IMPROVING THE READING SKILLS OF STUDENTS OF METHODIST GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which reading difficulties affect academic performance of secondary school students. The study was to establish comprehension errors that affect students’ academic performance. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches for data collection and analyzes both teachers and students. The research design was a descriptive survey design. Data was collected by use of questionnaire for teachers of English and student’s cloze test and reading passage. Data from questionnaire, cloze test and reading passages were compiled, edited and coded according to the themes of the study. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). The target population comprised 12 teachers of English language and 120 students from Methodist Girls Senior High School. The sample of the study included 10 teachers of English and 100 form three students from the sampled school. Purposive sampling was used to select schools, teachers of English, and stratified and random sampling for students from forms two class. Findings from the reading test indicated that students who had less problems with word substitution, omission, addition, and mispronunciation are likely to perform academically well. Cloze test performance where 67 per cent of the students performed below average was an indicators of poor academic performance as a result of reading difficulties. It was established that ninety percent of the teachers of English experienced problems in teaching reading. Sixty per cent of the teachers did not conduct library lessons at all due to lack of library resources. The study recommends that teachers of English should be in-serviced regularly and that the school administration should ensure availability of library resource and reference materials through the Ministry of Education.