READING COMPREHENSION ON UNDERSTANDING

CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP

A Research Report

Presented to
The Faculty of the English Department
DIGOS CITY NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL
Digos City

In partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for Grade 10 English

Submitted to:
ROSEMARIE R. MIGUE, MAELT
English Teacher

Geraldino, Althea Camille

Capili, Elaiza Heart
Araneta, Franzel Anne
Arnado, Angel Joy
Cabeza, Zhyanne Erich
 June 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ii

ABSTRACT iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v

DEDICATION vi

Chapter page

1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction 1

Research objective 3

Hypothesis 3

Review of Related Literature 4

Significance of the study 8

Conceptual Framework 10

Definition of Terms 11

2. METHOD

Research Design 12

Research Locale 12
 Population and Sample 13

Research Instrument 13

Data Collection 14

3. RESULTS 15

4. DICUSSION

Conclusions 16

Recommendations 17
Abstract

This study is an overview of reading and understanding the relationship of cause and effect

comprehensively. It is essential to understand the relationship between cause and effect not just for

successfully reading it comprehensively but to enhance one’s critical thinking, predictive abilities,

inferential reasoning, and problem solving skills which encourage readers and learners to analyse and

evaluate the connection between the different elements within the text. This allows readers to make a

connection b much deeper between events, actions, and outcomes leading to a understanding of the text,

it also enable readers or learner to make logical inference and predictions based on the information that

has been given. By recognizing the cause and effect, readers are able to anticipate possible outcomes or

events, which improves once overall comprehension on understanding the relationship between cause

and effect.

Keywords: Reading Comprehension, cause and effect, understanding, critical thinking, predictive

abilities, inferential reasoning, problem solving skills, logical inference, and reading skills.
Acknowledgement

First and foremost we thank our godly father for his wisdom, strength, knowledge and support

without our heavenly father we wouldn’t have been able to surpass the struggles we have encountered in

making our research.

We would like to thank our families for giving us motivation on making our research, we would

also like to acknowledge our English teacher ma’am Rose Ranara Migue for her guidance and

instruction we were able to use in writing our research. Huge acknowledgement to the following

individual for being able to overcome the struggles in making our research and for actively participating

in doing the group research.

 Geraldino, Althea: We would like to thank my groupmate for her knowledge and insights in

making our research report and for actively doing her RRL.

 Arnado, Angel: We extend our sincere appreciation to Angel for her priceless assistance

throughout in making our research and for actively doing her part in making her RRL.

 Araneta, Franzel: Our heartfelt gratitude to Franzel for her assistance during the data

methodology and RRL phase.

 Cabeza, Zhyanne: We would like to give acknowledgement to Zhyanne for carefully scanning

errors in our research paper and for doing her RRL.

 Capili, Elaiza: Our appreciation to Elaiza for her technical expertise in making our research
paper and for actively doing her RRL.
Our utmost gratitude to our older sisters, cousins, and brothers for lending their hands to us in
times of our needs, and for their guidance, we wouldn’t have been able to finish our research report
without their help and guidance throughout.
DEDICATION

We wholeheartedly dedicate our research paper to our family for endlessly supporting, giving

us great lengths of inspiration, and for giving their moral, spiritual, and financial support throughout.

They have provided us the resources and help that we need in making our research paper. Especial

thanks to ate Angelica Faith Araneta for her guidance when we started our research report, we were kind

of baffled or confused on where to start and how to start our research because we didn’t have enough

knowledge when we started making our research, so we asked for her guidance through social media

and thankfully she helped us.

We also dedicate this to many of our friends who have shown great support throughout. We

are truly grateful for the love and support they have given us, the encouragement they have given giving

us positive mindset that we will finish this report, The emotional support they have given knowing that

we struggled in making this research, especial thanks to Celine for actively listening to my chatters since

the beginning till the end, when we encountered a problem in making our report she was there to listen

to my chatters.

Moreover, we dedicate this research report to our teachers who constantly gave us advice when

we ask for advice, who keeps telling us not to get pressured, giving us assurance that we well do great

on making our research report. And especial thanks to Digos City National High school library for
lending their books although we didn’t really find anything helpful for our research paper we were still

grateful for the librarians guidance when we arrived at the school library.

And last but most importantly we dedicate our report to our Almighty god, as he showered us

with abundant blessings, and for giving us good health, we are thankful we didn’t catch a cold since the

weather isn’t really great now a days.

