The Role of Reading Prosody in Reading Comprehension Among The Students in Baras-

Pinugay Integrated High School – Senior High School

Noel Conge & Mercy Radones

Baras-Pinugay Integrated High School – Senior High School
[email protected]

Abstract
Prosody, often described as the rhythm and melody of language, a pervasive
aspect of spoken language which has impact on written language. Prosodic
elements such as stress and intonation are generally seen as the provider of the
proper input to utterance comprehension. It is featured in reading aloud has been
associated with the students decoding skill. They are typically creates impression,
convey information about emotions or attitudes, or alter the possible
interpretations rather than conveying distinct propositions or concepts in their
own. Prosody is really essential for the reader to determine reading
comprehension. Student who did not read the text prosodically (with appropriate
intonation and stress) actually showed that she/he failed to comprehend the text.
This study will find out the role of reading prosody in reading comprehension
among the students and also it revealed that a struggling reader also has a low
comprehension capacity in listening spoken texts as well as in reading written
text.

1. Introduction

Reading is the foundation of our learning. Everything that we know especially in school starts
when we know how to read. Having a good reading habits act as a strong weapon for the
students to excel in life (Bashir & Matteo, 2012). Certainly, most of the students possess good
reading habit that's why they excel in school. Through this, they can make life in the near future
easier, but the problem today, while some students have a good reading habit, others tend to have
poor reading habit that leads them to have failure grades in school and soon in their life. Lack of
proper reading habits is the real reason of poor performance in academic of the students. Habit is
the characteristic behavioral pattern that is learnt reinforced in a manner realized in every case
automatically (Blaha & Bennett, 1993:86). Habits came in our lives slowly and become
established after a certain period of time. If habits are not quitted in time they become needs
(Aksaslioglu, 2005). Reading is the act of getting meaning from printed written words (Guthrie,
Bennett & McGough, 2007) that is transformed into a habit called "reading habit". The habit of
reading is the act of reading being carried out throughout life in a constant, regular and critical
manner as a result of it being perceived by the individual as a need and source of pleasure
(Tilmaz, 1993). Technology and developments of mass media affects the interest of students in
reading and it is one of the big factors why students have poor performance in academic. Pagani
(2012) states that at present, due to the influence of the mass media, people do not show much
interest in reading a books, magazines, and journal, among others. Students prefer to watch
movies, shows on the television, listening to audios CD's and the likes, mass media become more
important to them especially the internet which become their source of information. The home
works and activities are just copied from the internet which causes the significance of reading to
lost, which support partially Palani's statement that nowadays, reading habit has lost its
importance as both the young and the old are glued to the television.

As a student of senior high school, it is expected to well-developed the reading

comprehension skills, it is due to their school experiences from pre-school, grade school and
junior high school. Hence, if reading comprehension of students is poor, chances of having a
good performance in school will be worsen. Reading comprehension is a complex process that
requires different building-bloch skills (Basaraba, 2013). As students go up the educational
ladder, reading a lot of information is required as for the students to understand the lessons that
become more complex as time passes by. This will be their building-block to attain good
performance in school.

Currently, there are a lot of students experienced difficulties in understanding a text due
to improper text reading prosody. Prosody is a linguistic term used to describe the rhythmic
aspect of spoken language (Massoud, 2014). It includes intonation, emphasis, rate, stress patterns
and duration (Torgesen & Hudson, 2006; Allington, 1983; Dowhomer, 1991; Schreiber, 1980,
1991). In reading literature, prosody and reading comprehension are related (Groven, Veenendal
& Verhoeven, 2018) because the more you have high prosody skills the higher your reading
comprehension is, and if you have improper prosody you have also poor reading comprehension.
Prosody's importance in distinguishing types of speech (e.g. pitch, movements and emotion) can
be used to determine the kind of speech you have.

Educators believed that reading is the foundation of success in school learning and key to
achievement of potential after graduation. Reading, which is important throughout the lifespan,
contributes to growth and development by helping individuals to understand their personal and
social words (Freire, 1983). Reading not only enhances personal, spiritual and mental
development but also provides entertainment, inspiration and knowledge of how we view
ourselves and others (Du Toit, 2001, p.6). It is a must that reading a book and others should not
be temporary but permanently, Lone (2011) argues that regular reading shapes the intellect, fines
emotions and prepares individuals for social cultural and political life. Reading can also
influence individual development and social progress. Stranger and Casey suggest that in
addition to providing economic benefits, literacy significantly and positively influences the
quality of individuals intellectual and spiritual lives while enabling all segments of the
population to participate in their countries development (1983, cited in Clark & Rumbord, 2006;
p9) states, "reading not only influences reading achievement but also increases general
knowledge." Additionally, Kuashen (1993) argues that people who read frequently possess
stronger overall literacy skills, such as larger vocabularies, improved writing ability, better
spelling and increased knowledge of grammatical and punctuation rules. Barton and Haunilton
(1998) noted that reading is a social practice that is important for communication, for
 participating in life outside of one's immediate circle and for understanding the world. Reading
enhances enthusiasm and development of self-confidence (Oakey, 2007; Guthrie & Alvermann,
1999, cited in Clark & Rumbord, 2006; p9).

