Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

READING COMPREHENSION

One of the most difficult human activities is reading comprehension. For

instance, in order to comprehend the underlying meaning of this statement, one must
visually process the words, recognize their phonological, orthographic, and semantic
representations, and connect the words using rules of syntax (Perfetti & Stafura, 2014).
But comprehending each sentence's fundamental meaning is insufficient. One must
combine that meaning across sentences, draw inferences from pertinent background
information, recognize the text's structure, and take into account the authors' intentions
(Graesser, 2015). As deep comprehension, learning, and other 21st century skills must
be mastered in order to master basic reading proficiency, students who experience such
difficulties are likely to struggle throughout their education and employment (Goldman &
Pellegrino, 2015; Graesser, 2015).

According to Jane Oakhill, Kate Cain, and Carsten Elbro's (2014) handbook of
Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension, reading comprehension is
crucial for success in school and the workplace as well as for understanding texts in
general. Because of email, text messages, and social networking websites, it is crucial
for our social lives as well. The complicated job of reading comprehension calls for the
coordination of a wide range of cognitive skills and talents. Reading comprehension is,
of course, inevitably reliant on at least adequate word reading: readers cannot
comprehend a text in its entirety if they are unable to recognize (decode) its words.
Additionally, effective language comprehension in general will be necessary for effective
reading comprehension. Understanding both the words themselves and the sentences
they create is necessary for this. But in order to understand something, a person must
usually combine the meaning of various words and sentences to form a coherent whole.
The creation of an appropriate mental model is required in order to do this. A mental
model is an interpretation of what has been read, heard, or seen by the comprehender.
It might, but is not required to, contain visuals.
 It is useful to differentiate between the two primary elements of reading: linguistic
understanding and decoding. The capacity to read individual words out of context is
referred to as word reading (or decoding). Our capacity to comprehend words, phrases,
and text is referred to as language comprehension. These are the two main ideas of
The Simple View of Reading, which was first put forth by Gough & Tunmer in 1986.
Word reading and language comprehension skills are necessary for proficient reading
(adapted from Scarborough, 2001). Some kids are classified as generally poor readers
because they struggle with the development of both word reading and language
comprehension. Although the specific combination and severity of the language
impairments may also result in lone problems with word decoding (Catts et al., 2012),
children with early language impairments have a higher risk than other children of
developing such general reading problems (Bishop, 2001).

As was previously said, it is conceivable to struggle with word decoding but not
comprehension, or to struggle with comprehension but not word decoding. A "double
dissociation" is the name given to this pattern. Different underlying language skills have
been found to predict word reading and comprehension in the primary school years,
both within an age group (Oakhill, Cain, & Bryan, 2003) and over time (Muter, Hulme,
Snowling, & Stevenson, 2004; Oakhill & Cain, 2012).

Decoding is more strongly related to differences between good and poor readers
in the early school years, whereas language comprehension is more important in
accounting for differences in reading ability later on (Gough, Hoover, & Peterson, 1996,
provides an overview). Studies have found that decoding and language comprehension
are differentially important for reading throughout the school years. Finally, certain
cognitive factors are selectively linked to decoding and language comprehension. For
instance, topic knowledge and vocabulary depth (i.e., how much is known about words)
are substantially related to language comprehension but only slightly so to word reading
(Gogh et al., 1996). On the other hand, as it is simpler to decode known words than
unknown ones, vocabulary size (or breadth) is also crucial for word decoding
(Ouellette, 2006).
READING COMPREHENSION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

According to Eshiwani (1982), a lack of English language proficiency among the

students in some primary schools may be the cause of their poor math performance.
Others have also looked into the connections between math and English literacy. Muola
(1990) conducted a study with eighth-grade students to ascertain the correlation
between success on an English language proficiency test and a mathematical
proficiency test. Another positive association amongst students in standard seven was
seen by Kapiyo (1982). He found that proficiency in the English language made up
0.836% of the overall range of CPE mathematics exams.

Both Munguti (1984) and Muhandik (1984) conducted polls of primary school
students and instructors. Both studies pointed to poor English language proficiency as a
factor in the poor mathematics performance. This was also true in a research conducted
by Mwangi (1983) among secondary school students. He discovered that one of the key
elements affecting a student's performance on math exams was their command of the
language.

