Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The primary goals of this study are to identify the (a)

learning style preferences of the learners; and (b) the most

useful reading comprehension strategies perceived by the

learners. To better understand the depth of this study, current

reviews from literature and studies relative to Learning Styles

and Reading Comprehension Strategies of the Grade VI pupils are

enlightened through this chapter.

Foreign Literature

Reading requires an individual to recognize and understand

strings of words in a fluid manner. It is a detailed process that

includes comprehension, word recognition, engagement, and fluency

(Shandhu, 2018).

Accordingly, decoding symbols is a cognitive process done

through reading which allows the construction of meaning. Reading

is an active process of constructing meanings of words. The

purpose for reading helps the reader to direct information

towards a goal and focuses their attention. Although the reasons

for reading may vary, the primary purpose of reading is to

understand the text. Likewise, reading is a thinking process. It

allows the reader to use what he or she may already know, also
called prior knowledge. During this processing of information,

the reader uses strategies to understand what they are reading,

uses themes to organize ideas, and uses textual clues to find the

meanings of new words.

It is important for a reader to note the three important

processes in reading. Processes involve recognizing words,

leading to the development of comprehension. According to

research, reading is a process that negotiates the meaning

between the text and its reader. The reading process involves

three stages: the pre-reading stage, which allows the reader to

stimulate background knowledge, take a quick look at the text,

and develop a purpose for reading. A strategy for students to

utilize during this stage is to look at the title of the

selection and list all the information that comes to mind about

the title; the second stage occurs during reading, when the

reader makes predictions as they read and then confirms or

revises the predictions. For example, double-entry journal enable

the reader to write the text from the reading on one side and

their personal reaction on the other side; and the final stage

occurs after reading and allows the reader to retell the story,

discuss the elements of a story, answer questions and/or compare

it to another text. For example, students can create summaries,

where they take a huge selection and reduce it to its main points
for more concise understanding. Most importantly, comprehension

is an intentional, active, and interactive process that occurs

before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of

writing.

Kimberly (2014) defines comprehension a means of

constructing meaning and developing an understanding of text.

The skills of comprehending in reading impacts the teaching and

conversations in the classroom as students construct meaning from

text.

K12Reader (2018) enumerated varieties of definition for

reading comprehension. Accordingly, this is a practice in which

information from the text and the knowledge possessed by the

reader act together to construct meaning. The skill of decoding

can also be achieved through comprehension. Decoding printed text

means recognizing and understanding words. Largely, recognition

is a foundation of reading. Another definition states that

reading comprehension is transacting with text in order to create

meaning from it. With this, there is a process of constructing

meaning through the dynamic interaction among: (1) the reader’s

existing knowledge; (2) the information suggested by the text

being read; and (3) the context. Conversely, with comprehension

lies interaction and involvement with written text. The

interaction would come between the reader, the text, and the

activity.
 Reading comprehension is an interactive process that may

come largely from socio-cultural context that has been shaped by

reader’s background knowledge and experience, purpose for

reading, information available in the text, and the activity or

context in which the reading occurs. Active thinking processes

are done before, during, and after reading. Additionally,

intentional thinking is done during which meaning is constructed

through interactions between the text and the reader.

After working through developing definitions, one particular

group of K-12 teacher leaders used pieces from the definitions

above and developed the following definition which, I think, is

quite comprehensive.

Mc Evan (2019) states that reading comprehension is a

dynamic process in which information from the text and knowledge

possessed by the reader interact to enable the reader to

construct meaning before, during, and after reading.

Moreover, the author also defines that reading comprehension

is the act of understanding what you are reading. While the

definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach,

learn or practice. Reading comprehension is an intentional,

active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after

a person reads a particular piece of writing.

 Reading comprehension is one of the pillars of the act of

reading. When a person reads a text, he takes on a complex array

of cognitive processes. He is simultaneously using his alertness

and understanding of sound pieces in language, phonics

(connection between letters and sounds and the relationship

between sounds, letters and words) and ability to comprehend or

construct meaning from the text. Reading comprehension cannot

occur independent of the other two elements of the process. At

the same time, it is the most difficult and most important of the

three. There are two essentials that make up the process of

reading comprehension: vocabulary knowledge and text

comprehension. In order to understand a text, the reader must be

able to comprehend the vocabulary used in the piece of writing.

