The Effects of Graphic Organizers

to Improve Reading Comprehension Skill

of Second Language Learners in English

A Research Article
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
English and Linguistics Department
Philippine Normal University
Taft Avenue, Manila

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Master of Arts in Education
With specialization in English Language Teaching

Louie C. del Mundo

2016-2017
09338565096
1. Introduction

Once the reader builds an interaction with the text, it is a sign of purposeful and active
reading involvement where he finds as one of his goal (Koda, 2005). When a reader starts to
decode meaning, comprehension takes place and we call it reading comprehension. Moreover, a
lot of students have difficulty to comprehend the text when they encounter long passages. To
overcome this dilemma, graphic strategies are applicable to lessen students’ difficulties; it is
different from traditional or linear text presentation.
Graphic organizers has a great attention and concern in the educational setting because it
displays a variety of relationships and structures in a single display. It can be used in various
subject areas to develop comprehension skills and contribute to the acquisition of the target
language.
Furthermore, Ausubel (1960) as quoted by Barron (1969) said graphic organizers are
called advanced organizers. He assumed that new information is acquired when it is linked to the
learners’ already existing cognitive structure thus the purpose of graphic organizers or advanced
organizers is to activate prior knowledge and to relate the new material to the previously stored
information. This shows Anderson and Pearson’s schema theory (1984); they asserted that our
mind is composed of cognitive structure of knowledge (schema), known as prior or background
knowledge which assimilates the newly acquired piece of information in order to enhance
learning and retention of information that leads to holistic comprehension. More so, using
graphic organizers gives teachers and students’ options to those insufficient methods of reading
comprehension; this will reduce time of thinking or concretizing their thoughts into coherent
framework.
To develop learners’ comprehension, few studies were conducted about advanced
organizers. Advanced organizers represent as instruments of representation, illustration, and
models of information. Ciascai (2009) conducted this study in educational practice for building
and systematizing knowledge. The conclusion helped learners in understanding the content of the
text by classifying and modeling ideas in the text.
One of the scholars’ experimental study found that advanced organizers helped students
to identify the hierarchy of information in the given passage as they arranged ideas. This study
posited that students who trained to use graphic organizers performed better in the post test as
compared to the students who did not use graphic organizers. This study is supported by the
majority as they asserted that learners needed special scaffolding devices to facilitate their
reading comprehension through the use of graphic organizers. Moreover, the representation of
text structures helped the learners to develop comprehension along discourse organization of the
text. Geva (1983) supported Simmon’s study as he found out among the learners that there were
a great number of help in using graphic organizers guided by text structure in relation to
flowchart. In connection, he asserted from the result of his study that text structure through
flowcharting transferred positively to the comprehension of less skilled readers.
The incorporation of graphic organizers in the comprehension of expository reading texts
was also given emphasis by Williams et.al (2005). This study measured the effectiveness of an
instructional program designed to teach second graders to develop comprehension. Along with
introducing new content, the program emphasized text structure using graphic organizers and
through the close analysis of especially constructed exercise paragraphs. Moreover, the ability to
learn new content was not detracted as the text structure introduced. The results provide evidence
that explicit instruction in comprehension is feasible and effective as early as second grade.
Additionally, Japanese learners were also engaged in the investigation conducted by Evans
(2003) about the effects of graphic organizers through reading expository text in English. The
result is that they helped Japanese learners in terms of learning style to comprehend the text.
Comparison and contrast as a text structure represented as well a certain advanced organizer
which is called Venn diagram, where some scholars believed that this text structure enabled the
learners to transfer new skills to unstructured compare-contrast text. Thus, they asserted that
discourse structure awareness generally found to consistently facilitate comprehension and to
recall text information. However, few studies were conducted about this among L2 learners.
Incorporating these frameworks help ESL learners develop comprehension skills.
According to Slavin (2011), research in pedagogy and psychology demonstrates that visual
learning is among the most effective methods for teaching comprehension skills to students of all
ages. The text would be clear if the incorporated graphic organizers/advanced organizers portray
the theme such as locating the main ideas, facts and opinions, comparison and contrast, finding
the problem and the solution, and persuasion by presenting facts or evidences.
To look into, students’ skill facilitates through the use of graphic organizers to locating
specific information in order to answer comprehension questions (Robinson & Skinner, 1996).
Learners who just only study the text alone are proven by some scholars that they could not able
to organize the hierarchical and the coordination of ideas thus they are recommended to practice
to use advanced organizers to be more successful in integrating their knowledge specifically in
writing. More so, advanced organizers increase students’ awareness of various text structures and
facilitate the identification of the highest level of organization, a critical factor of
comprehension. It is also shown that poor learners benefit more in using graphic organizers.
Knowing some important tenets of advanced organizers, it was found that only few
studies were conducted to find the effectiveness of advanced organizers. Given the positive
effects in line with quantitative study, it is only done in L1 context however only one study was
conducted through the use of qualitative approach. At the same time, it was widely recognized
that L2 students in more advanced English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts face
significant challenges in understanding difficult texts. One of the major challenges that L2
learners face is trying to understand how complex L2 academic reading materials are organized,
especially when rhetorical conventions of L2 texts can differ from those of L1 texts. In addition
to the general lack of research on graphic organizer instructions in L2 settings, there are
relatively few studies employing extended training in graphic organizer instruction in either L1
or L2 contexts.
According to Pearson and Fielding (1991), one of the important components of reader’s
overall comprehension abilities is text structure because the incorporation of the text structure or
discourse structure is used to help the students to breakdown the thoughts presented in the text so
that they will fully develop their comprehension skill. It is also known as knowledge structure or
basic rhetorical pattern in the text (Grabe, 2003). It is commonly found in the text such as
comparison-contrast, cause-effect, problem-solution, definition, classification, argumentation,
description, procedure or sequence, narration, exemplification and persuasion. If the students
become aware about these rhetorical patterns, they would have better understanding of the
coherence and logical information presented in the text. Koda (2005) posited that the acquisition
of text structure occurs only through formal training and substantial reading experience.
Therefore, pedagogical efforts must be made to rise students’ awareness of the aforementioned
structures. One way to translate rhetorical patterns to visual representation is through the use of
graphic organizers.
Furthermore, this paper exclusively focuses on the use of graphic organizer through text
structures mainly by classification, by problem-solution, and by persuasion to develop
comprehension skill of ESL learners.
Despite the studies conducted to find how effective the use of graphic organizers in
promoting comprehension among learners of first language in English, the researcher extends a
study about the effectiveness of graphic organizers guided by discourse structures or text
structures in promoting comprehension skill of English as a Second Language Learners.
Presently, this study aims to find answers to the following questions:
1. Do graphic organizers help the grade eleven students to understand the text in terms of:

