THE EFFECTS OF CULTURAL BASED TEXT TYPES IN READING COMPREHENSION

Background and Purpose: This research aims to investigate the effects of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultural based text types on reading comprehension.   Methodology: An exploratory case study research design was employed to explore the use of cultural schemata in reading comprehension of three types of cultural text format: narrative, descriptive and info graphic. The purposive sampling method was used to select participants based on their ethnicities, English proficiency level, and their scores in prior knowledge assessment and retelling assessment.   A total of 15 students, between 11- 12 years old, were selected. The retelling technique in written form, a comprehension test and an interview protocol were used as instruments to gather data in this research and they were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively.   Findings: The overall findings have shown that the comprehension test scores showed better performance in info graphic texts. However, the retelling assessment scores showed better performance in retelling narrative texts. The participants’ main reason for text incomprehensibility was due to the unfamiliar cultural content regardless of the types of text format . Contributions: This study aids teachers in their pedagogical decisions when selecting and adapting cultural texts for reading comprehension   Keywords: Comprehension test, cultural schemata, reading comprehension, retelling assessment, text types. Cite as: Thirunavukarasu, I., & Raja Harun, R. N. S. (2021). The effects of cultural based text types in reading comprehension. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp1-23