THE EFFECTS OF INQUIRY-BASED RECIPROCAL TEACHING MODULE (IBRM) ON MALAYSIAN ESL LEARNERS’ READING COMPREHENSION: A QUASI-EXPERIMENT

Abstract

Despite the great appreciation on high competency in ESL reading, the results of PISA reading cautioned on the ineptitude of Malaysian ESL learners and depicted the heightened prevalence of reading difficulties among them. Although various curriculum modifications and ESL reading interventions were developed to facilitate reading instruction in the classroom, learners’ reading performance is still unsatisfactory. This ten-week quasi-experimental study tested an inquiry-based reciprocal teaching module which was aimed at enhancing secondary school learners’ reading comprehension through the utilisation of effective reading strategies. A total of 84 Form Four ESL learners were randomly selected to be the participants, with an equal number of 42 participants randomly assigned to either experimental or control group. Independent sample t-tests and paired sample t-tests were performed to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that the inquiry-based reciprocal teaching module has positively and significantly enhanced ESL learners’ reading comprehension performance, thus was effective in improving the learners’ reading comprehension.