1.1 Identifying the main idea to classify each item (Web)

1.2 Stating the problem and the solution (problem-solution map)

1.3 Citing facts and supporting details to show persuasion (persuasion map)

2. How effective are graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension?

2. Theoretical Framework
Royer and Cunningham (1981) said that the constructive view of learning and memory
maintains that people do not receive the meaning of a message; instead, they must construct a
meaning by interpreting message in the light of their own knowledge. Thus, this provides a
cognitive explanation to understanding. This understanding is integrated into learner’s existing
knowledge structure. Advance organizer or graphic organizer is one of the ways of integration
new information into the learner’s existing knowledge structure. Ausubel (1960) envisioned an
advance organizer or graphic organizer as a bridge between what the learner already knew and
the knowledge needed before a task can be performed.
In the present study, the researcher used the theory of Ausubel’s theory (1960)-
Subsumption Theory, which allows the learner to recall that learning transfers prior knowledge
to the new information being presented. This theory is based on the idea that learning is
facilitated, if the learner can find meaning in the new information. If connection can be made
between the new information and previous knowledge, the learning experience will become
more meaningful to the learner. Therefore, the information will be learned. Meyer (2003)
believed that graphic organizers help to organize new material by outlining, arranging, and
sequencing the main idea of the new material based on what the learner already knows. Advance
organizers use familiar terms and concepts to link what the students already know to the new
information that will be presented in the lesson, which aids in the process of transforming
knowledge and creatively applying it in new situations. This process helps to embed the new
information into long term memory. Advance organizers do not have to be lengthy or complex
just clearly understood and related to the material.

