Effectiveness of English Newspaper Reading on Reading Comprehension: A Study Conducted on 9th Class Students

Abstract

Background: Vygotsky's theory accentuates the importance of social and cultural context and meaning. The newspapers provide contextual, meaningful, and authentic input that makes it easier to understand the passage, syntactical structures, unfamiliar vocabulary, and social and cultural issues as well. Reading newspapers regularly works towards improving learning outcomes and reading comprehension skills.

Purpose: The study was conducted in Malerkotla, Punjab, and explored the effect of gender and English newspaper reading on the reading comprehension of 9th-class students.

Methods: The investigator intended to conduct that study on 100 randomly selected students. But during the experiment some students got absent, so investigators decided to remove the 8 pairs of students. In the final stage the investigator performed an experiment on 42 randomly selected pairs with respect to gender. The study employed an experimental research design, with 84 students from two selected schools using a lottery approach. The experimental group received instruction while dedicating 45 minutes every day to reading newspapers under the supervision and assistance of teachers. Mean, S.D., Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variances, and balanced two-factor (2x2) factorial design were applied.

Results: The results showed that there is a significant effect of English newspaper reading and gender on the reading comprehension of 9th-class students. Reading comprehension of 9th-class students was found independent of interaction between gender and newspaper reading.

Conclusion: the study indicates that both gender and treatment type significantly affect reading comprehension scores among 9th-class students, with females and the experimental group performing better than their counterparts. Overall, the analysis indicates that both gender and treatment significantly influence the dependent variable reading comprehension, while the interaction between these two factors does not have a significant effect.