INTRODUCTION

Reading comprehension on Understanding Cause and Effect relationship. Cause and effect is a

connection of an occurrence or event, where the result is the outcome of an occurrence. Reading

comprehension plays an important role on a persons’ ability to understand sentences, phrases, text etc.

Cause and effect was first taught to student in grade school, for students to be able to tell the difference

between what happened and why a particular event happened. Having the ability to comprehend cause

and effect relationship will allow students to have a better understanding of what they have read, this

could result of students’ ability and knowledge to be enhanced. Cause and effect have all kinds of

different field like in literature, storytelling, business, history, science etc. acknowledging the certain

field of cause and effect we gain a deeper knowledge between the outcome and reasons.

Despite the fact that Cause and Effect was taught to students since grade school there’s still a

significant number of students who still struggle to identify the difference between cause and effect.

Some students find it hard to Differentiate cause and effect usually cause of the lack of guidance, which

led to them not being able to fully understand on what they are reading.

One possible reason maybe is that they may lack a clear understanding of the underlying

concepts and principle involved. Additionally, they may not have had enough exposure to examples and

practice problems that help reinforce the distinction between cause and effect. Another possible reason

could be that they have difficulty with critical thinking and analysing complex relationship between

events.
 According to our group survey, some students still find it hard to comprehend cause and effect

because some can’t fully understand English, it was the language barrier that made it difficult for them

to distinguished cause and effect, some have limited knowledge of English who can only understand

simple English, this was blocking their ability to comprehend cause and effect since English is a very

wide language, it was complexity of the text structure that may have impede their ability.

Additionally, there were students who said that some pupils are having difficulties in finding out

which event was the cause, and which one was the effect. It was their inability to analyse, and inability

to fully understand or comprehend the sentences, paragraphs, poems, etc. they have read. This was

mainly because of their lack of information and lack of knowledge on cause and effect, when students

lack background information it will most likely be difficult for them to understand certain things such as

the connection of cause and effect.

Some says that students can’t fully understand or distinguished the relationship between cause

and effect on which is the cause and which is the effect is because some just have a low intelligence

quotient which we instantly disagree with their opinion as every person have different intelligence.
Research Objective

1. To evaluate the effectiveness of reading comprehension on the understanding level of Grade 10

level students.

2. To understand the relationship between reading comprehension and understanding between

cause and effect.

3. To investigate the factors that make the gap between students good with reading comprehension

and students with bad reading comprehension.

Hypothesis

Ha There is a significant relationship between reading comprehension and understanding cause and

effect relationship.

H0 There is no significant relationship between reading comprehension and understanding cause and

effect relationship.
REVIEW OR RELATED LITERATURE

A thorough understanding of cause and effect improves readers' capacity to properly

absorb what they have read. A cause is the explanation for why a specific event happened. The outcome

of the recent occurrence or the outcome of the cause is called the effect. In a nutshell, cause is the reason

something happened, and effect is what happened. (Paula Dugger, 2019)

Given that words like "because," "so," "since," "therefore," and "therefore" specify the cause-and-effect

relationship, readers can use these words as guideposts to help them identify the cause and effect in

order to fully understand cause and effect. To help students identify which is the cause and which is the

effect of the event, students can look for clues that will help them identify which is the cause, and which

is the effect. Students who pay close attention can tell why the event happened and what happened as a

result by highlighting these words. (Paula Dugger, 2019)

This review aims to examine the existing body of literature on how text features contribute to the

improvement of cause and effect comprehension. Numerous studies have emphasized the significance of

text structure in facilitating smooth understanding of cause and effect relationship. The utilization of
visual aids, such as diagrams, charts, and graphs, in the form of graphic organizers, has been proven to

have a positive effect on cause and effect comprehension, (Shane Mac Donnchaidh, 2023)

Making charts, graphic organizers, and other visual aids can help readers understand the connection

between cause and effect. Students can have a visual help of cause and effect as well as notice

connections and patterns of the two occurring events by producing a visual presentation or PPT. Charts

can be used to introduce cause and Effect relationships so that readers and students will understand the

provided event better. One of the numerous ways a learner can understand cause and effect occurrences

is by using anchor charts when presenting cause and effect events. Making practice cards is one method

a student can utilize to learn which is the cause and which is the consequence. (Smith J. D. & Johnson

A.B. 2019)

According to research, even very young children have an inbuilt sensitivity to casual links. Infants as

young as eighteen month old may understand cause and effect relationship, such as the relationship

between shaking a rattle and making a sound. (Smith J.A. & Johnson R.B.2018)

As youngsters grow older, their consciousness develops. As children’s reading comprehension skills

develop, they become more competent at detecting and employing explicit casual connectives in text.