If the individual words do not make the sense then the overall

story will not either. A learner can draw on their prior

knowledge of vocabulary, but they also need to continually be

taught new words. The best vocabulary instruction occurs at the

point of need. Parents and teachers should pre-teach new words

that a child will encounter in a text or aid her in understanding

strange words as she comes upon them in the writing. In addition

to being able to understand each distinct word in a text, the

child also has to be able to put them together to develop an

overall conception of what it is trying to say. This is text

comprehension. Text comprehension is more intricate and varied

than vocabulary knowledge. Readers use many different text

comprehension strategies to develop reading comprehension. These

include monitoring for understanding, answering and generating

questions, summarizing and being aware of and using a text’s

structure to aid comprehension.

Reading comprehension is incredibly complex and complicated.

Because of this, readers do not develop the ability to comprehend

texts swiftly, easily or independently. Reading comprehension

strategies must be taught over an extended period of time by

parents and teachers who have knowledge and experience using

them. It might seem that once a child learns to read in the

elementary grades he is able to tackle any future text that comes

his way. This is not true. Reading comprehension strategies must

be refined, practiced and reinforced continually throughout life.

Even in the middle grades and high school, parents and teachers

need to continue to help their children develop reading

comprehension strategies. As their reading materials become more

diverse and challenging, children need to learn new tools for

comprehending these texts. Content area materials such as

textbooks and newspaper, magazine and journal articles pose

different reading comprehension challenges for young people and

thus require different comprehension strategies. The development

of reading comprehension is a lifelong process that changes based

on the depth and breadth of texts the person is reading.

K12 Reader (2018) Without comprehension, reading is nothing

more than tracking symbols on a page with your eyes and sounding

them out. Imagine being handed a story written in Egyptian

hieroglyphics with no understanding of their meaning. You may

appreciate the words aesthetically and even be able to draw some

small bits of meaning from the page, but you are not truly

reading the story. The words on the page have no meaning. They

are simply symbols. People read for many reasons but

understanding is always a part of their purpose. Reading

comprehension is important because without it reading doesn’t

provide the reader with any information.

Beyond this, reading comprehension is essential to life.

Much has been written about the importance of functional

literacy. In order to survive and thrive in today’s world

individuals must be able to comprehend basic texts such as bills,

housing agreements (leases, purchase contracts), and directions

on packaging and transportation documents (bus and train

schedules, maps, travel directions). Reading comprehension is a

critical component of functional literacy. Think of the

potentially dire effects of not being able to comprehend dosage

directions on a bottle of medicine or warnings on a container of

dangerous chemicals. With the ability to comprehend what they

read, people are able not only to live safely and productively,

but also to continue to develop socially, emotionally and

intellectually.

If the struggling readers in your content classroom

routinely miss the point when "reading" content text, consider

teaching them one or more of the seven cognitive strategies of

highly effective readers. Cognitive strategies are the mental

processes used by skilled readers to extract and construct

meaning from text and to create knowledge structures in long-term

memory. When these strategies are directly taught to and modeled

for struggling readers, their comprehension and retention improve

(Mc Evan, 2019).

Reading is the first of the three R’s in learning the

basics. It is but right that parents and teachers should be

deeply concerned with it, because it becomes quite naturally the

first step in major educational issue around which problems of

reluctance of adult authority maybe worked out.

This process is complex because it requires students to

engage in multiple cognitive activities, processes, and skills.

These skills involve fluently decoding words, understanding the

language syntax, making inferences, using background knowledge,

and managing working memory as needed (Fletcher Janzen, Reynolds,

& Vannest, 2013; Hollenbeck, 2011; Kendeou, McMaster, & Christ,

2016; Woolley, 2011). Even a short passage of material requires

the reader to have strategic control as to when and how to use

each of these skills.

Students need reading comprehension skills in order to be

successful in both academic and personal life. In students’

academic lives, reading comprehension is the basis for

understanding all the academic content. The importance of reading

comprehension increases significantly in all academic subjects as

students go ahead through grades. In particular, students need

reading comprehension skills to successfully accomplish the

educational expectations at school and in the classroom. For

example, students are expected to understand what they are

reading from multiple sources, in order to research topics in

different academic areas. Also, being able to understand what

they are reading allows students to quickly locate pertinent

information, exclude non-relevant information to the present

topic, and identify the important information to focus on.

Academic success also requires students to be able to understand,

analyze, and apply information they gathered through reading.

Also, students need reading comprehension skill to be able to

understand and perform their academic assignments. However,

without having reading comprehension skills, students cannot

accomplish all of that work (Clarke, Truelove, Hulme, & Snowling,

2013; Wong, 2011).

Reading comprehension is also an essential skill that

individuals need in order to be successful in their personal

lives. For instance, to be successful, individuals need to

understand the basic text that appears in utility bills, housing

contracts, career applications, and newsletters (Hoeh, 2015).

