is required in many activities – using a recipe to bake a cake; learning how to play a

game; studying a highway map or street guide; assembling bicycles, model airplanes or furniture,

attaching a video cassette recorder to a television set or operating a computer. Some reading calls for

critical evaluation of what to read. In newspapers and magazines one often encounters conflicting views

or finds opinions that differ from one’s own way of thinking.

Reading Comprehension

The ability to read is vital to the learning process. Access to knowledge in various disciplines is

made possible through reading. Therefore reading ability is a vital key to learning. As one goes up the
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

ladder of education, he has to have the capacity to read well and comprehend almost all of the reading

assignments in order to improve his level of achievements.

The essence of reading is comprehension. Being the soul of reading, it must be actualized by

the pupils who begin formal reading.

Comprehension being the core of the reading process necessitates active interaction between

the reader and the author. Due to variety of factors, however, this end is not often attained as

comprehension breaks down, leaving the less mature readers lost and confused. Thus the role of teacher

in developing good independent readers is very important.

Comprehension takes place when there is communication between the author and the reader.

Whatever the motivation, whatever the purpose reading complies comprehension, an individual must

understand what he reads if he is to accomplish any purpose.

Reading without comprehension is not reading at all merely word calling or “parroting”.

Reading is an interactive and interpretative process. No text can be a successful interaction between the

reader and the discourse to be processed (Williams, 1998).

Word recognition, on the other hand, is the ability to differentiate a particular printed words symbol from

all others and to understand its most common meaning in insolation and/or in the setting (context) in

which is it used. It is sometimes called “word identification” “word analysis” or “word attack” (Auterman,

1981). It also refers to the ability to identify the sound and meaning of words as they appear on the

printed page.

Word recognition skills needed for independent reading are (a) recognizing analysis of words,

analyzing words phonetically, (d) using context clues, and (e) using dictionary.

Recognition of words as sight words. Sight words are those words which are recognized immediately

without the need to analyze them in any way. Words which are taught as whole words become part of

the child’s sight vocabulary. Words which occur frequently are words which are not phonetically regular

and the ones most often learned in this way. Automatic recognition of the most common words is

important for fluent reading.

 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

Basic sight vocabulary refers to all words a child recognizes at once before he begins to

analyze them. These are words considered so basic in primary grade material that they selected as the

word all children should learn early and to recognize instantly.

Structural analysis is a technique which involves identification of syllables, root words, affixes,

or other word part which are relevant to pronunciation and meaning of unknown words. Structural

analysis deals with variants and words derivatives.

Variant means a word that deviates from the root word according to grammatical usage.

Words variants show inflection according to case, number, and the gender of nouns, the tense, vice and

the mood of the verbs, and the comparison of objectives and adverbs.

Word derivatives are words formed from the root word through the addition of prefixes

and/or suffixes. Phonetic analysis is also called phonetics is the study of sound symbol or phoneme

grapheme relationship as they apply to the teaching of reading, usually used in beginning reading.

Context clue maybe the word, phrases or sentences surrounding the unknown word. Context clues

include semantic, syntactic, and presentation clues;

Semantic clues are clues derived from the meaning of the words of the words co -occurring

with the unknown word;

Syntactic clues are contained in the grammar of our language. They help the reader discover

that the word is a noun, action word etc…

Presentation clue refers to the other aids that the author may use to make himself clear to

the reader. This clue may include the use of footnotes, use of types of print (boldface, italics) use of

visuals (diagrams, tables, graphs, pictures), and organizational devices (indention, use of heading and

sub-headings etc.).

Effective use of the dictionary for purpose of word identification, pronunciation, and meaning

is one of the most important skills in word recognition that need to be acquired in the elementary grades.

Dictionary skills are skills such as alphabetizing letters using preferred spelling, using guide words, etc.
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

Using the dictionary to check on pronunciation is both a dictionary and word analysis and word analysis

skills.

