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STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF READING ANXIETY AND READING

COMPREHENSION

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented to the Faculty of College of Teacher Education

J.H CERILLES STATE COLLEGE
Mati, San Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
(English)

PADERANGA, SHINE JEA S.

DALIAP, REYNALYN S.
FRANCISCO, DONALD JR. G.

December 2023
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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Reading is one of the English skills that are essential to be mastered by

students. Reading skills are necessary for students to acquire knowledge and new

information. According to Brown, reading is the most essential skill in the

educational context, as it can be assessed for students’ general language ability.

Reading comprehension is one aspect of language skills that must be mastered by

the student.

Anxiety can be observed in everyday scenarios such as riding a

rollercoaster or walking down a dark street, but it can also be exhibited in more

difficult endeavors such as learning a subject at school. In reality, academic

disciplines that require students to employ their cognitive abilities may generate

anxiety in them (Alico & Guimba, 2015).

Reading comprehension has long been a subject of many research and

academic inquiry. As students, navigation to the different texts can create many

gaps in the comprehension accompanied by the different factors in understanding

the meaning of the texts. The reading process can significantly influence the

ability to comprehend and retain information. In the world of education, proficient

reading skills in an equivalent of a successful development in reading. However, it

is inevitable to witness that there are few phenomena known as reading anxiety

that hinders the ability to engage with textual content effectively and efficiently.

In fact, there are still many problems in the learning process of reading

comprehension. Sometimes students are only required to read the text in their
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hearts and then answer questions related to the content of the text. It is a way that

does not involve the process of thinking for students, so that students are not

involved in the active reading process.

In response to the prevalent realities of our educational system, researchers

have embarked on this study to investigate the level of reading anxiety its

correction to the reading comprehension among and, as a result, education and

specialists are concerned that the world of worry should be researched and delved

into. Other effective aspects affecting students’ learning, such as attitude and

motivation, are also important, but anxiety has gained a lot of attention (Tran,

Moni, & Baldauf, 2012).

Theoretical Framework

This study draws from the theories of: Transactional Model of Stress and

Coping (Lazarus and Folkman,1984) which highlights that stress is a dynamic

process involving the individual’s perception and appraisal of a situation in the

context of reading students may experience anxiety as they interpret ad evaluate

the demands of reading task. This model allows to us to explore how students

appraise reading situations and cope with the comprehension difficulties.

Cognitive Appraisal Theory:

Building on the Transactional Model, Smith and Lazarus Cognitive

Appraisal Theory emphasizes the Cognitive Process involved in stress perception.

In the realm of reading, student’s appraisal of their own reading abilities and the

perceived difficulty of text contribute to the experience of reading Anxiety. This

theory aids in understanding how student’s cognitive appraisal influence their

emotional responses to reading task.

Cognitive load theory:

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Cognitive load theory is an instructional theory based on our knowledge

of human cognition (Sweller, Ayres & Kalyuga, 2011). Since its inception in the

1980 s (e.g., Sweller, 1988), the theory has used aspects of human cognitive

architecture to generate experimental, instructional effects. These effects are

demonstrated when novel instructional procedures are compared with more

traditional procedures as part of a randomized, controlled experiment. If the novel

procedure facilitates learning, based on test performance, a new effect may have

been demonstrated, an effect generated by our knowledge of human cognition.

The new instructional procedures that follow from the effect become candidates

for relevant professionals such as instructional designers and teachers.

Interference theory:

The interference theory of forgetting posits that the time-related decay of

memories cannot explain all forgetting. Instead, forgetting is thought to be

predominantly due to other information in long-term memory interfering with our

ability to retrieve a memory. The concept that interference causes forgetting has a

long history (see McGaugh, 2000). However, it is only in recent decades,

following experimental work such as that by Baddeley and Hitch (1977), that this

theory has become the dominant explanation for everyday forgetting.

Interference-based forgetting can be categorized as being either retroactive

or proactive. Retroactive interference is a phenomenon that occurs when new

information impairs the ability to retrieve previously acquired memory traces (e.g.,

Baddeley and Dale, 1966). This is the opposite of proactive interference, where

previously acquired memory traces interfere with the ability to retrieve new
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information (e.g., Wickens et al., 1963). Following influential arguments by

Underwood (1957), proactive interference was thought to be the dominant cause

of forgetting for many years, and retroactive interference was discounted.

Schema Theory:

The schema theory provides a solution to the storage problem for motor

skills by postulating that the subject stores the relationship between actual

outcomes, sensory consequences, and initial conditions for the recognition schema,

and the relationship between actual outcomes, response specifications and initial

conditions for the recall schema. These values that form the relationship are only

stored briefly, however, and do not remain in memory except as they are needed

to update the schema rules after the movement is completed. There is evidence

from the pattern-recognition literature (e.g., Posner and Keele, 1970) that subjects

store an abstraction of the set of patterns observed (the schema) as well as the

individual patterns themselves, but the abstraction is retained more effectively

over time than are the individual patterns, avoiding the theoretical problem of

having all of the individual patterns being stored in permanent memory.

