Comparing Silent and Oral Reading: Their Impact on College Students' Reading Comprehension

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of silent and oral reading styles on comprehension outcomes among college students, addressing a gap in understanding how these methods influenced learning in academic contexts. Employing a quasi-experimental research design, 40 students college students, aged 18-25, were randomly between the two groups, suggesting that silent and oral reading methods were equally effective. The effect size (rank biserial correlation = 0.155) indicated a small relationship. The Shapiro-Wilk test (W = 0.943, p = 0.043) revealed non-normal data distribution. These findings suggest that educators could strategically employ both methods to accommodate diverse student needs, contributing to effective multimodal reading strategies that enhance comprehension and learning. However, the study's limitations include the use of quota sampling, a small sample size, and the potential influence of extraneous and confounding variables, which may affect the generalizability of the findings.