Improving Reading Comprehension of Narrative Texts through Summaries

Abstract

This study aimed to demonstrate the efficacy of summaries to improve reading comprehension of narrative texts. This study consisted of a sample of sixty elementary school students who had evident reading comprehension deficiencies especially in narrative texts. Qualitative and quantitative instruments were applied to meet the purpose of this study. These instruments were composed of pre-test and post-test, rubric, learning log, survey, a checklist to measure the students’ development and progress as well as their perspectives towards this innovation. Results indicated that there was an improvement in students’ reading comprehension. Post-test means increased from 5.96 in the pretest to 9.10. The checklist also evidenced that students included the required elements in their summaries. Students indicated in the learning logs that they would extend this strategy to other subjects, and that they had to reread and identify the most important information to summarize. The study has implications for teachers and learners since it can bring positive considerations about the importance of making summaries to improve reading comprehension.