# Correlation and Prediction of Students’ Level of Reading Comprehension through Their Perception of the Application of Transition Words

Authors: Md. Nurul Anwar; Md. Nurul Ahad; Choiril Anwar; Hani Qasem Mohammed Asaad; Md. Kamrul Hasan; Boonyarit Omanee
Journal: Education Research International
 (2022)

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## Abstract

The role of reading comprehension and its correlation and prediction to other skills in terms of enhancing the proficiency level of students in English language has been widely recognized by researchers. However, research conducted on reading comprehension in roughly the last fifteen to twenty years shows no concrete evidence of identifying the knowledge of the transition words with the understanding of reading comprehension. This study was particularly designed to fill that gap and to measure students’ ability to differentiate among various categories of expressions in English language, such as descriptive, narrative, sequence, comparison and contrast, and cause and effect, and to identity the functions of their derivative transitions in the reading comprehension task. The current study adapted a quantitative method and collected data from 100 male and female EFL students at the tertiary level in a Bangladeshi university to conduct this study. To be specific, this research used transition words as the predictor variable/independent variable and reading comprehension as the dependent variable. The findings of the research suggested that there were positive and significant correlations between students’ knowledge of the transition words and their level of understanding the reading comprehension. In addition, the transitional word was found to be a strong predictor of reading comprehension. This study strongly suggests that students with a better understanding of transition words can perform equally better in their reading comprehension tasks. For tertiary level students, the knowledge of transitional words would be useful, and it would also have significance for lexical scholars and curriculum designers.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

English is widely accepted as an international language and is used as the major lingua franca around the globe. Students have to be good at all four skills of English in order to be able to get a better job and better placements at different universities abroad. However, reading comprehension is one of the most important components of their English language learning [1–4].Correspondingly, research strongly suggests that reading can be an extremely complex process as learners often struggle with understanding and making out the meaning of the texts [5–8]. They also add that many students of English as a foreign language/English as a second language (EFL/ESL) have “major difficulties” with English reading comprehension even after years of learning the English language [5].Reading comprehension is taught and practiced in the class in order to develop the proficiency of understanding the central idea of a given topic or a subject dealt with in the reading passage clearly and quickly. Reading is not only important for the development of reading skills but also important in order to be successful in life as it keeps people up-to-date, well informed, and thinking [9]. Mckee, in his review paper titled “Reading Comprehension, What We Know: A Review of Research 1995 to 2011”, also adds that reading is a difficult and complex process, which is related to other variables. He again adds that reading can be divided into two different processes at work. Phantharakphong and Pothitha [10] suggested developing a concept map of learning vocabulary in order to help students reading comprehension.The first one is the lower-level abilities that include understanding vocabulary, graphophonic, and others, and the higher-level abilities include understanding sentences and meaning [9]. Moreover, researchers have suggested that reading is a complex process and the activity of reading requires subreading skills, knowledge, and understanding of the componential approach to the text [11]. He also agrees that “the componential studies of L2 (second language) reading in recent decades; the major contributors discovered thus far, namely, the high-evidence correlates, are vocabulary and grammar knowledge, as well as other language-related variables, including decoding, phonological awareness, and orthographic and morphological knowledge” [11].Vocabulary and morphological knowledge help students decode the meaning of a given text and poor morphological knowledge can predict any future difficulty in their reading practice [12]. Therefore, vocabulary is one of the main aspects of language ability, and there is a strong link between vocabulary knowledge and reading and listening comprehension. Vocabulary has been considered the strongest predictor of reading comprehension skills [13–15].Studies have shown that successful reading comprehension requires multiple skills, including cognitive skill. However, vocabulary knowledge has always been described as the most important component [14, 16]. We can clearly see that none of the researchers mentioned the correlation or prediction between “transition words” and reading comprehension rather they pointed out the requirements of vocabulary knowledge in general and of other componential understanding in order to decode the textual meanings. The difficulty of understanding the reading texts was investigated in the previous researches in the field of ESL and EFL. The hitherto conducted surveys into the area ascribed the difficulty of conceptualizing reading texts to students’ lack of understanding of different aspects of the English language, namely vocabulary, morphology, grammar, etc.Therefore, this study centred on the idea that the understanding of the internal consistencies and contradictions of meanings in reading texts is facilitated mainly by the knowledge of transition words and their associative categories mentioned in the abstract, as the internal consistency and contradictions of meanings are two major aspects of a reading text, which often present complications to students’ reading comprehension tasks. Thus, the current study is intended to investigate the correlations and predictions between students’ knowledge of transition words and their reading comprehension in English language classes.