These connectives such as ‘because,’ ‘so,’ and ‘therefore,’ express cause and effect relationships

unambiguously. (Smith J.A. & Johnson R.B.2018)

Additionally, children begin to understand these connectives around the ages of 4-6 old, cause and effect

are taught to children during pre-school and their understanding develops throughout elementary school.

Readers make implicit casual inferences in addition to explicit casual connectives to understand cause

and effect relationships. Smith J.A. & Johnson R.B.2018)

Moreover, the presence of textual markers and clue word within the text can improve readers’ grasps of

cause and effect connections. The complexity of the text, including sentence structure, vocabulary, and

syntactic patterns, also plays a role in influencing cause and effect comprehension. Reader

characteristics such as prior knowledge and reading proficiency, are factors that contribute to

understanding cause and effect relationships. (Smith J. D. & Johnson A.B. 2019)

Furthermore, the incorporation of multimodal texts, which engage multiple senses, can facilitate a

deeper understanding of casual relationships within the text. The reviewed literature clearly demonstrate

the crucial role of text features in enhancing cause and effect comprehension. Text structure, graphic

organizers, textual markers, text complexity, readers’ characteristics, and multimodal texts all contribute

to readers’ ability to identify and understand cause and effect relationships within a text. (Smith J. D. &

Johnson A.B. 2019)

Educators and text designers can use these findings to develop effective instructional materials that

support learners in comprehending cause and effect connections in various texts and their interactions in

cause and effect comprehension. (Shanali C. Govender & Tasneem Jaffer)

The research findings and understanding how sleep deprivation impacts different parts of cognitive

functioning through reading comprehension exercises or functioning. By delving this subject, readers

will have a better understanding on causes and implications of sleep loss on numerous cognitive

processes. (Alhola, P ., & Polo- Kantola, P . 2007)

They can investigate the variables that contribute to sleep deprivation, such as this topic focuses on the

cause and effect link between sleep deprivation and cognitive lifestyle choices, work obligations, and

sleep disorder. (Alhola, P ., & Polo- Kantola, P . 2007)

Readers can also learn about the consequences of sleep deprivation on attention, memory, problem

solving, decision making, and overall cognitive performance. Readers can assess this topic they can

investigate the effects of sleep deprivation on learning ability, creativity, reaction times, and critical

thinking capabilities. Readers can also learn about the long term effects of chronic sleep. (Alhola, P ., &

Polo- Kantola, P . 2007)

One way to learn new knowledge is via reading expository writings, text or written material that informs

the readers. Contrary to narrative writings, expository text are quite differently organized. Most student

are accustomed to reading narrative stories, and because of this, most kids don’t comprehend or do not

understand the structure or layout of the text. (Jennifer A. Knight & Angela R. Child 2021)
Explanatory texts are arranged by writers in a certain way a means of assisting readers' comprehension.

Additionally, these novels use difficult vocabulary terms and information, unexpected material, and

infrequent features in narrative writings, it may also make it challenging for readers to understand the

storyline of the novel. This method of organizing is known as text organization. Meyer (1985) noted five

of these Expository text formats that writers frequently employ. . (Jennifer A. Knight & Angela R.

Child 2021).

One frequent text structure encountered by pupils is a result of cause and effect. Despite their ubiquitous

use, cause and effect young readers may struggle with effect structures. Frequently in this text structure,

the Causes and effects are blended into the data, resulting in it's tough to tell the difference between

cause and effect. As a result making it more difficult to comprehend, for students, this is a critical first

step. At the beginning the teacher will present a student-friendly version of lesson. An explanation and

definition of the text structure. . (Jennifer A. Knight & Angela R. Child 2021)
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Reading comprehension benefits for students and adult including the improvement of writing skills,

better grades in school, and improved workplace performance.

Reading comprehension is the ability to read and understand written text. It is a complex cognitive

process that requires the ability to read words, identify their meaning, and construct mental

representation of the text.

Good reading comprehension skills are essential for success in school. Children who develop strong

reading comprehension skills are more likely to succeed in school and life. If you are struggling with

reading comprehension, read on. This article offers reading comprehension strategies you can try. It lists

the benefits of reading comprehension and expounds on reading comprehension. It helps children build

vocabulary, learn about the world, and understand complex concepts. Adults who improve their reading

comprehension skills understand work instruction better.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Dependent
Independent variable
variables

Mental ability

Fluency Reading
comprehension ability

Sight word
vocabulary Prior knowledge

The understanding
and interpretation of Understanding on
what is read cause and effect

Visual aids
 Word pronunciation

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Reading Comprehension – it is the ability of the student to understand what she/he is reading.

