SPUP Graduate School Research Journal

Graduate School Research

SPUP Graduate Journal
School Journal

READING COMPREHENSION LEVEL AND VOCABULARY SKILLS OF

GRADE II PUPILS AND THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN
ENGLISH OF ST. PAUL UNIVERSITY PHILIPPINES

CHARMAINE M. HERNANDEZ
Master of Arts in Education
Major in English

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to assess the reading comprehension and vocabulary

level of Grade II pupils and their performance in English. The study further
investigated the relationship among the three focused variables. The
descriptive correlation design was adopted to investigate the assessment
and correlation analysis of the pupils’ reading comprehension level and their
performance in English. A reading comprehension test and vocabulary skill
test were administered to the total enumeration of the pupils in the three
sections of Grade II at Saint Paul University Philippines for the academic
year 2014-2015. For data analysis, frequency, percentage count, Pearson
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Chi-square test were employed.
From the findings, it was assessed that the reading comprehension levels
and vocabulary skills of Grade II pupils are “low” considering the majority
belonging to the “frustration” level. On the other hand, the performance of
pupils in English is relatively “high” with an equal number of pupils within
the “advanced” and “proficient” level. For Chi-square test results revealed
that a significant correlation exists between pupils’ comprehension level
and their performance in English. Similar results were inferred by the
grade II pupils’ level of vocabulary and their performance in English. The
vocabulary skills of pupils along synonyms, context clues, configuration
clues and homonyms are correlated to the reading comprehension levels
of the pupils along noting similarities, identifying cause and effect, noting
details and predicting outcomes. In contrast, the vocabulary skills of pupils
along picture clues and their reading skill revealed a significant correlation.
Therefore, there must be a need for the language teachers to make
interventions to improve their students’ performance in English.

Keywords: Reading comprehension, vocabulary skills, academic

performance

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INTRODUCTION

Reading is the mother of all study skills. It is one of the most valuable
skills a person can acquire. Reading is a complex process. Thus, it cannot be
taught in isolation. Moreover, reading is not merely an ability to recognize
written or printed words, but it also refers to putting meaning to what you
read and drawing a unified thought of what is read. Moreover, reading
is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing
information and ideas. Like all languages, it is a complex interaction
between the text and the reader which is shaped by the reader’s prior
knowledge, experiences, attitude, and language community which is
culturally and socially situated. The reading process requires continuous
practices, development, and refinement. Reading is an interactive process
that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension.
The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode
meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine
what that meaning is.

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand what we

read - where words have context and texts have meaning. Reading
comprehension skills allow people to read proficiently, learn effectively,
problem-solve, strategize, conceptualize, and succeed in life. Without
reading comprehension skills, many students are left behind. Reading
comprehension is the heart and goal of reading, since the purpose of
all reading is to gather meaning from the printed page. If a student says
words in a passage without gathering their meaning, one will hesitate to
call that reading. Reading as a field of teaching is considered one of the
important areas of teaching if not the most important ever.

It is said to be one of the most necessary academic skills. Besides, it is a

major pillar upon which the teaching/learning process is built. The reading
ability plays a central role in the teaching/learning success at all educational
stages. Having any difficulty in this skill will result in a variety of consequences
on all subjects of study, since reading includes a variety of sub-skills. Ozdemir
(2009) stressed that reading is fundamental in getting knowledge as all the
lessons and learning activities are mostly based on the power of
comprehensive reading; indeed, it is necessary to read comprehensively.
Also, reading comprehensively really affects a learner’s education and his
life as a whole.
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Learning in any lesson depends on the understanding of the

learning instrument of that lesson; thus, a learner who cannot read
comprehensively finds it difficult for him/her to be successful in his or her
lessons. For many students, reading comprehension is a major problem.
There are mainly three causes for poor reading comprehension: First is, if
the person has a language problem. Language plays a vital role in reading.
One cannot read a book in a language unless one knows that particular
language. If a child’s knowledge of English is poor, then his reading will
also be poor, and naturally also his reading comprehension. Second is, if
the foundational skills of reading have not been automized. Moreover,
teachers must help students do well in their subject and pass the required
examination. At the same time, they can increase their students’
competency in English and help them become fluent readers in English
by engaging them in extensive reading. Thus, teachers in St. Paul
University Philippines must be able to identify the level of their pupil’s
comprehension and vocabulary skills so that they could plan for effective
strategies or programs that will eventually enhance their learners’ critical
thinking skills.

Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

Pupils’ Reading
Comprehension Analysis of the Improved
Scores Pupils’ Reading Reading
• Pupils’ vocabulary Comprehension Level, Comprehension
skill their vocabulary skills Vocabulary Skills
• Pupils’ and their Performance and Performance
Performance in English in English
in English

Feedback
Figure 1. Paradigm of the Study

As shown, the reading comprehension scores, pupils’ vocabulary

skills and pupils’ performance in English were considered the inputs of
the study. An in-depth analysis on the obtained inputs was undertaken
to gain insights about the reading comprehension, vocabulary skills and
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the performance of Grade II pupils in English. Correlation analysis on

pupils’ reading skills and academic performance were also undertaken.
Moreover, as a significant output, an improved reading comprehension and
vocabulary skills and improved performance in English would be
manifested.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to assess the reading comprehension and

vocabulary level of Grade II pupils and their performance in English. The
study further investigated the relationship among the three focused
variables. The assessment results served as bases in the formulation of
policies to improve reading and comprehension level as well as vocabulary
skills of pupils.

Specifically, the study aimed to answer the following problems:

1. What is the reading comprehension level of the Grade II pupils along

the indicated reading comprehension skills?
1.1 following simple directions
1.2 noting similarities and differences
1.3 identifying cause and effect
1.4 noting details
1.5 predicting outcomes

2. What level does the pupils’ vocabulary skill fall regarding:

2.1 Context clues;
2.2. Synonyms;
2.3. Homonyms;
2.4. Picture clues; and
2.5. Configuration clues?

3. What is the pupils’ academic performance in English?

4. Is there a significant relationship between pupils’ reading comprehension

level and their academic performance in English?

5. Is there a significant relationship between pupils’ vocabulary skills and

their academic performance?
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6. Is there a significant relationship between the pupils’ reading

comprehension level and vocabulary skills?

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The descriptive-correlation design was adopted in the conduct of

the study. This design was used since this study focused its investigation
on the assessment and correlation analysis of the pupils’ reading
comprehension level, their vocabulary skills and their performance in
English.

Participants of the Study

The participants of the study constituted the population of

Grade II pupils at St. Paul University Philippines for the academic year
2014-2015.

Instrumentation

To assess the pupils’ reading comprehension level and vocabulary

skills, a reading comprehension test and vocabulary skill test were
administered. The items on the reading comprehension test were taken
from the reading comprehension test items in the book of Strategies to
Achieve Reading Success, the vocabulary test were taken from the book
entitled “Adventures in English 2”. The instruments were pre-tested to
Grade III before it was administered to the participants. The test for
vocabulary skill was conducted a week after conducting the reading
comprehension test. A documentary analysis on pupils’ grades for the
first, second and third grading periods for the current year was undertaken
to determine their performance in English.

Data Gathering Procedures

A permission letter was forwarded to the Basic Education Unit
Principal of St. Paul University Philippines. After obtaining permission

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from the school principal, the researcher personally administered the

reading comprehension test to the target pupils. After a week, the
vocabulary test was administered to the same group of participants.
Likewise, the researcher sought permission from the advisers to obtain a
copy of the pupils’ grades in English.

Data Analysis

The data obtained in the study were analyzed using the following
data analysis tools:

Frequency and percentage count were used to present pupils’

reading comprehension scores per sub-skill.

