The Challenging Comeback: Reading Crisis After the Two-Year

Distance Learning

COR JESU COLLEGE, INC.

Graduate School

Digos City

JAMES B. JAMERO

May 2023
The Challenging Comeback: Reading Crisis After the Two-Year Distance
Learning

A Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty of Graduate School
Cor Jesu College
Digos City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Education (MAED)
Major: Teaching in English

by

JAMES B. JAMERO

May 2023
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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The education system has shifted to distance learning as the pandemic hit the globe

unprecedently in March 2020. Schools closed their doors for in-person classes and rerouted to

other modes of learning delivery such as online, modular, TV/radio-based instruction, or

combinations of these. The distant or prohibited social interaction between teachers and students

has caused various challenges especially in the reading skills among learners.

In a global context according to a collaborative report by the United Nations Children's

Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), and the World Bank titled Where Are We on Education Recovery? (2022), learning

poverty has increased by a third in low- and middle-income countries as a result of the worst

education and learning shock in recorded history, with an estimated 70% of 10-year-olds unable

to comprehend a simple written text. This survey was true for the 122 UNICEF country and

fundraising offices including the Philippines. In California, U.S.A, the Smarter Balanced test, a

state-wide assessment on Math and English language Arts, revealed that only 42.1% of third-

graders are proficient readers with more than 6% point decline compared to 48.5% in 2019.

Another worrying statistic is that just 45.1% of sixth-grade students who were in third grade in

2019 can read at grade level, indicating that they are not catching up (D’Souza, 2022).

In Malaysia, the abrupt adoption of online and distance learning as a result of COVID-19

resulted in reading anxiety with mostly unknown contributing factors. This anxiety can be

beneficial or detrimental to reading comprehension, reading skills, and reading strategies.

Kamaruddin and Kaur (2023) study results revealed that learners had a high degree of reading

anxiety in distance learning. The primary reason for reading anxiety is having to attend classes in

online distance learning mode, though self-perceived English ability has a big impact as well.

Therefore, simple and constant teacher feedback is essential as learners may easily deviate from

the goal of ODL reading courses.

In the Philippines, Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte

during the National Congress of the Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. in Iloilo City last

November 2022 stressed the need to address literacy skills as one of the areas in the post-

pandemic learning loss, and that it should begin with reading and comprehension programs. This

phenomenon was also observed by parents and teachers according to a report by Amazona

(2022) a few days after the resumption of classes from the two-year distance learning.

Meanwhile, in a study conducted by Libre III & Decano (2021) with regard to struggling readers'

experiences and obstacles within the framework of modular distance learning, few of the

emerging themes revealed are comprehension difficulty, mispronunciation, grammar difficulty,

and reading difficulties.

Meanwhile, one of the research agendas of the Division of Davao del Sur, specifically in

the English department, is the issue concerning the increase in reading difficulties of learners

after the two-year distance learning. In addition, the conduct of the pretest of the Philippine

Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) in the Division of Davao del Sur for the school year 2022-

2023 revealed an increase in frustration level compared to the school year pre-pandemic (SY

2019-2020).

Looking closely for example, the Grade 7 learners for this school year 2022-2023 were

Grade 5 learners who experienced the two-year blended learning from the school year 2020-
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2021. Apparently, these learners have gone from elementary to junior high school without rigid

reading activities that in-person classes could offer them to obtain expected proficiency at their

level.

In lieu of this phenomenon, reading problems will undoubtedly lead to educational

challenges, which are a significant source of economic and social disadvantages (Hulme &

Snowling, 2011). Children from socioeconomically poor households do worse in all aspects of

well-being than their more privileged counterparts (OECD, 2022). Further data reveals that the

crisis has had a greater effect on children who were already disadvantaged before the pandemic

(UNICEF, 2021; Thorn and Vincent-Lancrin, 2021). Based on the data presented, it can be

assumed that social and economic factors among learners greatly correlate to reading

achievement, which poses a greater challenge to education officials, parents, and students

especially.

Consequently, I would like to establish that I have not come across abundant studies that

revealed challenges in reading after the two-year distance learning employed by many schools in

the Philippines. Therefore, this phenomenon motivates me as a researcher to explore the

identified and observed challenges in reading through the lens and the collective experience of

reading coordinators in English, identify the coping mechanisms employed, and propose possible

interventions based on the identified challenges.

