English Abstract
Abstract
Summary writing cultivates active reading and minimizes passive reading
which influences comprehension. Students while writing a summary are expected to
reflect their own understanding through writing; they are compelled to pay greater
attention to what they are reading to be able to restate it in their own words. This
engages them in an active process where reading and writing are deeply entwined.
Based on this connection between reading and writing, the current study investigated
the effect of summary writing employment in enhancing EFL reading comprehension
among students enrolled in the English language course “Composition and Reading II”-
ENGL102 at the University of Bahrain. 109 students participated in a one semesterlong true experimental study that applied quantitative design. The study instruments
included a pretest, posttest, and rubrics. Obtained data were analyzed by the means of
the program SPSS statistics, particularly descriptive and inferential statistics. Shortly
after the administration of the pretest, the study subjects were randomly assigned to
experimental and control groups. In order to control the study variables, both groups
were taught by the same instructor, using the same textbook following the conventional
method. The only difference between them is the employed method for the
enhancement of reading comprehension; the experimental group was engaged in
weekly summary writing tasks while the control group was engaged in multiple-choice
questions involving the same texts. Upon the administration of the posttest to all
participants, One-Way ANOVA test and a Scheffe test were carried out to calculate the
effect of the intervention. The results marked a statistically significant difference
between the pretest and the posttest, in favor of the experimental group, further
suggesting that summarization has a positive influence on EFL reading comprehension.
As summary writing was shown to be highly beneficial for EFL learners, the study
included vital implications related to connecting writing with reading and utilizing
writing activities to enhance reading comprehension in EFL context.
Keywords: Reading comprehension, summary writing, EFL, reading-writing
connection.
