Abstract:
The study investigated the implications of schema-based pre-reading tasks on reading
comprehension. A One-Group Pre-Test-Post-test Design (Creswell, 2009:160) was used
to test the significance of schema-based pre-reading tasks (SBPRT) in facilitating
reading comprehension. The subjects of the study were 56 students taking the Reading
Skills (FLEn 103) course who formed one section of a summer in-service degree
program at Jimma University. Of these students, 17 ‘high achievers’ and 17 ‘low
achievers’ were selected and two groups were identified using their scores from a pretest. The pre-test was a ‘control condition’ and did not have schema-based pre-reading
tasks. It was meant to identify the level of achievement of the students in reading
comprehension. Then a post-test and a final exam were administered that had
‘treatments’ with different combinations to both groups. The results of the tests revealed
that both groups performed better in the post-test as well as in the final exam than they
did in the pre-test. This implies that the treatment had facilitated their reading
comprehension in general. Further analysis, however, indicated that the treatment
brought about a statistically significant effect only on the ‘low achievers’, not on the
‘high achievers’.