Integration and Hypotheses:

The interplay between the Transactional model and Cognitive Appraisal

Theory informs our hypotheses. We posit that students experiencing higher levels

of reading anxiety are likely to engage in less affective cognitive appraisals of

their reading abilities, leading to impaired reading comprehension. Conversely,

students with lower reading anxiety may demonstrate more adaptive cognitive

appraisals, positively influencing their comprehension skills.

Implications and Future Directions:

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Understanding the theoretical framework of students’ reading anxiety and

comprehension has implications for educators and policy makers. Interventions

design to alleviate reading anxiety and promote positive cognitive appraisals may

enhance students’ reading comprehension outcomes. Further research is needed to

explore the nuanced interactions between cognitive appraisals, emotions response,

and comprehension in diverse educational settings.

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework of this study is presented in the conceptual

schema illustrated below. The study focused on the level of reading anxiety and its

relationship to reading comprehension among Grade-9 students at Lapuyan

National High School. The first box is the factors of reading anxiety, namely: 1)

productive skills (speaking and writing), and 2) receptive skills (listening and

reading). The second box is the level of students’ comprehension, namely: 1)

literal level, 2) inferential level, and 3) critical/evaluative level derived based on

the findings of the study.

Levels of Reading Anxiety

 Top-Down
Reading
Anxiety
 Bottom-Up
Reading
Anxiety Reading
 Classroom Comprehension
Reading
Anxiety
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Figure 1. Schematic Diagram

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine what the relationship is between students

reading anxiety and reading comprehension among all the grade ten

students enrolled in Lapuyan National High School in Barangay

Poblacion, Lapuyan, in the second quarter of the school year 2024.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following problems:

1. What is the level of grade-9 students reading anxiety in terms

of:

 Top-Down Reading Anxiety

 Bottom-Up Reading Anxiety

 Classroom Reading Anxiety

2. What is the level of grade-9 students reading comprehension?

3. Is there a significant relationship between reading anxiety and

reading comprehension among the grade-9 students?

Significance of the Study

The result of this study will provide valuable information to the following:

For the students, this study will assess their level of reading anxiety and

their level of reading comprehension and what the effects of the relationship are at

each level. Studying reading anxiety and reading comprehension for students is

important because it can help them overcome their anxiety and improve their

reading skills. This can lead to a number of positive outcomes, such as increased

civic engagement, improved economic productivity, and a more informed

decision-making process.
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For the teachers, this study will provide information and guide them to

know what the Relationship is between students reading anxiety and reading

comprehension. English teachers will learn more about their students, which will

help them understand the factors that contribute to these issues and develop

appropriate interventions. It also helps them identify and implement effective

strategies for teaching reading comprehension, create a classroom environment

that is conducive to reading, assess student reading comprehension progress, and

communicate effectively with parents about their students’ reading development.

For the school administration, this study may encourage them to improve

their school’s programs and activities based on the level of reading anxiety and

reading comprehension. This study allows them to identify and address reading

anxiety, promote effective reading comprehension instruction, improve overall

academic outcomes, promote literacy and lifelong learning, and enhance school

reputation and community engagement.

For the parents, through the result of this study they can feel the

importance of knowing those level of the reading anxiety and reading

comprehension, help their children develop reading comprehension skills by

understanding the factors that affect reading comprehension, identifying early

signs of reading anxiety, advocating for their child’s needs, and supporting their

child at home.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study will mainly focus on all ten students enrolled in Lapuyan

National High School, Barangay Poblacion, Lapuyan, in the second quarter of the

school year 2024-2025.

Definition of Terms
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The following terms are defined theoretically and operationally for a clear

understanding of the study.

Bottom-up reading anxiety. Refers to learner`s apprehension discomfort

specifically related to decoding and understanding the basic elements of written

language, such as individuals words, grammar, and syntax. It often involves

challenges with fundamental reading skills, making it difficult for students to

comprehend and process written information at a fundamental level.

Bottom-up reading comprehension. It involves starting with the analysis

of individual words, phrases, and sentences to understand the overall meaning of a

text. Students focus on decoding words, identifying grammatical structures, and

comprehending smaller units of language before considering the broader context.

This approach emphasizes building foundation skills to enhance overall reading

comprehension.

Classroom Reading Comprehension-involves two important processes:

top-down reading comprehension and bottom-up reading comprehension Top-

down reading comprehension refers to the process of using background

knowledge, context, and prior experiences to understand and interpret the meaning

of a text. It involves making predictions, activating prior knowledge, and using

context clues to comprehend the overall message and main ideas of the text. On

the other hand, bottom-up reading comprehension focuses on decoding individual

words, phrases, and sentences to understand the meaning of the text. It involves

analyzing the text at the word level, recognizing letters, sounds, and grammar

rules to piece together the meaning of the text. Both top-down and bottom-up

reading comprehension strategies are important for effective understanding and

interpretation of texts in the classroom. By combining these two processes,

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readers can engage in a holistic approach to comprehend and make meaning from

the text they are reading.

