Abstract:
Reading Comprehension is the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows and it also implies an individual’s ability to comprehend the overall passages by using their skills and their own effort to process information. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions and practices of students towards textbook reading comprehension questions for developing students’ reading and understanding skills. To attain this objective, descriptive survey research method was employed. Four (4) EFL teachers were selected using available sampling technique from total population and 72 Grade 10 students were also selected by using random sampling techniques from 480 students. The data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations and textbook evaluation. Quantitative method using figures and percentage; qualitative research method using description and interpretation of data analysis was carried out to analyze the data collected through the above mentioned tools. The results indicated that a number of students were not much interested in Grade10 English textbook Reading Comprehension Questions. But, only a few active students were highly interested in Reading Comprehension Questions in the textbook. The reason why the majority of the students were not interested in reading comprehension questions is that the students’ reading habits and their understanding ability of the texts were below the expectation of the researcher. On the other hand, Grade 10 English textbook evaluations showed that as the reading passages had no pre-reading activities in which students are engaged and activated towards the reading comprehension. Moreover, the findings showed that only a few number students liked reading and answering the comprehension questions properly. The students by themselves should be engaged in using pre-reading phase, while-reading phase and post-reading phase with reading strategies like skimming and scanning. Finally, they also should be provided with opportunities to practice and positively perceive the textbook reading comprehension questions.