Language ability is crucial to academic success, it's true. For example, someone
who does neither speak or read English may not be able to access the world's known
scientific and technological advancements because English is the primary language of
writing . In order to understand technology, science, and math concepts more fully, kids
must be skilled in English. (Racca & Lasaten, 2016) The researchers also talk about the
reading, math, and science courses' performance levels. Students that read with a high
degree of comprehension display exceptional proficiency in math and science studies.
PISA findings, which measure the academic performance of 15-year-old pupils, give
educators a broad overview of students' academic accomplishment in OECD nations. It
also encourages teachers to enhance several common practices in classrooms.

Last but not least, it has been discovered that student performance is
significantly influenced by the school and family's cooperation on reading
comprehension. When teachers and parents are involved in their children's education,
not only will pupils do better in class, but also people's spirits and motivation will rise.
Reading books, journals, and newspapers is undoubtedly an essential component of
intellectual engagement given that reading is one of the most effective learning tools.
Reading is similar to the "hungry mind" that is receptive to new ideas since it is not
restricted by subject matter (von Stumm et al., 2011, p. 583).

AREAS OF READING DIFFICULTIES

According to studies, reading-impaired adolescents miss more school than their

classmates do (Dahle, Knivsberg & Andreaseen, 2011; Goldston, Walsh & Mayfield,
2007). High absenteeism frequently results in dropping out of school, and increased
rates of suicide among young adults have been associated with this (Daniel et al.,
2006). The majority of middle and high school children who struggle with reading will
receive very little help from their teachers, despite the horrifying consequences
connected with teenagers who lack basic reading skills. Due to the intense pressure on
school districts to do well on state exams, schools place a greater emphasis on subject
matter, leaving struggling readers to understand challenging reading on their own.

There are various types of reading issues within the context of literacy teaching.
While it's critical to understand the various reading issues, it's also important to keep in
mind that the majority of adolescents who have trouble reading comprehension issues
and require instruction in using reading strategies are teenagers (Alvermann, 2005;
Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Pitcher, Martinez, Dicembre, Fewster & McCormick, 2010).

Decoding. The reader is frequently unable to sound out the word as it is written,
which falls under the first category of reading difficulties. Problems with Phonemic
awareness and phonological issues may be the cause of decoding (Christo & Savage &
Frederickson (2006), Davis (2008), Fletcher, Stuebing & Barth (2011), Savage &
Speece (2008), (2010) Ritchey & Silverman; (2010) Woore. Considering the serious
issues with the difficulties with decoding cannot be avoided since comprehension
problems result from the failure to recognize words quickly enough to generate
meaning. It is impossible to put the same amount of effort into decoding and
comprehension at the same time when reading (Gentry, 2006; Raskinski, 2003;
Tompkins, 2009). Therefore, automatic word recognition is necessary for proficient
reading. Chunking, or breaking up lengthy words into smaller parts, is one method for
overcoming decoding challenges (Beers, 2003; Gentry, 2006; Gray, 2004).

Comprehension. The reader can phonetically decipher the words offered, but is
unable to give them meaning (Bomer, 2006; Fagella-Luby & Deshler, 2008; Graves &
Liang, 2008; McNamara, O'Reilly, Best & Oruzu, 2006). This is known as a
comprehension problem. Students that struggle with comprehension are frequently
dependent readers who rely on other people's interpretations to help them understand a
text. Adolescent readers who struggle must be given the chance to develop their
reading independence. These readers will advance to independence once their
teachers have given them the tools to extract their own meanings from texts.

Fluency. Speaking of interventions with less of a focus on phoneme and text

level decoding, reading comprehension interventions offer "specific procedures that
guide students to become aware of how well they are comprehending as they attempt to
read" (National Reading Panel, 2000, pp. 251-252). Fluency interventions target " the
ability to read with speed and fluency " (Therrien, 2004, p. 252) and typically involve
repeated reading, tutoring, or peer-reading activities. Reflection, prior knowledge,
question creation, visual cues, identifying themes, inferential thinking, summarizing, and
story structure are typical tasks in reading comprehension treatments (Suggate, 2010).

According to studies by Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes, and Moody (2000), the

National Early Literacy Panel (2008), the National Reading Panel (2000), Suggate
(2010), Swanson et al. (1999), and Talbott et al. (1994), such comprehension
treatments have also been shown to positively correspond to intervention outcomes.
The majority of the time, comprehension interventions are given to older students who
can already decode; however, Reading Recovery (Center, Wheldall, Freeman, Outhred,
& McNaught, 1995) and other whole-language-based interventions are a notable
exception. These interventions emphasize training methods for determining the
meaning of words and sentences as well as for word decoding based on context. These
early comprehension therapies also have the sound-to-spelling feature. (Buckingham,
Wheldall, & Beaman, 2012; Tunmer, Chapman, & Prochnow, 2004) Instruction is either
completely absent or provided incidentally.

