Developing English Reading Comprehension Skills through Collaborative Strategic Reading: An Action Research at Eighth Grade

Reading comprehension is the capacity to make sense and deduce the meaning of a text. Students actively engaged in collaboration and deep thinking enhance their reading comprehension skills. This action research examined the role of Collaborative Strategic Reading(CSR) in enhancing the English reading comprehension skills of eighth-grade students in a private institution in Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The purposive sampling technique was used to gather data from 30 students studying in the eighth grade. Ten observations of the class were made to define the students' current comprehension level. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to gauge the effectiveness of student-student interaction offered through pair work. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. The comparison of the pre-test and post-test scores indicated significant improvement in students' reading comprehension. The findings suggested that CSR is an effective strategy that teachers may use to improve the reading comprehension skills of their students.