Also, individuals need reading comprehension skills in order to

be able to have and maintain a job and successfully engage in

different daily activities (Hoeh, 2015; Mahdavi, & Tensfeldt,

2013). The need for reading comprehension significantly increases

when thinking about the negative consequences of not being able

to read in critical situations. For instance, not being able to

read and comprehend dosage directions on a bottle of medicine or

caution on a container of dangerous chemicals can put individuals

in a very dangerous situation that threatens their safety and

lives (Marshall, n.d.). If not being able to successfully read

prevents students from graduating from school, they cannot easily

find a job and live independently (Hoeh, 2015). Even though they

might find a job, the pay rate will be much less when compare to

proficient readers (Brault, 2012; National Center for Education

Statistics, 2011). Another possible negative consequence of not

being able to read is being socially exclusive (Hoeh, 2015). In

contrast, individuals who can recognize what they are reading,

can safely live their lives, and continue to gain socially and

intellectually (Hoeh et al., 2015; Marshall, n.d.).

Another learning practice that would lead to better academic

achievement of students is the learning style preferred by them

in their education. The term learning styles distinguishes

understanding that every student learns differently. Technically,

an individual’s learning style refers to the preferential way in

which the student takes up, processes, comprehends and retains

information. Learning how to build a clock following verbal

instructions, while others have to physically manipulate the

clock themselves, is just one perfect example for this. This

notion of individualized learning styles has gained widespread

recognition in education theory and classroom management

strategy. Individual learning styles depend on cognitive,

emotional and environmental factors, as well as one’s prior

experience. In other words: everyone’s different. It is important

for educators to understand the differences in their students’

learning styles, so that they can implement best practice

strategies into their daily activities, curriculum and

assessments. Offered programs in school integrate different

learning styles and educational obstacles directly into program

curriculum (Teach Make a Difference, 2019).

 Accordingly, one of the most accepted perceptive of

learning styles are categorized as: Visual Learners, Auditory

Learners and Kinesthetic Learners. These learning styles are

found within educational theorist Neil Fleming’s VARK model of

Student Learning External link . VARK is an acronym that refers

to the four types of learning styles: Visual, Auditory,

Reading/Writing Preference, and Kinesthetic. This model

acknowledges that students have different approaches to how they

process information, referred to as “preferred learning modes.”

Students’ preferred learning modes have significant influence on

their behavior and learning. Observable practices reveals that

students’ preferred learning modes should be matched with

appropriate learning strategies. Also, information that is

evaluated through students’ use of their modality preferences

shows an increase in their levels of comprehension, motivation,

and metacognition. Identifying students as visual, auditory,

reading/writing or kinesthetic learners, and making parallel with

the overall curriculum with these learning styles, will prove to

be beneficial for the entire classroom. Allowing students to

access information in terms they are comfortable with will

increase their academic confidence.

Synthesis
 With the foregoing literature review on reading

comprehension and learning style, it was indeed evident that

reading comprehension is a complex process that includes the

power of cognition for effective mental processing. It is a

means of communicating with the text using the mental functions

of the brain. Multiple cognitive activities aided by phonics or

meaningful sound symbols, associative skills, inferences,

understanding grammar, and word meanings/vocabulary come across a

more meaningful comprehension.

Accounting for individual learning styles in not a new idea.

As early, the research in learning styles then declined due to

the emphasis on the student's IQ and achievement.

The recent reviews on learning style have shown that

different people learn in different ways and that our current

educational system--with its one-size-fits-all model--is probably

catering to only a handful of the learners in their classrooms.

The rest are forced to adapt--or not, as in the case of the

"slow" student.

Although there are lot of strategies in learning students

use to meet their academic needs, most of the studies are mostly

limited to an understanding of visual, auditory and kinesthetic

learning. A combination of these styles most students prefer use

to process information. Each has its own strengths and

weaknesses, but there is no one right way to learn. The ideas

taken from the literature did not meant to limit one’s

capabilities, but rather to give you greater insight into how you

uniquely process information.

LOCAL LITERATURE

Reading is the ability to understand words contained in a

document and make the use of knowledge for personal growth and

development (Dadzie, 2008). This implies making meaning out of

printed and recorded information due to purposes of getting

information, knowledge, and pleasure.

When one reads, he/she identifies symbols and associates it

with appropriate meanings. This entails identification and

comprehension. The skills of comprehending helps the learners

understand meaning of words in isolation and in context (Palani,

2012). This process of comprehending requires skills such as

thinking, evaluating, judging, imagining, reasoning, and problem

solving which are also essential tools in the styles of learning.