3. Methodology
3.1 Participants
This study was conducted in one of the classes of the researcher in Manila. The class is
composed of thirty one ESL respondents, ages from sixteen to seventeen year-old and chosen
purposively based on their reading comprehension scores taken from school entrance
examination.

3.2 Instruments
Since the researcher taught Academic Reading and Writing among the grade eleven
students and part of the lessons was Patterns of Development incorporating of Selecting and
Organizing information, the books of Jessie S. Barrot, Ph.D. Academic Reading and Writing and
Katherine S. McKnight The Teacher’s Big Book of Graphic Organizers, were used as Reading
and Instructional Materials where the researcher took the passages that have certain patterns of
development and also suitable graphic organizers as follows: classification with reading
connection map, problem-solution with problem-solution map, and persuasion with persuasion
map. Specifically, the reading materials are expository in nature.

3.3 Data Gathering Procedure

There was explicit instruction that happened during the days which graphic organizers
and patterns of development were taught. Explicit instruction provides students to develop their
zones of proximal development or ZPD (Palincar & Brown, 1984). This is also referred to
instruction that has an academic focus with teacher and studentinteraction and teacher
monitoring. It is also an important instructional strategy for students to become actively engaged
in learning and ultimately independent learners. Thus, it provides students with a learning
environment that supports student autonomy, internalization of new skills, and allows students to
value learning and achievement, which fulfills the self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci &
Ryan, 1985).
 At the beginning of the instruction, the researcher taught thirty one respondents about
different kinds of graphic organizers and patterns of development or text structures. Since the
chosen class was taught during Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with the given time of one hour
and twenty munities each day based on the schedule given by the principal, the researcher started
to teach them from December 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, and 16.

December 5 and 7 (Monday and Wednesday), the researcher started to teach the notion
of Selecting and Organizing Information based on the book by Jessie S. Barrot. The lesson was
taught within one hour and twenty minutes for each day. Afterwards, the researcher gave an
activity applying the suitable graphic organizer to measure how far the students learned after the
instructions.

December 9 and 12 (Friday and Monday) , the patterns of development or text structures
were taught because according to Simmons, Griffin, and Kameenui (1988) one way to translate
discourse structures from texts to classroom instruction is through the use of graphic organizers
that represent the discourse structures of the text. Discourse structures and graphic organizers are
instructional techniques that display discourse structures and content information visually and
hierarchically. They depict the discourse structure by representing the interrelationship among
ideas and patterns of the text. Some patterns which are taught were definition, exemplification,
description, chronology, listing, comparison-contrast, classification, cause and effect, problem-
solution, and persuasion. Each pattern has corresponding graphic organizers that applied after
giving instructions.

December 14, after teaching the use of graphic organizers and patterns of development,
the researcher administered a set of expository texts that has patterns of classification, problem-
solution, and persuasion. In this case, the students read only the text and answer the questions
without using any graphic organizers. December 16, the researcher administered the same texts
to the students but at this time, they need to read the text and apply a suitable graphic organizer
to elicit the main ideas and supporting details of the text.

3.4. Data Analysis

t-Test of dependent means is also called paired sample t-test. It is where you run a test on
dependent samples. Dependent samples are essentially connected because they are tests on the
same person or thing. In this study, after teaching some notions of graphic organizers and
patterns of development, the researcher conducted a pre-test where he gave to the thirty one
students a set of expository texts following the patterns or text structures of classification,
problem-solution, and persuasion. The students read those texts and afterwards they answered
some questions without using any graphic organizers to measure their comprehension. After the
pre-test, the same group of students was given a post-test with the same set of text structures.
This time, the students read the texts and apply suitable graphic organizers to find whether their
comprehension was increased.
 In doing t-test of dependent means, there are certain steps to follow. First, define the null
hypothesis which is symbolized as H0 meaning there is no significant difference in the
performance of the ESL learners who did not use graphic organizers in promoting reading
comprehension while the alternative hypothesis is symbolized as H 1 meaning there is a
significant difference in the performance of the ESL learners who used graphic organizers in
promoting reading comprehension. Second, state the alpha, it is symbolized as α. In this study,
the researcher used critical values of t using two tailed test for the level of significance of α=.05.
Third, the researcher calculated the degrees of freedom using the formula of df=N-1. Fourth, the
researcher stated the decision rule whether the result of the statistical t-test is accepted or
rejected. Fifth, calculate the statistical test of paired sample t-test using the formula of t=x̅ D over
SD/√n whereas x̅ D=mean of difference, SD=standard deviation of the difference, and
√n=sample size. Sixth, state the result, based on the result of paired sample t-test, remember the
decision rule if the hypothesis is accepted or rejected. Seventh, state the conclusion, as the
researcher stated the result, go back to the null and alternative hypotheses to review whether one
of these was accepted or rejected.