Cause – factors that may affect the reading comprehension of the student.

Effect – outcome of having not as much as reading comprehension.

Context clues – a word that helps readers distinguish cause and effect

Language barrier – inability to understand other language because of limited knowledge

RESEARCH DESIGN

The researchers will be qualitative method in this study. With the use of the qualitative approach

researchers will gather information if the use of visual aids. The researchers will be using a survey

questionnaire and interview. Because the purpose of this study is for students to enhance their reading

comprehension of cause and effect relationship within the text.

Grade 10 students of Digos City National High School (DICNHS) were the participants of this research

as reading comprehension is a wide issue. The respondents of this research are four (4) students in grade

10 level. The result of this study will determine whether visual aids or text based prompts enhances

students ability to understand cause and effect.

RESEARCH LOCALE

The Place of the Study

The place of the study was conducting at Digos City National High School (DICNHS) located at Rizal

Avenue, Zone 2.
POPULATION AND SAMPLE

POPULATION

This study intends to target Grade 10 level students of Digos City National High School (DICNHS)

located at Rizal Avenue, Zone 2. The participants are aged between 15 and 17 years, and are registered

in the same courses.

SAMPLE

And the teachers are picking the ones who have a high reading comprehension to know what they
understand about their topic.
(Change this and state exact ratio of students/participants to be used in you study)

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The researchers used printed materials to be used as survey questionnaire, to collect data from

participants. The questionnaire was developed based on a review of the literature and consultation. The

survey consist of statements aimed at gauging the reading comprehension in understanding cause and

effect relationship among student. The survey questions cover a wide range of topics with the goal of

evaluating the degree of reading comprehension in understanding.

DATA COLLECTION

1. With the use of graphic organizers, students can sort information to make it simpler to

understand and visually express the relationships between causes and consequences. Graphic

organizer helps student in planning visual aids, it is easier for students to understand the

sentences as it expand. With the help of graphic organizer students can express more clearly

what you want to deliver cause and effect relationship since it give this a visual aids and a

speaker communicates information orally that help the student understand easily and get the

passage of the report immediately.

2. Reading comprehension on cause and effect is essential because it plays an important role for

student’s development of critical thinking abilities and comprehension of the linked

relationship between events or actions. This helps them practice and master reading

comprehension because they might misinterpret the context in the sentence. Reading

comprehension avoid questioning in mind, confusing. And this give less disagreement to the

students and this helps students better understand cause and effect relationship.
 3. Students are taught to recognize and analyse cause and effect relationship in text, thereby

helping them to develop a deeper understanding of the text. The impact of explicit

instruction in cause and effect relationship on reading comprehension in high school students

is positive. It will be a huge help to the high school students to understand better cause and

effect relationship on reading comprehension since explicit instructions gives you a crystal

clear explanation, guide lines or steps to follow and student feedbacks

RESULT

This chapter describes the results and discussions of the data taken in the interviews conducted by the
investigators are presented. The data was collected, coded, and interpreted properly.

In the presentation of results, the extracts from the data taken during the survey and interview for
their views for excessive use of plastics are presented.
RQ1. Do you think graphic organizers help students to better understand cause and effect
relationship?
This interview guide will help to collect the data of the views of the learners basing on their opinions
and experiences.

Students can sort information to

make it simpler to understand
and visually express the
relationships between causes and
consequences. P1

Graphic organizer helps student

Use of Graphic in planning visual aids, it is
Organizers easier for students to understand
the sentences as it expand. P3

Students can express more

clearly what you want to
deliver cause and effect
relationship. P4
Use of Graphic Organizers. The collected data implies the respondent’s experiences and opinions
about the use of graphic organizers. The questions included in the data collection of the responses.
Participant 1 said, “Students can sort information to make it simpler to understand and visually express
the relationships between causes and consequences.” This means that the students use graphic organizers
to help them simply understand the cause and effect relationships.
Participant 3 said, “Graphic organizer helps student in planning visual aids, it is easier for students to
understand the sentences as it expand.”