## 2. Literature Review

### 2.1. Vocabulary Knowledge and Its Difficulty

While researchers have recognized the importance of vocabulary and morphological knowledge with regard to attaining skilled readership, they have also admitted the difficulty of acquiring the vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary knowledge is considered to have manifold dimensions in vocabulary research. It has been defined in different ways by different researchers because of its association with other subknowledge of vocabulary, such as the recognition and understanding of their usage in writing and speaking, understanding meaning and collocations, their associative and connotative meaning, including their implications in social restrictions [17, 18].Reading is a complex process, and vocabulary recognition and knowledge in connection with acquiring L2 and being a skilled reader are very essential [19]. Sedita [20] mentioned that “vocabulary knowledge is important because it encompasses all the words; we must know to access our background knowledge, express our ideas, and communicate effectively and learn about new concepts.” She also stated that it is very important that teachers teach their students vocabulary at all levels and that reading comprehension is deeply related to students’ vocabulary knowledge (2005). Hence, Alsager and Milton [21] mentioned that vocabulary knowledge is very crucial for developing overall language proficiency and it augments learners’ ability to communicate better. They also confirmed that, according to one corpus, the 2000 most common terms in the English language account for 80–85% of any written or spoken English text, yet L2 learners require a larger vocabulary. Thus, it is essential for students to expand the volume of vocabulary and to understand its meaning to become more efficient readers.


### 2.2. Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension

Wang-Taylor and Milton [18] believed that there is a common belief among researchers, language learners, and language practitioners that vocabulary knowledge is an integral part of language proficiency, and it is very much connected with all the language skills, including reading, where reading appears to occupy a predominant position. Uccelli et al. [22] agreed that reading comprehension requires two sets of skills. Hoover and Gough [23] mentioned that word recognition and language comprehension skills are important components for language learning. However, vocabulary is not the only necessary component for enhancing a high level of fluency and proficiency in reading; Kim [16] said that it involves the construction of a coherent mental representation in order to become successful in reading comprehension.Vocabulary is one of the most important distinguishers between L1 and L2 learners’ understanding of reading comprehension [24]. In other words, it is necessary for students to be able to understand and reflect on the coherence among different ideas in the textual narrative. Cain [25] and Bagheri and Mahmoudi [26] mentioned that coherence and cohesion define different ways of internal organization of a narrative. Cain’s statement strongly suggested the importance of cohesive devices, for instance, transition words, in understanding the internal consistencies among ideas in reading comprehension. He also believed that “there is a relationship between a reader’s ability to comprehend text and their ability to produce a structurally coherent narrative.”Moreover, the importance of cohesive devices and connectives in reading comprehension has been recognized in reading comprehension research much earlier. For example, Bensoussan [27] emphasized the knowledge of the cohesive devices as these devices tie ideas together in the text, and these connectives carry special importance in reading comprehension. These cohesive devices are none but the transition words, such as first of all, secondly, then, next, however, on the other hand, likewise, consequently, because, since, and as a consequence. Cain [25] adds further that “cohesion within a narrative is established by linguistic devices, such as intercausal connectives, which express the relations between the sentences or clauses that make up the story.”One study in Iran found that teaching connecting words, such as transition words, may help teachers to teach students’ essays in writing courses more effectively [28]. Hama [29] mentioned that in academic writing lessons, Kurdish EFL second- and third-year students frequently struggle with employing transitional terms when they want to create various types of paragraphs and essays. When writing argumentative or persuasive essays, they have made a variety of errors.