Critical level. The Critical Level: This level is about analyzing or

synthesizing information and applying it to other information. Understandings at

the literal and interpretive levels are combined, reorganized and restructured at the

critical level to express opinions, draw new insights and develop fresh ideas.

Guiding students through the applied level shows them how to synthesize

information, to read between the lines and to develop a deeper understanding of

the concepts, principles, and implications presented in the text.

Inferential level. The Inferential Level: It involves determining what the

text means. Determining inferential meaning requires you to think about the text

and draw a conclusion, the focus shifts to reading between the lines, looking at

what is implied by the material under study. It requires students to combine pieces

of information in order to make inferences about the author’s intent and message.

Guiding students to recognize these perceived relationships promotes

understanding and decreases the risk of being overwhelmed by the complexities of

the text being view, heard or read.

Literal level. The Literal Level: It is simply what the text says and what

actually happens in the story. This is a very important level of understanding

because it provides the foundation for more advanced comprehension. It focuses

on reading the passages, hearing the words or viewing the images. It involves

identifying the important and essential information. With guidance, students can

distinguish between the important and less important ideas.

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Productive skills. Productive skills, speaking and writing, are defined by

Jaramillo and Medina (2011) as an important form of expression used to persuade

or convince other people as well as to share ideas and feelings.

Reading anxiety. Anxiety is a psychological phenomenon that is often

defined as a feeling of fear, apprehension, worry, and tension. Anxiety arises itself

in the human body as a reaction to a certain situation. This could begin at a young

age or later in life. Horwitz et al. define anxiety as the subjective feeling of

tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the

autonomic nervous system. Anxiety develops into the most general emotional

dilemma of a person's feelings. Horwitz, Saito & Garza, stated that reading

anxiety is the anxiety aroused during the process of reading second-language texts

Students struggle to comprehend unfamiliar scripts, writing systems, and cultural

materials when they read second language texts. If students struggle to understand

the information of the texts, they may become frustrated and anxious while

reading. Furthermore, just like speaking, the student will feel anxious when

interacting with others.

Reading comprehension. Reading comprehension, according to Brassell

and Rasinski, is the ability to take information from written text and to

demonstrate knowledge or understanding of that information. When a reader

understands the information offered in written text, this is known as

comprehension. Anderson states that reading is an essential skill for students to

have a good command of a second or foreign language. He adds that reading is the

most important skill to be mastered to have more significant progress and attain

greater development in all academic areas. Through reading, people can gain a lot

of knowledge, information, pleasure, and problem solutions. Reading

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comprehension, according to Brassell and Rasinski, is the ability to take

information from written text and to demonstrate knowledge or understanding of

that information. When a reader understands the information offered in written

text, this is known as comprehension.

Receptive skills. Receptive skills comprise silent reading and following the

media. Productive skills consist of oral presentations, written studies and reports.

In addition, they also consist of social values (i.e. making judgments of what has

been submitted in writing or of fluency in speaking and delivering oral

presentations).

Top-down reading comprehension. Refers to a cognitive approach refers

to a cognitive approach where students use their prior knowledge and overall

understanding to grasp the meaning off the text. Instead of focusing solely on

decoding individual words, students employ the background knowledge, context

clues, and reasoning skills to comprehend from a holistic perspective.

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter includes the ideas, published study, generalization or

conclusions, methodologies and others. Those that were included in this chapter

help in familiarizing information that is relevant and similar to the present study.

1.1 Reading Anxiety

Reading anxiety is a specific phobia, situational type, toward the act of reading,

it has been defined as an unpleasant emotional reaction toward reading that results

when the student’s intellectual drives of curiosity, aggression and independence

become associated either singularly or in combination with significant other

disapproval and the reading process. Significant other is defined as a person or

persons who have a significant emotional influence over the student’s behavior or

belief system.

Ghonsooly and Loghmani,[10] stated that two aspects of foreign language

reading can be considered as potential sources of anxiety: (a) unfamiliar script and

writing system and (b) unfamiliar cultural material. “With respect to the

unfamiliar writing system, it seems likely that the less the learner can depend on

the reliability of a specific system of sound symbol correspondences, the more

anxiety he

or she would be expected to experience in the act of reading. In this case, the

reader would experience anxiety as soon as he or she attempts to decode the script

because the reader would immediately experience difficulty in processing the

text”. It can be imagined that learners feel anxious as soon as they start to extract

meaning from the foreign language words, which are written in exotic symbols.
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Guimba and Alico [11] stated that there are three reading anxiety categories

which are:

1) Top-Down Reading Anxiety

The majority of students are highly anxious most especially when they: (a)

cannot recognize minor ideas (details) of the text, (b) cannot get the gist of the text,

and (c) cannot spot the main idea of a certain paragraph. These findings mean that

the students‟ high reading anxiety is caused by the lack of understanding and

synthesizing details and main ideas of the text.