Theoretical Lens

In this study, various theories and models will be utilized in order to have a better view

and understanding of the phenomenon. When it comes to the reading challenges identified and

observed by the participants, Simple View of Reading Theory and Sociocultural Theory will be
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applied. The Transactional Stress and Coping Model will be employed to understand the coping

mechanisms of the study participants. Lastly, the Adolescent Reading Model will cater to the

possible interventions that will be proposed based on the current challenges.

The challenges in reading under study can be viewed through the lens of the Simple View

of Reading Theory by Gough and Tunmer (1986). This theory demonstrated the link between

decoding and reading comprehension. Simple View of Reading Theory states that “Reading

comprehension is the product of word recognition and language comprehension. Without strong

skills in either domain, an individual’s reading comprehension will be compromised” (Moats &

Tolman, 2019, p.16). In addition, The Simple View of Reading Theory lays the groundwork for

effective reading instruction by emphasizing the phonological processor (speech/sound),

orthographic processor (written language symbols), meaning processor (interprets word

meanings), and context processor (interacts with and supports the meaning processor) in word

recognition (Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989). Therefore, if teachers fully comprehend and

apply these linguistic phenomena in teaching reading, they will also effectively raise students'

knowledge of the language at all levels, including sounds, syllables, morphemes, phrases,

sentences, and paragraphs.

In addition, various causes of these challenges in reading may stem from other significant

and interrelated aspects such as the sociocultural factor that learners inevitably live with. The

Sociocultural Theory proposed by Vygotsky (1978) describes how social and cultural

development affects human cognitive development. With the aid of other learners, the learning

context, and the environment, learners develop their new knowledge. Thus, the tools that society

provides have an impact on how learners grow cognitively. This phenomenon under study can be

best viewed through this theory regarding the challenges in reading since a few factors may
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include a lack of motivation from peers, parents, or teachers (Sparks, 2019; Mohammed &

Amponsah, 2018), no culture of reading at home or in school (Tomas et al., 2021), and

inadequate facilities and resources that promote reading among learners at home or even in

schools (Mohammed & Amponsah, 2018; Nalisa et al., 2019). It can be assumed that a learner

who is greatly faced with challenges in reading during distance learning needs the constant

company of a more knowledgeable one like a teacher or any other social circle of the learner, but

it was made limited due to distance learning. However, a learner’s social environment at home

may not also help him or her with this struggle if the parents themselves do not support the child

for any reason there may be. In other words, the social and cultural aspects of the learners have a

huge impact on the development of their reading skills.

On the other hand, the coping mechanisms that the participants may have employed can

be best perceived through Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Stress and Coping Model

(1984). They demonstrate that managing the demands of both internal and external individuals is

a strategy used to cope with stressful circumstances. According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984),

there are two kinds of coping and their indicators, which are problem-focused coping and

emotion-focused coping. Emotion-focused coping is a technique that uses cognitive techniques

to lessen emotional discomfort. It includes techniques like avoidance, minimizing interaction,

keeping a safe distance, and selective concentration. The indicators include withdrawal, self-

control, taking responsibility, avoiding flight, a positive self-evaluation, and seeking out social

support. While problem-focused coping is focused on the problem of how to face and solve the

problems that are being encountered in order to lessen the demands of a difficult situation. Its

indicators include problem-focused social support seeking, planful problem-solving, and

confrontive coping. Therefore, it can be assumed that this model of coping mechanism is feasibly
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employed by the reading coordinators in English challenged by learners’ reading struggles

during distance learning. Since people have different coping strategies when faced with

challenges, the participants could have demonstrated either of the two kinds of coping strategies,

be it taking responsibility, seeking out social support, or making planful problem-solving.

Moreover, the Adolescent Reading Model by Deshler & Hock (2006) provides the

conceptual framework that guides the design and implementation of reading interventions. This

model consists of three interconnected parts that each play a role in reading comprehension.

First, the top five abilities for effective word recognition are emphasized. The second part of the

model outlines the language comprehension abilities required to interpret text, such as

background information and text organization. Finally, the executive processes include cognitive

and metacognitive strategies. Reading is therefore an active process that calls for word level,

language comprehension, and the consciously used reading-related executive processes for

meaning and learning which will suit middle graders under study.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to discover the challenges

encountered in reading that reading coordinators have identified and observed, the coping

mechanisms, and possible interventions based on the current challenges.

