READING COMPREHENSION
5. Discussion & Conclusion
This study was motivated by the assumption that the reading comprehension ability can be affected by the text difficulty. However, the results of Multivariate Tests indicated significant difference between set of scores but the results of post hoc test showed that this difference lie between test 1 which was easier than participants current reading proficiency level and two other tests (test 2 and test 3 ) which were in the level of the participants and harder than participants’ level, respectively. In general, the findings suggested that text difficulty did not affect reading comprehension of the learners when it is harder than the participants’ level. This may be due to the fact that, as the difficulty of the text increases, the readers resort to more reading strategies. The findings of tis study was in line with the findings of Chiang (2015) who
investigated the effects of varying text difficulty on L2 reading attitudes and reading comprehension. Results indicate that varied difficulty levels of reading text did not significantly affect participants' reading comprehension.
However, the findings of this study was in contrast with the ideas of Weaver and Bryant (1995) who assumed that students were better able to predict comprehension when text materials matched their reading level as opposed to being too easy or too difficult.
The result of this study also was in contrast with the ideas of (Laufer, 1992; Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Nation, 1997) who asserted that materials with a heavy burden of vocabulary and grammar may hinder the students from reading fluently (Laufer, 1992; Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Nation, 1997).
The possible interpretation for the results of this study is that when comprehending gets difficult, readers utilize a large number of reading strategies to control and adjust their comprehension processes. Reading comprehension requires that the reader evaluate the text, preview the text, make predictions, make decisions during reading, use prior knowledge, and monitor understanding (Houtveen & van de Grift, 2007; Lau, 2006).
References
Amiri, M., &Maftoon, P. (2010). Awareness of reading strategies among Iranian high
school students. Retrieved from
http://www.academia.edu/23459498/AWARENESS_OF_READING_STRATEGIES _AMONG_IRANIAN_HIGH_SCHOOL_STUDENTS
Anastasiou, D., & Griva, E. (2009). Awareness of reading strategy use and reading comprehension among poor and good readers. Elementary Education Online, 8(2), 283-297.
Bamford, J., & Day, R. R. (1998). Teaching reading. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 18, 124-141.
Chiang, M. H. (2015). Effects of varying text difficulty levels on second language (L2) reading attitudes and reading comprehension. DOI: 10.1111/1467- 9817.12049
Cornoldi, C., & Oakhill, J. (2001). Reading comprehension difficulties: Processes an intervention. Journal of Pragmatics, 33, 943-956 (Online).
Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (2002). Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 14(2), 136-141.
Fry, E. (2002). Readability versus Leveling. The Reading Teacher, 56, 286-291.
Fulcher, G. (1997). Text Difficulty and Accessibility: Reading Formulae and Expert Judgment. System,25(4), 497-513.
Hiebert, E. H. (2005). The effects of text difficulty on second graders’ fluency development. Reading Psychology, 26, 1-27.
Hill, D. R. (2001). Survey: Graded readers. ELT Journal, 55(3), 300-324.
Hirsh, D., & Nation, P. (1992). What vocabulary size is needed to read unsimplified texts for pleasure? Reading ina Foreign Language, 8(2), 689-696.
Hudson, R. F., Lane, H.B., & Pullen, P.C. (2005). Reading Fluency Assessment and Instruction: What, Why, and How? The Reading Teacher, 58 (8), 702-714. Houtveen, A. A. M., & van de Grift, W. J. C. M. (2007). Effects of Metacognitive
Strategy Instruction and Instruction Time on Reading Comprehension. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 18(2), 173-190.
Khansir, A. A., & Darvishi, O. (2014). The effect of task complexity on EFL learners' reading comprehension performance. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 6 (4), 280-292
Khansir, A. A., Mousavi Basri, S. A., & Hajivandi, A. (2013). The Impact of Different Tasks on Iranian EFL Students’ Vocabulary Learning. Middle-East Journal of Scientific
Research,16(2), 221-228.
Kitao, K. C., & Shimatani, H. (1988). Pleasure reading: Setting up a special English section in the library. The Language Teacher, 12(2), 47-49.
Krashen, S. (2007). Free voluntary web-surfing. The International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 3(1), 2-9.
Lau, K. (2006). Reading strategy use between Chinese good and poor readers: A think aloud study. Journal of Research in Reading, 29(4), 383-399.
Laufer, B. (1992). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? In P. J. Arnaud, & Béjoint, H. (Eds.), Vocabulary and Applied Linguistics (pp. 126-132). London:
Macmillan.
Lin, L. 92012). The impact of text difficulty on EFL learners' reading comprehension and vocabulary learning. Journal on English Language Teaching, 2(2 l), 14-24. Lin, L., Zabrucky, K. M., & Moore, D. (2002). Effects of text difficulty and adults' age
on relative calibration of comprehension. American journal of psychology, 115 (2),187- 98.
McNamara, D., Graesser, A., Cai, Z., Kulikowich, J., & McCarthy, P. (2010). Coh-
metrix(Report to the Gates Foundation/Text Complexity Project). Memphis, TN:
University of Memphis.
Nation, P. (1997). The language learning benefits of extensive reading. The Language Teacher, 21, 13-16.
Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. Oxford: Heinemann. Rodrigo, V. (1995). Does a reading program work in aforeign language classroom? Paper
presented at the Extensive Reading Colloquium, American Association of Applied Linguistics, Long Beach, CA.
Spear-Swerling, L. (2006). Children’s reading comprehension and oral reading fluency in easy texts. Reading and writing, 19(2), 199-220.
Stenner, A.J., Burdick, H., Sanford, E.E., & Burdick, D.S. (2007). The Lexile Framework
for Reading (Technical report). Durham, NC: Metametrics.
Tweissi, A. I. (1998). The effects of the amount and type of simplification on foreign language reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2), 191- 206.
Weaver, C. A., & Bryant, D. S. (1995). Monitoring of comprehension: The role of text difficulty in metamemory for narrative and expository text. Memory & Cognition, 23(1), 12-22.