Challenges Encountered by Grade 8 Students in Reading Comprehension Skills at Doña Rosario High School, Quezon City

Abstract

Reading is a fundamental requirement in any field or subject area. It is one of the basic skills that an individual should master during their first school year to acquire new knowledge and skills in the future. It is also an important tool for learning. Therefore, reading can make a person better in every step of life. Like what Francis Bacon once said, “Reading makes a full man”. Challenges in reading comprehension is a widespread problem but it is not given much attention. Based on the findings, the study recommended that moral and financial support from the parents is effective in improving the reading comprehension of every student. This means that the parents’ guidance has a big role in the performance of the students inside the classroom. This study used the Descriptive method and Qualitative method design for the investigation. The survey used purposive sampling techniques to gather information about the challenges encountered in the reading comprehension level as viewed by Grade 8 students. The data gathered were carefully analyzed, tallied, and tabulated. The result obtained from the tabulation were statistically treated using ranking, frequency, percentage, and mean. The respondents belong to the age bracket 12-14 years old, both male and female, with a scholastic rating of 75-80. There are challenges encountered in reading comprehension such as skipping of words, no comprehension, and no interest in reading. These challenges affect their academic performance for reading as a tool for learning. The identified challenges were resolved to improve students' reading comprehension achievements. The findings demonstrated ways and means of improving reading comprehension by assigning remedial teachers to handle slow readers. These students should report regularly for their remedial lessons for familiarizing themselves with vocabularies. Likewise, they should be given a regular reading inventory to determine their progress. Teachers should be encouraged and aroused interest in students' reading capacities by providing enjoyable and creative reading materials. Furthermore, they should attend seminars and workshops and be given service credits and incentives for extra time devoted to reading.