The Effect of Two Reading Conditions on Comprehension for Ninth Grade Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective way of delivering instruction, as it related to reading, in the classroom. The study compared comprehension scores yielded from oral reading and silent reading from prose found in the world literature anthology used in a ninth grade humanities program. Thirty-nine urban, ninth grade general education students participated in this study. In order to avoid any bias, one classroom teacher and not the researcher conducted the reading assessment during one class period. Students from four classes were tested within a one week period of time, in morning classes. The oral reading and comprehension questions were administered before the silent reading and comprehension questions. The research questions were: 1. Which reading condition, silent or oral, yields the highest comprehension scores on materials found in the anthology currently used in a ninth grade humanities program? 2. How do the students' reading abilities, as determined by eighth grade reading scores, relate to their most successful condition of reading? The data were collected and then analyzed using a t test. There was not a statistically significant difference on the reading comprehension scores from oral and silent reading. When students were divided into quartiles, the third quartile demonstrated a trend toward significance with higher comprehension from the oral reading. The other three quartiles did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the two reading conditions.