Effect of Collaborative Strategic Reading on Learners’ use of Contextual Clues in a literary text in co-educational secondary schools in Ugenya Sub-county, Kenya.

This study investigated the effect of using Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) on learners’ ability to use contextual clues in a literary text. Employing the Solomon IV quasi-experimental design, the research utilized the multi-stage sampling technique, where simple stratified sampling selected one school from each zone in Ugenya sub-county. Subsequently, simple random sampling was used to select one intact classroom and two teachers of English per school, resulting in a total sample of 169 Form Three students and 8 teachers. Four complete classrooms were randomly assigned, with two designated in the experimental group and two in the control group, respectively. The Learners’ English Reading Skills Achievement Test served as both the pre-test and post-test to evaluate the impact of CSR on contextual clues among learners. Additionally, the document analysis guide was used to examine the teachers’ lesson plans for CSR integration, while the observation checklist monitored the actual application of CSR components in the classroom. Quantitative data from the tests, document analysis, and observations were analyzed using paired t-tests and independent samples t-tests, while qualitative data were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Findings revealed that CSR was not commonly evident in English reading instruction; however, the experimental group demonstrated a significant improvement in performance on the use of contextual clues, with a t value of 18.8 (p < .05). These results highlight the potential benefits of using CSR pedagogy and how CSR may help improve reading and comprehension in enhancing reading comprehension and suggest that curriculum developers, teachers, and students could leverage CSR strategies to improve the acquisition of critical reading skills.