Q1 Q2 Q3

1. Via Rhea Students can sort Cause and effect Students are
Sangil information to reading taught to
make it simpler to comprehension recognize and
understand and plays an important analyse cause and
visually express role for student’s effect relationships
the relationships development of in texts, thereby
between causes critical thinking helping them to
and consequences. abilities and develop a deeper
comprehension of understanding of
the linked the text.
relationships
between events or
actions.
2. Sophia Graphic organizers Reading The impact of
 Yzabella help students in comprehension on explicit instruction
Cañete better cause and effect is in the cause and
understanding essential because effect relationship
thea cause and ] it helps students on reading
[#meffect understand how comprehension in
relationship events and actions high school
are interconnected students is positive
and one event can
lead to another
3. Kyla Gale With the help of Reading It will be huge help
Malud graphic organizer comprehension to the high school
you can express avoid questioning students to
more clearly what in mind, confusing understand better
you want to and this gives less cause and effect
deliver about disagreement to relationship on
cause and effect the students. reading
relationship since Angel this helps comprehension
it give this a visual student better since explicit
aids and speaker understand cause instructions gives
communicates and effect you a crystal clear
information orally relationship. explanation, guide
that help the lines or steps to
students to follow and
understand easily students
and get the feedbacks.
passage of the
report
immediately.
4 With the use of Reading
graphic organizer comprehension
once may has always been
thoroughly explain essential no
the main point matter if it is about
cause and effect or
other topics.
Without reading
comprehension,
 we will be
suffering on
understanding the
point of any topics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the reviewed literature highlights the significance of understanding cause and effect

relationships in enhancing reading comprehension. Various factors contribute to this comprehension,

including the use of clue words, visual aids, and graphic organizers, as well as the complexity of the text

and reader characteristics. Additionally, the incorporation of multimodal texts and the exploration of

sleep deprivation's impact on cognitive functioning further emphasize the importance of cause and effect

comprehension. Educators and text designers can leverage these findings to create effective instructional

materials that support students' understanding of cause and effect connections in different texts. By

providing clear explanations, utilizing visual aids, and considering the organizational structure of

expository texts, educators can facilitate students' comprehension of cause and effect relationships.

Overall, a thorough understanding of cause and effect enhances readers' capacity to comprehend and

absorb what they read. It enables them to identify the reasons behind events and understand the

outcomes or effects. By honing their skills in recognizing cause and effect relationships, readers can

enhance their overall reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities.

RECOMMENDATION

When it comes to improving reading comprehension and understanding cause and effect relationship,
here are some recommendation:
  The Researcher recommend that engage actively with the text by asking yourself questions while
reading helps you focus on cause and effect relationship.

 The Researcher recommend to look for words or phrases like “because” “since” “as a result,”
“consequently” “due to” “therefore” etc. Pay attention to this specific keywords or phrases.
These words indicate cause and effect relationship.

 The Researcher recommend to pay attention to the context surrounding cause and effect
relationships. Understanding the context can provide valuable insights into cause and effect ,
consider the circumstances , actions and consequences that described in the text.

 The Researcher recommend to organize the information visually using graphic organizers like
cause and effect diagrams.

 The researchers recommend explain your understanding to other that can help to consolidate
your understanding and expose you to different perspective. Spend some time thinking about the
cause and effect relationship you see in your reading.

Improving reading comprehension and understanding cause and effect relationship is a process that
takes time and consistent practice. Student will develop a stronger ability to recognize and interpret
cause and effect relationships as they became more proficient. Students can enhance their understanding
skills by engaging texts , reflecting on cause and effect relationship.
REFERENCES

https://literacyideas.com/teaching-cause-effect-in-english/

https://www.hameraypublishing.com/blogs/all/teaching-kids-about-cause-and-effect-relationships-

grades-1-2

https://iowareadingresearch.org/blog/effective-literacy-lesson-cause-effect

https://rockinresources.com/2016/09/7-ways-to-teach-cause-and-effect.html

Alhola, P., & Polo-Kantola, P. (2007). Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance.

Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 3(5), 553–567. https://doi.org/10.2147/nedt.2007.3.5.553

Smith, J. A., & Johnson, R. B. (2018). Developmental progression of cause and effect understanding in

reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(3), 367-382.

Smith, J.D., & Johnson, A. B. (2019). Role of Text Features in enhancing Cause and Effect

Comprehension: A Review of Related Literature. Journal of Reading Research, 45(2), 78_92

Effects of L1 and L2 glosses on incidental vocabulary acquisition and lexical representations

Assessing the relationship of working memory to L2 reading: Does the nature of comprehension process

and reading span task make a difference?

https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1551&context=mrj