Gallo (2007) and (Issa et.al, 2012) asserts that everyday

reading practices affect academic achievement. Accordingly, poor

and bad habits could partly be held responsible for general poor

performance. The urge in engaging reading practices voluntarily,

pleasurably, and extensively is almost nearly absent among

learners, which is so alarming.

 Reading experiences strongly influences a student’s feeling

of competency. If there no competency achieved, there could be

reading failure consequently making an individual’s misbehavior

(Paz, 2018).

Knowing that reading is a multifaceted process, (Lorica,

2019) discusses that reading focuses on the trend of

metacognition. This is enabling learners to control their own

cognition in maximizing learning through planning coordinating,

learning process self-monitoring and self-seeking practices,

which are often used and integrated as learning styles or

preferences. Additionally, Martinez (2018)

Acera (2017) also informs that in order to gain a creative

and pragmatic education, self-thinking and analysis in the habit

of reading can be generated from young impressionable ages in

school and at home.

Equally, Par (2019) stresses the need for intelligence and

competence attributed by cognitive factors through human behavior

and other affective factors. Individuals have limited capacity

and attention, self-related sensibility, ill habits in reading,

and poor styles in learning act as distracters and hindrances in

the learning.

Without the said solid foundation in reading, students

struggle hard in recognizing printed symbols and in interpreting

meaning behind symbols. Thus good readers are active and

strategic and use variety of comprehension strategies.

As to learning styles, Lai (2009) informs that learning

strategies/styles make them independent and effective learners.

This is further supported by the ideas of Lorica (2019) that

strategic knowledge in learning makes better learners

Synthesis

Reading is considered a multifaceted tasks since there are

struggles met in reading and in comprehending a certain text.

Equally, reading can be affected by physical and emotional

factors consequently causing poor habit formation leading to poor

performance of learners. Reading strongly influences competence

and competence of students. Through the skills in learning,

learners to gain metacognitive strategies and maximizes learning

through planning coordinating, learning process self-monitoring

and self-seeking practices, which are also often used and

integrated as learning styles or preferences.

From the literature on reading competence and text

comprehension, it is likely to derive different types of

cognitive like finding information in text. Detailed information

are identified at sentence level, in other words deciphering and

recognizing statements or propositions; drawing text-related

conclusions have to be drawn from several sentences to be related

to each other in order to construct local or global coherence.

Reflecting and assessing are in the forefront, which in the

literature is often linked to the mental representation of the

text in the form of a situation model. In one description of this

task type, the task is to understand the central idea, the main

events, or the core message of text, whereas in another version,

the purpose and intention of a text has to be recognized and the

readers are asked to assess the credibility of a text. The

different cognitive requirements occur in all text functions and

are considered in the respective well-proportioned ratio. With

learning styles, effects of these were given as turning learners’

autonomy and efficiency.

Foreign Studies

Reading comprehension is an essential component of reading

that all students need to ensure success in both academic and

personal lives. Nevertheless, the majority of students with

learning disabilities face serious problems with comprehending

what they are reading even after they have acquired and mastered

the necessary decoding skill of students who are identified as

having learning disabilities have major problems learning how to

read. There are also reading comprehension problems that are

experienced by students with learning disabilities which may take

different forms in the inappropriate use of background knowledge,

lack of vocabulary knowledge, lack of reading fluency, failure

distinguish between different text structures; and difficulty

making inferences (Clemens & Simmons, 2014). Detailed explanation

about each problem is provided in the next section.

Gilakjani and Ahmadi (2011) define learning style as the

characteristic cognitive, affective, social, and physiological

behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how

learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning

environment.

One major aspect of an individual’s learning style is a

preference for the perception of information and experiences.

These perceptual preferences- auditory, visual, tactual and

kinesthetic are based on the human senses. Over the past ten

years, research involving adult learners in a wide variety of

settings has demonstrated continually increasing academic

achievement and in many instances improved attitudes toward

academic learning when the instruction was congruent with

learning style perceptual preferences (Patricia Murphy Raupers,

2003 as cited by Dunn and Griggs).

Vaseghi (2012) states that if the students prefer to learn

by seeing the written name are a visual learners if, on the other

hand, they prefer to learn it by listening, this is an auditory

one. Moreover, Mustaffa (2005) as cited in Vaseghi (2012),

indicates that kinesthetic/tactile and group style were perceived

as the major learning preferences for bachelor students. Her

study also revealed additional results concerning the

participants’ visual and auditory skills as their minor learning

styles.

