English Language Reading Comprehension of Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
English Language Reading Comprehension of Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
English Language Reading Comprehension of Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
net/publication/362218777
CITATIONS READS
0 832
3 authors, including:
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Causes of English Language Writing Anxiety among ESL Undergraduate Students in Pakistan View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Muhammad Fareed on 23 July 2022.
RESEARCH PAPER
English Language Reading Comprehension of Pakistani
HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
Madiha Rehman*1 Dr. Muhammad Fareed2 Aisha Khan3
1. Lecturer (English) , Department of Sciences & Humanities, FAST - National University
of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
2. Associate Professor (English), Department of Humanities, NED University of
Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
3. Instructor (English), Department of Sciences & Humanities, FAST - National University
of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Note: This research paper was presented at Asian Conference on Business, Economics, and
Social Sciences, ACBESS-2021
DOI http://doi.org/10.47205/plhr.2022(6-II)99
PAPER INFO ABSTRACT
Received: This mixed method research investigation was conducted to
March 20, 2022 determine the differences in reading skills performance
Accepted: between the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary
June 28, 2022 Education (FBISE) and the Board of Intermediate Education
Online:
Karachi (BIEK). Quantitative data were collected through
June 30 , 2022
reading comprehension tests, and qualitative data were
Keywords:
collected through focus group interviews to achieve the study
Assessment ,
objective. Sample of this study consisted of 60 students - 30 from
ESL,
each board and English faculty from the selected college. The
Reading Skills
reading tests were analyzed using SPSS (V.24), and Saldaña's
*Corresponding
(2013) thematic analysis was used for focus group interviews.
Author
The findings indicated that Federal Board (FBISE) students
performed better than Karachi Board (BIEK) in reading
comprehension tests. Student focus group interviews reveal that
students' performance highly depends on the students’ reading
madiha.rehman@ interest, prescribed course books reading, and teachers'
nu.edu.pk guidelines. The English language teachers’ focus group
interviews conclude that students' performance relies on their
urge to seek knowledge and their approach to reading books.
The teahers also believe curriculum and assessment procedure
at the HSSC/HSC level also play an important role in the
learners’ reading performance.
Introduction
skills: reading and writing. These deficiencies are quite interlinked with inadequate
teaching techniques and prescribed textbooks (Aftab, 2011) and the examination
system of Pakistan which is not only outmoded but also does not have the state to
assess the performance of students comprehensively. The examination system
examines only the memory and rote learning of students (Ahmad, I, Rehman, K.U.,
Ali, A, Khan, I, Khan, F.A., 2014, p.80). Rote learning is the only mode to assess
students in SSC (Secondary School Certificate) and HSC (Higher Secondary
Certificate) in Pakistan and this rote learning continues when they move towards
tertiary education (Ahmed, A & Ahmad, N., 2017) resulting in weak receptive and
productive skills (Christie & Afzaal, 2005)
Literature Review
Reading skills are considered an integral and lifelong skill because of their
need (Küçükoğlu, H., 2013). They are receptive skills (Bhatti, 2016), and the goal “is
to construct text meaning based on visually encoded information” (Koda, 2007, p.1).
Reading is considered a self-discovery and an interactive process. In this process, the
reader reads the material by using both cognitive and metacognitive strategies to
gain new knowledge and meaning. (Hellyer, Robinson, & Sherwood, 2001; Kalayci,
2012). Scott and Saaiman (2016) also state that “reading is an indispensable skill and is
fundamentally interrelated with educational success (p. 2)”.
Reading also helps the reader to gain new information and to learn new
concepts. The main purpose of reading is to expose “the students to new vocabulary,
new sentences, and different registers”. Reading also guides the learner to use the
language in different ways. Reading is a mandatory ingredient of language learning
because it helps the students to study all other subjects and gain good marks (Karanja
2015).
