Narrow Reading Technique and the Reading Skill

Abstract

Reading is a tough skill to develop because it needs lot of input, especially in EFL settings. It´s very important to learn to read by reading. In most Ecuadorian schools that is the most difficult part since unfortunately, reading is not part of our culture. Reading practice is limited to only inside of classes and teachers must look for ways to catch students’ attention in order to teach reading in English. The present research project aims to determine the effectiveness of Narrow Reading Technique in the development of the reading skill in students of eight-year E.G.B at U.E. “Luis Fernando Ruiz”. This study used a non-experimental design to determine the incidence of the independent variable on the dependent carriable. A modified YLT Movers test from Cambridge was used to compared the reading proficiency level before and after the NR treatment. A total of 30 students with low English proficiency were part of the study. The group addressed one type of narrow reading: same author. A set of online Manga stories was used. The texts were eight stories in the Doremon Manga series. The study was conducted over a 4 -week period. Two tests (pretest and posttest) were used to measure the reading ability. Reading comprehension quizzes at the end of each session to measure whether the participants’ reading comprehension differed in reading after each trial. Statistical analyses were used to interpret the quantitative data obtained from reading comprehension quizzes, the pretest and posttest. The results showed positive responses to NR since it contributed to the improvement of participants’ reading skill, particularly those with less English knowledge. The most significant finding in this research was that students comprehended more with the use of Manga. After that assertation, Manga should be applied to develop reading skill. At the end, a handbook is included to help how to use Manga stories