These findings indicate that the respondents learn more by

hearing or when the teacher gives clear explanations or

instructions, other learn by doing, some learn better when they

are alone, others learn when they read instructions and the rest

prefer to work with their classmates. This supports the study of

Oxford (2003) as cited in Sadeghiet. Al (2012) which states that

language learning styles and strategies are among the main

factors that help determine how- and how well- our students learn

a second or foreign language. Oxford also asserted that learning

styles are general approaches that students use in acquiring a

new language or in learning any other subject.

Orden (2007) made a study on “Learning Styles of College

Freshmen: Implications for Quality Tertiary Education.” Her

findings revealed among other things that the differences in

perceptual preferences and processing styles of college freshmen

are influenced by their subject inclination.

One of the important dimensions which have been a growing

concern among educators for many years is learning style

preference of the learners, particularly in the process of

learning a language. Factors including age, gender, motivation,

intelligence, anxiety level, learning strategies and language

learning style are determinants for the academic success of

learners. Students learn in different ways – by seeing and

hearing; reflecting and acting; reasoning logically and

intuitively; memorizing and visualizing; among others. The ways

in which an individual characteristically acquires retains and

retrieves information are collectively termed the individual

learning style (Karthigen & Nirmala, 2013).

Mustaffa (2005) as cited in Vaseghi (2012) also indicates

that learning styles such as kinesthetic/tactile and group styles

were perceived as the major learning style preferences for

Bachelor of Arts students. Her study also revealed additional

results concerning the participants visual and auditory as their

minor learning styles. Equally, Peacock (2001) found that ESL

students prefer kinesthetic learning styles above others, whereas

the teaching methods mostly suit auditory learners. On the other

hand, Riazi and Riasiti (2007) investigated that learning style

preferences of ESL learners preferred to be actively engaged in

class activities. They tended to have interactions with other

students in class. In addition, A. Ahmad (2011) in Vaseghi (2012)

identified learning style preferences of 252 respondents and

showed that the students did not have any major or even minor
learning styles preference. All learning styles were negative

learning styles preference and individual learning was the

preferred learning style. In each learning styles are the

strategies that the learners use in oral to support their

language learning. One of these language learning is vocabulary

learning strategies.

Another aspect of vocabulary learning is that, unlike the

acquisition of other aspects of language (particularly

pronunciation), it does not seem to be impeded by age. In fact,

Rivers (1983:125) as cited by Nunan argues that, in contrast with

other aspects of language, the ability to learn new vocabulary

appears to get easier as one gets older.

Reading is the identification of the symbols and the

association of appropriate meaning with them. It requires

identification and comprehension. Comprehension skills help the

learner to understand the meaning of words in isolation and in

context (Palani, 2012). Accordingly, reading is a process of

thinking, evaluating, judging, imagining, reasoning and problem

solving.

Also, reading is an essential tool for knowledge transfer.

The habit of reading is an academic activity that increases

skills in reading strategies. To know about the world and its

environment, a child helps himself through reading books,

newspapers, and other magazines. Once the child has been taught
to read and has developed the love for books, he can explore for

himself the wealth of human experiences and knowledge through

reading. Children, who miss the opportunity of getting in touch

with books in their early stages of life, find it hard to acquire

good reading habits in their later years. Reading habits,

therefore, play a very crucial role in enabling a person to

achieve practical efficiency. “Laws die but books never.” Indeed,

books are the most suitable medium through which knowledge is

transmitted from generation to generation (Issa et al, 2012).

Singh (2011) examined academic achievement and study habits

of higher secondary students. The study was conducted on hundred

(100) higher secondary students randomly from two higher

secondary schools. The result indicates that girls and boys

differ significantly in their study habits and academic

achievements.

Bhan and Gupta (2010) on the other hand examined study

habits and academic achievement among the students belonging to

scheduled caste and non-scheduled caste groups. The results

revealed that sex has no significant impact on the study habits

and academic achievement of students.

Likewise, “reading” is the act of getting meaning from

printed or written words, which is the basis for learning and one

of the most important skills in everyday life. Issa et al. (2012)

further explains that reading is usually associated with books as

only the written words provide a complete picture of the act of

reading. Books, yield their best to you, if you read them at the

age at which each particular masterpiece can ideally be chewed

and digested”. There is little knowledge about the everyday

reading practices of tertiary education students and how these

practices affect their academic achievement. Everyday reading

consists of individuals’ reading activities for a variety of

purposes, such as for relaxation or information (Issa. et al,

2012). They believe that from middle childhood through adulthood,

reading becomes a major component of studying, and much

information learned through studying is initially acquired

through reading. Thus everyday reading activities in which

students engage may considerably influence their studying skills

and subsequent academic performance. This means that through

reading, the individual is able to build or fix things, enjoy

stories, discover what others believe and develop ideas or

beliefs of their own. Thus, reading provides the key to all forms

of information necessary for an individual’s day-to-day survival

and growth.