Engaging Struggling Adolescent Readers to Develop Reading Skills About 25%

of eighth graders in the United States score below basic on national reading
examinations (NCES, 2015), and they have difficulty meeting the reading requirements
of secondary school. Expectations that they summarize textbook passages, interpret
words in light of context, and draw conclusions from the material provide a challenge to
them. Gaps in decoding and fluency compromise fundamental understanding for many
teenagers who struggle with reading (Catts, Compton, Tomblin, & Bridges, 2012;
Schatschneider, Fletcher, Francis, Carlson, & Foorman, 2004; Verhoeven & van
Leeuwe, 2008).

READING COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

The ability to read well is one that students should have. Students read literature
for a variety of reasons, from learning to amusement. It benefits EFL students to be
knowledgeable about the disciplines that make up their degrees and to advance their
language skills. Reading is essential for passing all university courses, according to Kim
and Anderson (2011) and Salehi, Lari, and Rezanejad (2014). Even though EFL
students are fluent in their native tongue, they frequently struggle to understand texts.
As a result, it may be said that a few things affect how well students can read and
comprehend.

Reading comprehension can be greatly enhanced by using reading strategies

when learning a language (Anderson, 2003; Cohen, 1998). The application of readers'
reading methods is related to their language proficiency (Hong-Nam & Leavell, 2006;
Shen, 2003; Wharton, 2000; Yang, 2002). According to these studies, highly proficient
readers attempt to employ global strategies to comprehend a text (Kletzien, 1991;
Zhang & Wu, 2009). Low-skilled readers attempt to interpret a book using specific
methods that are counterproductive (Gan, Humphreys, & Hamp-Lyons, 2004; Zhang &
Wu, 2009).

Finding better approaches to help learners improve their reading comprehension

requires understanding the complicated process of reading comprehension and all of its
components, processes, and influences. According to Meniado (2016) and Rumelhart
(1981), reading comprehension is an interactive process that involves extracting
meaning from a text. Meniado (2016) and Hermosa (2002) states that reading
comprehension is a succession of cognitive tasks that incorporates many different
aspects, such as the knowledge of words and their meanings, mindful responding, and
integration.

Baker and Brown (1984) defined reading strategies as purposeful and cognitive
actions that learners take when they read to assist them in making and keeping
meaning. According to Pressley (2006) and Trabasso and Bouchard (2002), reading
strategies are conscious behaviors that readers use before, during, and after reading to
get meaning from the text. They are particular learned procedures that are used by
readers to promote active, competent, and intentional reading.

Reading comprehension techniques are regarded as useful tools for improving

student comprehension, according to Block and Pressley (2002) and Keene and
Zimmerman (1997). Additionally, they are deliberate activities and plans that help
students improve and take charge of their text comprehension. Reading comprehension
techniques are deliberate plans that adept readers employ to comprehend a material,
claims Alder (2001). Reading strategies help students become active readers who have
control over their own comprehension.
 According to Ikeda and Takeuchi (2006), one of the key elements in successful
language learning is the application of adequate EFL reading strategies. Reading
practices can help SL/FL learners learn languages more quickly and effectively,
according to Oxford and Crookall (1989). Using these techniques gives ESL/EFL
students effective writing examples, opportunities to introduce new subjects, prompts
conversation, and permits the study of linguistic elements like idioms, vocabulary, and
grammar (Richards & Renandya, 2002). ESL/EFL students can overcome their reading
challenges by using reading methods.

ESL reading techniques were further categorized into three groups in a study by
Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001): metacognitive, cognitive, and support. According to their
definitions, metacognitive strategies are deliberate, well-thought-out methods that
students use to manage or monitor their reading. When working directly with the text,
students used specific actions and procedures known as cognitive strategies. Using
tools to understand the material, such as a dictionary, taking notes, or underlining or
highlighting the text, are examples of support tactics. However, global, problem-solving,
and support were the three different categories that Poole (2010) claimed EFL reading
strategies fell under. Planning was included in global strategy. ways to manage
comprehension while reading. Reading challenging passages of a literature required
applying problem-solving skills. Support tactics included the use of equipment. various
methods for reading texts. Two categories of their ESL reading strategies were
renamed a year later by Sheorey and Mokhtari (2002). Global metacognitive methods
were changed from Problem-solving reading strategies replaced the terms reading
strategies and cognitive strategies.

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