Effects of Genre-Based Instructional Material on Students’ Reading Proficiency

I. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the Genre-Based Approach (GBA) has gained significance in improving students' reading comprehension [1]. Reading is an imperative skill that needs to develop among students in learning across subject areas. It is more than just a skill because it opens a wider learning horizon. The measure of students' reading proficiency includes reading fluency and reading comprehension.

The Philippines was found to have the highest education poverty rate among students in the ASEAN region, standing at 90.9% [2]. Additionally, the result of English proficiency of Filipino students is very low and ranks lowest in the 2018 Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) among 79 countries [3]. The country's average score was only 340 points in reading, and it did not reach a minimum level of proficiency in reading, indicating a significant number of low performers compared to other PISA-participating countries and economies. This alarming educational crisis has disturbed the Department of Education (DepEd) in all grade levels for this implied learning poverty which can greatly affect the attainment of quality education.

In Dologon National High School- Kiharong Annex, among Grade 7 learners, there are of students belong to the frustration level and are struggling readers who imperatively need appropriate help. This is very evident in the result of the 2022-2023 Philippine - Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) pre-reading assessment conducted by the reading teachers at the school [4]. The students may seem to have a poor reading proficiency level due to a lack of knowledge, skills, and strategies. Consequently, the persistent challenge with students' reading proficiency adversely impacts their academic performance. To address this issue, educators must implement appropriate reading strategies and provide substantial reading instructional materials to enhance students' literacy skills.

Instructional resources play a significant role in enhancing the performance of students in the English Language . They are powerful scaffolds to teach the language effectively. Teachers in the field are encouraged by DepEd to conduct intervention programs to bridge the learning gaps and promote learning recovery programs. Hence, the researcher decided to develop teacher-made instructional materials that could be advantageous in this current educational situation.

Several investigations on various methods aimed at improving reading comprehension have been conducted over time, and findings consistently demonstrate a substantial impact of these approaches on both students' reading comprehension and motivation. However, reading problems continue to exist and even worsen. Thus, a modification of those strategies such as the use of a Genre-Based Approach (GBA) to be integrated into instructional material to improve the student's reading proficiency is worth investigating. According to Hyland, the GBA significantly enhances language learning by focusing on language, content, and contexts, offering students valuable skills for successful adaptation to diverse academic settings in various disciplines [6]. The significance of instructional materials (IMs) in the teaching and learning process is crucial, as they contribute to the completeness and functionality of the educational experience [7].

The implementation of GBA in language instruction, whether in English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings, yielded notable results in enhancing students' reading comprehension.

The context of the mentioned problem concerning students' reading predicaments, especially in reading proficiency and with the current educational learning poverty prompted the researcher to develop this Genre-Based Instructional Material (GB-IM). The innovative IM aimed to determine the level of the teachers' and students' evaluation on the GB-IM, identify the reading proficiency level of the GB-IM and non-GB-IM groups in the pretest and post-test, ascertain if there is a significant difference in the evaluation of the teachers and students on the GB-IM, and assess if there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores in the GB-IM and non-GB-IM groups.

II. METHODOLOGY

This paper employed a quasi-experimental research design where one group (experimental) with 38 students utilized the GB-IM, while the other group (control) with 36 students was exposed to the Non-GB-IM in the teaching of Expository Texts. The study followed the formal communication procedure in conducting the research.

Coin tossing was a technique done to decide which section would be assigned to the GB-IM or non-GB-IM group. The development of the GB-IM was based on the adopted steps of R&D model design by Gall and Borg. The eight steps of the R&D cycle were employed in the study: (1) need analysis (in Gall and Borg's model it is called research and information collecting); (2) development of material (it is planning and developing the preliminary form of the product); (3) Expert's validation; (4) First Revision (main product revision); (5) Try-out (main field testing/piloting); (6) Revision (operational product revision); the final product; and (8) dissemination and implementation [8].

This research is methodically designed as Research and Development (R&D). They define R&D as a development model in which findings of the research are used to develop new products and procedures that meet specified criteria of effectiveness, quality, or similar standards through systematic field tests, evaluations, and revisions. The material developer should consider the teaching-learning procedures, processes, and products as well. It is a process that is used to validate educational products.

The GB-IM was developed following the four stages of the GBA model that include: 1) Building of Knowledge of the Field (BKOF); 2) Modeling of the Text (MOT); 3) Joint Construction of the Text (JCOT); and 4) Independent Construction of the Text (ICOT). Also, it did use the KWL technique that activated the prior knowledge of the students and helped them establish a purpose for the lessons. Moreover, the content of the IM particularly the integration of GBA was evaluated by subject experts using the Modified Rubric for Evaluating Reading/Language Arts Instructional Materials for Kindergarten to Grade 5 [9]. The inter-rater reliability was also employed in the study particularly Cramer's V to evaluate the extent to which the GB-IM evaluators agree in their assessment of the instructional material. The researcher adopted the DepEd's Phil-IRI computation to analyze and interpret the students' reading proficiency which included the students' fluency and comprehension.