  • Page Number : 19-29

  • Published Date : 2024-09-10

  • Keywords
    Effectiveness, English, Newspaper reading, Reading comprehension

  • DOI Number
    10.15415/iie.2024.122003

  • Authors
    Sanjay Chandwani and Dillip Kumar Khuntia

References

  • Abbas, F., Farid, F., Iqbal, A., & Parveen, S. (2020). Impact of Using Newspaper Reading in Improving English Reading Proficiency: A Study of Pakistani University Students. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 14(10) 223-232. https://www.ijicc.net/images/Vol_14/Iss_10/141013_Abbas_2020_E_R.pdf
  • Abu-Al-Sha’r, A. (2009). Effect of Reading Online Local Newspapers' Headlines on Developing University Students' Reading Skills in English. Journal of Asia TEFL, 6(4), 87-108. https://www.asiatefl.org/main/download_pdf.php?i=199&c=1419309050&fn=6_4_05.pdf
  • Ahmadi, A., &Mansoordehghan, S. (2012). Comprehending a Non-text: A Study of Gender-based Differences in EFL Reading Comprehension. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(4), 761–770. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.3.4
  • Ahuja, P. &Ahuja, G.C. (2017). Reading Comprehension Test, National Psychological Corporation, Agra.
  • Akyol, H & Çoban S.Ü. (2021). Developing Reading, Reading Comprehension, and Motivation: An Action Research Study. Education and Science, 46(205) 69-92. DOI:10.15390/EB.2020.8977
  • Anantasa, J. F. (2016). Gender differences in reading comprehension achievement. ELT Echo: The Journal of English Language Teaching in Foreign Language Context, 1(1), 27-41.
  • Anderson, R. C. (1984). Role of the reader's schema in comprehension, learning, and memory. In R.C. Anderson, J. Osborn & R.J. Tierney (Eds.), Learning to Read in American Schools. Lawrence Erlbaum
  • Anderson, R. C., & Pearson, P. D. (1984). A schema-theoretic view of basic processes in reading comprehension. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), Handbook of reading research, 255–291. Longman.
  • Bai, H., Liu, J., Bai, W., & Cao, T. (2024). Social pressures and their impact on smartphone use stickiness and use habit among adolescents. Heliyon, 10(7), e29111, 1-15. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29111
  • Bhatti, M. S., & Mukhtar, R. (2021). An Investigation to Improve Reading Skills through Newspapers among Intermediate Students. European Journal of Educational & Social Sciences, 6(1), 86–96. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1410460
  • Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–238. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3587951
  • DeRoche, E. F. (1981). Newspapers in Education: What We Know. Newspaper Research Journal, 2(3), 59-63. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ245516
  • Hamzah, H. (2019). Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension Using Newspaper (An experimental study of MA Muhammadiyah Palleko, Takalar Regency). In Bahrun &Ilmiah, English Education Department, the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Muhammadiyah University of Makassar, Unpublished Thesis. https://digilibadmin.unismuh.ac.id/upload/6407-Full_Text.pdf
  • Ismiyati, Y., &Dinata, R. P. (2021). The Effectiveness of Using Newspaper in Reading Comprehension of Tenth Grade Students of SMAN 6 Muaro Jambi. JurnalIlmiahDikdaya, 11(1), 73-80.  http://dikdaya.unbari.ac.id/index.php/dikdaya/article/view/198
  • Karstadt, R., & Rey, V. M. (2009). Introducing newspapers in developmental reading classes. NADE Digest, 4(2), 49–52. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1097569.pdf
  • Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon Press.
  • Montgomery, D. C. (2017). Design and Analysis of Experiments (9th ed.). Wiley.
  • Murthy, V.J. & Tauro, V.G.  (2024). Smartphone addiction and the associated factors of adolescents and purposes, and patterns of smartphone use. International Journal of Science & Healthcare Research, 9(1) 158-168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijshr.20240120
  • Nair, T.S., & Varghese, R. (2023). Using News Articles for Developing Reading Comprehension and Creative Writing of Students. International Journal of Enhanced Research in Educational Development (IJERED), 11(2), 145-149. https://erpublications.com/uploaded_files/download/dr-tara-s-nair-renjana-varghese_PNXFA.pdf
  • National Reading Panel (US) (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction: Reports of the subgroups. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (US).
  • Oda, A. H., & Abdul-Kadhim, M. R. (2017). The Relationship between Gender and Reading Comprehension at the College Level.  Journal of Basrah Research in the Humanities Sciences, 42(6), 426–428. http://un.uobasrah.edu.iq/papers/5808.pdf
  • Piaget, J. (1970). Science of education and the psychology of the child. Orion Press.
  • Purnama, G. (2018). The Comparison between Males and Females’ Reading Comprehension at the Second Grade SMPN 41 Bulukumba (A Descriptive Research), Thesis, English Education Department. In Ummi Khaerati Syam & Nunung Anugrawati, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Makassar Muhammadiyah University. https://digilibadmin.unismuh.ac.id/upload/472-Full_Text.pdf
  • Putri, D. S. &Melyan Melani. (2022). The Comparison Between Male and Female Students’ Reading Comprehension Achievement At IAIN Bukittinggi. In Indonesian Journal of Learning Studies, 2(1), 2-9. https://dmi-journals.org/ijls/article/view/40
  • Rahmasari, B. S. (2013). Using Newspapers as Learning Media to Teach Reading Skills. English Teaching Journal: A Journal of English Literature, Language and Education, 1(1). http://ejournal.unipma.ac.id/index.php/ETJ/article/view/714/646
  • Reilly, D., Neumann, D. L., & Andrews, G. (2018). Gender differences in reading and writing achievement: Evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). American Psychologist, 74(4), 445–458. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30234314/
  • Saroj, P. & Venkatachalam, S.S. (2017, April). Instructional planning in the teaching of English. In IGNOU study material, Course number: BES-144, Course title: Pedagogy of English. https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/46834/1/BES-144B1E.pdf
  • Singh, A., & Singh, A. (2023, June 6). How to Develop Reading Habits In Students?https://www.theasianschool.net/blog/how-to-develop-reading-habits-in-students/
  • Snow, C. (2002). Reading for understanding: Toward an R&D program in reading comprehension. Rand Corporation.
  • Solomon, A. (2017, June 26). How Potter changed the reading habits of a generation. theweek.in. https://www.theweek.in/webworld/features/society/how-potter-changed-the-reading-habits-of-a-generation.html
  • Suteja, H.. (2020, February 19). Online News As a Learning Resource in EFL Classrooms. https://scite.ai/reports/10.18502/kss.v4i4.6472
  • Sweller, J. (2011). Cognitive load theory. In J. P. Mestre & B. H. Ross (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Cognition in education (pp. 37–76). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-387691-1.00002-8
  • Tavarez, P., & Herrera, Y. (2020). Level of Reading Comprehension of Dominican EFL College Students. Online Submission. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED602358.pdf
  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.
  • Waluyo, G. H. &Septiawan, W. (2023). The effect of online newspaper on students'reading comprehension at one senior high school in padang. Langue (Journal of Language and Education), 1(2), 37-44.  .https://doi.org/10.22437/langue.v1i2.24267
  • Zeng, Z., & Wang, X. (2022). Effectiveness Analysis of English Newspaper Reading Teaching Based on Deep Learning from the Perspective of Online and Offline Hybrid Teaching. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, (2022) 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4065527