Learning to Read

A child’s readiness to begin reading depends on brain development, as does the ability to

speak. A certain level of metal and emotional maturity, along with a favorable attitude toward learning,

must be attained. Teaching children to read was once done in first grade. Based on preparatory

instruction given in kindergarten into earlier reading in preschool.

Glenn J. Doman, author of “How to teach Your Baby to Read” (1964)., insists it is possible to

teach infants to read. The success of his program has aroused some opposition from the psychologists

who believed that the a very young should not be pressured to achieve beyond their natural abilities.

They note that preschoolers coached in reading do not maintain an accelerated pace throughout their

school years, as well as self- taught child. Self – taught child. Self- taught is defined as one who is not

forced to read. Nevertheless , the more successful early reading programs are.

A child’s first reading teachers are parents. The flow of words from parents towards infants

get children accustomed to hearing speech and using it themselves. Once verbal conversation is born in

the child, normally sometime after age one, the sounds and rhythms of the native language begin to be

absorbed.

Children first encounter reading at home when parents read to them. There are books for all

levels of development from books containing only pictures to those with pictures and words. Being read

to can serve as an inspiration for a child to learn to read. Another encouragement to reading is the

availability in the home of books, magazines, and children will readily follow the example of parents.

Reading to Learn

When a child begins school, learning to read is a primary goal. Once a person has learned to

read, the objectives changes. Reading becomes a means to attaining other goals. Because individual
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

interests and tastes vary so much, no single goal can be prescribed for everyone. Some individuals read

only for entertainment. Others read to keep up on current events through newspaper and magazines.

Men and women I some professions read only what pertains to their work.

At best the purpose of reading coincides with the purpose of good schooling. It prepares

people for the society in which they live and function. More than that, it introduces them to the

civilizations of which they are part. In a sense, reading has the same goal as the highest achievement of

human thought to seek answers to the most fundamental questions about the nature of the world, about

human society, and about life’s purposes. Reading with such questions exercises and sketches the mind

and helps it to grow in ways that narrowly focused reading cannot do.

Many students are introduced to ah broad range of books and magazines when they are in

school. They often conclude mistakenly, that to be well read means to read as many books as possible.

In fact, to be well read means to read well and selectively among the works that are most challenging.

Most detective stories once read, can be put aside forever- all the clues have been started out, the

criminal has been apprehended all questions have been answered. Challenging books by contrast do not

pretend to answer all questions. They pose problems and call upon the reader to provide answers. They

are books that one can go back to time and again and reread with pleasure.

Related Theories

According to Havighurst (1981) a developmental task is ah specific responsibility that the

individual faces at certain stages of life in order to be well adjusted. It grows out of the interaction of

physical maturation, social demands and values and inspiration of the individual .

Lycons, Christine (1997) as cited byPeraman that interest in study looks at children responses based on

a large set of stimuli.

Mosenthal (1987) suggest that replication of the treatment effects with classroom teachers may be

complicated by teachers proficiency with the strategy and condition of the classroom instruction.
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

Tinker (1983) believes that unless reading skills that are taught in the lower grades are

reinforced in the middle, junior high schools, reading skills of the week readers will not increase and may

deteriorate.

Strang, etc. al (1987) pint out that the part of the brain (neopallium) which seems to control unilateral

domain, handedness, eyed ness, visual and auditory symbol recognition and spoken and written language

shows a wide range of maturation than do other parts of the brain.

Skilled reads when seriously reading not only to succeed in extracting meaning from printed

page, they can also succeed in accurately recognizing virtually every word on that page (Alford, 1986).

The hallmark of the skilled reader is the ability to recognize accurately, easily and swiftly isolated words.

Gough, (1983) argued elsewhere that skill can be attributed to the ability to decode, for which

highly predictive context can and does facilitate word recognition, providing a strictly “bottom-up” model

like mine wrong, most words are not predictable and so can only be read “bottom-up”. Bond and Tinker

(19840 as cited by peraman states that pupils who can read well will function effectively in daily

activities, achieved more satisfactorily in school learning, satisfies emotions, appreciate better the cultural

and are better citizens.