Percentage scores were interpreted using the given scale:

Reading Scores Reading Level
75-100% Independent
51-74.99% Instruction
0-50% Frustration

On the level of performance in English, it was interpreted using the

following scales:

Legend:
Advanced (A) : 90% and above
Proficiency (P) : 85-89%
Approaching Proficiency (AP) : 80-84%
Developing (D) : 75-79%
Beginning (B) : 74 and below

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to

determine whether a significant correlation exists on pupils’ reading
comprehension, vocabulary skills and their performance in English.
Chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between the
reading comprehension skills and vocabulary skills.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

On the Reading Comprehension Levels of Grade II pupils

With respect to following simple directions, majority (62.63%) of the

pupils are in the “independent level” when they are classified according
to their reading comprehension level along following simple directions.
Only a few of them belong to the “instruction” and “frustration” levels as
reflected by the percentages of 22.22% and 15.15%, respectively. This
means that most of the pupils can independently follow simple directions
without the help of anyone.

In terms of noting similarities and differences, majority of the grade

II pupils (68 or 68.69%) are in the “frustration” level when classified
according to their comprehension level regarding noting similarities
and differences, 21 or 21.21% could independently note similarities and
differences and 10 or 10.10% belong to the instruction level. This finding
implies that pupils could hardly note similarities and differences in the
selection read.

On identifying cause and effect, majority of the pupils are at the

“frustration” level, 31 or 31.31% are at the “independent” level and only
a few (16 or 16.16%) at the “instruction” level.

With regard to noting details most or 49% of the Grade II pupils are
within the “frustration” level and 42% at the “independent” level and
only 9% at the “instructional” level.

For predicting outcomes, majority of the pupils (59.50%) are in the

“frustration” level while 16.16% and 24.24% are in the “independent”
and “instructional” level, respectively.

Level of Vocabulary Skills of Grade II Pupils

For context clues, majority (70.71%) of the pupils are within the
“frustration” level with few numbers of pupils within the “independent”
and “instructional” level as reflected by their percentages, 19.19% and
10.10%, respectively.
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For synonyms, majority or 53% are within the “frustration” level and
25% in the “instructional” level while 21% belong to the “independent”
level.

For homonyms, majority (64.65%) of the Grade II pupils are within

the “instructional” level and a small number of pupils belonging to the
“frustration” and “instructional” level as shown by the percentages
16.16% and 19.19%, respectively.

On picture clues, majority (63.64%) of the pupils belong to the

“frustration” level while that of the rest are in the “instructional” and
“independent” level as reflected by the percentages, 24.24% and 12.12%
respectively.

In terms of configuration clues, most of the pupils (43 or 43.43%)

are within the “frustration” level while 34% are in the “independent”
level and 22% are in the “instructional” level.

Pupils’ Academic Performance in English

Majority of the Grade II pupils are within the “advanced” and

“proficient” levels with the percentage of 30.30%. It is worthy to note that
none of them belong to the beginning level. This is a manifestation that
the Grade II pupils of St. Paul University Philippines are gearing towards
proficiency in English if not in the advanced level.

Relationship between the Pupils’ Comprehension Level and Their

Performance in English

Chi-square analysis revealed that pupils’ reading comprehension

level along following simple directions is significantly correlated with their
performance in English. Pupils who belong to independent level tend to
have higher proficiency in English.

Along noting details, a significant correlation exists in the reading

comprehension level of pupils and their performance in English.

Pupils’ reading comprehension level specifically in giving cause and

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effect, is significantly correlated with their performance in English.

A significant correlation exists on the participants reading
comprehension of noting similarities with their performance in English.

Moreover, pupils’ reading comprehension along predicting

outcomes, is significantly correlated with their performance in English.

Correlation between pupils’ level of vocabulary skills and their academic

performance in English

Vocabulary skills in identifying synonyms, is significantly correlated

with their academic performance in English among pupils. This implies
the difficulty of pupils to recognize words of the same meaning.

Vocabulary skills in terms of identifying homonyms, is significantly

correlated with their performance in English. It can be inferred from this
result that pupils find difficulty in distinguishing the meaning of a word of
similar spelling.

