CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH RESULT

4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the research results which consisted of profile of respondents and
research findings. A descriptive statistical analyses, which uses a frequency and
percentage were employed to determine the effectiveness of CSR intervention on students
performance. Interview questionnaires were developed to elicit information about
students’ perceptions about the CSR intervention they received.

4.2 Profile of Respondents

The subjects of this research were drawn from Form four students in SMK Bundu Tuhan,
Ranau, Sabah. The subjects were consisted of 46 students with average age of 16. They
possessed varied ability level of proficiency. The students were randomly divided into
two groups; an experimental group of 30 students and a control group of 16 students.
Table 1 presents the demographic characteristic of the students in the two groups.

Table 1 : Demographic characteristics of the Groups

Characteristic Class Male Female Total

SMK. Bundu Tuhan N N N
Experimental Group 4 Beta 16 09
Control Group 4 Beta 14 07
Sub. Total 30 16 46

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4.3 Research Findings.

This study attempted to address the effectiveness of Collaborative Strategic Reading
(CSR) as a reading comprehension strategy to improve reading comprehension for form
four students. The research questions for the present study were as follows:

i) Does CSR approach enhance students’ reading comprehension ?

ii) What are the perceptions of students regarding the efficacy of CSR they
received during instruction?

4.3.1 Research question 1

Does CSR approach enhance students’ reading comprehension ?

The students responses in both tests were scored. The pre-test and post-test scores were
then computed using SPSS. T-test were carried out for each group, to find out if there was
a significant difference between pre and post-test scores. The subjects’ level of
comprehension of the pre and post test was measured by their marks, scored on
answering the multiple-choice questions. The total score of the post-test was 20.

Table 1 summarizes the data collected. The mean score of the control group was 12.82 or
64.22 % while the mean score of the post-test was 14.67 or 73.36 %. A paired-sample T.
test indicated that the group scores for the pre and post-tests was significantly different at
a level of p = 0.021 (sig 2 – tailed) The mean score of the pre-test of the experimental
group was 7.1 or 35%. The mean score of the post-test was 49.62 %. Again a paired
sample T-test revealed that the pre and post-test scores for the experimental group was
significantly different at a level of p = 0.000. The results indicate that although both
groups improved, the experimental groups exhibited a higher level of improvement.
Thus, in answer to the first research question, the result suggest that CSR approach does
enhance the students’ reading comprehension.

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Table 2: Group comparison on a Pre-Test and Post-Test outcomes measures

 Group Pre Test % Post Test % Comparison
Experimentel Group (n – 30 ) 35.5 49.62 14.12
Control Group ( n – 16 ) 64.22 73.36 9.14

4.3.2 Research Question 2

What are the perceptions of students regarding the efficacy of CSR they received during
instruction ?

In addition to examining the effects of CSR on reading comprehension, this study

attempted to examine students’ perceptions about the CSR intervention that the students
had received (n = 30 ). The students interviews revealed many similarities and some
differences in the ways students reported their perceptions of the intervention. Analysis of
students’ interview data revealed five themes.

a) Overall efficacy of CSR

b) Attributes of CSR that were viewed as helpful or as not helpful
c) Perceptions about reading improvement as a result of CSR and
d) Desire to continue with class. Quotes from students are summarizing
according to the five themes in Appendix 1.

4.3.2.1 Overall Efficacy Of CSR.

When asked about their overall perception about CSR, all students except 5 reported
positive attitudes toward CSR. Some example of their general insights about CSR were as
follows;
- I thought it was good because it helped me to learn more like how to read
- I thought it was fun.
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4.3.2.2 Attributes Of CSR That Were Viewed As Helpful Or as Not Helpful.

In addition to students’ overall perceptions about CSR, the attributes of CSR that were
viewed as helpful and those that were viewed as not helpful were investigated. Students’
response were organized and presented in four categories :

a) strategies of CSR that were viewed as helpful,

b) strategies of CSR that were viewed as not helpful
c) feature of CSR that were viewed as helpful
d) features of CSR that were viewed as not helpful

4.3.2.2 (a) Strategies of CSR that were viewed as helpful.

Table 3 shows the students’ responses regarding the strategies of CSR that were viewed
as helpful.