### 2.3. Research on Transitions in the Context of Bangladesh

A large number of research papers have been conducted regarding the relationship between vocabulary, lexical and morphological knowledge, and reading comprehension [30–37]. Hasan and Shabdin [38] found that students with a depth of vocabulary knowledge did better in their academic reading comprehension. Hasan et al. [39] mention that research in the last thirty years focused on the relationship between morphological knowledge and reading comprehension, whereas they emphasized the relationship between morphological knowledge and listening comprehension. Research in the recent years has focused on the depth of vocabulary knowledge and stressed the importance of “paradigmatic (synonymy and polysemy) and syntagmatic (collocation)” and their relationship with reading comprehension in an ESL/EFL context [40, 41].In addition, another study investigated, in the context of Bangladesh, the vocabulary knowledge of business students and its relationship with reading comprehension, with a specific focus on morphology and its syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations [39]. A study using Bangladeshi engineering students’ vocabulary depth knowledge and its correlation and prediction to their reading comprehension was conducted [42]. Amin [42] investigated different reading strategies in terms of developing reading proficiency. He strongly suggests that effective reading comprehension depends on students’ making connections between the reading with their ideas, beliefs, personal experiences, and other surrounding phenomena. Suchona and Urmy [43] conducted research among Bangladeshi English department undergraduate students in order to identify the problems they face in terms of reading and to find out the kind of strategies they use to overcome the problems.Bristi [44] looked at the use of vocabulary learning strategies, with a particular focus on the necessity of looking into the vocabulary learning strategies used by EFL students in Bangladesh at the university level. Haque [45] investigated the complexities of the reading process and how to help students improve their reading skills. She admits the significance of metacognitive skills along with the other four skills. She also defined these skills as methods of self-monitoring and self-regulating activities that concentrate on both the process and the outcome of reading. Ara and Shorna [46] believed vocabulary knowledge to be one of the most important components of language and communication. Sultana [47] also believed that analytical and critical reading skills were necessary for reading comprehension.


### 2.4. Problem Statement

As mentioned above, previous studies found that most students face different types of reading difficulty, especially with vocabulary and grammatical structure, such as understanding and remembering long/big words. However, it is clear from the existing literature that students’ problems with vocabulary or morphological knowledge and their reading strategies to overcome the difficulty in reading as well as other associative factors affecting their reading comprehension have been investigated, but students’ understanding of transition words, that produce meaning through cohesion and coherence and construct the internal consistencies and contradictions, and its correlations with their reading comprehension, has not been given any attention by the researchers.To sum up, we can see that the research on reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge carried out in the Bangladeshi context has placed emphasis on students’ lexical and morphological knowledge and considered their lack of understanding of such knowledge as the cause of their having reading difficulty and their application of different techniques of reading. However, their research did not consider discussing the connection between their knowledge of transition words or cohesive devices and reading comprehension in connection with the undergraduate students in Bangladesh. Similarly, they failed to investigate the role of transition words in the construction of consistent and contradictory meaning in reading comprehension texts. In this connection, the current study investigated the correlations and predictions between students’ transition word knowledge of different types or categories of expressions and their reading comprehension among the undergraduate EFL students in a Bangladeshi private university.


### 2.5. Research Questions

Based on the research gap in the past studies in the field of students’ reading comprehension, the current project framed the questions mentioned below in relation to students’ ability to comprehend reading comprehension based on their transition knowledge.(1)
To what extent is the transition word knowledge of Bangladeshi undergraduate EFL learners related to grasping reading comprehension?(2)
In what measure can transition word knowledge predict the performance level of EFL learners in reading comprehension?(3)
To what extent do transition words used by EFL learners at the undergraduate level in Bangladesh affect their reading comprehension?