Comprehension on the other side is a product that comes out in the form of a
mental representation of the textual information when readers are done with the
reading. (Duke and Pearson, 2002). Readers must have a certain range of abilities and
capacities to understand the text. The capacities include (i) cognitive capacities that
are based on learners’ attention, memory, critical analytic ability, inferencing,
visualization ability, (ii) motivation (a purpose for reading, an interest in the content
being read, self-efficacy as a reader), (iii) and various types of knowledge included
vocabulary, domain and topic knowledge, linguistic and discourse knowledge,
knowledge of specific comprehension strategies. Reading comprehension is among
the basic and mandatory skills that should be taught to learners in the first years of
elementary school (Papatga & Ersoy,2016) because reading comprehension is all
1181
English Language Reading Comprehension of
Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
about understanding and getting the clear views or messages that the writer wants
to convey intentionally to his readers (May, & Rizzardi, 2002).
Sample
Sixty students of HSSC pre-medical students and four English lecturers from
a selected college participated in this study. Thirty students were from the Federal
Board (FBISE) and thirty students from the Karachi0 Board (BIEK) two intact groups
of XII Pre Medical. Moreover, four English language teachers and twenty students
took part in semi-structured interviews.
Table 1
Participants of Semi-Structured Interviews
Participants’ Information No. of participants
English Teachers 4
Federal Board Students 10
Karachi Board Students 10
Table 1
Participants for Quantitative Data
Name of Boards No. of participants Discipline
Federal Board 30 Pre-Medical
Karachi Board 30 Pre-Medical
Research Instruments
The interview protocol was developed and sent to four experienced English
lecturers for expert validation. The experts’ recommendations were incorporated
before data collection. The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured
focus group interviews with twenty students and four English language teachers in
the college. The interviews were transcribed and the member checking technique was
employed.
1182
Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review (PLHR) April-June, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 2
Data for this mixed-method study were collected with the help of reading
comprehension tests and semi-structured interviews. To assess the reading
performance of the students, reading passages were adapted from the Cambridge
website (https://papacambridge.com/). The passages measured vocabulary,
summary, inferences, and factual information
Ethical Consideration
The ethical consideration was also adhered to, consent of the participants was
taken, and participants and college identities is kept confidential all participants were
assigned a code as discussed in the findings section.
This section covers both qualitative and quantitative findings. The first part
comprises qualitative findings based on the data collected from four focus group
students’ interviews and one focus group English Language teacher’s interview. The
data collected through interviews were categorized and analysed according to
Seldana's (2009) proposed thematic analysis.
Students’ Perceptions
According to students, teachers help them to read passages and learn new
vocabulary FBISES2, “the teacher helped us through vocabulary and its meanings”,
FBISES3, “teacher helped us through the passage, it helped us to explain the meaning
moreover, the teacher used to explain the passage and we read it”.
However, some of the students highlighted that they were not given equal
attention in reading class, rather the students who were already good at reading skills
were asked to read the paragraph aloud and the rest were just listeners. The students
further mentioned that even comprehension questions (oral questions in class) were
also asked from the students who had good comprehension. FBISES1, “Teachers prefer
those students who are confident enough to read [aloud in class] and later on she explains the
paragraph. They (teachers) used to ask questions from those students who were able to give
answers of the comprehension”.
A few of the Karachi Board’s students stated that the teacher guided them in
reading. The teacher explained the key points of the chapter before reading the text
1183
English Language Reading Comprehension of
Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
and each paragraph was explained, which helped them to comprehend the chapter.
BIEKS3. “Teachers used to teach the chapter like a story that helps us to remain in our mind”.
Reading Practice
Most students limit their reading to textbooks only and the purpose of
reading was to prepare for exams and get good marks. FBISES3, “we practice our
reading skills through textbooks because I think at this stage we don’t need other external
knowledge or extra knowledge because we go through federal board paper just to gain marks
& nothing else. So we go through textbook only”.
Karachi Board students highlighted that they usually do the reading practice
in the class under the supervision of the English teacher and take help from the
teacher in word meaning and also consult a dictionary. BIEKS6, “The basic thing in
reading is difficult vocabulary. First, we take out that word & write its meanings. If we are
not able to remember those words, we memorize the meaning of that particular word. That is
the way I do things”.
