The Effect of Reading Strategy Training on Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance

Abstract

The study was intended to investigate the effect of reading strategy training on students’ reading comprehension performance. To attain this objective, a quasi-experimental research design with quantitative approach was used. Participants in this study were 84 Ambo University first-year students. These participants were categorized into the treatment group (TG) and control group (CG). Reading comprehension tests were given to participants in both groups before and after the training to examine whether their reading comprehension performance was significantly different or not. Using the independent samples t-test and SPSS version 25, the reading comprehension test results were quantitatively calculated. The pre-test results showed that there was no statistically significant mean difference in reading comprehension performance between the TG (M = 45.52, SD = 16.75) and the CG (M = 47.31, SD = 17.17). t (82) = -.482, P=.631 (two-tailed) in which p>.05. In the post-test results, the independent t-test revealed a statistically significant mean difference in reading comprehension test performance between the TG (M = 59.10, SD = 16.01) and CG (M = 48.86, SD = 15.81). t (82) = 2.948, P=.004 (two-tailed), p<.05. In this regard, TG participants outperformed CG participants. According to the study, teaching students reading strategies improved their reading comprehension performance. The improvement achieved by participants in the TG suggests that training in reading strategies had a positive impact on their reading comprehension performance. Hence, the result of this study could be used as a reference by English teachers, students, and other researchers.