Using an adapted version of reciprocal teaching to teach reading comprehension to low english proficiency learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the adaptations made to reciprocal teaching would be more effective than the traditional approach of pre, while and post reading activities when teaching reading comprehension. The study measured and compared the performance of two groups of Form Four students at a secondary school in Kuching, Sarawak. The respondents were given pre and post-tests on comprehension passages to find out whether there was an improvement in the reading comprehension of low English proficiency learners after being taught an adapted version of reciprocal teaching. The other pre and post-test on cloze passages was to find out whether there was an improvement in the general English language proficiency after being taught the adapted version of reciprocal teaching. In both cases, there was some improvement in the mean scores but the increase in scores was not statistically significant. Participants were also asked to write comments on student feedback forms. Comments from the participants were positive and encouraging. The results of the study suggest that the adapted version of reciprocal teaching can be used as a teaching strategy to improve reading comprehension, as there was some improvement in the mean score in the post-tests. Besides that, the students reported that the adapted version of reciprocal teaching gave confidence and the opportunity to cooperate with each other when working on the reading passages.