Table 1. Seven steps of Paired Sample t-Test used in the study

State the null and alternative hypotheses

Step 1 1. H0=Null hypothesis
2. H1=Alternative hypothesis
Step 2 State the alpha using the given symbol
α=.05.
Step 3 Calculate the degrees of freedom using the given formula df=N-1.
Step 4 State the decision rule if it is accepted or rejected.

Step 5 Compute the statistical test of paired sample t-test using the given
formula

Step 6 State the result

Step 7 State the conclusion

4. Results
The present study discusses the effectiveness of graphic organizers guided by discourse
structures or text structures to improve reading comprehension skill of the ESL learners. This is
done by cinducting pre-test and post-test. The researcher explicitly taught first the notion of the
text structures and graphic organizers. By the following week, the researcher started to do the
pre-test, the researcher administered the expository texts following the certain patterns:
classification, problem-solution, and persuasion. The students read first the texts and answered
comprehension questions. The post-test was done by giving the same set of expository texts to
the ESL learners but at this time, they read the texts and constructed a suitable graphic organizer
for each expository text to measure if there is an increase of comprehension skill.
The paired sample t-test was used as statistical treatment to measure if there is an
improvement about the reading comprehension skill of the ESL learners. The pre-test signifies
that there is no use of graphic organizers while the post-test signifies that there is a construction
of suitable graphic organizers for each expository text after reading.

Table 2. Result of pretest and posttest

PRETEST POSTEST
STUDENT (Without the use of (With the use of DIFFERENCE
graphic organizers) graphic organizers)
S1 1 7 6
S2 9 11 2
S3 14 6 8
S4 11 12 1
S5 12 14 2
S6 10 12 2
S7 11 13 2
S8 8 7 1
S9 7 11 4
S10 6 9 3
S11 14 10 4
S12 5 9 4
S13 1 4 3
S14 5 13 8
S15 8 16 8
S16 12 10 2
S17 8 7 1
S18 8 5 3
S19 5 14 9
S20 10 13 3
S21 8 14 6
S22 9 12 3
S23 12 15 3
S24 10 14 4
S25 11 8 3
S26 5 2 3
S27 9 8 1
S28 10 7 3
S29 11 16 5
S30 9 11 2
S31 4 6 2
263/31=8.49 316/31=10.20 ΣD=111

Based on the table, the comprehension of the ESL learners is measured in the pre-test
without using any graphic organizers and post-test with the use of graphic organizers. The pre-
test has a mean of 8.49 where the ESL learners just read the expository texts and answered some
questions for comprehension while the post-test has a mean of 10.20; it shows that there is an
increase of reading comprehension skill of the ESL learners upon constructing a suitable graphic
organizer for each expository text following certain patterns. According to Simmons (1988)
using graphic organizers, the learners could able to reflect a passage’s hierarchy of information;
these pieces of information are organized as topic sentence or thesis statement and supporting
details and their organization of each paragraph. This signifies that during post-test, ESL learners
could able to determine which pattern or text structure they were reading about so that when they
breakdown pieces of information directly taken from the text, they were already familiar which
graphic organizer is applicable. The result also supported by Jiang and William’s notion (2007)
about scaffolding to facilitate learner’s reading comprehension skill. In the present study during
instructional procedure, the researcher explicitly taught the notion of text structures and graphic
organizers to the ESL learners to guide them to develop their comprehension skill using graphic
organizers.
The results also showed Williams’s notion (2005) of incorporation of graphic organizer
in the comprehension of expository reading texts. In this study, William emphasized text
structures using graphic organizers to measure how far the learners increased their
comprehension skill as they constructed a suitable graphic organizer for each expository text that
has a certain pattern. Moreover, the results also supported Williams’s study that the ability to
learn new content was not detracted as the text structure introduced and at the same time it
provides evidence that explicit instruction really helps learners to guide them in promoting
comprehension.
Other scholars who also support the results of the present study as they asserted that the
emphasis on graphic organizer training was a great of help to link with improvement in
comprehension skills, as they help ESL learners identify, organize, and recall the main idea of
the text.
To prove further how ESL learners increased their reading comprehension skill upon
applying graphic organizers, the researcher showed in the following table the summary of paired
sample t-test. The complete computation is given in the appendices.

