The Impact of Pictures-Based Activities in Enhancing Reading Comprehension Skills Among Young Children

The current research aimed to investigate the impact of integrating pictures-based activities on enhancing reading comprehension skills across different levels: literal, interpretive, and evaluative. The study involved 380 children split into experimental and control groups, with the experimental group (190 pupils) exposed to pictures-based activities, while the control group (190 pupils) was taught conventionally without activities. Findings indicated significantly higher average scores in reading comprehension tests for the experimental group than the control group. Statistical analyses confirmed significant differences favoring the experimental group, demonstrating the effectiveness of pictures-based activities in improving comprehension skills. However, there were no statistically significant differences in performance within the experimental group across different reading achievement levels, suggesting that the benefits of using illustrative pictures were consistent across varying initial reading abilities. Moreover, the study highlighted that integrating pictures-based activities helped narrow the performance gap in reading comprehension skills among children, particularly benefiting those with lower and average reading achievement levels. This empirical evidence underscores the importance of visual aids in early childhood reading materials to support comprehension development. Based on these findings, the study recommended integrating pictures-based activities in early childhood reading textbooks. It also emphasized the need for effective training of early childhood educators in designing and implementing such activities to optimize their impact on children's reading comprehension skills.