Andrew M.I. Lee, J.D. proposed the six reading comprehension skills named Decoding,
Fluency, Vocabulary, Sentence Construction and Cohesion, Reasoning and Background
Knowledge, and Working Memory and Attention. Decoding is a vital step in the reading process,
readers must use this skill to sound out word they have heard before but have not seen written
out. The ability to do that is the foundation for other reading skills. Decoding relies on an early
language skill called phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness enables a person to hear
individual sounds in words. It also allows them to “play” with sounds at the word and syllable
level. Fluency is about to read fluently and students need to instantly recognize words, including
one’s they cannot sound out. Fluency speeds up the rate at which they can read and understand
text. Fluent readers read smoothly at a good pace. They group words together to help with
meaning and they use the proper tone in their voice when reading aloud. It is very essential for
good reading comprehension. To understand what you are reading, you need to understand most
of the words in the text which is the role of having a good vocabulary. Having a strong
vocabulary is a key in reading comprehension. Students can learn vocabulary through instruction
but they typically learn the meaning of words though everyday experience and also by reading.
Sentence construction and cohesion is the understanding how sentences are built might seem like
a writing skill.

Decoding Fluency

6 Essential Skills for Reading

Working Memory Comprehension
Vocabulary
and Attention

Reasoning and Sentence

Background Construction and
Knowledge Cohesion
 Figure 1: Andrew M.I. Lee, J.D. Model of Reading Comprehension Skills

Connecting ideas within and between sentences is cohesion. But these skills are important for
reading comprehension as well. Knowing how ideas link up at the sentence level helps students
get meaning from passages and entire texts. It is also leads to something called coherence, or the
ability to connect ideas to other ideas in an overall piece of writing. Most readers relate what
they have read to what they know in reasoning and background knowledge about the world when
they read. They also need to be able to “read between the lines” and extracting meaning even
when it is not really literally spelled out. Working memory and attention are two skills which are
both part of a group of abilities known as executive function. They are different but closely
related. When students read, attention allows them to take in information from the text. Working
memory allows them to hold on to that information and use it to gain meaning and build
knowledge from what they have read. Working memory and attention are part of executive
function, the ability to self-monitor while reading is also tied to that. Students need to be able to
recognize when they do not understand something. They need to stop, go back and re-read to
clear up any confusion they may have.

There are students who have difficulties in understanding what they have read. This study
aims to give the students awareness on how proper reading prosody will help them to improve
their reading comprehension. It will give them an opportunity to find ways on how they will
improve their reading comprehension to withstand themselves in their class.

2 Literature Review

Reading comprehension is a complicated process that student need to rapidly and precisely
recognize the words in a text while constructing the meaning. Reading fluency is very important
and necessary for reading comprehension and has been defined as reading (text) at speed
"without errors". Recently, however students who use appropriate prosody ( e.g. intonation,
stress placement, word boundaries, pausing and rhythm) while they are reading aloud will
improve their reading comprehension ability and text reading prosody (Miller & Schwanen
flugel,2006,2008;Rasinski et al;2009,Veenendaal et al;2015). Nevertheless, both text reading
prosody and reading comprehension are much related to each other and rely on the ability to read
well.

2.1 Prosody
Prosody is a linguistic expression to signify the sound and appearance of the tone speech; the
melody of spoken language. These factors indicate a lot of meanings of those spoken words such
as question, surprises and exclamation. Prosody is very essential because it really matters how a
sentence or phrase is spoken. The use of prosody has the capability to shape the meaning of
spoken text such as emphasis put on a certain words when a person speaks (Sinambela,
2017).Another example of prosody is the pitch. We often raised the pitch when we asking a
question while, at the moment we make a statement and the pitch usually lower at the end of the
sentence (Peppe et al; 2010).
2.2 Reading
Reading is not easy actually it is a complicated and complex process. A reader created an
interpretation of the text while she/he reads. From past until now, there are a lot of theory and
research refined our comprehension of complex reading process (Sinambela, 2017). Those
reading researchers have their own theories about the exact features of the processes involved in
reading skill but commonly agreed that the most important elements in reading skill are
accepting word fact and also comprehension (Kim & Goetz, 1995).

2.3 Reading fluency and comprehension

Reading fluency is one of the important qualities of a good reader and being lack of fluency will
lead of being poor readers. The distinction in reading fluency makes the reader misunderstands
the text and will cause comprehension problems (Stanovich, 1991). A fluent reader has the
ability to provide his/her concentration in a long period of time and he/she effortless practice to
keep reading skill. Fluency is strongly related to text comprehension. If the text read incorrectly,
the meaning of the words can lead to misinterpretations of the text since the reader will not able
to understand what the author is intended to. Lack of prosody skills a result to improper grouping
of words or phrase. The essence of the word became meaningless and the reader will gain
nothing from his/her readings.

