Effects of systematic listening instruction on the reading comprehension achievement of sixth-grade students enrolled in a remedial reading program

The twofold purpose of the study was to develop listening activities for instruction in a sixth grade Chapter I reading program, and to determine if a program of systematic listening instruction would improve the reading comprehension of sixth grade students who were enrolled in a Chapter I reading program. The researcher assessed the students' progress through use of the reading comprehension subtests from Forms E and F of the California Achievement Test (1985).;Information from the review of the literature formulated the basis for implementing a systematic listening instruction program which correlated with the basal reading program in the Alcorn Public School District. The Chapter I reading instructors implemented the program in two sixth grade Chapter I reading classes in Corinth, Mississippi, during the 1989-90 school year. The study consisted of 30 sixth grade students (16 males and 14 females) who were enrolled in the Alcorn Public School District. The 30 students were divided into two groups: a control group of 12 boys and girls, and an experimental group of 18 boys and girls. The students in the control group attended Alcorn Central and Glendale Elementary Schools. The students in the experimental group attended Kossuth and Union Center Elementary Schools. The 12 students in the control group were taught listening incidentally, and the experimental group were given systematically planned listening instruction for a 15 minute period each school day for ten weeks.;The goals of the procedures were to increase students' skills in listening and in reading comprehension, and to determine if a systematic program in listening instruction would contribute to improved reading comprehension of the students. The results of the study showed that the students in the experimental group gained 1.9 years in reading comprehension. The students in the control group gained only 3.2 months in reading comprehension. The experimental group gains were statistically significant at the.001 level. The researcher concluded that the listening treatment made a difference in the reading comprehension for the sixth grade Chapter I reading students participating in the study. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected at the.05 level of significance.