Largely, Ogbodo (2010), confirms that parents send their

children to school to learn. In the school, children are exposed

to various experiences which influence their behavior. Therefore,

learning is a change in behavior. Such a change is seen in their

mental reasoning, physical growth, manipulative skills and

development of values and interests. The change may be easy or

difficult depending on the home and the school environment.

Incidentally, many students do not belong in the

category of those with good reading habits. Their poor or bad

reading habits could partly be held responsible for general poor

performance that the school systems usually record in both

internal and external examinations (Issa et al, 2012).

With some of the numerous problems on poor reading

habits, Ogbodo (2010) further identifies three main types of

reading habits. These are hobby, recreational and concentration.

A hobby is an activity one doe, because one derives some joy and

satisfaction from doing it. After formal education’s attainment,

some people like reading as their hobby. Its purpose is to widen

the reader’s horizon areas like educational, religious,

political, economic, current affairs, fiction and non-fiction.

The practice of reading as a hobby helps one to be versatile in

knowledge in many areas and the person can discuss issues

knowledgeably with others.

Moreover, students should be encouraged to read magazines

instead of reading textbooks all the time. Students, who read

magazines at intervals learn to relax, cool their brain and avoid

mental fatigue and also makes them live a disciplined life in the

school. In most cases, its effect in inducing sleep and rest

after tedious reading in the classroom or the library adds to

good health habits. The concentration reading is the most

important type of reaching the desired outcome. It is the bedrock

and the result oriented reading which makes for achievement

(Ogbodo, 2010).

One learning style that applies visual skills is film

viewing which can benefit pupils’ reading skills. If subtitles

are used, pupils inevitably make use of them, thus developing

their reading skills. Mirvan (2013:63) refers to Weyers’ (1999)

research with an authentic soap opera, measuring whether it can

increase learners’ reading comprehension. Weyers incorporated

caption-on and caption-off activities in order to allow learners

to practice their reading skills. The final results of the

research indicated that the learners’ reading skills improved

after lessons with captioned film viewing during one school year.

However, subtitles used in a film viewing are not the

only source for improving learners’reading comprehension skills.

Sticht and James (1984), cited in Chen (2012:23), claim that

listening and reading comprehension require the same abilities of

recall, prediction, drawing conclusion, making inferences, or

following directions. Thus, a learner who watches a film improve.

Students find better understanding of their lessons by

presenting information with the aid of lecture notes, slides and

handouts which can be provided by their instructors during their

lessons. This finding is supported by the study conducted by

Veena and Shastri (2013) that applied science course students

have a visual learning style preference. Khalid, Mokhtar, Omar-

Fauzee, Kasim and Don (2013) noted that students of pure and

applied science courses such as engineering and technology

students were more active and more visual towards teaching and

learning activities.

Another variable being investigated is the study habits and

skills of students enrolled in applied science courses. The

literature further suggests that study habits are a predictive

factor of academic performance. Ebele and Olofu (2017) found that

there is a significant relationship between study habits and

students' academic performance. Looyeh, Fazelpour, Masoule,

Chehrzad and Leili (2017) investigated the relationship between

the Study habits and the Academic performance of Medical Sciences

Students found out the significant relationship between the study

habits of students and their academic performance. Similarly,

Siahi and Maiyo (2015) studied study habits and academic

achievement of students also found that a positive relationship

between study habits and academic achievement. The results

implied that the study habits need a significant attention if we

are to improve performance. Furthermore, Chilca (2017) studied on

the study habits and academic performance among university

students in Peru concluded that study habits do influence

academic performance. Another variable being investigated is the

study habits and skills of students enrolled in applied science

courses. The literature further suggests that study habits are a

predictive factor of academic performance. Ebele and Olofu (2017)

found that there is a significant relationship between study

habits and students' academic performance. Looyeh, Fazelpour,

Masoule, Chehrzad and Leili (2017) investigated the relationship

between the Study habits and the Academic performance of Medical

Sciences Students found out the significant relationship between

the study habits of students and their academic performance.

Similarly, Siahi and Maiyo (2015) studied study habits and

academic achievement of students also found -185- Journal of

Technology and Science Education –

https://doi.org/10.3926/jotse.504 out that a positive

relationship of 0.66 between study habits and academic

achievement. The results implied that the study habits need a

significant attention if we are to improve performance.

