Metacognitive Learning Strategies: Their Effects on the Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade Five Pupils

This study aimed at examining the effects of metacognitive learning strategies on the reading comprehension performance of 80 Grade Five pupils in the MSU-Integrated Laboratory School for SY 2011-2012. The researcher used quasi-experimental design, which entailed using two intact, randomly selected groups: one served as the control group and the other as the experimental group. The descriptive-quantitative research was used to describe and analyse the respondents' performance in their reading comprehension test. The data were treated using Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) with a significance level set at .05. This research work involved four phases: In the first phase, a self-constructed Personal Background Questionnaire and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford (1990) were administered both to the experimental and control groups before the strategy instruction. In the second phase, the experimental group received six sessions of instruction on metacognitive strategies. On the other hand, the control group received six sessions of instruction using the traditional method of teaching reading based on the Basal Readers Approach. Both experimental and control groups worked on authentic and inauthentic texts (some articles from the Newspaper and the World of Reading textbook). In the third phase, after completion of instruction, the teacher-made reading comprehension test was administered to both groups to determine the reading comprehension performance of the respondents. In the fourth phase, the SILL was administered to both groups again to determine if the metacognitive strategies instruction has an effect on the reading comprehension performance of the respondents. The data analysis yielded the following findings: First, a slightly greater outcome was manifested in the reading comprehension test of the experimental group compared to the control group. Second, there was no significant difference between the mean scores of the reading comprehension test of the control and experimental groups. Both the experimental and control groups performed well in the authentic section of the reading comprehension test. Lastly, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford, 1990 shows a positive effect on the reading comprehension performance of the experimental group. Therefore, the respondents performed better in the part of the reading comprehension test using authentic texts and the experimental group’s metacognitive awareness increased notably after the instruction.