Table 3: Strategies of CSR that were viewed as helpful

Helpful strategies No. student Relative frequencies Percentage

Preview 3 0.100 10.00
Click and clunk 10 0.333 33.30
Get the gist 14 0.467 46.70
Wrap up 3 0.100 10.00
Total 30 1.000 100%

The most frequenthy identified strategy as helpful was ‘get the gist’ strategy. 46%
student were specific about the aspects of the ‘get the gist’ strategy that helped them
read. Get the gist strategy helped the students identify main ideas during reading. In this
strategy, students identify the main ideas by answering questions.

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The next most frequently identified strategy as helpful was “ click and cluck”. Among
four strategies, the second strategy, that is, reread the sentence with the clunk and the
sentences before or after the clunk, was the most frequently reported strategy as helpful.
The students perceived it helpful because this strategy teaches them to monitor their
understanding during reading.

4.3.2.2 (b) Strategies of CSR that were viewed as not helpful.

Table 4 shows the students response regarding the strategies of CSR that were viewed
as not helpful.

Table 4 : Strategies of CSR that were viewed as not helpful

Not helpful No. student Frequencies Percentage

strategies
Preview N = 30
Click and clunk 7 0.233 23.30
Get the grist 3 0.100 10.00
Wrap up 20 0.667 66.70
Total 30 1.000 100

When asked what parts of CSR were not helpful, four students stated that all parts of
CSR were helpful. While 10 % students identified the warm up´ strategy as helpful,
66.7% students revealed that it was not helpful. Although 66.7 % students commented
that the warm up´ strategy was not helpful, none of them specified what aspects of the
strategy led them to perceived it as not helpful. 23.3% students commented that the ‘click
and cluck’ was not helpful. However, the reason for this perception was not directly
related to instruction. For instance, some of the interview analyses revealed that, it click
and cluck really wasn’t useful because one knew the word already, one didn’t need it or
skipped it.

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4.3.2.2.(c) Features OF CSR That Were viewed as helpful.

In addition to the strategies of CSR an analysis of students interview data revealed that
the features of CSR were also associated with students’ perceptions regarding
helpfulness of CSR, features of CSR that students perceived as helpful were further
subcategorized into;

(a) reading passage,

(b) reading level,
(c) ease of CSR and
(d) students choice in selecting reading passages

Table 5 shows students responses regarding the features that viewed as helpful.

Table 5 : Features of CSR that viewed as helpful.

Helpful features No. student Frequencies Percentage

Reading passage 10 0.33 33.33
Reading level 10 0.33 33.33
Ease of CSR 4 0.14 13.34
The frequency of 6 0.20 20.00
CSR selected
Total 30 1.00 100.00

The interview analyses revealed that reading passages and reading level were the two
most frequently identified features that were viewed as helpful. More than 65% students
remarked that the passage were interesting enough to draw and maintain their attention.
In addition, appropriateness of reading level was identified as a helpful feature of the
program. The students noted that the different reading levels offered in CSR allowed
them to work on the reading passages that were matched with their own reading level.

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4.3.2.2 (d) Features Of The CSR Were Viewed As not Helpful.

Interestingly, reading passage and reading level were also perceived as not helpful
features. Student perceived a lower-level reading passages as not helpful because the
passage were either not challenging enough or not motivating. According to the
interview analyses, there are 10 % students stated that some of the passages were too
easy and were not hard enough and challenging
In addition, the frequency of CSR sessions was revealed as a feature that was viewed as
not helpful. Since the participating school was in a block schedule, students participated
in the CSR session for the second half of the class time during every reading session.
Students asserted that having a CSR session during every reading session was too much
to maintain their motivation. 15 % of the students commented that it got boring awhile,
constantly doing it, doing the same thing every day.

4.3.3 Perceptions about Reading Improvement as a Result Of CSR

In addition to examining the effects of CASR, students’ perceptions about their own
reading improvement were examined. Specifically, student were asked in what ways they
perceived their reading had improved as a result of CSR. Many students asserted that
their vocabulary improved after the intervention. The students’ responses were quite
varied with regard to the aspects of CSR that helped then to improve their vocabulary. 50
% students specified that they could use a fix-up strategy to figure out the meaning of
the word after the intervention.

30 % students stressed that CSR motivated them to read more, and that they viewed this
change as their major reading improvement as a result of CSR. They also reported
that they read more after the intervention and reading more, improved their reading.
Comprehension monitoring was also identified as an area of reading improvement by
two students.

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4.3.4. Desire to continue with CSR class.

When asked if students would continue with the CSR class, all the students said that they
would. The strongest reason for the students’ desire to continue with the CSR class was
that they wanted to improve their learning. The interview analyses revealed that 100%
students had the great interest in continuing the CSR class.