2) Bottom-Up Reading Anxiety

In bottom-up reading, students in average are highly anxious when they:

(a) ,cannot figure out the meaning of a word that they feel they have seen before,

(b) encounter a lot of words whose meanings are unclear, and (c) find it difficult

to pronounce unknown words. At this juncture, vocabulary is clearly the issue.

Together with details, knowledge of word meanings is a basic necessity in reading

comprehension.

3) Classroom Reading Anxiety

As to classroom reading, students disclosed that they are highly anxious when

the teacher corrects their pronunciation or translation mistakes. Clearly, for them,

correcting mistakes is the most anxiety inducing situation inside the classroom.

1.2 Level of Anxiety

Anxiety has four levels: mild, moderate, severe, and panic. Each level causes

both physiologic and emotional changes in the person. Mild anxiety is a sensation

that something is different and warrants special attention. Sensory stimulation

increases and helps the person focus attention to learn, solve problems, think, act,

feel, and protect himself or herself. Moderate anxiety is the disturbing feeling that
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something is definitely wrong; the person becomes nervous or agitated. As the

person progresses to severe anxiety and panic, more primitive survival skills take

over, defensive responses ensue, and cognitive skills decrease significantly.

1) Mild anxiety consists of (a) Wide perceptual field, (b) Sharpened senses, (c)

Increased motivation, (d) Effective problem solving, (e) Increase learning ability,

and (f) Irritability.

2) Moderate anxiety consists of (a) Perceptual field narrowed to immediate

task, (b) Selectively attentive, (c) Cannot connect though or events independently,

and (d) Increase use of automatism.

3) Severe anxiety consists of (a) Perceptual field reduced to one detail or

scattered details, (b) Cannot complete tasks, (c) Cannot solve problems or learn

effectively, (d) Behavior geared toward anxiety relief and is usually in effective,

(e) Doesn’t respond to redirection, feels, awe, dread, or honor, (f) Cries, and (g)

Ritualistic behaviors.

4) Panic consists of (a) Perceptual field reduced to focus on self, (b) Cannot

process any environment stimuli, (c) Distorted perceptions, (d) Loss of rational

thought, (e) Does not recognize potential danger, (f) Can’t communicate verbally,

(g) Possible delusions and hallucination, and (h) May be suicidal.

1.3 The Cause of Anxiety

In Living with Anxiety, the role and impact of anxiety in our lives, anxiety is

therefore one of a range of emotions that serves the positive function of alerting us

to things we might need to worry about: things that are potentially harmful.

Nearly half of the people who said they feel anxious in their everyday life said

that financial issues are a cause of anxiety, but this is less likely to be so far older

people (those over 55 years).

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1) Woman and older people are more likely to feel anxious about the welfare

of loved ones.

2) Four in every ten people who are currently employed said they experience

anxiety about issues to do with them work.

3) Around one-fifth of people who are anxious have a fear of unemployment.

The fundamental principle of the schema theory assumes that written text does

not carry meaning by itself. Rather, a text only provides directions for readers as

to how they should retrieve or construct meaning from their own previously

acquired knowledge (An, 2013).

Reading comprehension operates in two directions, from bottom up to the top

and

from the top down to the bottom of the hierarchy. Bottom-up processing is

activated by specific data from the text, while top-down processing starts with

general to confirm these predictions. These two kinds of processing are occurring

simultaneously and interactively, which adds to the concept of interaction or

comprehension between bottom-up and top-down processes (Carrel and Eiserhold,

1983. Cited in An, 2013).

In the handbook of Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension by

Jane Oakhill, Kate Cain and Carsten Elbro (2014), reading comprehension is

important, not just for understanding text, but for broader learning, success in

education, and employment. It is even important for our social lives, because of

email, text, and social networking sites. Reading comprehension is a complex task,

which requires the orchestration of many different cognitive skills and abilities. Of

course, reading comprehension is necessarily dependent on at least adequate word

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reading: readers cannot understand a whole text if they cannot identify (decode)

the words in that text.

Reading comprehension is the ability to process information that we have read

and to understand its meaning.

In the area of English reading, there are many researches that focus on reading

comprehension. The following are some of the researches that related to the

writer’s topics. The writer tries to relate the students’ difficulty in doing English

reading comprehension test and whether there are some similar problems or not in

some researches that have already done from these studies.

For some students, it is difficult to comprehend the text because they have

problem in vocabulary. Garcia, Ramayan, Sepe and Silor (2014) analyzed

students’ difficulty in reading. They found that students had difficulties in

understanding difficult words because they forgot the vocabulary words that they

learnt. Zuhra (2015) revealed in his research that students faced reading

comprehension problem because they did not know the meaning of many words.

In addition, in order to know the content, we need to know the words, sentence

and pronouns which is used in the text. Students’ lack vocabulary make them hard

to participate actively in the classroom which makes another problem in teaching

and learning. Which means that lack of vocabulary is not only the problem for

reading skill, but also in writing, speaking and listening. It showed from Tartila et

al (2013) that student’s lack of vocabulary makes teacher hard to ask the students’

comprehension of the text in order to enable them in analyzing the certain

characteristics of focused genre in the text. It makes students cannot participate

the English materials totally.