To be able to read fluently, reading with appropriate intonation has also been suggested
to be important (Kuhnet; 2010; Kuhn & Stahl, 2013).Decoding efficiency is very essential for
text reading prosody to develop (Schwanen, Flugel et al; 2014). If decoding is appropriate for the
reading prosody and reading comprehension then poor readers will show an appropriate level of
text reading prosody. Nonetheless, if decoding is essential but not sufficient for the development
and text reading prosody is more tied to reading comprehension then the text reading prosody
skills of reader is weak (Groen et al;2018).

3. Research Question

This study aimed to know the role of reading prosody in reading comprehension among the
students. This study sought to answer the following questions:

1. How text reading prosody related to reading comprehension?

2. How decoding efficiency rely on reading prosody and reading comprehension?

4. Scope and Delimitation

The focus of this study is to determine the different role of prosody in reading comprehension of
the senior high school students in Baras-Pinugay Integrated High School. Purposively we will
select five senior high school students from the aforementioned school who have difficulties in
comprehending a text.

5. Methodology

This part discusses the methods includes: research design, setting and participants, and
instrument which will be used by the researchers in the study.

5.1 Research Design

This study used semi-structured interview to gather the needed information on how reading
prosody affects the reading comprehension of the students.

5.2 Setting and Participants

The participants of the study are the senior high school students of the aforementioned school.
Among the 274 senior high school, five of them will be randomly selected to participate in the
interview. Consent will be given to the respondents to ask for their permission regarding the
interview.

5.3 Instrument

The researchers will use formalized list of questions for the interview as the instrument in the
study. Analyzing the content of transcribed interview will help the researchers to know the roles
of reading prosody in reading comprehension among students.

The formalized list of questions will provide sufficient information needed in the study.
Wherein, the researchers will use semi-structured interview to conduct this study.

6 Results

The results for this study includes: explanations of the interviewees and the extracts of their
statements. Their explanations are the answers to the research questions during the interview.
Extracts are the interpretation of their answers.

Relationship of Reading Prosody to Reading Comprehension

Student Interviewee 1:
"Nakadepende yun sa ano, kung paano pino - pronounce ng isang reader yung
isang text, kasi there are, there are times na yung mga, yung mga intonations
nakakaapekto siya kung ano yung meaning ng mga words."

Extract 1:
Student 1 stated that understanding a text depends on how the reader pronounce
the words because there are times that the intonation the reader is using affects
how he/she will comprehend it.

Student Interviewee 2:
"upon knowing the... the reading prosody, you will be able to comprehend...
comprehend the text well."

Extract 2: The student stated that when the reader knows how to read the text
with proper intonation and stress he/she will be able to understand its message.

Student Interviewee 3:
"it is... we need to... have a proper intonation to understand because there is a
some words in the dictionary that has... not... the... same meaning, so if... you are
able to... read a word with a proper intonation you may understand the meaning of
the word."

Extract 3:
The student-respondent stated that as a reader, we should read a text with proper
intonation for us to be able to understand what we have read because there are
words which has the same spelling but different meaning so if the reader read a
text incorrectly he/she will misinterpret or misunderstand the text.

Student Interviewee 4:
"...kasi yun diba nga bawat words naman hindi naman kasi lahat ng words isa
lang talaga yung meaning may iba talaga na dalawa, tatlo o more tapos so
kailangan... tama talaga yung intonation tsaka yung stress ng ano para ma - gets
mo."

Extract 4:
The student-respondent stated that each word has different meaning and there are
times that there are words with the same pronunciation but different meaning so
as a reader, you should read a word in a text with proper intonation and stress to
be able to understand what you have read.
Based from the answers of student interviewees, reading prosody is really related to reading
comprehension because if the reader read the words in a text properly, he/she will be able to
understand what he/she read. According to Liberman (1973) & Snowling (2001), readers need to
develop their phonological skills for reading, beyond those that they need to comprehend spoken
language or written text. It means that reader will understand the text if he/she pronounced those
words in a text correctly and appropriately. Based from Kuhn et al. (2004) & Schwanenflugel et
al. (2006), reader must imbue text with prosody to read with natural expression and potentially to
comprehend the text fully.

Dependency of Decoding Efficiency to Reading Prosody and Reading Comprehension

Student Interviewee 1:
"Kapagka constant yung speed mo constant din yung, yung mga pronunciation
dapat o kaya tama din yung stress ng words tapos wala pa siyang error parang
mas maganda siyang pakinggan mas, mas clear yung thought mas ah... mas na - e
-emphasize kung ano ba yung talagang kailangan ng, kailangang i - implied o i -
import nung text."

Extract 1:
Having a very good prosody while reading makes the idea of the text clear and it
emphasized the implied meaning of the text.

Student Interviewee 2:
"kapag alam mo yung proper... ano... pronunciation ng word kung saan nilalagay
tamang stress, mas madali mo siyang maiintindihan kaya mahalaga yun sa mga
reader... ayun... para ma... ma... malaman nila kung ano talaga yung message
nung text... kung ano yung pinapahiwatig nun."

Extract 2:
The student-respondent stated that if the readers know how to pronounce words
properly in a text including intonation and stres, the reader will easily understand
what he/she read and also he/she will know what is the message or trying to
implied by the text to the reader.

