Abstract:
The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the reading comprehension and cognitive factors among the students of government and non-government schools who were from class six to eight in Dhaka city. In order to achieve this end, the study was conducted on a sample of 300 secondary top and bottom school students aged 10 to 14 who were selected in a convenient way from two government and two non-government schools located in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Bengali Version of WISC IV was administered to the students to assess reading comprehension and cognitive factors. The study was conducted following ethical guidelines prescribed by American Psychological Association (APA) and local norm. Obtained data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation. As the present study is correlation in its design, Pearson Product moment correlations and t test were calculated. Furthermore, to see the potential impact of cognitive factors on students’ reading comprehension, the obtained data were analyzed by using linear multiple regression. It was found that non-government students’ score were high rather than government students but the interesting finding was that female students’ score was better than male students’ in both types of schools. It was remarkable that though bottom students’ overall score was low from top students’ but in reading comprehension; their score was significantly high. The study also investigates the potential impact of cognitive factors (VCI, PRI, WMI, PSI) which were highly correlated with reading comprehension. The findings indicate, although minimal but there have alarming connection between reading comprehension and cognitive factors. This study would be helpful for school authorities, teachers, parents and early childhood educators to create successful readers since early grade and to organize effective programs which support target students’ to overcome their reading comprehension difficulties.