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The description of Advanced Reading Comprehension Class is this course

provides the development of higher-level thinking, critical literacy, cognitive

strategies (predicting, questioning, confirming, summarizing, inferring) with

emphasis on meaning making with various texts.

Reading anxiety is a specific phobia that can occur when students associate

reading with disapproval or negative emotions from significant others. Foreign

language reading, especially with unfamiliar scripts and cultural material, can

contribute to anxiety. Three categories of reading anxiety include top-down

reading anxiety, bottom-up reading anxiety, and classroom reading anxiety.

Anxiety levels can range from mild to panic, each causing physiological and

emotional changes. The causes of anxiety can vary, including financial issues,

concerns for loved ones, and work-related stress. Reading comprehension operates

through bottom-up and top-down processing, with three levels of comprehension:

literal, inferential, and critical. Vocabulary knowledge is crucial for reading

comprehension, and difficulties in vocabulary can hinder understanding.

Advanced Reading Comprehension classes focus on higher-level thinking, critical

literacy, and cognitive strategies.

A type of anxiety can occur in a variety of conditions. (Dixon 2019) in his book

"Understanding Anxiety Problems," there are a variety of symptoms of anxiety in

our body, mind, and actions that display signs of anxiety. The signs are as follows:

1. body

A person who is afraid of something is usually visible through the signals.

Breathing faster, heartbeat faster, feeling faint and light-headed, getting nerveous,

feeling sick and in need of a toilet, mouth becoming dry and difficult to breathe,

feeling more sweat, and feeling "jittery" or "jumpy" are some of the symptoms.
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2. Mind

If someone suffers from anxiety and is afraid, they can convince themselves that

they are physically ill, that they have a heart attack or stroke or that they are

insane, believe that others are staring at them, fear that they will lose control and

make a fool of themselves in front of others, and feel compelled to flee to a safe

location.

Reading is an interaction not only between the reader and the author's thoughts,

but it is also an interaction between the reader and the shared knowledge of

cultural history in (Ahmad et al. 2013). As a result, readers are aimed to deliver

the author's intended meaning by connecting what they read to prior knowledge.

Learners can decode words and make sense of a sentence at some point during the

reading process. However, due to a lack of knowledge of the cultural material

underlying the text, the reader would be unable to comprehend the entire text.

There were three findings from the study. First, a comparison of FLRAS and

FLCAS results revealed that students had comparable levels of foreign language

reading anxiety (per item mean = 2.66) and foreign language classroom anxiety

(per item mean = 2.69). Some of the students were anxious about reading Chinese.

Unfamiliar scripts, unfamiliar reading subjects, and general concern about reading

effects were major sources of foreign language reading anxiety. Second, an

examination of the 2*2*2 ANOVA results revealed that the course level had a

significant effect on the FLRAS score, with a small to medium effect size

(Cohen's d = 0.346). Intermediate students had significantly higher levels of

reading anxiety than elementary students. The effect of 'having been to China' was

not statistically significant (p = 0.066) and had a small effect size (Cohen's d =

0.252). Those who had visited China had less read anxiety than those who had not
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visited China. The gender effect has not been found to be significant. Third, the

correlation between anxiety and performance reading in a foreign language

revealed a significant median negative correlation between these two variables.

Students who read with less language anxiety performed better in a foreign

language.

The indicator of anxiety consist of physical, behaviorial, and cognitive aspects,

which are described as follows:

1. Physical anxiety, including: restlessness, nervousness, hands or

memberstrembling body, profuse sweating, sweaty palms, dizziness or fainting,

dry mouth and throat, difficulty breathing, difficulty speaking, shortness of breath,

racing heart or racing, trembling voice, cold fingers or limbs, neck or stiff back,

feeling sensitive or "irritable", diarrhea, chills, cold and clammy hands, flushed

face, frequent urination, and an upset stomach or nausea.

2. Behaviorial anxiety, including: avoidance behavior, and dependent behavior,

shaken behavior. Cognitive anxiety, including: worrying about something, feeling

disturbed by fear or appreciation of something that happens in the future, belief

that something terrible will happen soon without any clear explanation, fixated on

bodily sensations, very alert to bodily sensations, feeling threatened by people or

events that normally receive little or no attention, fear of losing control, fear of

inability to solve problems, thinking that the world is collapsing, thinking that

everything is out of control, thinking that everything is so confusing without can

be overcome, worry about trivial things, think about the same annoying things

over and over again, think that you have to get away from the crowd; or else

fainting, the mind will feel confused or confused, unable to get rid of disturbed

thoughts, thinking will soon die; even if the doctor found nothing medically
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wrong, worried that he would be left alone, had difficulty concentrating or

focusing his mind.