## 2.1. Vocabulary Knowledge and Its Difficulty

While researchers have recognized the importance of vocabulary and morphological knowledge with regard to attaining skilled readership, they have also admitted the difficulty of acquiring the vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary knowledge is considered to have manifold dimensions in vocabulary research. It has been defined in different ways by different researchers because of its association with other subknowledge of vocabulary, such as the recognition and understanding of their usage in writing and speaking, understanding meaning and collocations, their associative and connotative meaning, including their implications in social restrictions [17, 18].Reading is a complex process, and vocabulary recognition and knowledge in connection with acquiring L2 and being a skilled reader are very essential [19]. Sedita [20] mentioned that “vocabulary knowledge is important because it encompasses all the words; we must know to access our background knowledge, express our ideas, and communicate effectively and learn about new concepts.” She also stated that it is very important that teachers teach their students vocabulary at all levels and that reading comprehension is deeply related to students’ vocabulary knowledge (2005). Hence, Alsager and Milton [21] mentioned that vocabulary knowledge is very crucial for developing overall language proficiency and it augments learners’ ability to communicate better. They also confirmed that, according to one corpus, the 2000 most common terms in the English language account for 80–85% of any written or spoken English text, yet L2 learners require a larger vocabulary. Thus, it is essential for students to expand the volume of vocabulary and to understand its meaning to become more efficient readers.


## 2.2. Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension

Wang-Taylor and Milton [18] believed that there is a common belief among researchers, language learners, and language practitioners that vocabulary knowledge is an integral part of language proficiency, and it is very much connected with all the language skills, including reading, where reading appears to occupy a predominant position. Uccelli et al. [22] agreed that reading comprehension requires two sets of skills. Hoover and Gough [23] mentioned that word recognition and language comprehension skills are important components for language learning. However, vocabulary is not the only necessary component for enhancing a high level of fluency and proficiency in reading; Kim [16] said that it involves the construction of a coherent mental representation in order to become successful in reading comprehension.Vocabulary is one of the most important distinguishers between L1 and L2 learners’ understanding of reading comprehension [24]. In other words, it is necessary for students to be able to understand and reflect on the coherence among different ideas in the textual narrative. Cain [25] and Bagheri and Mahmoudi [26] mentioned that coherence and cohesion define different ways of internal organization of a narrative. Cain’s statement strongly suggested the importance of cohesive devices, for instance, transition words, in understanding the internal consistencies among ideas in reading comprehension. He also believed that “there is a relationship between a reader’s ability to comprehend text and their ability to produce a structurally coherent narrative.”Moreover, the importance of cohesive devices and connectives in reading comprehension has been recognized in reading comprehension research much earlier. For example, Bensoussan [27] emphasized the knowledge of the cohesive devices as these devices tie ideas together in the text, and these connectives carry special importance in reading comprehension. These cohesive devices are none but the transition words, such as first of all, secondly, then, next, however, on the other hand, likewise, consequently, because, since, and as a consequence. Cain [25] adds further that “cohesion within a narrative is established by linguistic devices, such as intercausal connectives, which express the relations between the sentences or clauses that make up the story.”One study in Iran found that teaching connecting words, such as transition words, may help teachers to teach students’ essays in writing courses more effectively [28]. Hama [29] mentioned that in academic writing lessons, Kurdish EFL second- and third-year students frequently struggle with employing transitional terms when they want to create various types of paragraphs and essays. When writing argumentative or persuasive essays, they have made a variety of errors.