Student Interviewee 3:
"Oo kasi ano... ayun nga dala - dalawa yung meaning ma... malay mo pala iba na
yung pagkakaintindi mo so... iba din yung maibibigay mo na ano... na parang...”,
“para ano... para mas... maintindihan mo ng maigi kung ano yung binabasa mo o
yung message na dapat iparating sayo."

Extract 3:
The student-respondent stated that there are words that has different meaning so if
the reader did not have awareness on that and he/she did not read the words in a
text properly, he/she might misunderstand or misinterpret what the text wants to
implied to the reader.
Based from the student interviewees, decoding efficiency rely on both reading prosody
and reading comprehension because the reader will understand a text deeply or reader
will be able to analyze the hidden meaning of the text if reader are able to read the words
correctly and understand it properly. According to Peterson & Pennington (2012),
reading comprehension is critically dependent upon efficient word decoding and word
decoding is critically dependent upon phonological awareness (Melby-Lervag et al.,
2012). According to Share (1995), phonological awareness refers to the ability to discern
and manipulate the sounds component within words and this critical skill allows reader
especially beginning readers to break words down into their individual sounds and
combine it to form new words. Once the reader assumes the task of word decoding,
normal listening comprehension processes are required to achieve reading comprehension
(Hoover & Gough, 1990) and when the reader reading aloud or silently, the reader infers
and supply prosody intended by the writer to fully understand the intended message of
the text (Fodor, 2002a).

7 Discussion and Recommendation

Reading prosody is about reading a text with proper intonation and stress, which can be a
powerful tool in understanding a text easily. This study shows that prosodic skill plays a big role
in reading comprehension. Sentences without proper prosody would be more difficult to process
than the sentence structures spoken with natural prosody. At a young age of an individual, it is
very essential to practice the prosodic skills to enhance the ability in comprehending messages
easily because it will help them a lot in many ways. Decoding words in a text rely on both
reading prosody and reading comprehension because reader will decode a text if he/she is able to
pronounce words correctly (including proper stress and intonation) and understand it properly.
Therefore, if the readers possess these three skills it will help them to become a competent and
fluent reader.

Participants are senior high school students were all of them are all teenager female and
male who have learned English very weakly in their previous school that is a reason why they
have a low capability to do prosodic reading and reading comprehension. Students need to
improve their learning process in school especially inside their classroom. Students who need a
lot of time and effort when they read is rarely succeed in their academic life and they seldom
read for recreational goals (Moats, 2001). To solve or lessen the struggling reader the school
should conduct the following:

 Teachers should be able to model competent and fluent oral reading

 The teachers should provide a instructions and feedback to teach students to decode
words
 The teachers should facilitate different ways to support the oral reading development
  The school should provide various materials that student use at their reading level
 The school should conduct different programs or activities that rely on the development
of the reader like declamation piece and others.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Student Interviewee 1

Interviewer: So question number one, do you understand easily the text when you are reading?
Student Interviewee1: It depends... It depends on the type of the text
Interviewer: Why it depends?
Student Interviewee1: Kapagka ano... Kapag ka yung, yung words na ginamit hindi masyadong
highfalutin naiintindihan ko tapos kung... Kung organize yung thought ng text, kapag. formal
siya madali siyang maintindihan
Interviewer: So how do you understand a text?
Student Interviewee1: Sa mga words syempre minsan ginagamitan din siya ng technic katulad
ng... Yung sa words, yung kinakapa mo yung, may isa pang tawag dito yung...
Interviewer: context clues?
Student Interviewee1: context clues, ganyan o di kaya dictionary.
Interviewer: So next, do you think understanding a text depend on how reader pronounce words
in a text? Why? Why not?
Student Interviewee1: O... 'di it depends kapagka binasa mo siya tas mali yung pag - pronounce
mo ng words definitely baka mali din yung pagkakaintindi niya pero pag, kapag tama yung pag
- pronunciation mahalaga yun kasi tama din yung maririnig natin, tama rin yung makukuha
niyang info.
Interviewer: Thank you. So next question, do you think reading a text at constant speed and
without error must consider in reading?
Student Interviewee1: Yes.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee1: kapagka... Kapagka constant yung speed mo constant din yung, yung
mga pronunciation dapat o kaya tama din yung stress ng words tapos wala pa siyang error
parang mas maganda siyang pakinggan mas, mas clear yung thought mas ah... mas na-e-
emphasize kung ano ba yung talagang kailangan ng, kailangang iimplied o iimport nung text.
Interviewer: So next question, do you think having efficient understanding and text reading
prosody makes you become competent reader?
Student Interviewee1: Definitely oo naman, syempre.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee1: kapagka... Diba sabi niyo prosody kapagka maayos yung pag -
pronounce niyo tapos maging, tapos tama pa yung... Kasi diba what you read, what you read is
definitely what you speak, kapagka alam mo ano yung binabasa mo, kung tama yung binabasa
mo atleast kahit na alam mong may mga words na... kunyari magkaparehas ng spelling pero iba
yung, Iba yung... Kapagka sinabi mo na siya nagkaroon ng ibang meaning, magiging, magiging
maalam ka kasi kunyare kapag yung words na may ibang, may iba't ibang pronunciation tas may
iba ibang meaning edi magiging maayos ka na reader kasi alam mo na... Kunware yung words
na yan, ito yung akma sa pagbasa, ito yung akma para maintindihan mo.
Interviewer: Thank you. Next question , do you read the text with proper intonation and stress?
Student Interviewee1: Kapag loud oo naman, syempre.
Interviewer: Do you think intonation and stress affects the ability of the reader to understand a
text?
Student Interviewee1: Oo kasi diba kaoag tama yung words, pronunciation, tama yung pag -
put ng stress syempre nakakaapekto yun kung ano ba talaga yung meaning ng words.
Interviewer: Si do you think reading prosody and reading comprehension are related to each
other?
Student Interviewee1: Yes, oo.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee1: Kasi different prosody means different meaning kaya kailangan kapag
iba yung sinabi, iba yung pag - pronounce mo ng words iba yung mako - comprehend ng readers.
At kung mas malinaw yung prosody mo mas madi... mas ma.. mas mako - comprehend nila kung
ano ba yung tamang words.
Interviewer: So do you think having a good prosodic skills increase the ability of the reader to
aalyze and interpret a text?
Student Interviewee1: Prosodic? Oo naman syempre connected siya kasi kapag may maganda
kang prosodic skills magaling, marunong ka mag... alam mo kung ano yung tamang intonation,
alam mo kung ano yung tamang stress... Alam, alam mo kaagad, diba ka, alam mo kaagad kung
ano yung magiging meaning ng words para sayo, katulad ng sabi ko kanina kung yung words,
kung yung words pwede siyang mag - vary according to or according to how you pronounce
each, alam mo kagad kung pano siya maa - analyze kasi alam mo kung ano yung tamang
ilalagay mo dun sa...
Interviewer: Thank you. Last question, where reading prosody is important?
Student Interviewee1: Syempre kapag may maganda kang reading prosody mas mako -
comprehend mo yung... text na binabasa mo deeper mas magandang prosody mas deeper yung
understanding mo.
Interviewer: Thank you po!