Anxiety can be seen from a physical point of view, physical aspects of anxiety

have been described in the above explanation. Behavioral anxiety is an aspect of

anxiety related to behavior. Meanwhile, cognitive anxiety aspects are aspects

related to a person's thoughts. Of the three aspects described above, a person may

experience all three aspects of anxiety at once, but there are also only one or two

of the three.

The results of previous relevant studies that are in accordance with this research

are the research conducted by:

Hapri Shinta Nirmala (2013). Reading Anxiety of Grade Eight Students in Taman

Dewasa Jetis Junior High School. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study

Program Sanata Dharma University. This thesis studied and discussed the reading

anxiety of grade eight students in Taman Dewasa Jetis Junior High School. This

study was conducted based on an idea about whether the grade eight students in

Taman Dewasa Jetis Junior High School were able to deal with foreign language

anxiety. This study was addressed to answer two research questions, namely

1)What are the levels of reading anxiety experienced by grade eight students in

Taman Dewasa Jetis Junior High School? 2) What is the correlation between

students‟ reading anxiety and students‟ English competence?

The research findings revealed that all grade eight students in Taman Dewasa Jetis

Junior High School were moderately anxious in reading English. Furthermore, the

correlation between students‟ reading anxiety and students‟ English competence

was in negative correlation. The finding showed that the r value was -0.227. The

significance correlation between students‟ reading anxiety and students‟ English

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competence was small or [Link] findings revealed that as the students‟ anxiety

increases, the students‟ English competence decreases. Thus, the reading anxiety

influences students‟ English competence, while the significance was weak.

Considering the existence of the anxiety of grade eight students in Taman Dewasa

Jetis Junior High School, English teachers should give the students such relevant

and interesting topics for the classroom reading activities. This activity could

encourage students to build their spirit and interest in reading. Teacher should be

able to design lessons, prepare activities and learning materials that stimulate

students‟ curiosity. Therefore, such activities were able to overcome students‟

reading anxiety.

Thus, this study aims to find the levels of reading anxiety among the Grade 9

students of Lapuyan National High School and to know their reading

comprehension skills.
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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the steps on how the study will be performed. It

deals with the research procedures used in this study.

Research Design

This study is a quantitative research design in which the researchers will

administer questionnaires adapted from the book Grade 9 Skill Builders for

Efficient Reading from the Authors of Anaceli M. Villamin, PhD, Evelyn S.

Salazar, Wilhelmina G. Borjal, and James W. Pecaña, Reading Anxiety studied by

Nurul Murtadlo, Nunung Mardianti and Primardiana Wijayati (2020) to quantify

the data. The researchers of this study aim to know how the factors affect the

students’ use of reading anxiety and reading comprehension in Grade 9 students

enrolled at Lapuyan National High School. This study is an observational study in

which the researchers will observe the effect of a risk factor without trying to

change who is or isn’t exposed to it.

Research Environment

This study will be conducted at Lapuyan National High School. The

school is located in Poblacion, Lapuyan Zamboanga Del Sur. This state High

School is the smallest yet the fastest growing state High School in its years of

operation.

Sampling Design

The researchers will choose all the respondents of the study, each

individual is chosen entirely by chance and each member of the population has an

equal chance of being included in the sample. The respondents are the grade ten
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students enrolled in the Lapuyan National High School – Poblacion,Lapuyanl for

the 2nd quarter of the school year 2024.

Research Respondents

The respondents of this study will be Grade 9 students enrolled at Lapuyan

National High School for the 2nd quarter of the year 2024. The researchers limit

only the number of respondents in a total of 40. The respondents consisted largely

of both male and female with an average age of 16-18 and most of the grade 9

students has a reading anxiety and a problem in reading comprehension.

Research Instrument

In gathering quantitative data, an adapted questionnaire will be used from

the study of Mardianti, Wijayati, and Murtadho (2021) in analyzing and

interpreting the relationship affecting the student’s reading anxiety and reading

comprehension. The research instrument is composed of two parts, namely, the

level of reading anxiety of the students and the level of reading comprehension

questionnaire. The scale consists of five answer options: (5) strongly agree, (4)

disagree, (3) neutral, (2) agree, and (1) strongly agree.

Data Gathering Procedures

The collection of data will start by asking permission from the school

adviser to allow the researchers to conduct the study in their respective

departments. This will be done through a formal letter that will be handed to them.

After the go signal, the researchers will give the survey questionnaire to the grade

9 students of the school. After the respondents have finally finished answering the

given survey questionnaire, it will be collected by the researchers, and tabulation,

computation, and analysis of the data will follow.

 25

Statistical Process

The analysis tool that will be used in analyzing the collected data will be

based on the suggestions of the assigned statistician of this study.

 26

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insights from neuroscience,” Early Child. Educ. 1, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 431-

435, 2010, doi: 10.1007/s10643-010-0381-5.

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[Online].

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Its Effect on Reading Comprehension

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Strategy Awareness of ESL and EFL Learners,” CATESOL J., vol. 16, no.

1, pp. 11–28, 2004.

