Reading Performance Level of Selected College Freshmen : Basis for Classroom Intervention Strategies in Reading Instruction

Abstract

This paper aimed to determine the reading performance level of college students in word recognition, speed, and comprehension. Using the Individual Reading Inventory (IRI) to gather the needed data, it also analyzed the miscues the students commonly committed while reading the text orally. The respondents came from two (2) evening classes taking English 1 (Study and Thinking Skills) taught by the teacher - researcher, One hundred percent (100%) in each class was taken purposively as respondents.   The findings revealed that the students’ reading performance level in word recognition was instructional; in speed, average; and in comprehension, instructional, and their overall reading performance level instructional. The most commonly committed miscue was mispronunciation and the least committed refusal to pronounce. Causes of oral miscues were first language interference , lack of interest in English reading, anxiety, carelessness, semantic unfamiliarity, uncertainty in the pronunciation of the words, pauses, nervousness, poor eyesight, and text type. Intervention strategies in reading which could be applied in the classroom were short (10 to 20 minutes), intensive activities /sessions with one student or with a small group. The study recommended that the IRI be used to assess students’ reading performance in word recognition, speed, and comprehension starting with the first year students in all colleges moreover, teachers use reading intervention strategies in the classroom necessarily.