Student Interviewee 2

Interviewer: Good morning. So here the question. So question number one, do you understand
easily the text when you are reading?
Student interviewee 2: There are times that I didn't understand easily the text when... when ano
may instances kasi na... may unfamiliar words na ginagamit, pero yung mga text naman kapag
long text siya pero yung, yung mga words na ginagamit niya is ano, familiar naman ako, I can
easily understand text.

Interviewer: How? How you... how do you understand a text?

Student interviewee 2: I can understand the text by means of reading it thoroughly, hindi lang
siya ano, hindi lang siya basta read ng read. I understand it by means of reading and interpreting
what I read.
Interviewer: Thank you. So third question, do you think understanding a text depend on how
reader pronounce words in a text? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 2: Nakadepende yun sa ano, kung paano pino - pronounce ng isang reader
yung isang text, kasi there are, there are times na yung mga, yung mga intonations nakakaapekto
siya kung ano yung meaning ng mga words. May mga homonyms tayong tinatawag, yung mga
homonyms na yun, yung mga words na pareho ng spelling but different in pronunciation.
Wherein that, pag nagkamali ka ng bigkas sa isang word mag iiba na yung ano, yung, yung
interpretation mo sa ano na yun, sa word na yun.
Interviewer: Next question, do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must
consider in reading? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 2: Yes I consider... When you are reading you must read at a constant
speed kasi kapag nagbabasa ka ng constant lang yung speed mo alam mo kung... kung ga'no ka,
kung ga'no ka, kung ga'no kabilis, kung ga'no kaayos yung babasahin mo. Mas maiintindihan
mo siya ng maayos, unlike dun sa magbabasa ka lang na parang inaalala't inaalam mo lng yung
main idea kung ano yung pinapatungkol daw... ng ano, ng text na 'yon. Mas maganda kapag
alam mo yung binabasa mo and constant speed yung binabasa mong text na 'yon.
Interviewer: Thank you. Fifth question, do you think having efficient understanding and text
reading prosody makes you become competent reader? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 2: Yes. I think it will help me to become a competent reader. Yung reading
proso— prosody, you need proper intonation, the accent on how you speak and how you read. It
depends upon on how to become a competent reader, kasi hindi ka naman agad agad magiging
competent reader kung hindi ka nagsimula sa pagiging mahina. Where in that, kailangan mong
magbasa ng magbasa ng maraming text and gaya nga ng sa isang kasabihan, "Practice makes
perfect," that's why we have to read and read for us to determine and for us na malaman natin
kung ano ba yung strengths and weaknesses natin para sa pagbabasa.
Interviewer: Thank you. Next question, do you read the text with proper intonation and stress?
Student interviewee 2: I love reading, yes, and I read text with proper intonation most
especially yung mga dramas and yung may mga high intonations na kapag nagagalit, yung mga
ganyan. I love reading it with proper intonation.
Interviewer: So do you think intonation and stress affects the ability of the reader to understand
a text?
Student interviewee 2: Yes it affects the ano... the reader to understand a text easily...
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 2: And also it attracts resaders, why?... why? because, because when you
are reading in front of many people tapos maraming nakikinig sayo, how you interpret and how
you pronounce each words with high intonation or low intonation affects the... you will... you
will caught the attention of the readers or the listeners you are, you are encountered with. And
because of it makakaapekto siya para maka - catch ka ng attention and the intonation also affects
the mood of the... mood of the text you are relating to.
Interviewer: So next question, do you think reading prosody and reading comprehension are
related to each other?
Student interviewee 2: Yes, I think.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 2: Reading prosody and reading comprihin...com... comprehension are
related to each other because when you are reading, it does not just mean the... you read a text,
you will read it with intonation, with emotions and the... when you are reading kasi 'diba parang
pumapasok ka sa panibagong mundo that's why when you read , your reading comprehension is
tested and also your reading prosody is tested.
Interviewer: Do you think having a good prosodic skills increase the ability of the reader to
aalyze and interpret a text?
Student interviewee 2: I think ano, nakakaapekto yung ano... yung good reading prosodic skills
kasi nai - increase niya yung ability ng isang reader, hindi lang yung ability ng isang reader
kundi pati yung confidence, yung confidence na meron sa kanya kasi hindi lang niya basta basta
nai - interpret and naa - analyze mas nagkakaroon siya ng connection within that text.
Interviewer: So last question, why reading prosody is important?
Student interviewee 2: Ahmmm... As what I have mention earlier reading prosody is very
important kasi diba kapag nagbabasa lang tayo it 's not, it's not just about reading, and reading
and reading, we have to read the text at also we have to understand what we read and upon that
understanding kailangan nating malaman yung proper intonation, gestures, pauses and because
of that pauses mas nagkakar'on tayo ng connection sa binabasa natin even though hindi man
tayo nagbabasa sa harapan ng naraming tao kahit sa sarili lng naman natin, tas parang mas
nako - connect natin yung sarili natin within that text.