Reading Performance and Academic Achievement

Evidence for the correlation of reading performance to academic achievement is presented by

Iledan, Reyes and Mina (1997) for upper elementary grade students. Correlations between the CEM

Reading Test Scores and grades in Reading range from .58 to .80 indicating the importance of learning

the content of text materials. A recent study of Grade five students by Buen and Dabalos (2002), also

obtained a significant correlation of .42 between grades for the latest quarter as reported by the students

and their total scores on the CEM Reading Test. Moreover, the author state that students who reported

grades of 90% and higher obtained reading test scores at the average and high average levels.

Obviously, students who read and poorly will also do poorly when tested for knowledge from text

material they have read.

 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

Recognizing that reading is a basic skill for learning and for academic achievement, reports of

the decline of the reading performance across grade levels (Decenteo and Iledan, 1991) have alarmed

educators, researchers, and parents alike. Research attention has thus been focused on identifying which

factors facilitate or hinder and development.

Improvement of reading skills and the preparation of modules to guide teachers/learners in the

use of strategies and formulation of programs enhance reading levels.

Pepito and Decento (2002) examined socio – demographic and motivational variables which

differentiated good from poor readers, identified on the basis of total scores on the CEM Reading Test

(level III) administered to the incoming 4th year High school Students.

The importance of reading achievement for academic performance was once gain clearly

indicated by a significant relationship between reading test scores and student’s reported grades in the

last quarter. Although a majority of the students claimed to have average passing marks, more good

readers started getting poor grades.

Research interest was also focused on identifying the factors that predict reading performance.

The most significant predictor was the variety of reading materials the students had at home or

barrowed from the library. Good readers listed a wide variety of materials than that reported by poor

readers.

Other predictors included reading frequency, reading strategies and motivational variable. Good

readers who spend more time reading than poor readers were equipped with more deliberate and

purposeful in their reading. In addition, good readers like to read, valued reading as a means to improve

skills, and perceived themselves to be competent and capable readers.

A personality trait of students that has stimulated research interest is that of locus of control.

The trait distinguishes between internal and externals in terms of their attribution of casualty of events. A

person who is internal in orientation perceives life events to be attributed to ones abilities, behavior and

effort and therefore self- controllable to a certain extent. An internal, on the other hand attributes life

events to external and less controllable factors such as other people behavior or “good or bad luck”.
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

The study of Biduya- Barros (1999) on college students found a significant correlation between

locus of control and academic achievement. Students whose locus of control orientation was internal and

obtained higher grades than externals. Internals, recognizing that their grades were due to their own

abilities and effort, held themselves accountable for the level of their academic achievement.

Thus, they were motivated to work even harder and consequently, they performed better.

The results of the study by Binuya-Barros reiterate those of an earlier study by Watkins (1982)

who found that Filipinos in a rural setting attributed their academic performance to factors representing

the internal-external continuum including ability, effort, difficulty of the task and luck. In additional, the

study revealed that poor performance were less inclined to identify ability or effort as the reason of their

performance.

Local Related Studies

The importance of this relationship was stressed by Miller and Moores in their 2006 work on

Literacy, which regarded the “acquisition of reading and writing skills- especially reading”(p.790) as an

important element” of education. The issue of low levels in this development in literacy has been a large

concern in the past, according to Miller and Moores, causing conflicts known as the “reading wars” or the

“great debate” (p.792).

The aforementioned reading wars consisted of three different ways of addressing the problem

of literacy among students, the first being the “top-down” model, the second being the “bottom-up”

model, and the ‘interactive” model as the third, state the authors.