 31

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anxiety,” Mod. Lang. J., vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 202–218, 1999,

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Beyond Ordinary Understanding to Deep

Comprehension, Grades K-6. Shell Education,

 32

Research Instrument:

Reading Anxiety and Reading Comprehension Questionnaires

Please answer the following questions with a Likert scale.

(5 strongly agree 4 Agree 3 Moderate 2 Disagree 1 strongly disagree)

(Top-down Reading Anxiety)

1. Unfamiliar text title

2. The ideas in the text are culturally unclear

3. Lack of previous knowledge about the ideas in the text.

4. Cannot get the point of the text although no unfamiliar

vocabulary and grammar.

5. Cannot recognize the details

(Bottom-up Reading Anxiety)

1. Cannot figure out meaning of unknown words.

2. Cannot figure out meaning of unknown words which have

been seen before.

3. Finding unfamiliar idioms.

4. Finding the word with multiple meaning.

5. Unable to find out word in a dictionary.

(Classroom Reading Anxiety)

1. Called by the instructor to read loud.

2. Asked to translate a piece of English text into Filipino.

3. Asked to answer comprehension questions.

4. The instructor chooses uninteresting text to read.

 33

5. The instructor directly corrected the pronunciation and

translation.

Multiple-choice (Reading Comprehension)

The following are parables that will asses students reading

[Link] this parable carefully for you to be able to

explain the hidden truth it tries to convey.

THE MAN WHO MADE BAD AXES -Nym Wales, “Fables and

Parables”

‘There was an enterprising Yankee in New England who loved his

family dearly and worked for them from dawn to dark. He saved every

penny for the future of his children and earned every dollar that he

possibly could. He earned a living by making axes in his own foundry, and

they became known as very good axes so good that the government gave

him contracts during the war. These axes, however, were not made

standard, for he wanted a larger profit so that he could help his son go to

college and then he could marry and start a family of own.

This son was the pride of the old man’s life, and when he

volunteered to join the fighting, it was a source of great anxiety. To save

his son’s life, the father would gladly have given his own, but he was too

old for the army.

The son went North in the winter but he did not become a hero and

never returned. He was found frozen to death with a note in his pocket. It

said: “Dear Father, my hands are almost too numb with cold to write. We
 34

are sitting in a snow bank, for we cannot chop wood to build a fire or a

shelter. The army axes we have been no good and break at the handle.”

“Later on, when the new settlers came, they remembered the story

and they named their town Badaxe.

Questions:

1. Put a check mark before each statement that proves the man loved

his family.

[Link] worked hard.

b. He saved money to educate his son.

[Link] made axes.

d. He had a son

2. Which of these is a wrong principle?

[Link] hard.

b. Love your family dearly

[Link] money any way you can.

d. Do the best you can.

3. An irony is something that happens contrary to what was expected.

Which of these is ironic?

[Link] son became a soldier.

b. The Yankee won the government contract for axes.

[Link] son froze to death.

d. His son died because the axes he supplied the government

were below standard.

4. What lesson did the man learn too late?

[Link] much love for family can be dangerous.

 35

b. Work hard so that you will grow rich.

[Link] money for the rainy days.

d. Dishonesty in your work does not pay.

5. What can readers learn from the story “The Man Who Made Bad

Axes”

a. The importance of innovation

b. The value of simplicity

c. The consequences of greed

d. The power of human relationships

6. What is the moral of the story “The Man Who Made Bad Axes”?

a. The importance of balancing progress with consequences

b. The dangers of greed and the power of innovation

c. The value of simplicity in a complex world

d. The importance of human relationships and community

7. Why did the Yankee work hard in his foundry?

a. For personal fame

b. To support his family

c. To impress the government

d. To start a college fund

8. What was the outcome of the son’s decision to join the fighting?

a. He became a hero

b. He returned safely

c. He froze to death

d. He won a medal

9. Why did the father want a larger profit from making axes?
 36

a. To buy a big house

b. To support the war effort

c. To help his son go to college

d. To travel the world

10. How did the son meet his unfortunate end?

a. In a battle

b. Frozen to death

c. From a broken axe

d. Due to illness

Read the biography of a Filipino artist and discover what events in his

life contributed to make him a truly great man.

A GREAT PAINTER

The twentieth century gave the Philippines a man whose canvasses

brought fame to his country. This man was Fernando C. Amorsolo, who

was born in Paco, Manila, on May 30, 1892, but spent his early years in

Daet, Camarines Sur. He began holding the brush, copying the figures in

the calendar adorning the sala of his home when he was five years old.