Interviewer: Ayan thank you po.

Student interviewee 3

Interviewer: Good morning, so first question, do you understand easily the text when you are
reading?
Student interviewee 3: Ahm... Oo madalas pero may mga oras talaga na, na... medyo mahirap
intindihin yung text kasi mga highfalutin yung mga words na ginagamit.
Interviewer: So how do you understand a text?
Student interviewee 3: Ahh... Using context clues kapag ano, kapag unfamiliar yung words,
ayan maiintindihan ko yung text.
Interviewer: So do you think understanding a text depend on how reader pronounce words in a
text? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 3: Yes.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 3: Kasi may mga words na ano... bagaman pareho ng meaning ay yung
ano, spelling pero yung pronunciation is magkaiba kaya nagdi - differ yung pronunciation niya
sa meaning niya. Kaya dapat akma yung pagka - pronounce.
Interviewer: Do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must consider in
reading? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 3: Yes. Kasi... Tawag dito?... Paulit nga.
Interviewer: Do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must consider in
reading? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 3: Yes. Good reader kapag mabilis ka magbasa ng walang pagkakamali.
Interviewer: Do you think having efficient understanding and text reading prosody makes you
become competent reader? Why? Why not?
Student interviewee 3: Of course yes, upon knowing the... the reading prosody, you will be able
to comprehend... comprehend the text well.
Interviewer: Do you read a text with proper intonation and stress?
Student interviewee 3: Oo naman.
Interviewer: Do you think intonation and stress affects the ability of a reader to understand a
text?
Student interviewee 3: Ahm... definitely yes kasi intonation and stress aah... parte yan ng
ano..ng pagiging ano... pagiging aah... aah pagkakaroon ng... magandang comprehension
kapag nababasa mo... yung aah... isang text with proper intonation and stress.
Interviewer: So do you think reading prosody and reading comprehension are related to each
other?
Student interviewee 3: Oo naman.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 3: Kapag may ano magandang ano ka aah... if you have a good
background knowledge about reading prosody then definitely you will be help... able to
comprehend a text well.
Interviewer: Do you think having a good prosodic skills increase the ability of Student
interviewee 3: Oo naman.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 3: Kapag alam mo yung mga prosodic skills syempre! Mas mabilis mong
maiintindihan yung text.
Interviewer: So last question, why reading prosody is very important in reading?
Student interviewee 3: Reading prosody is important because... it enable us to comprehend a
text ahmm... accurately...
Interviewer: Thank you po!.