Research Questions

1. What are the challenges in reading that reading coordinators in English have identified

and observed?

2. What are the coping mechanisms that reading coordinators in English employed?
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3. What possible interventions can be proposed based on the current challenges?

Significance of the Study

The significant findings of this study shall elicit understanding and information with

regard to the challenges in reading identified and observed by the reading coordinators in

English, and their coping mechanisms. Further, possible interventions can be proposed based on

the current challenges relevant to the phenomenon under study. This shall be very beneficial to

the following:

DepEd Officials. The findings will provide insight to the top officials to better come up with an

effective and field-oriented curriculum that fits the real needs of the learners. Moreover, they

shall serve as a basis for crafting programs to be implemented in the respective schools, for

revisiting existing programs, and better improving their efficiency catering to the needs of the

learners.

School Administrators. This will help to localize certain programs and activities that provide

opportunities for learners who are academically challenged, particularly those who struggle with

reading. School administrators may be able to contextualize certain reading programs that suit

particular reading problems of the learners and better help teachers in coping with such existing

ones. Thus, varied and appropriate reading interventions shall be employed to resolve these

challenges.

Teachers. This will provide language teachers, especially English teachers who teach reading,

information regarding the common problems in reading that learners struggle with and equip

themselves on how to well cope with the situation. The identified interventions of this study shall

benefit the teachers in order to adopt such interventions and accommodate such needs.
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Students. This study will benefit the students by being the recipient of the significant findings of

this study to better understand the problems in reading. Also, the identified and proposed

contextualized reading interventions shall be utilized effectively for them.

Future Researchers. Researchers who wish to learn more about the idea behind this particular

research might use this study as a guide and resource in discovering more deeply the relative

challenges in reading encountered by learners even in the higher grade level. Additionally, future

researchers may be able to rediscover other aspects that contribute to this phenomenon and

conceptualize a framework that will better suit specific challenges. Moreover, the findings of this

study shall be a good foundation for future quantitative study relative to challenges, coping

mechanisms, and reading interventions.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study will focus on the challenges in reading identified and observed by reading

coordinators in English, their coping mechanisms, and potential reading interventions based on

the existing difficulties. Particularly, the reading coordinators in English shall focus on the

reading challenges of the Grade 7 learners, because this study shall explore the reading

challenges of learners who went from elementary to high school after the two-year distance

learning. This research will involve 12 public junior high school reading coordinators in Davao

del Sur who have served as reading coordinators for a period of at least three years to ensure that

the data collected is reliable and consistent. The number of participants is exactly identified

because there are only 12 implementing junior high schools in the Division of Davao del Sur.

They will be chosen to participate in this study because they are the ones who consolidate data

from reading assessments. At the same time, they have observed how students with reading
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challenges struggle with this phenomenon. Further, this study shall be limited to the

implementing public junior high schools in the Division of Davao del Sur, because time and

resources are considered. Given the inadequate time for the conduct of the study, I need to

consider the data-gathering process as well such as the conduct of interviews and even returning

back the transcribed data from the interviews for verification of responses. Through

phenomenology as a research design used in this study, the challenges identified and observed by

the participants shall be explored and ample responses from them be elicited. Simultaneously,

various reading interventions shall be proposed and discussed in order to come up with a new

body of knowledge.

Definition of Terms

Distance Learning. A mode of instruction in which learning takes place between the teacher and

learners who are geographically separated from each other during instruction. Modular Distance

Learning (MDL), Online Distance Learning (ODL), and TV/Radio-Based Instruction are the

three forms of this modality. These different modes of learning delivery are employed by the

schools in the whole Division of Davao del Sur, depending on what was suitable for a specific

area due to the pandemic, where higher cases of COVID-19 impede face-to-face classes. To date

back, these learning modalities were officially employed for two school years, School Year

2020-2021 and School Year 2021-2022.

Reading Crisis. It is operationally defined as the various problems and challenges that the

students encounter in reading during the two-year blended distance learning.

The Challenging Comeback. It is a phrase used to mean that there is a challenging phenomenon

that arose as the face-to-face classes resumed after the two-year distance learning.