Furthermore, Chilca (2017) studied on the study habits and

academic performance among university students in Peru concluded

that study habits do influence academic performance.

Arsalan (2018) confirms that learning style is an issue

related to learners. In one way or the other, learning styles

could assist learners in their learning activities. If the

learners ignore their learning styles, it may influence their

effort in understanding teaching materials. To overcome these

problems, a model for reliable automatic learning style detection

is needed. Currently, there are two approaches in automatically

detecting learning styles: data driven and literature based.

Learners, especially those with changing learning styles, have

difficulties in adopting these two approaches since they are not

adaptive, dynamic and responsive (ADR). To solve the above

problems, a model using agent learning approach is proposed.

Agent learning performs four phased activities, i.e.

initialization, learning, matching and recommendations to decide

which learning styles are used by the students. Furthermore, the

system will provide teaching materials which are appropriate for

the detected learning style. The detection process is performed

automatically by combining data-driven and literature-based

approaches. The detected learning style used for this research is

VARK (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic). This

learning style detection model is expected to optimize the

learners in adhering with the online learning. Accordingly,

learning style can be defined as ways used properly by the

learners to improve their concentration in learning through the

learning behavior, such as reading, viewing, listening and

imitating. Research related to the detection of learning styles

in the online learning systems is rapidly developed. There are

two approaches of learning style detection models: conventional:

The conventional detection model of learning styles uses

questionnaires to find out about the learning style; automatic:

The automatic detection model of learning styles is divided into

two methods: data driven: The learning styles detection model

using data-driven method applies the method of artificial

intelligence in the detection process, such as the Bayesian

Model.literature based: The literature based learning styles

detection model uses the access result of the learners toward the

available teaching materials. Therefore, the learning styles

which are usually detected in the data driven or literature based

research use Felder Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM). This

learning style focuses on how students adhere with the learning

process. The learning done has not shown the relationship of

learning styles and the learning materials clearly. To show the

relation between learning style and the proper learning material,

we can use learning style of Visual,Auditory, Another factor

linked to reading difficulties is low prior knowledge (i.e., poor

general knowledge) and lack of breadth in vocabulary. Prior

knowledge is directly linked to reading comprehension and is a

strong predictor of reading ability (Elbro & BuchIversen, 2013).

When a student lacks prior knowledge about a topic, reading

comprehension is impacted (Kintsch, 2013, Tarchi, 2010). Students

who have a basic understanding of what they are reading about can

connect new information to what they already know. Prior

knowledge is formed through experience, by reading or hearing

about a topic, or through family customs. A student’s general

cognitive ability is also a contributor to prior knowledge. A

student who reads, or who has been read to, is able to access

this knowledge when reading related topics, which can increase

comprehension. It is not known at this time, however, if there

are mediating factors (e.g., working memory, motivation,

decoding) that might impede prior knowledge and impact reading

comprehension.

With the shift to the Common Core State Standards (Shanahan,

2013), an emphasis of reading and comprehending challenging texts

were placed on students with and without disabilities (Shanahan,

2013). Critical reading will be paramount for students to make

adequate academic progress in school and on standardized tests.

On the other hand, lack of motivation-to-read is often based

on poor reading ability (Melekoglu & Wilkerson, 2013). The issue

of motivation is compounded for secondary students who are

required to read a variety of expository content (i.e., science

social studies), and coupled with these reading demands,

secondary students lose interest in improving their reading.

However, the cyclical relationship between motivation and reading

ability is challenging for teachers of secondary students. As

reading ability improves, Melekoglu and Wilkerson (2013) posit,

so too will motivation to read. Additionally, as reading skills

improved, positive feelings toward reading increased, this in

turn enhanced students’ self-concept as reader. Therefore,

secondary students require an increase in basic reading skills

before a boost in reading motivation can occur.