Student interviewee 4

Interviewer: So, Good morning ate rae,...good morning so, here the first question. Do you
understand easily the text when you are reading?
Student interviewee 4: Sometimes pagka hindi siya masyadong malalim, pag sobrang lalim
kasi tapos wala siya sa vocabulary ko, mahirap intindihin.
Interviewer: ah so sometimes do you...you understand a text?
Student interviewee 4: Opo.
Interviewer: so how do you understand a text?
Student interviewee 4: ...hmmm....ano...pagka depende kasi sa ano...sa pag... kagamit,
pagkagamit dun sa sentence, dun ko na lang siya binabase.
Interviewer: Context clues parang ganun.
Student interviewee 4: Opo.
Interviewer: pero nagko - consult rin kayo sa mga dictionaries..
Student interviewee 4: Opo.
Interviewer: So next question... do you think understanding a text depend on how reader
pronounce words in a text?
Student interviewee 4: oo, kasi... diba may words na dalawa nga yung meaning depende sa
pagkakabigkas mo so dapat, so importante talaga yun,Yung pag - pronounce ng ano...
Interviewer: So do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must consider in
reading?
Student interviewee 4: ...oo, pero dapat ano maintindihan mo rin kung ano yung binabasa mo.
Interviewer: So do you think having a efficient understanding and text reading prosody makes
you become competent reader?
Student interviewee 4: ...oo, kasi basta naiintindihan mo yung ano...naiintindihan mo yung
kung ano yung binabasa mo...
Interviewer: Tapos nabibigkas mo rin siya ng maayos??
Student interviewee 4: Oo ng maayos...
Interviewer: Tinutulungan kayong maging competent reader...
Student interviewee 4: Opo.
Interviewer: Thank you... so, sixth question. Do you read a text with proper intonation and
stress?
Student interviewee 4: Oo...pag, lalo pag ah ano familiar yung ano... yun.
Interviewer: So do you think intonation and stress affects the ability of a reader to understand a
text?
Student interviewee 4: Yes.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 4: Kasi...yun diba nga bawat words naman hindi naman kasi lahat ng
words isa lang talaga yung meaning may iba talaga na dalawa, tatlo o more tapos so
kailangan... tama talaga yung intonation tsaka yung stress ng ano para ma - gets ng ano...
Interviewer: So do you think reading prosody and reading comprehension are related to each
other?
Student interviewee 4: Opo.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 4: Yes yun nga kasi.. yung...kagaya ng sinabi ko kanina yung sa mga
words na diba may iba-iba silang meaning so.. nakadepende din yun maiintindihan mo rin siya
kung tama yung pagkaka ano mo.
Interviewer: So do you think having a good prosodic skills increase the ability of reader to
analyze and interpret a text?
Student interviewee 4: Oo.
Interviewer: Why?
Student interviewee 4: ...paulit nga ulit ha!!...
Interviewer: Do you think having a good prosodic skills increase the ability of reader?
Student interviewee 4: Opo.
Interviewer: To analyze and interpret a text?
Student interviewee 4: Oo kasi ano..yun nga dala-dalawa yung meaning ma...malay mo pala
iba na yung pagkakaintindi mo so, iba din yung maibibigay mo na ano... na parang....
Interviewer: Info.
Student interviewee 4: Oo, info dun sa ano...
Interviewer: So last question. Why reading prosody is very important in reading?
Student interviewee 4: Para ano...para mas...maintindihan mo ng maigi kung ano yung
binabasa mo o yung message na dapat ipaparating sayo.
Interviewer: So thank you po.
Interviewer: Thank you....
Student interviewee 4: Nakakaloka yun ah...

Student interviewee 5:

Interviewer: Good afternoon sir...