The ‘top-down” model, as explained by Miller and Moores (2006), is a form of “look-and-say’

(p. 792) instruction that focuses more on the text and its content and meaning, and less on the technical

aspects such as subject-verb agreement, spelling and punctuation. On the other hand, the opposite

“bottom-up” model emphasized “phonics” and the technical aspects of writing and reading, explained

Miller and Moores. The third “interactive” model unites both models. According to Miller and Moores, the
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

interactive model is built on the fact that writing involves about the “bottom up (text based0 and top-

down (cognitively based0 processes that interact with and complement each other” (p. 792).

Miller and Moores (2006) stated that in teaching real children, it has been “widely reported”

that teachers “tend to utilize elements of both top-down and bottom-up models, hopefully approaching

the idea of an interactive system”(p.792).

On the other hand, these two models by Miller and Moores (2006) do not take into

consideration other possible factors that may influence a students’ or childs’ reading development. In a

2012 study entitled Factors Affecting Second Year UP Cebu High School Students Opinions on Reading,

the researchers Genevic Habagat and Gerianne Rizon attempted to determine these factors that may

affect high school students’ opinions on reading, particularly those of the Second Year students in the

University of the Philippines Cebu High School.

The importance and subject matter of this study was clearly explained through Habagat and

Rizons well-recognized review of Related Literature that focused on the concepts of “reading, its history,

benefits and importance in a Philippine setting” (p.6). The review thoroughly critiqued methods

employed by other institutions that might not be effective, such as mountain Crest High Utah’s “MC Story

Night” which involves thrice-a-year reading sessions between high school and elementary students. On

the other hand, the researchers also cited other programs that could be beneficial regarding the study,

such as Valerie Lee’s research programs based on “The SSR” handbook, which mentions multiple factors

in reading development, namely: “(1) access, (2) appeal (3) conductive environment, (4) encouragement

(5) staff training (6) non-accountability, (7) follow activities, and (8) distributed time to read”. (Lee; as

cited in Habagat &Rizon, 2012, p.8).

To test their hypothesis, Habagat and Rizon distributed questionnaires to 27 second Year UP

High School Students and conducted an interview with 10 of the students. The data in the questionnaire

showed that most students read 3 to 4 books as month. About 55% of these students read for leisure

only once a month, although 37% of the students had a high regard for reading in general. The

researchers were objective in their analysis at this point, even though the results contradicted their
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

assumptions and hypothesis, especially the data that showed that most of the students were encouraged

to read by their friends and not by their families; as well as the fact that social networking sites proved to

be a minor distraction to reading compared to television. An issue that may have affected or caused

these ‘baffling” results for the researchers may be the actual truth and reliability of the students;

answers to the given questionnaire. The researchers helpfully recommended a longer meeting time to be

able to conduct these questionnaires and interviews properly.

In summary of the data gathered, the researchers were able to conclude that the main reason

for teenagers’ lack of interest in reading is due the fact that “receive little encouragement and guidance

in their choice of books” (p.53), and resort to watching television or playing online games instead.

This lack of interest in reading is an issue that should be duly addressed, as a research

conducted by Gaona and Gonzalez (2010) further affirmed the positive relationship between reading

habits and academics. In their research entitled Relationship Between Reading Habits, University Library

and Academic Performance in a Sample of Psychology Students, Gaona and Gonzalez sought to

determine whether students who read frequently, like to read, and go to their university library often do

better with regards to their academic performance. The researchers predicted that those who read more

and those who visit the library often would end up having better results in academics.

To conduct their research, they distributed survey questions to a selected number of

Psychology students from the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hedalgo in order to see who

read or went to the university library more. Their questionnaire, in order to find out who read more,

asked if the student was read to when he or she was younger, what genres of books the student usually

read, if the student read books in his or her spare time and, on average, how many hours a week the

student spent on reading. To confirm if a student used the library frequently, it was asked whether the

student went there often, what his or her purpose usually was for visiting the library, and ho the student

was able to retrieve the grades the student received in the past semester.

In the results obtained in Gaona and Gonzalez’s (2010) research, about 41% agreed that

they had never read book when they were younger. About 18% of the respondents stated that they had
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

read more Self-Help Books, while the other book genres most of the students had read were Classical

Literature, Music and Science and Technology, with 8.8%, 7.9%, and 7.8% respectively. 11% of the

students admitted that they read books every day in their spare time, and 75.4% of the students noted

that they reserve five hours a week just to read books for class.