Synthesis

The facility to understand and use written texts is an

important precondition for further developing personal knowledge

and personal skills, and a requirement for participating in

cultural and social life. Manifold areas of knowledge and life

are made accessible through reading. The range of reading

occasions is very wide, and reading fulfills many different

functions. These may include motivation, prior knowledge, reading

to gain information, which is crucial to further education and

lifelong learning, and literary-aesthetic reading. Not only do

texts convey information and facts, but they also transport

ideas, moral concepts, and cultural contents. The studies on

reading comprehension took functional understanding on poor

practices of students, or with the incompetent handling of

reading texts in different and typical everyday situations. There

were suggested stage-adapted processes for reading readiness down

to comprehension; choice of text and its functions; cognitive

requirements and task forms By systematically considering

different text functions, which are implemented in different age

groups in realistic and age-specific texts, text themes, and

different cognitive requirements of the related tasks, it is

possible to operationalize reading competence as a comprehensive

ability construct. His paper has reviewed the previous studies on

metacognitive strategies based on planning, monitoring, and

evaluating in order to develop reading comprehension. The main

purpose of this review in metacognition, and reading domain is

to help readers to enhance their capabilities and power reading

through these strategies. The researchers reviewed articles,

papers, and books related to the field. The studies indicated

that the strategies used in reading comprehension are

significant. The findings of this study reveal teachers scaffold

to develop reading and comprehending abilities of students. This

review study would help readers to consider metacognitive

strategies as the input to design reading comprehension material

and syllabus based on planning, monitoring, and evaluating

strategies for students to improve reading skills for learners’

better comprehension of the text according to their needs.

Local Studies

Magulod (2018) confirms that in order to better prepare

university students as proficient, versatile and productive

information and industrial technologists in the 21st century, the

need to implement instructional strategies and activities

naturally align with their predispositions will make them better

learners. In his study, he examined the learning style

preferences, study habits and level of academic achievement of

students enrolled in applied science courses of one campus of a

public higher education institution in the Philippines. The study

employed descriptive correlational research design to a total of

seventy-five respondents who were purposively sampled. Two sets

of standardized instruments were utilized by the researcher.

Results of the study revealed that the students of applied

sciences courses preferred visual, group and kinesthetic as major

learning styles while they manifest a moderate level of study

habits. They also have a good level of academic achievement. Test

of difference revealed that academic performance, father's

occupation and type of high school graduated from spelled

significant differences in their perceptual learning styles. They

also spelled differences in their study habits when grouped

according to academic standing in high school, writing skills,

mothers’ education, and test anxiety. Finally, there were

significant relationships between learning styles, study habits

and academic performance of students in applied science courses.

The implications of the study can guide instructors to plan and

deliver suitable instructional interventions.

Par (2019) investigated reading strategies and reading

comprehension of language learners and its correlation with

anxiety. His study indicated that the more highly anxious

students are, they tend to recall less passage content that those

participants with minimal anxiety.

Lorica (2019), also observed in his study that learning

styles play an important variable in learning, consequently,

verifying, monitoring, memorization, guessing, deductive

reasoning contributed to effective learning.

Conversely, Gallo (2007) found that reading by middle

childhood by adulthood influenced the study skills and learning

styles and subsequent academic performance.

Acera (2017) also assessed the reading habits of college

students at Isabela State University, San Mariano Campus.

Further, study showed that majority of the respondents

acknowledge the importance of reading, and it yielded that

reading fiction and non-fiction reading texts confirmed to be the

best reading materials that greatly affected their habits,

eagerness and comprehension of words and text at large. Thus,

academic performance was greatly affected by means of this

practice.

Singh (2011) also examined academic performance and study

habits of 100 randomly selected high school students. Result

indicated that girls and boys differ significantly on their

reading study habits and learning styles and academic

achievement.
 Barman, Aziz and Yusoff (2014) also studied the learning

style awareness and academic performance of students concluded

that students ‘awareness of their strengths such as learning

style and how to utilize their strengths may improve their

academic performance. Barman, Aziz and Yusoff (2014) also

studied the learning style awareness and academic performance

of students concluded that students ‘awareness of their strengths

such as learning style and how to utilize their strengths may

improve their academic performance.

Barman, Aziz and Yusoff (2014) also studied the learning

style awareness and academic performance of students concluded

that students ‘awareness of their strengthssuch as learning style

and how to utilize their strengths may improve their academic

performance. Barman, Aziz and Yusoff (2014) also studied the

learning style awareness and academic performance of students

concluded that students ‘awareness of their strengths such as

learning style and how to utilize their strengths may improve

their academic performance.

Synthesis

As seen from all the studies cited, potentials from reading

and learning styles are conceived as essential factors in

successful academic undertaking. Thus, interest in these two

concerns greatly set off the researcher’s utmost concern

particularly in aiding poor performances of learners in the

academe due to ill practices of learning and reading. When using

any learning strategy, students understand why a strategy is

useful, and describe explicitly how the strategies were used.

Independent practices are critical factors for success.

Comprehension is the goal of reading, but it can be the most

difficult skill to master as observed from some studies.

Students’ reading comprehension achievement and their

attitudes towards reading is foregrounding brain dominance and

reading strategies. Studies presented have shown reading

practices, a brain dominance inventory, and an attitude.