In addition, 16-item comprehension (pre- and post-) tests from the Phil-IRI Manual were utilized to assess the reading comprehension level of the students. On the other hand, the IM evaluation of the GB-IM was determined through the adapted survey questionnaire checklist [10] and made use of a Likert scale. Furthermore, descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, and frequency were used to describe the students' reading proficiency level and the teachers' and students' IM evaluation. The inferential statistics specifically the use of an independent t-test was utilized to ascertain if there is a significant difference in the evaluation of the teachers and students on the GB-IM and the use of ANCOVA to assess if there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores in the GB-IM and non-GB-IM groups.

III. RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Table 1 shows the teachers' and students' evaluation of the GB-IM. The measure of the teachers' and students' evaluation was obtained from the frequency and percentage of their ratings. The basis for interpreting the rating of the teachers and participants is from the Modified Rubric for Evaluating Reading/Language Arts Instructional Materials for Kindergarten to Grade 5 [9].

It reflects the consolidated responses of the 3 teachers and 38 students on the evaluation of the GB-IM. It indicates that the majority of the means in the ten (10) indicators in both teachers and students obtained the "Strongly Agree" or equivalent to "The criteria were completely met" in their evaluation of the GB-IM. Although the teachers' evaluation obtains a higher mean of 4.90 (Strongly Agree) than the students' evaluation with a mean of 4.57 (Strongly Agree), both evaluations imply that they both agreed that the GB-IM completely met the criteria.

The teachers' evaluation has the highest mean scores of 5.00 for eight (8) indicators except for indicator 1 (Material uses scaffolding and stimulating questions to engage in high-quality discussions) with a mean score of 4.33 and indicator 2 (Material provides opportunities to adhere the 4 stages of GBA model: 1) Building Knowledge of the Field (BKOF), 2) Modeling of the Text (MOT), 3) Joint Construction of the Text (JCOT), and 4) Independent Construction of the Text (ICOT) of expository text or informational text) with a mean score of 4.67.

On the other hand, the students' evaluation has its lowest mean score of 4.32 in indicator 9 (Content is aligned with reading comprehension for informational texts and text complexity for grade 7 frustration readers) which is equivalent to "Agree" or "The criterion was substantially met" while the remaining nine (9) indicators have a rating evaluation of more than "4.50" which could be rounded off to "5.00" which has a descriptive rating of "Criterion was completely met".

The results of the study imply that teachers and students have higher evaluation ratings on the instructional material (GB-IM) because they found it motivating, simple, clear, and interesting. The study on the use of graded materials for children with reading difficulties mentioned the use of colorful and attractive pictures helped keep students' interest in further reading the materials . As a result, children increased their reading interest and confidence which eventually improved their reading skills. This is in line with the study of which explored the effect of an innovative and creative IM in teaching among grade IX students in a mountain school in Cebu City, Philippines. The study argued that SIM-based teaching is a more effective approach than the modular approach in improving the students' performance.

In addition, the findings ofconfirmed that instructional materials contributed to the variation in learners' English reading literacy in primary schools. The arguments imply that failure to provide quality instructional materials to students affects the substantial outcome of learning. Furthermore, the study ofon the development of reading skills of students having difficulty in reading through enrichment programs concluded that to develop the reading skills of the students, the construction of an appropriate reading environment and enrichment of reading programs can be effective.

Generally, the overall finding reveals that both the teachers and students have a higher evaluation rating on the GB-IM.

It reveals that they both "Strongly Agree" that the criteria were met in the development of the GB-IM which consequently helped in improving the reading comprehension of the students.

Table 1: Mean scores of teachers' and students' evaluation of the (Genre-Based Instructional Material)

Table 2 shows the pretest and post-test percentage scores of the GB-IM and non-GB-IM groups. The measure of the students' reading proficiency is obtained from the frequency and percentage of their scores in the pretest and posttest. The basis for interpreting the scores of the students is the PHIL-IRI Manual [15].

The result of the study divulges that the GB-IM group outscored the students in the Non-GB-IM group since there was an improvement in the reading proficiency level after the given intervention. Moreover, it was indicated that most of the students in the GB-IM group moved to the instructional level. The GBA intervention material helped them comprehend the text better as they were exposed to the four stages of the GBA model . Consequently, the GB-IM provided them with the background knowledge of the text, displayed them the model of the text, and allowed them to work and learn with others before they had to work individually. It coheres with the claim that the teaching genre can help students how to interact with others . GBA is an effective tool to improve students' cognitive processes and critical thinking about the order and linguistic features of the moves of text types .

