Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills through Short Stories in Higher Education Institutions

Authors

  • Yitagesu Belete Teferra Institute of Educational Research, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24203/ajeel.v10i3.7059

Keywords:

reading comprehension, improvement, the short story, reading skills

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the role of short stories on students' reading comprehension. To achieve its objective, this Quasi-Experimental study utilized pre-test and post-test design. The participants were classified into group 1, the Experimental Group, and Group 2, the control group. Data were collected through the pre-test and post-test reading tests. Then, the data were analyzed using SPSS 24, based on average scores, standard deviation, descriptive statistics, and t-tests for pre and post-test analysis. The findings of the study showed that students who learned to read through the technique of using carefully selected short stories improved their reading comprehension and reading skills more than students that studied with the other approach of using the national instructional material. Based on the study’s findings, it has been determined that learning to read with the help of short stories improves students' reading comprehension. The literary texts helped in students' learning strategies, in students' attention, and the improvement of students’ reading skills that indirectly improved their reading comprehension.

References

Ali, S. (1993). The reader-response approach: An alternative for teaching literature in a second language. Journal of Reading, 37(4), 288–296.

Brumfit, C., & Carter, R. (Eds.). (1986). Literature and language teaching. Oxford University Press.

Carter, R., & Simpson, P. (2003). Language, Discourse and Literature: An Introductory Reader in Discourse Stylistics. http://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=198361

Convenience sampling. (2022). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Convenience_sampling&oldid=1100752769

El-Helou, H. A. R. (2010). Difficulties facing English Teachers in teaching Literature in English for Palestine grade twelve textbook.

Hişmanoğlu, M. (2005). Teaching English through literature. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 1(1), 53–66.

Hussain, Z. (2020, April 26). The trend of English Language. SharingisCaring134. https://medium.com/sharingiscaring134/the-trend-of-english-language-b5ca514f6ec5

Işikli, C., & Tarakci̇oglu, A. Ö. (2017). Investigating problems of English literature teaching to EFL high school students in Turkey with focus on language proficiency. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 13(2), 82–95. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jlls/issue/36120/405598

Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2014). The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research. Springer.

Khatib, M., & Nasrollahi, A. (2012). Enhancing reading comprehension through short stories in Iranian EFL learners. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(2), 240.

Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and language teaching: A guide for teachers and trainers. Cambridge University Press.

O’Byrne, W. I. (2016). Four steps to conducting action research in the classroom. Ian O’Byrne.

Patrikis, P. C. (2008). Reading between the lines: Perspectives on foreign language literacy. Yale University Press.

Rashid, R. A., Vethamani, M. E., & Rahman, S. B. A. (2010). Approaches Employed by Teachers in Teaching Literature to Less Proficient Students in Form 1 and Form 2. English Language Teaching, 3(4), 87–99.

Samuels, P., & Gilchrist, M. (2014). Paired Samples t-test.

Schmidt, K. (2002). Classroom Action Research: A Case Study Assessing Students’ Perceptions and Learning Outcomes of Classroom Teaching Versus On-line Teaching. Journal of STEM Teacher Education, 40(1). https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/jste/vol40/iss1/4

Violetta-Irene, K. (2015). The use of literature in the language classroom: Methods and aims. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 5(1), 74.

Yeager, K. (n.d.). LibGuides: SPSS Tutorials: Paired Samples t Test. Retrieved August 22, 2022, from https://libguides.library.kent.edu/SPSS/PairedSamplestTest

Downloads

Published

2022-11-23

How to Cite

Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills through Short Stories in Higher Education Institutions . (2022). Asian Journal of Education and E-Learning, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.24203/ajeel.v10i3.7059

Similar Articles

1-10 of 79

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.