Reading Challenges
While sharing the difficulties usually they face in reading class, students
considered vocabulary the most difficult part. FBISES1, “There were some difficult
words, & difficult phrases in the book and that were difficult to understand”.
According to FBISE and BIEK students, they like those chapters which are
based on science and fiction.
SK3,” there were some chapters that were quite informative like science & scientist &
there were some chapters that were so boring … & there was a novel, the prisoner of Zenda
was too much interesting”.
Students also liked those stories and poems that carry the moral at the end.
Students also liked the chapters that had a moral. BIEKS8, “I like two chapters: The
Devoted Friend, in that chapter I have learned that what true friendship is so it was very good
and, has moral & 2nd chapter which I liked a lot was The Day the Dam Broke”. Students
demanded more novels should be included in reading BIEKS6, “In our curriculum,
novels should be included. Novels not only freshen our minds but also let us know the meaning
of difficult words according to the context.”
Teachers Perceptions
Four English Language teachers from the college, who made the total number
of English language teachers, participated in the focus group interview. Like
students’ focus group interviews, this interview was also recorded, transcribed,
1184
Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review (PLHR) April-June, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 2
Examination System
The teachers believe that the weak examination system is also a hurdle in
developing students’ reading skills. The same questions are usually repeated in
exams every year, hence most of the students usually prepare from past papers and
do not even read the complete textbook. ET3, “In BIEK the paper pattern I guess is
one of the reasons for the students not having reading habits of the textbook. Because
mostly paper is set from past year papers, and students prefer to go for selective
study”.
Other Problems
Teachers are also of the opinion that extensive reading habit is not developed
among students. ET2, “This habit of reading book other than the course book, this
habit is not inculcated in students”.
Finally, teachers also blamed social media for reducing reading interest
among students. ET2, “we face difficulties in inculcating reading habit and I think
the social media… is the big hurdle in this because instead of using their time in
1185
English Language Reading Comprehension of
Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
reading they prefer using social media … that is the great difficulty for us to motivate
students to read a book”.ET3, “it is a diversion from the library to social media.
Table 3
Descriptive Analysis Of Reading Comprehension Test
Groups No. of Mean Standard
Participants Deviation
Federal Board 30 20.1333 2.33021
Karachi Board 30 15.8000 4.52121
Table 4
Independent T-Test Results for Reading Comprehension
Groups No. of Participants Mean Standard Deviation
Federal Board 30 20.1333 2.33021
Karachi Board 30 15.8000 4.52121
The students of FBISE and BIEK revealed that while teaching reading skills,
teachers help them to find out difficult vocabulary and their meanings however,
sometimes, according to them, teachers prefer those students aloud reading in class
who are good at reading to save time. The same opinion is highlighted by Muliawati,
2017) that teachers do play an essential role in creating an environment for students
where students can learn more and improve their performance in reading
comprehension skills. He also suggests teachers help students with Reading
Comprehension skills and tell the art of finding hidden meaning from text.
1186
Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review (PLHR) April-June, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 2
Students also revealed their preferred reading topics that should be included
in their recommended reading texts. They like to read science fiction literature,
moralistic stories, and novels. The contents of the books will help them to find
pleasure in reading and ultimately their skills will improve. Boakye, (2017) also
supported the idea that reading for pleasure can also contribute to enhancing the
reading comprehension skills in the classroom.
All English language teachers agreed that reading plays a pivotal role to get
the mastery of the language and it has significant effects on students’ performance.
They also think that reading is one of those important skills that should be given
significance from early schooling as it helps the students in their higher studies. The
idea of focusing on reading skills from elementary school is also supported by
Papatga & Ersoy (2016).
Teachers also highlighted other problems: students usually spend most of the
time on social media and do not find any pleasure in reading books, which leads to
having weak reading skills, all teachers agreed that reading is a complex skill,
therefore it should be focused more and more. The quantitative findings of this study
revealed that FBISE students’ reading performance is better than BIEK students,
which is also supported by the teachers’ comments as discussed in the above
paragraph.
Conclusion
This study concludes that English language teachers help students in Reading
comprehension. But, students who are already good at reading skills are usually
given more opportunities in reading activites, as compared to the students with with
less reading skills. Because, reading skills are essential for Pakistani English language
learners, hence English languge teachers should focus more their reading skills.