One of the reasons why the students were less aware of these lexico-grammatical concepts (both textual meaning and experiential learning) was because they lacked adequate experience to know how to use the target generic texts during the lessons . For that reason, it is significant to teach explicitly the text structures to the students.

*Significant at p\<.05 For instance, the effects of the Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) on the achievement of a selected group of public-school students in Agusan Del Norte revealed a significant increase in improving the least-learned competency of the learners .

Table 2: Pretest and posttest percentage scores of students' reading proficiency

The results of the present study show that students exposed to Genre-Based Instructional Material (GB-IM) were observed to improve their reading proficiency as manifested in their scores. Thus, it is important to use a strategy that would suit the learning abilities of the learners at the same time provide them with instructional material that would motivate them to learn better.

Table 3: Difference between the teachers' and students' evaluation of the GB-IM

Table 3 shows that the teachers' evaluation has a mean score of 4.90 which is relatively higher compared to the students' evaluation which has 4.57. Although there is a slight difference in the mean scores, this generally means that both have an evaluation rating equivalent to "Strongly Agree" with the descriptive rating of "The criterion was completely met".

The table also presents a t-value of -2.215 and a probability value of 0.33 which indicates that there is a significant difference between the teachers' and students' evaluation of the GB-IM. This means that the teachers' evaluation of the GB-IM is significantly higher than the students' evaluation. Hence, the hypothesis "there is no significant difference between the teachers' and students' evaluation on GB-SIM is rejected.

The significant result of the study is in support of the previous research shows that teachers have leeway to determine whether the supplemental materials are aligned with the standards and with the goals of the classroom, grade level, and school. Teachers knew the importance of developing their professional judgment to select supplemental materials to enhance the quality of instructions.

Students' evaluation on the GB-IM is slightly lower compared to the teachers but still equivalent to "Strongly Agree" or "The criterion was completely met" because they find the material engaging and relevant. This in line with the study of [10] showed that students have a very high evaluation on the use of Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) because they found it enjoyable and interesting and developed a positive attitude towards learning. Students became motivated when they believed they could be effective in reaching the desired goals under their control [24]. It would consequently inspire and encourage them to learn more concepts about the topic. The finding of the study implies that

Genre-Based IM employed scaffolding, stimulating questions, developing knowledge, encouraging the love for reading, and reading appropriateness for the students' level as evidenced by their responses in the 10 indicators. The students were able to comprehend the text better because the expository text features were explicated in terms of description, sequence, comparison, cause and effect, problem, and solution. Also, the explicit teaching of each structure which includes its descriptions, cue/signal words, examples, and graphic organizers consciously raised students' awareness and significantly contributed to their better reading comprehension.

The result reveals that students in the experimental group enjoyed reading and doing all the activities in the GB-IM because it offered interesting activities in the Building Knowledge of the Field, Modeling of the Text, Joint Construction of the Text, and the Independent Construction of the Text. This is in congruence with the finding of which indicated that the integration of reading skills in the development of SIMs may facilitate learning since students are actively engaged and participate in activities that connect to real-life experiences. It is remarkable to note that the present study is focused on the expository text which means that the students deal with factual information which they found interesting and enjoyable. In addition, as prescribed, reading interventions should use texts with topics that are familiar to the learners, so they will have notable support and background to access the reading texts and comprehend them .

Moreover, instructional materials that captivate the students' attention and make them available would surely produce an effect that contributes to successful a learning outcome [10]. With that, the teaching of reading skills relies on the availability, quality, and utilization of relevant instructional resources and the skill of the teacher [7]. They argued that it is because instructional materials facilitate the understanding of the difficult concepts of the lessons as well as the teaching and learning of the reading skills to make the learners understand and follow the materials more easily. The GB-IM which was utilized in the study provided an opportunity for the students to set up their own pace without being pressured about the time since they were allowed to finish some of the activities at home.

The remarkable students' evaluation on the use of GB-IM is also parallel to the findings of [27] presented their study at the DLSU Research Congress in 2019 at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines on the "Effectiveness of Competency-Based Strategic Intervention Materials in English 7". The authors observed in the study that learners enjoyed and learned as they went along with the IM. They have improved their least mastered skills and even developed their passion for reading.

The overall finding shows that the GB-IM has a very high evaluation rating for both teachers and students but there is a slight significant difference in their evaluation with the GB-IM.

