Reading Comprehension and Reading Anxiety of Grade 10 Students: Basis for Supplemental Instructional Material for Reading Comprehension

In addition to cognitive factors, it is imperative to consider emotional factors concerning reading comprehension. Consequently, the researcher undertook a correlational study to examine the relationship between reading comprehension and reading anxiety. The study involved Grade 10 students from the seven secondary schools of Eastern Samar Division, Cluster 3, during the school year 2023-2024.Two instruments were utilized in this study. Firstly, the TOEFL Reading Comprehension Test assessed the reading comprehension level of the respondents. Adjectival ratings ranging from Excellent to Poor were used for all parameters in reading comprehension. Secondly, the EFL Reading Anxiety Inventory (adapted from Zoghi, 2012) gauged the respondents’ reading anxiety. The EFL Reading Anxiety Inventory, adapted from Zoghi (2012), comprised of 23 statements categorized into three types: bottom-up reading anxiety, top-down reading anxiety, and classroom reading anxiety. Respondents provided responses on a four-point Likert scale, ranging from Totally Agree to Totally Disagree. Statistical analyses, including frequency, percentage, mean, and grand mean, were applied to the data. The outcomes indicated a Poor (40.25%) rating in Reading Comprehension and Moderate Anxiety (60.70%) in Reading Anxiety. Further analysis of the three anxiety indicators revealed that top-down reading anxiety (mean = 1.95), bottom-up reading anxiety (mean = 2.04), and classroom anxiety (mean = 2.48) exhibited Moderate Anxiety, with a Grand Mean of 2.16. This suggests that classroom reading anxiety had the highest impact on overall reading anxiety. Furthermore, the Pearson product-moment correlation method was employed to explore the relationship between reading comprehension and reading anxiety. The hypothesis, tested at a 0.05 level of significance, yielded results indicating no significant relationship between reading comprehension and reading anxiety in top-down and bottom-up reading anxiety. However, a significant relationship was observed between reading comprehension and reading anxiety, particularly in reading classroom anxiety. Hence, a supplemental instructional material should be made focusing in reading comprehension and classroom reading anxiety. A supplemental guide focusing in a Humanistic-Affective Classroom Environment will be developed for teachers’ consumption and utilization. It aims to strengthen teachers’ skills and knowledge into utilizing strategies on how to deliver constructive criticisms and positive feedback, handling mispronunciations without causing embarrassment, and reduce public anxiety during oral reading activities.

reading comprehension, reading anxiety, correlation, intervention

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