Using Spearman correlations, it was shown that the academic performances of the students

were positively correlated with how the students felt about reading, and how often people visit the

library. Later in the study it was found out that there was low correlations between the deferent factors

stated; however, the researchers noted that a plausible reason for this is that the research had only

presented the “relationship between variables without changing any of them’ (Pardo & San Martin, as

cited in Gaona & Gonzalez, 2010, p. 68). The researchers believe that although there was found to have

low correlations, it does not mean that there was no found relationship between the variables.

Gaona and Gonzalez (2010) suggested that future researchers should group the students

into two groups: control and experimental. The experimental group would take a workshop where they

promote reading and using the university library more. They also suggested that to measure the students

preferred reading genre, future researchers should use what Stanovich and West (as cited by Gaona and

Gonzalez, 2010, p. 68) proposed, called the Author Recognition Test, where the students write the names

they know as writers. The researchers believe that using the test would show how much of literature the

respondent already knows. Although the survey questions were almost enough to know what the reading

habits of a respondent were, the suggestion of the researchers was that it would be better to give more

supporting information with regards to the students reading habits.

In most, if not all of the research studies cited, the researchers found that there was in fact

a positive relationship between reading and students academic performances in various subjects.

However, the researchers encountered several problems throughout the process of obtaining the data,

such as the type of questionnaires that were distributed, as well as the time allotted for interviews with

the respondents of the study. The past researchers suggest that these questionnaires and the data
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

gathering process in general could be improved if the respondents past background in reading, as well as

other information regarding the respondents, reading habits, is taken into consideration.

The researchers of this current study will attempt to implement these suggestions in order

to prevent inaccuracies that the past researchers faced. The surveys used in this study will include

questions that seek to determine the students’ habits, reading backgrounds, as well as other information

required for the researchers to achieve the most accurate result.

Foreign Related Studies

In Edward William Dolch’s 1951 book Psychology and Teaching of Reading, reading was

defined as “imagining, thinking and feeling about ideas and thoughts made from past experiences that

are suggested by perception of printed words’ (.9).

On the other hand, Aikat (2007) stated that “the act of reading is a dynamic ‘transaction’

between the reader and the text” (p.700), an idea taken from Louise M. Rosenblatte’s 1978 book, The

Reader, The Text, The Poem. According to the aforementioned book, there are two kinds of reading-

reading for leisure, called Aesthetic Reading, and Efferent Reading in order to gain information. Efferent

readers read for the purpose of the facts they will learn, while aesthetic readers read for the reading

experience, making it easier for them to “connect emotionally” to the text.

In order for readers to attain this connection and fully comprehend the text they read,

Dolch (1951) asserted that the process of reading requires the different capabilities of the mind, as the

reader processes words and their meanings.

Some of the researchers cited by Montalban (2010) included Sutton & Krueger, who

asserted that “reading, writing, and mathematics are, or should be, inseparable”. Montalban also quoted

Heibert &Wilkinson, who suggested that “most reading and thinking strategies should be taught in the

content areas, rather than isolated reading lessons.”

The findings of Montalban;s 2010 study showed that there was in fact a significant

relationship between the students’ reading comprehension and their performance in math problem
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

solving. Using the Pearson correlation test and t-test on the results of the twenty-eight respondents, the

researcher was able to determine a directly proportional relationship between the two skills, which

disproved her hypothesis.

Another study also attempted to approve the existence of this relationship between

reading and academic performance . A University of South Africa research was conducted by B.S.B.