Table 4: Difference between the Pretest and Posttest Scores of the GB-IM and non-GB-IM Groups

The finding indicates that the GB-IM group has a higher mean of 1.63 compared to the non-GB-IM group which has 1.13. It further reveals the probability value of 0.000 which indicates that there is a significant difference in the students' reading proficiency level between groups. This means that the reading proficiency level of the GB-IM group is significantly higher compared to the other group.

The significant result of this study supports the claim of that the classification of the genre as text type is claimed to be particularly helpful to students as it provides a means of understanding different features of the target genres. Besides, according to Henry and Roseberry, the procedure appears to have increased the awareness of the participants in terms of the generic structures and this awareness may have made it easier for the participants to organize and incorporate different elements to achieve their communicative goals, resulting in more elaborate products .

Furthermore, it is consistent with the study of Toledo as cited in which showed that a genre-based framework for teaching reading skills is beneficial for reading comprehension. Also, a study by stated that one can only be creative once he understands the conventions of the genre very well. It was affirmed in the study of which mentioned that the genre-based approach allows individual variations and is not fixed and not a rule-governed pattern. This implies that knowledge of the structures of the target genre could contribute meaningfully to a better comprehension of the text. The present study shows that the experimental group outperformed the control group as they were motivated and actively involved in the learning process. This improvement in the reading proficiency level of the students in the experimental group can be attributed to the four stages of the GBA model which include: 1) Building of Knowledge of the Field (BKOF); 2) Modeling of the Text (MOT); 3) Joint Construction of the Text (JCOT); and 4) Independent Construction of the Text (ICOT). Besides, the KWL comprehension technique used contributed to the enhancement of the students' reading comprehension. The technique helped in the activation of the prior knowledge of students and helped them develop their purposes for reading expository texts.

In addition, the significant increase in the mean score of the students who are exposed to the Genre-Based Approach is similar to the findings of the study of which investigated the effect of scientific and genre-based approaches on English reading comprehension among 144 students of eighth grade SMP Negeri 1. The findings of the study showed significant results in the implementation of the approaches to the students' reading comprehension which led to a better comprehension ability of the students after 12 meetings of treatments using those approaches.

Moreover, the positive effect of Genre-Based Instructional Material (GB-IM) on the students' reading comprehension is in congruence with the findings of in the implementation of GBA in reading intervention among 40 Columbian HS learners. The results showed that GBA was highly effective in developing the reading competence of students while displaying work collaboration, active participation, and discovery of their strengths and showed engagement in the reading process. The finding of the study also is congruent with the claim that the implementation of GBA in the teaching of reading following its four stages in senior high school showed a good contribution to the students' language proficiency.

On the other hand, the result of this study is in contrast with wherein 80 Iranian EFL learners were examined on the effect of genre structure on their reading comprehension ability. The data from the study indicated that there was an effect on the reading ability to the instruction of narrative text structure but not in the structure of the expository text. It argued that writing expository texts tends to be arduous because they contain content-specific vocabulary that may be unknown to the reader and there is often insufficient background information to make sense of new information. Thus, it is very important to provide a reading strategy that would suit the students' needs and interests, such as GBA in addressing their reading problems.

Furthermore, the use of instructional material plays a significant role in the teaching-learning process. This means that students need effective instructional materials that motivate them to learn better. When students become motivated, they can be effective in reaching the desired goals under their control with expended effort .

IV. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were formulated:

First, the overall GB-IM evaluation of the teachers and students were both "Strongly Agree" or equivalent to "The criterion was completely met". This only means that both have higher mean scores in the evaluation of the GB-IM.

Second, the majority of the students from the GB-IM and non-GB-IM groups belonged to the frustration level in the pretest, however, in the post-test, progress is noted. It was observed that more students in the GB-IM group moved to the instructional level and independent level compared to the non-GB-IM group. Thus, the GB-SIM group has a higher reading proficiency increase compared to the non-GB-IM group.

Third, there was a significant difference between the teachers' and students' evaluations on the GB-IM. Thus, this implies that teachers' evaluation on the GB-IM is significantly higher compared to the students' evaluation.

Lastly, there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the GB-IM and non-GB-IM groups after the interventions. Hence, the result showed that the use of GB-IM (experimental group) has a higher significant effect on students' reading proficiency compared to the use of non-GB-IM (control group).

Hence, curriculum developers may integrate the Genre-Based Approach (GBA) in the development of instructional materials which would boost students' interest in learning the target language. Teachers are encouraged to consider the use of GB-IM as instructional material for it provides an opportunity to improve students' reading proficiency. Reading and English teachers may utilize GB-IM in the teaching of reading for it improves students' reading proficiency which includes fluency and comprehension. School administrators and curriculum implementers may encourage teachers to develop instructional materials with the integration of appropriate approach/es and by adopting the steps in IM development such as the Research and Development model.