Reading Difficulties and Coping Strategies Among Grade 8 ESL Learners: A Descriptive-Correlational Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2026.v11.n05.010Keywords:
Reading difficulties, Coping strategies, ESL learnersAbstract
Reading is a critical academic skill, yet many Filipino Grade 8 ESL learners, particularly those in rural and semi-urban communities, continue to struggle with it while their coping responses to such difficulties remain largely unexamined in local literature. This study examined the reading difficulties experienced by Grade 8 ESL learners and the coping strategies they employ when managing these challenges, as well as the relationship between the two variables. A descriptive-correlational research design under the quantitative approach was employed. The respondents of this study were 27 Grade 8 ESL learners from a private school in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines, identified as having reading difficulties and were selected through purposive sampling. Data were gathered using an adapted Likert-scale questionnaire measuring four domains of reading difficulty: decoding, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary, and four domains of coping strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, vocabulary, and fluency-based. Weighted mean, standard deviation, and Pearson r correlation were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that learners experience reading difficulties at a moderate and occasional level overall (M = 2.43, SD = 0.13), with vocabulary emerging as the most prevalent domain (M = 2.61, Often) and decoding as the least (M = 2.29, Sometimes). Coping strategies were similarly used at a moderate and occasional level (M = 2.40, SD = 0.07), with vocabulary strategies most frequently employed (M = 2.51) and fluency-based strategies the least (M = 2.35). Pearson r analysis revealed that the null hypothesis is partially rejected as fluency-related reading difficulty demonstrated significant positive relationships with cognitive (r = 0.481, p = 0.011), metacognitive (r = 0.464, p = 0.015), and fluency-based strategies (r = 0.393, p = 0.042), while all other pairings yielded non-significant relationships. These findings suggest that coping strategies are predominantly activated in response to fluency difficulties rather than proactively applied across all reading domains.
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