Table 3. Result of paired sample t-test

State the hypotheses
1. H0=Null hypothesis- There is no significant difference in the performance of the ESL
Step 1 learners who did not use graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension
2. H1=Alternative hypothesis- There is a significant difference in the performance of the
ESL learners who used graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension.
Step 2 State the alpha α=.05.
Calculate the degrees of freedom
Step 3 df=N-1
=31-1
 =30
State the decision rule
Step 4 1. If t is greater than 2.042, reject the null hypothesis. (H 0)
2. If t is less than 2.042, accept the alternative hypothesis. (H 1)

Calculate the statistical test of paired sample t-test using the given formula

3.58
Step 5 =
2.23

√31
= 8.93
State the result
Step 6 Based on the statistical result, the decision is rejected the null hypothesis (H 0) because 8.93
is greater than 2.042.
State the conclusion or the interpretation
Step 7 Since the null hypothesis is rejected, therefore the alternative hypothesis is used and
interpreted as there is a significant difference in the performance of the ESL learners who
used graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension.

The notion of scaffolding through explicit instruction was done by the researcher as it
was mentioned that the researcher first taught the ESL learners the notions of patterns of
development or discourse structures and the use of graphic organizers before they were asked to
construct a graphic organizer which is suitable for each pattern. This is called Scaffolding. It
helps students to perform some tasks or skills in a more effective way than students who do not
receive such assistance (Vygotsky, 1978 as quoted by Tudge & Scrimsher, 2003). Pearson and
Gallagher (1983) said that in order to perform this theory at the beginning of instruction the
teacher is responsible for building comprehension among the learners, but as the lesson
continues, the learners become more responsible for their own comprehension.
Consequently, the researcher found that the result of the statistical test was higher than
2.042 which indicates that the null hypothesis was rejected therefore the alternative hypothesis
was accepted which is interpreted as there is a significant difference in the performance of the
ESL learners who used graphic organizers to develop reading comprehension skill. This
indicates that several researchers’ studies supported the result of the present study.
Evans (2003) found that the students who used graphic organizers helped them to
accommodate different learner’s styles, lead to meaningful learning, and enhance reading
comprehension. Also, based on the result of the study, it is proven that studying matrix or
graphic organizers enabled the ESL learners to understand the conceptual relations in text more
efficiently as compared to studying text or outline alone (Robinson & Schraw, 1994). Moreover,
Geva (1983) supported as well the notion of graphic organizers that the less skilled learners
benefit most than skilled learners.
In the present study, the researcher also included discourse structure’s notions because
they really helped ESL learners to guide, to promote, and to increase their comprehension skill
upon knowing what pattern is being used in the expository text. As a result of the study, it was
shown that these discourse structures which were taught explicitly contributed to increase
comprehension of the ESL learners as they were asked to construct a suitable graphic organizer
for classification, problem-solution, and persuasion to breakdown thoughts in the texts. In the L2
context, discourse structure or text structure awareness found that there is a promotion of
comprehension to facilitate and to recall text information.

