Abstract:
The main purpose of this study was to assess the practices and challenges of reading
comprehension skills. The study was carried out in Morsito General Secondary and preparatory
School with special reference to grade11 students. Descriptive survey research design was
employed to address the problem. To conduct the study, three English teachers were chosen
along with 52 students who were selected through random sampling technique. In order to
achieve the objectives, the study employed three data gathering tools: questionnaire, interview
and classroom observation. Questionnaire was employed to identify students’ reading
comprehension problems. Interview was used to find out the causes of students’ reading
comprehension problems and identify problems that affect students’ reading comprehension.
Furthermore, classroom observation was employed to identify what the English language
teachers were doing when they teach reading comprehension. Data collected using close ended
Questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively. Whereas interview and classroom observation were
analyzed qualitatively. The study identified the major reading comprehension problems students’
encounter. These are problems of identifying main idea, supporting detail, vocabulary from
context, inferring meaning, inference, scanning, skimming, technique and strategies. In addition,
factors that were affecting students’ reading comprehension were divided into students’ related
factors like lack of knowledge of strategic use, lack of background knowledge, shortage of
vocabulary and lack of regular practice, and teachers’ related factors such as teachers’ ways of
teaching. Therefore, since reading comprehension is a skill that could be improved through
sufficient practicing, Morsito general Secondary and preparatory School students should have
been given chance of learning and practicing technique of reading comprehension to effectively
use them to comprehend a text