4.4 Summary

This chapter reports the research results which include the profile of respondents and the
research findings. The research findings from the students performance revealed that
students in experimental group which were exposed to explicit instruction of CSR
approach exhibited more improvement compare to the control group in the tests.
Students’ perception regarding the efficacy of CSR approach indicated that the approach
adopted in this study helped to improve their reading comprehension.

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CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATION

5.1 Introduction
This chapter is derived from the findings and data analyses in the previous chapter. It
consists of the research summary, discussion of research findings, conclusions of
research findings, implication of research findings and recommendations for further
research.

5.2 Research Summary

The present research was an attempt to examine the effectiveness of collaborative

strategic reading approach as an instructional tool in improving the reading
comprehension of Form four secondary school students. In addition to investigate the
effects of collaborative strategic reading on reading comprehension of students, students
interviews were conducted to elicit information on students’ perceptions about this
approach.

Several instruments were employed in this research, namely, observation, tests and
interview questionnaires. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze data.

This action research was conducted in SMK Bundu Tuhan Ranau, Sabah and the subjects
were drawn from form four class. The subjects of this study consisted of 46 students
which were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group consisted of 30
students and control group consisted of 16 students.

The subjects had the reading textbook, which had been provided by the school, however,
English teachers were allowed to use any materials to develop their own tests. Therefore,
I selected six reading passages which would be covered during the six weeks from a
variety of source. Four reading passages were drawn from the subjects’ textbook and
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two from popular writings or ESL reading materials. The passages were chosen on the
basis of subjects’ presumed interest and for their readability.
The strategy training procedure used in this action research was the four concrete reading
strategies of CSR such as preview, click and clunk, get the gist and wrap up. In this
action research, students in the experimental group received researcher-facilitated
instruction in how to :
i) Preview. Preview is designed to provide students with opportunity to activate
their prior knowledge, make predictions about what they will read and generate
interest (Vaughn et al, 2001). Preview consists of two activities such as
brainstorming and making predictions. Brainstorming activates students’ prior
knowledge about the topic. Making predictions generates students’ interest and
motivates them to read the text to confirm or disconfirm their prediction.

ii) Click and Clunk. Students are taught to use self monitoring strategies while
reading to aid them in recognizing information. Click refers to portions of the
text that students understand, and clunk refers to portions of the words or phrases
in the text that students do not understand (Klingner & Vaughn, 1998). When
students click, they know information provided in the text, so they continue
reading until they clunk. When students clunk, they do not understand words or
phrases and need to figure out the unknown words by using fix-up strategies.

iii) Get the Gist. Students identify the main ideas from the reading to confirm their
understanding of the information.

iv) Wrap up. The wrap up session provides students with an opportunity to review
what they have read, which assists with their understanding and interpretation of
what they have learned.

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Whole class researcher-facilitated strategy instruction lasted five days. On the first day, a
researcher introduced the plan for strategic reading and then modeled the plan for
strategic reading process while reading the passage. A ‘think-aloud’ technique made
explicit why, how and when strategies were used. After the initial modeling, students
were invited to try using the strategies and were supported in their efforts to do so. As
students became more proficient, small group of students took turns modeling the
strategic reading process for the class.

From the second week on, students worked in mix ability groups of five to learn
textbook content. Students stayed in the same groups throughout the study. A rotating
group leader led each group in the implementation of the strategies.

Each students had the opportunity to serve as group leader during the study. Students
were encouraged to assist each other in implementing the strategies and to become self-
regulated strategy users. The researcher monitored the students’ group, providing
additional scaffolded instruction when necessary.

Students in the control condition were not taught the reading comprehension strategies.
Content was presented by their own English teacher who followed the instructional
guidelines provided in the teacher’s manual for the Malaysian English textbook.

5.3 Discussions of research Findings.

Reading comprehension is critical for success in school. Students are expected to read
and understand what they read. This expectation increases when students begin secondary
school, where text-based instruction is predominant. Secondary school students are
expected to independently read, understand and learn from textbooks in variety of content
areas (Armbruster & Anderson, 1988).