Student Interviewee 5: Good afternoon din.
Interviewer: So, here the questions. So first question, do you understand easily the text when
you are reading?
Student Interviewee 5: Sometimes...
Interviewer: Sometimes?
Student Interviewee 5: Depends on the text.
Interviewer: So... how do you understand a text sometimes?
Student Interviewee 5: Ahm... my understand a text through the use of context clues.
Sometimes through the use of dictionaries to understand the highfalutin words.
Interviewer: Ah okay, do you think understanding a text depend on how reader pronounce
words in a text?
Student Interviewee 5: I don't think so... because sometimes... they understand the text on how
they comprehend or understand the text! It might... it doesn't... matter how they pronounce the
words... in the text... so...
Interviewer: Do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must consider in
reading?
Student Interviewee 5: ...at our... at our... grade level of course... yes because we may
understand easily the text if we have a constant speed of reading...
Interviewer: So do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must consider in
reading?
Student Interviewee 5: Yes it must be consider.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee 5: Because... reading a text with the constant speed is... is... essential...
Interviewer: Essential...
Interviewee #4: You may understand the text... if you... if you are able to understand... or if you
are able to... read the words between the text...
Interviewer: So do you think having efficient understanding and text reading prosody makes
you become competent reader?
Student Interviewee 5: Again?
Interviewer: Do you think having efficient understanding and text reading prosody makes you
become competent reader?
Student Interviewee 5: Competent?
Interviewer: Yeah.
Student Interviewee 5: Maybe.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee 5: ...because having an efficient understanding uhmmm... you may able to
be uhm a good reader. You may understand or you may comprehend what the author is about
to...is about to depict in the... in the text if you are able to understand... if you are efficient reader.
Interviewer: So, you mean sometimes even though you have efficient understanding and text
reading prosody... it sometimes... it didn't you become competent reader... so that's what you
mean?
Student Interviewee 5: ...
Interviewer: Again, because... diba sinabi niyo na sometimes, maybe so ibig sabihin mo kahit
yung tao na yun ay may efficient understanding tsaka proper text reading prosody ‘di pa rin
pwede, meron mga times na hindi siya magiging competent reader?
Student Interviewee 5: What do you mean by competent reader?
Interviewer: So, competent reader parang ano… sa kaya mo ng ano unders… unawain yung
binabasa mo binabasa mo siya at constant... competent parang professional.. professional ka na
dun o yung good ka na dun sa ..sa..specific na action na yun parang ganun. Competent.
Student Interviewee 5: Efficient understanding? What is efficient understanding?
Interviewer: Efficient understanding parang ano..parang ano..parang may proper
comprehensive ka, comprehension.
Student Interviewee 5: Ah! May knowledge ka na about sa reading.
Interviewer: Oo, parang naiintindihan mo na yung binabasa mo parang ganun kunwari
nagbasa ka tapos naintindihan mo siya ng mabuti… ganun… efficient.
Student Interviewee 5: Ano yung tanong?
Interviewer: Do you think having efficient understanding and text reading prosody makes you
become competent reader?
Student Interviewee 5: Of course.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee 5: Because.. gaya nga ng sinabi mo diba… yung pagkakaroon ng ano
efficient understanding… pwede kang magkaroon ng ano competent na pagbabasa kapag…
ayun ba yun?
Interviewer: Oo parang ganun. Okay, next question, do you read a text with proper intonation
and stress?
Student Interviewee 5: Sometimes...
Interviewer: So sometimes?
Student Interviewee 5: Sometimes I… don't… know the proper intonation of the… word. That
specific word.
Interviewer: Okay, so do you think intonation and stress affects the ability of a reader to
understand a text?
Student Interviewee 5: ...in my case… I don't think so...
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee 5: Because the proper intonation… it's about the meaning of the word. It's
not the proper intonation.
Interviewer: So what if… if the reader...
Student Interviewee 5: ay! ...sometimes it's not, sometimes it's… it is… you know hahaha!
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee 5: It is… we need to… have a proper intonation to understand because
there is a some words in the dictionary that has… not… the… same meaning. So if… you are
able to… read a word with a proper intonation you may understand the meaning of the word.
Interviewer: So… next question. Do you think reading prosody and reading comprehension are
related to each other?
Student Interviewee 5: Reading compre... reading prosody?
Interviewer: Oo. Reading prosody and reading comprehension are related to each other?
Student Interviewee 5: What is reading prosody?
Interviewer: So ano… ano parang… pag ano… pagbabasa ng isang words ng tama. Kunwari
mga rhythm… like stress and intonation.
Student Interviewee 5: Yung may mga stress na reading...
Interviewer: Yeah...
Student Interviewee 5: Tapos… reading prosody… tapos...
Interviewer: Reading comprehension are related to each other? ...comprehension pag intindi...
so do you think related sila?
Student Interviewee 5: Oo.
Interviewer: Why?
Student Interviewee 5: Gaya nga ng sinabi ko kanina yung ano… yung diba yung pagkakaroon
ng intonation… proper intonation and stress… related siya sa pag - a - understand ng mga
words kasi may mga words ka na magkakaparehas pero magkakaiba ng intonation... ayun.
Interviewer: Okay... So next question do you think having a good prosodic skill increase the
ability of reader to analyze and interpret a text? Why?
Student Interviewee 5: ...it has... if a reader have uhm a nice prosodic skill… maybe he or she
can able to read or comprehend a text easily for...
Interviewer: How? How?
Student Interviewee 5: Because... uhm... reading is not just about ano… understanding or your
comprehend. You are able to understand the text easily it's about the… it's about how you...
sometimes it's about how you pronounce or it's about how you... how you understand the words
by its intonation or stress.
Interviewer: Okay, thank you. So last question, why reading prosody is very important in
reading?
Student Interviewee 5: ...because reading... ayun nga gaya ng sinabi ko reading prosody...
ano... kailangan siya kasi diba yung... kasi nga diba yun yung sa proper stress, intonation... so
tinatanong niyo kung bakit mahalaga? Mahalaga siya kasi... ayun nga... kapag may... kapag
alam mo yung proper... ano... pronounciation ng word kung saan nilalagay tamang stress, mas
madali mo siyang maiintindihan kaya mahalaga yun sa mga reader... ayun para ma... para ma...
ma... malaman nila kung ano talaga yung message nung text... kung ano yung pinapahiwatig
nun. Kung ano ba talagang klaseng text yun. Kung nagpe - pursuade ba siya, informative o
nagna - narrate lang...
Interviewer: Okay so... Thank you.
Student Interviewee 5: Thank you.
Interviewer: Thank you po.

Appendix B
 Photos captured during the interview.

Appendix C

Interview Questions:

1. Do you understand easily the text when you are reading?

2. How do you understand a text?
3. Do you think understanding a text depend on how reader pronounce words in a text? Why?
Why not?
4. Do you think reading a text at constant speed and without error must consider in reading?
Why? Why not?
5. Do you think having efficient understanding and reading prosody makes you become
competent reader? Why? Why not?
6. Do you read a text with proper intonation and stress?
7. Do you think intonation and stress affects the ability of a reader to understand a text? Why?
Why not?
8. Do you think reading prosody and reading comprehension are related to each other? Why?
Why not?
9. Do you think having a good prosodic skills increase the ability of a reader to analyze and
interpret a text? Why? Why not?
10. Why reading prosody is very important in reading?