Lukhele, entitled Exploring Relationships Between Reading Attitudes, Reading Ability and Academic

Performance Among Teacher Trainees in Swaziland. Through this , the researcher sought to “uncover

and describe possible patterns and relationships between college students’ attitudes to and perceptions

of pleasure reading and their academic performance and reading ability” (p.91). Her hypothesis on the

topic included: (1) that there is an existing relationship between students’ attitude to extensive reading

and their reading ability (2) that there is a relationship between students’ leisure habits and their reading

ability (3) that there is a relationship between a student’s academic performance and their reading ability,

among others.

The aforementioned hypothesis were affirmed by a 1989 study conducted by Hafiz and

Tudor involving a 3-month experimental reading programme on Pakistani students, that led to the

conclusion that leisure or extensive reading, “assisted in improving their language and academic

performance in both reading and writing skills” ( as cited in Lukhele, 2008. P. 53). In her thorough review

of Related Literature, Lukhele also mentioned other book programmes, such as one conducted in Fiji and

Singapore, which produced the same improvement in language proficiency, reading ability and academic

success through extensive reading. The link between vocabulary growth and extensive reading was also

established in a research by Fieteson on storybook reading to kindergartners. On the other hand, another

research, as pointed out by Lukhele showed out that leisure reading alone might not be enough for

academic development and vocabulary improvement, citing possible issues and factors such as

“educational resources, literacy levels and instructional methods” (scheepers, as cited in Lukhele,

208.p.71).
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

To answer her hypothesis, Lukhele (2008) conducted a reading comprehension test and a

vocabulary test, as well as a reading habits questionnaire, at 4 different times on 45 first year students

and 39 third year students at the Nazarene Teachers’ College in Swaziland, South Africa. The

questionnaire showed that 71.9% of the students had a positive attitude towards reading, 78.9% had

leisure reading habits, but only 42.6% had access to proper reading materials.

Although the main study, which followed a pilot study, was well-handled and conducted

several times by Lukhele (2008), one possible issue with the type of questionnaire that she created may

be the reliability and actual truth of the answers. Some of the students may have given responses that

they were expected to give, or were too embarrassed to answer truthfully due to the fact they were

required to write their names in the questionnaire. Also, a factor that was not included in Lukhele’s

questionnaire was the students past background in reading.

These issues might be possible reasons as to why the results indicated no relationships

between some of the factors in the hypothesis. In the computation of data, Lukhele (2008) used

Pearson’s Product- Moment Correlation, which indicated that there was no correlation between reading

ability and reading attitudes in this study ,as well as the students claimed reading habits and reading

ability , disproving the researcher s first and second hypothesis .on the other hand , when the Pearson’s

product-moment correlation was applied to the student s’ vocabulary knowledge and reading ability ,

there was a clear relationship between the two ,as well as significant relationship between the subjects’

academic performance and reading ability. in general ,the findings of this study show that there is an

fact a relationship between reading , vocabulary ,academics and reading abilities , although “this

relationship is by no means simple and straightforward “ (p.166).

Theoretical framework

This study is anchored on Jerome Bruner’s constructivism theory. The central view of this theory is the

nature of knowing process . to Bruner , the acquisition of knowledge whatever its form is a dynamic

interactive process .A learner is a purposive and the teacher must strive hard to apply appropriate
 MT
S E C

ST. THERESE-MTC COLLEGES (MAGDALO SITE)

E

C
E

OL
T H
COLLEGE OF MARITIME EDUCATION PROGRAMS

LEGES
.
ST
Iloilo, Philippines

reading behavior to reach the effectiveness of his/her instruction . Bruner believes that a mental process

such as perception ,attainment.

Conceptual framework

This study shows the relationship of variable which is reading behavior such as attitude ,ability ,linguistic

skills ,extra linguistic skills and strategies as the independent variable and the academic performance as

the dependent variables. This study was based on the idea that the academic performance of the

respondents is dependent on 5 factors of reading behavior such attitudes, ability ,linguistic skills , extra

linguistic skills and strategies.

Research Paradigm

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

Reading Behavior:

Attitude ACADEMIC

Abilities PERFORMANCE

Linguistic skills

Extra-linguistic skills

Strategies