The Relationship between the Mental Skills Reflected by the Readability Test of Arabic Texts and the Achievement Level of Arabic Language for the Fifth Grade in Bethlehem District

This study was motivated by the significant decrease in student’s achievement in tests which require high-order skills and abilities, be these tests of the regular type used in schools or of the diagnostic type or otherwise. The study emerged as an attempt to examine that phenomenon and diagnose the present state of things in the sample society, based on the understanding that test underachievement is primarily caused by the emphasis put on students to use the skill of memorization rather than the other methods which help develop the skills of thinking in the process of understanding and comprehension. To conduct the study, the researcher has specified the following goals: 1- Examining the possibility of correlation between the mental skills reflected in the readability test and the achievement in Arabic of fifth grade students in Bethlehem district. 2- Examining the possible existence of correlation between the students' levels of achievement in tests of readability that employ the Cloze method and those using the American style. 3- Examining the possible differences in students’ achievement in readability tests based on the variables of school system and gender. 4- Examining students’ mental skills at the three levels incorporated in the readability test: the literal, the interpretative, and the applicable levels. In correspondence with these goals, the researcher has formulated four research questions for the study to investigate. Six nil hypotheses issued from the first three questions. The first, second, and third hypotheses responded to the first question, whereas the fourth hypothesis responded to the second question, and the fifth and sixth hypotheses responded to the third question. Means and standard deviations were derived in response to the fourth question. All of the three hypotheses were refuted. The mental skills reflected in the Readability test constituted the dependent variable, whereas the three school systems and gender constituted the independent variables. The study sample involved 24 schools in Bethlehem district )33% of the sample population, in which the three school systems )public, private and UNRWA) were represented. The sample included 656 students )342 males and 314 females). The researcher designed an investigative tool which comprised a readability test which was developed for the same literary text in two ways (Cloze test and the American method) and was used with the same sample of students to measure their readability competence. The researcher verified the validity of the tool by having it validated by a group of referees which consisted of MA and Ph.D. specialists in Arabic and education as well as fifth-grade Arabic teachers. As for reliability, it was ascertained through the application of the Test- retest reliability checks in two methods: Pearson Correlation )0.70 (and Cronbach Alpha (0.090). In both cases SPSS and SAS statistical packages were used. Through answering the research questions and examining the relevant hypotheses, the following findings were arrived at: 1- 41.5% of the sample was students failed the readability test. 2- The mean of the students' performance in the readability test )total score( was 56.38. 3- 50.0% of the students ranked above the mean, while 48.6% ranked below. 4- 48.5% of the students ranked at independent level in Cloze test, 25.5% those at teachable level and 26.5 % those at frustrated level. 5- Correlation was discovered between the level of the students' a1chievement in Arabic and the level of their performance in the Cloze test, the coefficient being (0.75). 6- Statistically significant correlation was also discovered between the students' level of achievement in Arabic and the level of their performance in the American method test, the coefficient being (0.67.( 7- Statistically significant correlation was discovered between the students' level of achievement in Arabic and the level of their performance in the readability test (total score), the coefficient being (0.75). 8- Statistically significant correlation was discovered between the level of students' achievment in the readability test conducted through the Cloze method and the test done in the American method, the coeffecient being )0.82). 9- Statistically significant the differences were found among the different student's levels of achievement in the readability test. The differences can be referred to the different school systems to which the students belonged, the ranking of achievement being from the highest to the lowest as follows: private schools, UNRWA schools, and public schools. 10- Statistically significant differences were discovered between the levels of achievements of different students, which can be referred to the gender variable. The differences were in favor of female students. 11- Finally, differences were also discovered in the students’ achievement in the readability test aiming the three levels of the test which ranked from the highest to the lowest as the following: the literal level, the interpretative level, and the applicable level. Core Conclusions From the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the emphasis on students to memorize materials and learn them by heart to the exclusion of other teaching methods which enhance the development of thinking skills has led to a significant decrease both in the students’ success and in the score mean in the study’s test. This is demonstrated by the fact that the students’ highest achievement was found in the literal level of the test while lower achievement was discovered in the other levels (the interpretative and the applicable) with their major skills that demanded for higher-order mental skills which the sample students lacked. The curriculum design contributed to the phenomenon because it shows lack of questions and other instructional activities which enhance the development of mental skills in those important levels. Another factor that can be cited in this context is the teachers' deprivation of the basic know-how pertaining to the approaches whereby students’ thinking skills can be developed. Core Recommendation 1. Training teachers are recommended to replace the traditional methods with the various readability-enhancing methods in teaching and testing. 2. The Ministry of Education as well as other various educational institutions should focus on the use of teaching methods which promote the development of students’ thinking skills rather than the skill of memorization. 3. Reassessing the current curricula which are lacking in the conditions that are favorable to the development of students’ thinking skills. 4. Adopting the Cloze method for measuring readability as Cloze tests are easy to be prepared and answered. 5. Expanding the use of readability as an advanced teaching method in other disciplines and other stages of schooling. 6. Singling out one weekly class meeting for readability to be taught systematically.