Catherine Bon 
How Can First Graders Learn to Read in Pili, Philippines? A Reading Book to Improve Oral Language Usage and Comprehension 

Scientific Study from the year 2020 in the subject Didactics – Reading, , language: English, abstract: Various reading strategies for the pupils in the primary level are essential concern especially on reading and writing skills to succeed in their next grade level. In early elementary grades, pupils with poor reading skills result to shortened attention span, exhaustion and difficulty with concentration. Unfortunately, due to poor reading performance of the pupils, they are most likely to fail in their respective classes.

According to some studies, primary education is the foundation of child’s development. Pupils who enter in Grade One class with limited academic language skills typically left behind with other school children in reading. The alarming result of Reading Evaluation Test conducted by Grade One adviser in Pili Elementary School describes the reality that the teachers are facing now. If this problem will not be solved, it will continue and reach to higher grades. In her own class, the author has seen how pupils struggled in reading especially in the area of reading comprehension. The result of the 2018-2019 Phil IRI challenged the researcher to conduct a research pertaining on reading stories and its effects on the oral language and comprehension of Grade One pupil since most children define themselves as good or poor readers during first grade.

School children especially in the primary level learn to love the sound of letters through listening a story before they notice the existence of printed letters/words on a page of a book. Reading stories aloud with them expands their understanding and excites their imagination. Through stories, the pupils enjoy and experience a lifelong love of books. In addition, various stories help the pupils develop their listening skills especially understand language/words which they encounter in daily life.
The researcher decided to make a probe on the positive effects of listening stories in Grade One school children of Pili Elementary School, Philippines.