"His father died in 1903 and the family returned to Manila. At 13,

Amorsolo studied at the Liceo de Manila but left a year before his high

school graduation to enroll at the newly opened School of Fine Arts at the

University of the Philippines. After his graduation from U.P. in 1914,

Amorsolo was taken in as an instructor in fine arts and also joined the

Bureau of Public Works as a part-time draftsman. Later when he was

working as the chief artist of the Pacific Commercial Company, Enrique

Zobel saw and liked his work and sent him to Madrid to study in the
 37

famous Academia de San Fernando "Amorsolo returned to the Philippines

to teach a year later. In 1925, he held a one-man show at the Grand Central

Art Gallery in New York City. In 1931, three of his large panel paintings

were exhibited in the International Colonial Exposition in Paris Amorsolo

was director of the U. P. School of Fine Arts when his entry. Noonday

Meal of Rice Workers, won the first prize at the New York World's Fair in

1939. This was significant since artists representing 79 countries wore

participants in the contest. At 60, he retired as director to devote his full

time to painting. Today, Amorsolo's works are widely sought-after by art

lovers and collectors. These works consist of portraits, landscapes,

historical pan- a. Da b. d. oramas, and still life. His paintings are currently

on display in Malacañang, public buildings, and in the homes of the rich.

Because Amorsolo's paintings stand out as valid interpretation of

Philippine life, his name has become a byword in Philippine art.

WORDBUILDER

Choose a word or phrase that has the same meaning as, or a similar meaning

to each key word below. The paragraph number where the word or phrase

appears is in the parenthesis.

1. picture (1) ______

2. well-known (1)______

3. decorating (1)______

4. continued (4) 60 ______

5. large, extended pictures (6) ______

6. person or thing regarded as a perfect example (7).______

 38

POWERPOINT

A. Circle the letter of your answer.

1. What was Amorsolo famous for?

a. his paintings

b. the canvas he sold.

c. the canvas he bought.

d. the pictures he copied.

2. Who gave him a scholarship to study in Madrid?

a. his father

b. The Pacific Commercial Company

c. the Philippine government

d. Enrique Zobel

3. Which of his paintings won first prize at the New York World Fair in 1939?

a. Portrait of an American Girl

b. Noonday Meal of Rice Workers

c. Harvesting Rice

d. Lavanderas

4. Where did Amorsolo first study art?

a. Daet, Camarines Sur

b. Liceo de Manila

c. U. P. School of Fine Arts

d. Academia de San Fernando

5. If Amorsolo were alive today, he would be

a. more than 200 years old.

 39

c. about 80 years old.

b. more than a hundred years old.

d. less than 90 years old.

6. Amorsolo's name has become synonymous with art because his paintings

a. stand out as a valid interpretation of Philippine art.

b. were exhibited at the International Colonial Exposition in Paris.

c. were exhibited at a one-man show in New York.

d. are collected by art lovers and collectors.

Drawing Conclusions

The following selections are taken from well-known literary pieces.

Read each piece of information carefully. Then complete the

concluding statement by choosing one of the options offered.

Stripe asked a fellow crawler.

"Do you know what's happening?"

"I just arrived myself,"said the other. Nobody has time to explain; they're

so busy trying to get wherever they're going up there."

"But what's at the top?" continued Stripe.

"No one knows that either but it must be awfully good because

everybody's rushing there. Goodbye: I've no more time

!" He plunged into the pile.

-Trina Paulus, "Hope for the Flowers"

 40

1. Stripe is ______

a. desperate

b. agitated

c. lonely

d. Careless

Yellow told herself:

"What if Stripe comes back and I'm not there? What if he doesn't recognize my
new self? Suppose he decides to stay as a caterpillar?"

"At least we can do something as caterpillars we can crawl and eat. We can love
in some way. How can two cocoons get fogether at all? How awful to get stuck in
a cocoon!

"How could she risk the only life she knew when it seemed so unlikely she could
ever be a glorious-winged creature?
-Trina Paulus, "Hope for the Flowers"

2. Yellow was _____

a. tormented
b. jealous
c. shocked
d. Vengeful

A circling movement developed into a chant. While Roger minded the terror of
the pig, the littluns ran and jumped on the outside of the circle. Piggy and Ralph,
under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this
demented but partly secured society. They were glad to touch the brown backs
of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable.
"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"
The movement became regular while the chant lost its superficial excitement
and began to beat like a steady pulse.
-William Gooding, "Lord of the Flies"
 41

3. What is the atmosphere in the selection?

a. sorrowful
b. tragic
c. horrible
d. Ominous

The officer grinned cheerfully at Ralph.

"We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?"
Ralph nodded.
The officer inspected the little scarecrow in front of him The kid needed a bath, a
haircut, a nose-wipe, and a good deal of ointment.
"Nobody killed, I hope? Any bodies?"
"Only two. And they're gone."
The officer leaned down and looked closely at Ralph. "Two? Killed?"
-William Gooding, "Lord of the Flies"

4. Ralph was_____
a. confused
b. sad
c. lying
d. Terrified

E
Please realize that our sadness in no way diminishes our love and respect for you.
But quite frankly, we are worried that this decision will propel you into a world
that is opposite of everything you seem to stand for a world that seems an
ultimate destruction. We are worried about AIDS, about your safety, about your
growing old... about wanting a family. Adam, what about children?
-Tony Ferrante & Paulette Jacobson,
"Letters from the Closet"

5. The writer in the selection is ______

a. sympathetic
b. vengeful
c. furious
d. indifferent