5. Discussions
The notion of reading comprehension is crucial among the ESL learners. Sometimes they
fail to understand the expository text especially if it is too long or they are not familiar with the
pattern. Concerning with reading comprehension of ESL learners, graphic organizers are most
useful tool to find how far ESL learners comprehend the text especially if the texts are following
certain patterns such definition, exemplification, classification, description, argumentation, cause
and effect, problem-solution, persuasion etc. Thus, several studies were conducted to investigate
or extend the notion of benefits of graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension skill.
In the present study, the researcher personally researched on the use of graphic organizers
guided by discourse structures. The study aimed to answer the questions if the graphic organizers
help the grade eleven students (ESL learners) to understand the text in terms of identifying the
main idea to classify each item, stating the problem and the solution, and citing facts and
supporting details to show persuasion lastly, if the graphic organizers are effective in promoting
reading comprehension. The results revealed that the pre-test obtained the mean of 8.49 while
the post-test obtained the mean of 10.20 which means upon constructing suitable graphic
organizers to breakdown the thoughts in each expository text guided by classification, problem-
solution, and persuasion, the ESL learners increased their comprehension skill. Also, when it
comes of statistical treatment, the paired sample t-test obtained the result of 8.93 which is higher
than 2.042 that signified accepting the alternative hypothesis which is there is a significant
difference in the performance of the ESL learners who used graphic organizers in promoting
reading comprehension skill.
In connection, some researchers proved the effectiveness of graphic organizers in
promoting reading comprehension skill. Such as Ciascai (2009) who believed that graphic
organizers have a big role in educational practices to promote reading comprehension skill.
Simmon (1988) asserted that the students increased their comprehension skill upon using graphic
organizers to organize certain text from superordinate to subordinate. William et.al. (2005)
supported the results of the present study as he mentioned that text structures using graphic
organizers help the learners to develop comprehension skill. Additionally, the notion of
scaffolding through explicit instruction really helped the ESL learners to facilitate
comprehension skill. This is also supported by Alvermann (1981) and Idol (1987) that teacher
initiated graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension. As mentioned by Koumy and
Salam (1999) that this scaffolding can be done through teacher-student constructed graphic
organizers on text learning. Also, Jiang and Grabe (2007) posited that the constructor of graphic
organizers such teacher-student created, student created or teacher created exerted influence on
comprehension with the goal of assisting students in learning from texts.
Though there some studies conducted to measure the effectives of graphic organizers in
promoting reading comprehension skill, the present study is limited only in the notion of
discourse structures or text structures without identifying some cues or words that represent for
classification, problem-solution, and persuasion. Another thing, the future researcher might
extend the day and time, number of samples, and some other texts or discourse structures of
teaching the notion of pattern of development and use of graphic organizers to really measure
how effective the use graphic organizers. Also, since the ESL learners are now heading the 21 st
century of education which denotes the notion of ICT, the future researcher might conduct a
research study which evolves within the electronic version of graphic organizers (Canas, et.al.
2001; Novak & Canas, 2008). Further exploration is needed in middle or secondary grades and
college students because most of the studies conducted in this area focus on elementary level and
lastly, based on the related literatures, most of the studies conducted in this area focused only
with the first language learners of English. The future researcher might extend his study
involving the user of English as Second Language and Foreign Language.

Conclusion
Reading comprehension is crucial to develop among the learners however it is a task
where every educator finds very difficult to do especially if the learners are not aware about the
language being used to promote comprehension skill thus, the present study is conducted to
investigate the effectiveness of graphic organizers guided by discourse structures or text
structures. Specifically, it aims to answer if the graphic organizers really help the ESL learners in
terms of identifying the main idea to classify each item, stating the problem and the solution, and
citing facts and supporting details to show persuasion lastly, if the graphic organizers are
effective in promoting reading comprehension. The notion of scaffolding through explicit
instruction is also applied in the study as the researcher taught first the patterns of development
and the use of graphic organizers. Afterwards, the pre-test was done by giving ESL learners a set
of expository texts following the patterns of classification, problem-solution, and persuasion;
they read the texts and answered comprehension questions. Meanwhile, the post-test was also
given to the same learners. Same set of expository texts was also given and the ESL learners
were asked to read again the texts and to construct a suitable graphic organizer for each pattern:
classification, problem-solution, and persuasion to find if there is an increase of comprehension
skill. As a result of the study, the mean of pre-test was 8.49 while the mean of post-test was 10.
20; this signified that the graphic organizers helped the ESL learners to increase their
comprehension skill after reading the texts with certain patterns. Also, the paired-sample t-test
was also applied to know further if the given hypotheses were accepted or rejected. The null
hypothesis is that there is no significant difference in the performance of the ESL learners who
did not use graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension skill whereas the alternative
hypothesis is that there is a significant difference in the performance of the ESL learners who
used graphic organizers in promoting reading comprehension skill. The paired-sample t-test
obtained the result of 8.93 which is higher than 2.042. This signified that the null hypothesis was
rejected therefore the alternative hypothesis was accepted thus the graphic organizers really
helped ESL learners to increase their comprehension skill. Moreover, there were several
researchers who supported the results of the present study. As William et.al. (2005) researched
on developing comprehension skill using graphic organizers guided by text structures, he found
out that they helped learners to promote reading comprehension skill. Moreover, as text structure
was introduced, the ability to learn new content was not detracted and at the same time explicit
instruction of pattern of development and use of graphic organizers proved that it helps ESL
learners to facilitate learning.