A significant correlation was observed on the vocabulary skills of

pupils in identifying words through picture clues and their performance
in English. This means that pupils could hardly identify words through
the configuration clues are given them. Only a few among those who
obtained “advanced proficiency” could coin words based on the clue.

Correlation analysis between pupils’ reading comprehension level and

their level of vocabulary skills

In the vocabulary skill of pupils in terms of identifying synonyms,

there is a significant correlation with the reading comprehension skill
of pupils along identifying cause and effect and predicting outcomes,
respectively.

The vocabulary skill of pupils along context clues, has found a
significant correlation with the reading comprehension of pupils along
noting similarities and differences, identifying cause and effect, and
noting details.

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In the vocabulary skill of pupils along picture clues, there was no

significant correlation with their reading comprehension.

The vocabulary skill of the pupils along configuration clues is

significantly correlated with the reading comprehension skills of the
pupils, except in the following simple directions where no correlation was
observed.

In the vocabulary subskill of the pupils in terms of homonyms, it is

significantly correlated with their reading comprehension level along
noting similarities, identifying cause and noting details.

CONCLUSION

From the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn:

It could be gleaned that the reading comprehension levels and

vocabulary skills of Grade II pupils are “low” considering the majority
belonging to the “frustration” level. Performance of pupils in English is
relatively high with an equal number of pupils within the “advanced” and
“proficient” levels.

Chi-square test results revealed that a significant correlation exists

between pupils’ comprehension level and their performance in English.
Similarly, a significant correlation was observed in the pupils’ level of
vocabulary skills and their performance in English.

The vocabulary skills of pupils along synonyms, context clues,

configuration clues and homonyms are correlated to the reading
comprehension levels of the pupils along noting similarities, identifying
cause and effect, noting details and predicting outcomes. In contrast,
the vocabulary skills of pupils along picture clues and their reading skill
revealed a significant correlation. Therefore, there must be a need for
the language teachers to make interventions to improve their pupils’
performance in English.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, the following

recommendations are offered:

Pupils may spend the time to explore reading materials especially

those that will enhance their thinking/comprehension skill.

Teachers as well as parents may spend more time for pupils to explore
reading materials especially those that will enhance their knowledge skill,
particularly on those sub-skills where they are weak at.

Teachers may use methodologies, strategies, and activities that

will develop their pupils’ reading ability most particularly their higher
comprehension skill. They should also choose the strategies and books
most appropriate for achieving their teaching objectives.

Teachers may incorporate their teaching into good reading selections,

effective teaching procedures, reading comprehension activities and
techniques that introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussions, excite
imaginative responses and become the springboard for well-rounded,
fascinating lessons.

Teachers may provide drills on word meaning and reading

comprehension to improve the vocabulary skills and reading
comprehension level of the pupils.

Other research studies may be conducted using other grade levels,

other important variables, and factors that lead toward better proposals
for further improvements of students’ higher reading comprehension
and vocabulary skills.

School administrators may support the reading programs initiated

by the Department of Education.

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References

Al Khateeb. (2010). The Impact of Using KWL Strategy on Grade Ten

Female Students’ Reading Comprehension of Religious Concepts in
Ma’an City. European Journal of Social Sciences. 12 (3), www.
eurojournals.com/ejss_12_3_14.pdf.

Importance of reading comprehension in second language learning.

(2009). Retrieved November 5, 2010, from http://www.
universityinfoonline.com/?p=503.

Ozdemir, A. (2010). The effect of reading comprehension abilities primary

school students over their problem solving achievement.

Pearson, P. D. (2013). The roots of reading comprehension instruction.

University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 15 March 2013.

Tizon, M. N. (2011). Reading comprehension ability of grade VI pupils of

Kinangay Sur Elementary School. Language Faculty of College of Arts
and Sciences. La Salle University.

Wanjiku, C. E. (2012). Reading comprehension and its relationship with

academic performance among standard eight pupils in Machakos.
Retrieved from http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/3722.

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