Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills through Short Stories in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the role of short stories on students' reading comprehension. To achieve its objective, this Quasi-Experimental study utilized pre-test and post-test design. The participants were classified into group 1, the Experimental Group, and Group 2, the control group. Data were collected through the pre-test and post-test reading tests. Then, the data were analyzed using SPSS 24, based on average scores, standard deviation, descriptive statistics, and t-tests for pre and post-test analysis. The findings of the study showed that students who learned to read through the technique of using carefully selected short stories improved their reading comprehension and reading skills more than students that studied with the other approach of using the national instructional material. Based on the study’s findings, it has been determined that learning to read with the help of short stories improves students' reading comprehension. The literary texts helped in students' learning strategies, in students' attention, and the improvement of students’ reading skills that indirectly improved their reading comprehension.