Teachers’ Perceptions of Strategies for Enhancing Reading and Comprehension Skills in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

An important basis for later academic success is early reading comprehension and it is influenced by learner motivation and instructional practices. This research aims to investigate how motivation affects children’s reading. Exploring how persistence, interest and engagement interact with strategies that are well organized. It also aims to analyze the effects of selected teaching strategies which entails phonemic awareness, guided reading, vocabulary development, parental involvement and visual aids on children’s comprehension and reading in early childhood education. This study explored how early childhood teachers reported use of strategies for reading comprehension, their opinions on motivating students and the relationship between motivation, instructional practices and apparent outcomes of reading and comprehension. A quantitative survey was conducted, where data was collected from more than 100 early childhood teachers. The questionnaire consisted of items on student motivation, teaching strategies, parental participation and approved improvement in students’ comprehension of stories over time. All the data in this quantitative research were analyzed using SPSS(v25). Teachers practices and perception were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Pearson correlation analysis was used which analyzed the relationships among motivational factors and reading comprehension outcomes. Multiple Regression analysis assessed the predictive role of motivation and teaching strategies. Due to a binary response format and due to the inclusion of multiple constructs, reliability was interpreted construct wise. Research findings showed that teachers frequently used phonemic awareness activities, visual aids and guided reading to improve children’s comprehension and reading outcome.  Correlation analysis showed strong positive relationships among instructional strategies, engagement and student motivation with formative practices such as questioning strongly linked to apparent comprehension improvement. The multiple regression model was not statistically important and explained only a minor portion of the variance, signifying that the examined variables did not independently predict comprehension improvement when considered altogether. In conclusion, this study shows that while student motivation and instructional strategies are closely associated and observed as beneficial, they may not independently forecast improvement in reading comprehension. A central role is played by formative assessment practices, in particular monitoring and understanding through questioning. The conclusions show the significance of integrating effective instructional strategies with ongoing assessment and motivational support in early reading instruction.