Factors Affecting the Reading Comprehension of Grade 7 Students

The study determined the factors that affect the reading comprehension of Grade 7 students in Magallanes National High School, Magallanes, Sorsogon for school year 2019-2020. A mixed method research approach was used to understand and determine the factors that affect the reading comprehension of Grade 7 students. The participants of the study were the 148 Grade 7 students of Magallanes National High School. In order to determine the reading comprehension level of students in the pre-test and post-test, pre-test and post-test was used. To determine the difference between the results of pre-test and post-test, T-test of paired samples was used. Likewise, to gather relevant information on the factors that may affect the reading comprehension of students an interview schedule was used. Moreover, the data gathered were analyzed using frequency count, mean scores, and Descriptive Phenomenology method. The study showed that there are 14 non-readers, 134 students under frustration level, 136 under instructional level and 6 under independent level in the pre-test. There are 14 non-readers, 14 students under frustration level, 171 under instructional level and 91 students under independent level in the post-test. Likewise, one of the factors that affects the reading comprehension of students is the lack of reading materials was one of the factors affecting the reading comprehension of students, wherein students are provided with limited materials for reading. Another factor is that teachers do not conduct monitoring and home visitation. Students were not monitored or visited especially those who need reading remediation. Moreover, the reading difficulties experienced by students such as understanding the text in English, sometimes difficulty understanding the reading text that is long and words that are longer and having a few knowledge about the reading text are also considered factors. Furthermore, the computed t value on the difference between the results of pre-test and post-test is 5.05. Moreover, to improve the reading comprehension of students, a workbook entitled “ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, READ: A Workbook for Grade 7 Students” was proposed. In the light of the findings, the present study recommended that teachers may use appropriate learning materials and strategies and may provide reading activities that are relevant for the students to enrich and enhance their reading skills particularly in reading comprehension. Likewise, teachers should conduct monitoring and home visitation to struggling readers and they may collaborate with each other to provide instructional materials (print or non-print) and conduct relevant reading activities for the students. To improve the reading comprehension of students, teachers may employ strategies and may utilize appropriate reading materials. that may improve Another, there is a need to utilize and implement the developed reading material from this study. Moreover, researchers may conduct a study similar to the present study in a wider scope and that they make a study on the reading variables that has not looked into or on the gaps of the study.