Effects of Text Rhetorical Organization Strategy Instruction on Students' Reading Comprehension Performance: First Year Undergraduate Students at University of Gondar in Focus

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of text rhetorical organization strategy instruction on stu dents' reading comprehension performance through quasi-experimental research design. The participants (n=S4 for the experimental group and n=S2 for the control group) were taken from two undergraduate classes where the researcher was assigned to teach the course' Communicative English Language Skills' in 2O2O academic year. The instruction lasted for six weeks, two sessions each week and three hours each session. The experimental group was taught to read in English through the application of text rhetorical organization strategy instruction and the control group received the lessons through the conventional method of teaching reading where the lessons were taught as prescribed in the syllabus. Data were collected through reading comprehension tests and written recall tasks. MANOVA was used to analyze the data. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control groups at (P<.OS, i.e., p=.OOl). That is, the experimental group students outperformed their counterparts in reading comprehension and written recall tasks. Thus, the findings of this study suggested that text rhetorical organization strategy instruction can be used as one of the effective strategies in assisting students to get mastery over reading comprehension performance