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Many secondary school students with LD have difficulties in coping with these
curriculum demands (Bryant et al. 1999). This problem challenges secondary school
teachers to prepare students with LD to successfully respond to heavy curriculum and
learning demands. However, most secondary teachers know little about teaching reading
and do not instruct students in the comprehension process.
To prepare students with LD for successful integration in content classes, special
education resource teachers must provide instruction in reading strategies, including
comprehension strategies (Mac Arthur & Haynes, 1995). CSR is an approach designed to
facilitate reading comprehension for students with reading problems included in

This study attempted to address the effectiveness of CSR approach as a reading

comprehension strategy to improve reading comprehension for form four secondary
students. To address these research questions, the effects of six week of a CSR
intervention was compared both control and experimental groups on comprehension
performances through Pre- and Post-test. In addition to examining the effects of CSR on
reading comprehension, this study examined the students’ perceptions about the CSR
intervention that they received.

5.3.1 Discussion of findings from students performance.

The result of this study support Misuli’s suggestion that knowledge of strategies to
acquire word meaning will lead to the comprehension of what is to learnt. In this study,
systematic development of reading comprehension strategies have helped subjects to
improve their level of comprehension of a text. The results indicated that both the groups
improved significantly but the experimental group exhibited even more improvement ( p
= 0.021 versus p = 0.000 ).

The significant improvement in the activity they engaged in during reading instruction ;
they represented ideas from each reading passage in a different form. This exercise would

28
have required them to first understand the content of the passage and then manipulate the
ideas in order to represent them in a text of a different genre, thereby promoting text
comprehension.

However, the results of the experimental group suggest that the use of strategic reading
may be more effective in improving reading comprehension. The results thus show that
through strategic instruction will increase vocabulary knowledge and this will in turn help
in the level of comprehension of a text. In addition, this result also probe Katims and
Harmon (2002) belief that through strategic instruction, students can be empowered to
take control of their own learning through the series of steps namely preview, click and
clunk, get the gist and wrap up.

5.3.3 Discussion of findings from students’ interviews

Student interview responses revealed students’ perceptions regarding the efficacy of CSR,
their perceptions about reading improvements as a result of CSR and their willingness to
continue with CSR. The findings revealed that students generally perceived CSR as
helpful in appositive way. Many of the students also perceived that their reading
improved as a result of CSR and expressed their desire to continue with CSR. These
findings were similar to the findings from Vaughn (2001) in that students generally
expressed favorable perceptions about the efficacy of CSR, which was designed
specifically for students to provide explicit instruction in comprehension strategies.

An analyses of students interviews provided an important insight on what attributes of

CSR were perceived as helpful or as not helpful by students. Students identified the ‘get
the gist’ section as most helpful, followed by the click and clunk section. On the other
hand, the wrap up section was identified as least helpful. Positive features of CSR
mentioned by the students included interesting reading materials and various level of
reading passages. These information would guide the refinement and revision of CSR for
the purpose of making it more effective in enhancing students’ comprehension.

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5.4 Conclusion of the Research Findings.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of strategy training on students’
reading comprehension and performance. It also aimed to obtain answers for the
differential effect of the CSR approach on students’ reading comprehension level and
types of reading comprehension questions affected by the approach. The findings of the
study showed that the reading strategy training does improve students’ reading
comprehension.

Furthermore the present study demonstrated that the experimental group who was
exposed to the strategic reading in CSR benefit more from the training than control
group. The amount gains made by the students in experimental group was found to be
much greater than that made by the students in control group.

Finally, the study revealed that the students ability of grasping main ideas and of making
inferences from given passages was significantly enhanced. This findings suggest that
strategies can be taught, which will help students improve their reading comprehension
ability.

Given that one of the most important goals of teaching reading is to help our students
develop as strategic and independent readers, several suggestions for ESL reading
teachers can be made on the basis of the findings of the study. First, strategies should be
taught through direct explanation, explicit teacher modeling and extensive feedback. In
addition, students should never be in doubts as to what the strategies are where and when
they can be used, and how they are used. More importantly, they should be informed of
the value and usefulness of strategies in L2 reading. Second, ESL students, particularly
less capable ESL readers, should be given intensive and direct strategy training for a long
period. As Gaskins (1994) claims, teaching of strategies without direct explanation and
explicit modeling for a short period would not have a long term effect on students and
effectively help them develop as strategic readers. In conclusion, the results of the study
suggest that ESL reading pedagogy, especially for adult students in academic settings,
would benefit from the inclusion of explicit and direct strategy training.
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5.5 Implications of Research Findings

Research clearly indicates that students with LD, compared to typically readers, have
more difficulty with comprehension, even when controlling for the level of decoding.
Empirical evidence indicate that strategy instruction in research-based comprehension
strategies would help students with LD enhance their comprehension difficulties
(Pressley et al 1995).