Recommendation
1187
English Language Reading Comprehension of
Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
References
Aftab, A., (2011). English Language Textbooks Evaluation in Pakistan. (Unpublished PhD
Thesis). The University of Birmingham.
Ahmad,I, Rehman, K.U., Ali, A, Khan, I, Khan, F.A. (2014). Critical Analysis of the
Problems of Education in Pakistan: Possible Solutions. International Journal of
Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 3(2), 79-84.
Akyol, H., Çakıroğlu, A., & Kuruyer, H. G. (2017). A study on the development of
reading skills of the students having difficulty in reading: Enrichment reading
program. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 6(2), 199–212.
Alshehri, M. (2014). Improving Reading Comprehension for Saudi Students by Using the
Reading Aloud Strategy. (Master’s Thesis). State University of New York at
Fredonia
Blaxter L, Hughes C, Tight M (2006). How to Research. (3rd Ed.). Buckingham: Open
University Press.
1188
Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review (PLHR) April-June, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 2
Burdett & Everett. (2015). The impact of an examination board in Pakistan on student
outcomes. National Foundation for Educational Research. The Mere Upton Park
Slough, Berks SL1 2DQ.
Chen, C., Chen, S., Chen, S. E., and Wey, S. (2013). The effective of extensive reading
via E-books on tertiary level EFL students’ reading attitude, reading
comprehension and vocabulary. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational
Technology, 12 (2), 303-312.
Christie, T., & Afzaal, M. (2005). Pakistan, rote memorization as sufficient explanation
for ssc examination achievement in. Assessment And Future Schooling and
Learning.
Cohen, L. & Manion, L. (1989). Research Methods in Education. Room Helm. London.
Creswell, J. W. & Plano C.V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods
research. Sage.
Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, And Mixed Methods
Approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
David L. Morgan. (1988). Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.
Duke, N. K., and Pearson, P. D. (2002). Effective practices for developing reading
comprehension. What Research has to Say about Instruction, 2, 205-210. Newark,
DE: International Reading Association. DOI: 10.1598/0872071774.10.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
1189
English Language Reading Comprehension of
Pakistani HSSC/HSC Level Students: Perceptions and Performance
Hellyer, R., Robinson, C., & Sherwood, P. (2001). Study skills for learning power (2nd
Ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company
Hyland, F. (2003), focusing on form: student engagement with teacher feedback. System, 31,
217-230. doi: 10.1016/S0346-251X (0346-251X (03)00021-6.
Karanja (2015). Effects of Reading Difficulties on Academic Performance among Form Three
Students in Public Secondary Schools, Kiambu County, Kenya. Degree of Master of
Education (Special Needs Education) In the School of Education of Kenyatta
University.
May F. B. & Rizzardi, L. (2002). Reading as communication (6th Ed.). USA: Prentice Hall.
Mohamed (2016). Evaluating EFL students’ reading comprehension skills with reference to
the Department of English at Zawia University (Doctoral thesis). Liverpool John
Moores University. Libya.
1190
Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review (PLHR) April-June, 2022, Vol. 6, No. 2
Saldana, J. (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Los Angeles, CA:
Sage Publications.
Saldana, J. (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Los Angeles, CA: Sage
Publications.
Scott, L. & Saaiman, E., 2016, Promoting reading skills or wasting time? Students’
perceived benefits of reading in an intermediary programme at the Vaal
University of Technology, Reading & Writing,7(1), 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v7i1.82
Sheeba & Ahmed, (2018). Teaching Reading: Goals and Techniques. Majmaah University,
KSA.
Teevno & Raisani, (2017).English Reading Strategies and their Impact on Students’
Performance in Reading Comprehension. Journal of Education & Social Sciences,
5(2): 152-166, 2017 DOI: 10.20547/jess0521705205
Zare, P., & Othman, M. (2013).The relationship between reading comprehension and
reading strategy use among Malaysian ESL learners. International Journal of
Humanities and Social Science, 3(13), 187–193.
1191