EFFECTS OF GRAPHIC ORGANISER INSTRUCTION ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MAIN IDEA AND RETELLING SKILLS (COMPREHENSION) OF EXPOSITORY TEXTS
Keywords:
Graphic Organizer, Main Idea, Retelling SkillsAbstract
Reading comprehension is an important skill for students to achieve academic progress and function effectively in a variety of situations, including school setting and work place. Secondary school students are required to read and understand different content areas in school. This study investigated the impact of graphic organizer instruction on students' comprehension of expository texts using a quasi-experimental design. Descriptive statistics showed that both experimental and control groups had comparable comprehension levels before treatment, but posttest results indicated a significant improvement in the experimental group, with mean scores rising from 7.49 to 21.01 for main idea identification and from 8.00 to 20.78 for retelling. Independent samples t-tests confirmed pretest equivalence, while paired samples t-tests revealed highly significant within-group improvements (p < .001) with large effect sizes. Posttest comparisons further demonstrated that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group (p < .001, Cohen’s d > 4.0). These findings support schema theory, suggesting that graphic organizers effectively enhance comprehension by visually structuring information. Given the study's limitations, future research should assess long-term retention and explore its application in diverse subject areas. The implications were that teachers should use the graphic organiser technique to teach students how to identify main idea and retell the reading passages in an organised and meaningful way. The study recommended that among other things, more awareness through seminars and workshops on the use of graphic organisers in schools should be created.
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