In CSR, these four comprehension strategies associated with the highest effect sizes, were
incorporated. The preview strategy was designed to activate students’ prior knowledge.
The click and clunk strategy to assist students with monitoring their comprehension and
using fix up strategy when their comprehension breaks down. The get the gist strategy to
help students identify main ideas. The wrap up strategy to help students generate
questions about what they read. Thus CSR could be a useful instructional tool that
teachers may use for their students with comprehension difficulties. Since these
recommended strategies are taught by CSR, teachers can readily include CSR approach
as part of their classroom practice.

Importantly, teachers could implement these strategies ( pre-view, click and clunk, get the
gist, wrap-up ) with their classes by themselves. When teachers implement these
strategies and ample practice in the coordinated use of the strategies before, during and
after reading.

Another implication of this is that the reading comprehension performance of students

should be monitored on an on-going basis. During the implementing CSR, one of the
most important roles teachers should take is to monitor students’ comprehension
performance on an on-going basis. By on-going progress monitoring, the teachers can
identify students areas of difficulties and provide additional instruction to the students.

Previous research has indicated that many teachers are aware that students with LD need
specific instruction to meet their educational needs but that teachers feel that they do not
31
have sufficient training to adequately equip themselves to teach students with LD
(Vaughn et al 1998). More specifically, teachers often do not know enough about
effective, research-based strategies to provide explicit instruction in the strategies. CSR
seems to have potential to be used for teachers’ training for several reasons. First, CSR
was designed to teach for research-based comprehension strategies so that teachers who
seek research-based comprehension strategy, would have information regarding effective
research-based comprehension strategies. Second, CSR puts a primary emphasis on the
‘how’ section for each strategy, in which step-by-step procedures for using each strategy
are provided with guided and independent practices. Thus, the teachers using CSR could
learn not only what research-based comprehension strategies are available, but also how
these strategies are applied.

5.6 Recommendations for Further Research.

One of the important goals of strategy instruction in reading is to help students become
independent readers who can continue to apply the learned strategies to other tasks or
materials. Pressly, (1989), however, noted that one of the major problems in intervention
research studies of comprehension strategy instruction was an exclusion of the
examination of long-term effects or the generalization effects of strategy instruction.
Unfortunately, the current study also did not examine long-term effects or generalization
of strategy to other tasks. As a result, the strategy generalizability of the learned strategy
to other task is unknown. Thus, it is recommended that further research should examine
long term and generalization effects of CSR on comp of students with LD.

One of findings from an analysis of student interviews was strategies favorable

perception about CSR regarding interesting reading material and flexible reading levels.
This finding is in line with previous literature regarding appropriate reading materials,
that is, appropriate reading material should be interesting and should be at student
instructional level.

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In previous CSR research studies conducted with secondary school students with reading
difficulties, CSR was integrated into content instruction (i.e. social studies, Klingner &
Vaughn, 2000). These previous studies revealed that CSR, if integrated into content
instruction, yielded improved reading outcome. Thus, future research should examine the
effects of CSR coupled with content reading material on reading comprehension of
studies with LD.
Vocabulary is critical to reading comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). The
target of the click and clunk strategy are two fold; a) Comprehension monitoring and b)
Vocabulary development A previous CSR study examined the effects of CSR on
vocabulary performances of student with reading difficulty significantly increased after
the CSR intervention (Klingner & Vaunghn, 2000) in this study, however, vocabulary
performance was not included as a dependent measure. Future research examining effect
of CACSR on vocabulary of student with LD is recommended.

Finally, since the intervention in this study occurred approximately twelve times in six
weeks, a more extensive examination of the effects of CSR is recommended. Although
the duration of six week can be argued as a relatively long intervention study, this
duration may not long enough for those secondary students with language difficulty who
have experienced reading comprehension difficulties during their school lives.

Summary.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of CSR on reading comprehension
of form four students. In addition, Students’ perceptions about CSR were also examined
in this study.

The result of this study revealed that both the groups improved significantly but the
experimental group exhibited even more improvement. In comprehending the texts, the
results revealed that the CSR intervention had an effect on the improvement of students’
ability to understand main ideas and to make inferences from given texts. However, it
33

had no effect on the improvement of their ability to extract detailed information from the
texts. Furthermore, an analysis of students interviews revealed that students generally
expressed favorable perceptions about CSR. Thus this study contributes to small but
growing knowledge based on teaching reading comprehension to secondary school
students with LD.
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