Despite the results of the present study, it is only limited to the notion of discourse
structures or text structures without identifying some cues or words that represent for
classification, problem-solution, and persuasion. Also, the future researcher might extend the
instructional procedures such as day and time, number of samples, and some other texts or
discourse structures of teaching the notion of patterns of development and use of graphic
organizers to really measure how effective the use of all graphic organizers. In connection with
21st century of education, since the ESL learners are now engaged in using ICT, the future
researcher might conduct a research study which evolves within the electronic version of graphic
organizers (Canas, et.al. 2001; Novak & Canas, 2008). Moreover, further exploration is needed
in middle or secondary grades and college students because most of the studies conducted in this
area focus on elementary level and lastly, based on the related literatures, most of the studies
conducted in this area focus only with the first language learners of English; the future researcher
might extend his study involving the user of English as Second Language and Foreign Language.

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APPENDIX
Instrument used in the study
I. Directions: Read the following texts and answer the questions that follow.

The annual salary report from jobstreet.com determines the top earners in the Philippines in
2013. The number are based on the average salary recorded for each industry. For fresh
graduates, the best-paying jobs are in the fields of legal services, corporate strategy, secretarial
services, education, and real estate. For those with one to four years of experience, the top
salaries are from oil and gas engineering, aircraft maintenance, information technology, and
instrumentation. As you approach the supervisory level, the best-paying jobs are found in the
following industries; information technology, engineering, data base administration, technical
support, and actual science. Finally, ay you reach the senior management position, the most
lucrative professions are in quality control, logistics, information technology, pharmacy, and legal
services.
1. What is the main idea of the text?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the supporting details of the main idea?

2.1. _______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

2.2. _______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

2.3. ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2.4. ______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Today, most of the energy resources we have are generated from coal, oil, and natural gas.
However, these resources are limited. If continuously consumed at an alarming rate, fossil
fuels necessary for generating power to operate vehicles and factories will run out before
long. Nonetheless, this problem can be resolved through the use of alternative sources of
energy and conservation efforts. First, using alternative sources of energy such as solar
energy and fusion energy would lessen pollution. These alternatives are actually more
accessible and cost-efficient. Although there are some potential risks in using fusion energy,
these risks can be mitigated by implementing strict safety measures. The second solution
that governments can adopt is the enhancement of conservation efforts. To do this,
governments need to make the public more aware of the benefits of conservation, as well as
ways of conserving energy, such as recycling. Laws can also be passed to mandate the public
and all stakeholders to recycle energy.
1. What is the given problem in the text?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Describe the nature of the problem?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are the causes of the problem?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. What are the effects of the problem?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. Based on the identified causes and effects, how would give a solution to the problem?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Euthanasia or mercy killing has been a widely issue. It is an act to end a person’s life to
alleviate the suffering brought about by a terminal or grave illness. While it may be supported
by some, mercy killing is not only an unethical medical practice, it is also a crime. After all, on
the most basic level, euthanasia still takes a life. In fact, majority of the countries in the world,
including those that have legalized it, consider it as homicide. Aside from being a crime,
euthanasia is unethical in the medical context because it violates the principle of “primum
non nocore” which means “first, do no harm.” In their code of ethics, doctors have the
responsibility of saving lives, not destroying them, which is why euthanasia can never be
acceptable.
1. What is the position/argument of the text?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. State two reasons that would support your position.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Give two facts for each reason that could strongly support your position

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. Based on the given details, how would you construct a conclusion?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________