English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Reading Comprehension Engagement, Performance and Challenges: The Case of Bonga MehalKetema Secondary School Grade 10

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ reading comprehension engagement, performance and challenges at Bonga MehalKetema Secondary School secondary school. Specifically, it was aimed to assess the practice of the engagement of students in reading comprehension; identify the extent of students’ performance in reading comprehension; examine students’ reflection on their practice of learning reading at grade ten and to find out the reading challenges experienced by grade 10 learners. To this end, one school in Bonga town was purposively selected to conduct the study.137 grade ten students from this school were participants of the study by using simple random sampling technique. Descriptive research design was used to conduct the study and necessary data were collected through tests, classroom observation, interview and questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The result of the study revealed that the reading engagement concerning reading comprehension, additional reading materials, guessing what the text will be about and reading a large text quickly to get an overall idea about the text of the majority of the students was low. The study revealed that the majority of the students were very low in reading performance in reading for meaning, reading for reference and reading to infer. From this, the students reached the grade without some proficiency in reading for meaning, reading for reference and reading to infer at their early grades. Students’ poor vocabulary knowledge, lack of knowledge of structure of sentences and lack of background knowledge of the students are challenges for students reading performance. Lack of materials like text book for students, reference materials and access to internet were also among the challenges. Finally, the study recommended that teachers should provide an opportunity for students to read on their own in order to develop autonomous reading skills. Teachers should provide exercises which include support for reading for meaning, reading for reference and reading to infer skills and reinforcing background knowledge, understanding of language structure and vocabulary skills. Reading Strategies should be used for integrating comprehension as a part of each reading lesson, including activities to use before, during, and after reading. Building students’ understanding and meaning-making skills, including background knowledge, sentence structure, and oral language, is essential for developing their overall literacy and communication abilities.