## 2.3. Research on Transitions in the Context of Bangladesh

A large number of research papers have been conducted regarding the relationship between vocabulary, lexical and morphological knowledge, and reading comprehension [30–37]. Hasan and Shabdin [38] found that students with a depth of vocabulary knowledge did better in their academic reading comprehension. Hasan et al. [39] mention that research in the last thirty years focused on the relationship between morphological knowledge and reading comprehension, whereas they emphasized the relationship between morphological knowledge and listening comprehension. Research in the recent years has focused on the depth of vocabulary knowledge and stressed the importance of “paradigmatic (synonymy and polysemy) and syntagmatic (collocation)” and their relationship with reading comprehension in an ESL/EFL context [40, 41].In addition, another study investigated, in the context of Bangladesh, the vocabulary knowledge of business students and its relationship with reading comprehension, with a specific focus on morphology and its syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations [39]. A study using Bangladeshi engineering students’ vocabulary depth knowledge and its correlation and prediction to their reading comprehension was conducted [42]. Amin [42] investigated different reading strategies in terms of developing reading proficiency. He strongly suggests that effective reading comprehension depends on students’ making connections between the reading with their ideas, beliefs, personal experiences, and other surrounding phenomena. Suchona and Urmy [43] conducted research among Bangladeshi English department undergraduate students in order to identify the problems they face in terms of reading and to find out the kind of strategies they use to overcome the problems.Bristi [44] looked at the use of vocabulary learning strategies, with a particular focus on the necessity of looking into the vocabulary learning strategies used by EFL students in Bangladesh at the university level. Haque [45] investigated the complexities of the reading process and how to help students improve their reading skills. She admits the significance of metacognitive skills along with the other four skills. She also defined these skills as methods of self-monitoring and self-regulating activities that concentrate on both the process and the outcome of reading. Ara and Shorna [46] believed vocabulary knowledge to be one of the most important components of language and communication. Sultana [47] also believed that analytical and critical reading skills were necessary for reading comprehension.


## 2.4. Problem Statement

As mentioned above, previous studies found that most students face different types of reading difficulty, especially with vocabulary and grammatical structure, such as understanding and remembering long/big words. However, it is clear from the existing literature that students’ problems with vocabulary or morphological knowledge and their reading strategies to overcome the difficulty in reading as well as other associative factors affecting their reading comprehension have been investigated, but students’ understanding of transition words, that produce meaning through cohesion and coherence and construct the internal consistencies and contradictions, and its correlations with their reading comprehension, has not been given any attention by the researchers.To sum up, we can see that the research on reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge carried out in the Bangladeshi context has placed emphasis on students’ lexical and morphological knowledge and considered their lack of understanding of such knowledge as the cause of their having reading difficulty and their application of different techniques of reading. However, their research did not consider discussing the connection between their knowledge of transition words or cohesive devices and reading comprehension in connection with the undergraduate students in Bangladesh. Similarly, they failed to investigate the role of transition words in the construction of consistent and contradictory meaning in reading comprehension texts. In this connection, the current study investigated the correlations and predictions between students’ transition word knowledge of different types or categories of expressions and their reading comprehension among the undergraduate EFL students in a Bangladeshi private university.


## 2.5. Research Questions

Based on the research gap in the past studies in the field of students’ reading comprehension, the current project framed the questions mentioned below in relation to students’ ability to comprehend reading comprehension based on their transition knowledge.(1)
To what extent is the transition word knowledge of Bangladeshi undergraduate EFL learners related to grasping reading comprehension?(2)
In what measure can transition word knowledge predict the performance level of EFL learners in reading comprehension?(3)
To what extent do transition words used by EFL learners at the undergraduate level in Bangladesh affect their reading comprehension?


## 3. Method

The current study adapted Fraser’s taxonomy (1999) as an organizing principle to categorize transition words as per their contextual meaning. The most comprehensive list of transitional words for the structuring of written discourse may be observed in this taxonomy. Depending on Fraser’s classification, transitional words are distinct from other etymological expressions in that they draw on the structural classifications of adverbs, prepositional phrases, and connectors. Each linking word in a transition has a distinct meaning between the explanation and description of the sentence components they offer. According to Rahimi [48], transitional words give linguistically and conceptually contextual messages. Therefore, the researcher considered Fraser’s taxonomy as a useful tool to categorize transition words in their contexts. The researchers then looked at different theoretical frameworks and were finally determined against the use of all types of transitional words.According to Fraser’s Model (1999), there are six clusters and subcategories.(1)
Conclusive: in summary, in conclusion, to summarize, finally, etc.(2)
Justification: for, since, as a result of, etc.(3)
Detailed DMs: also, furthermore, additionally, furthermore, etc.(4)
Contrastive DMs: but, but on the other hand, but, but, but, but, etc.(5)
Inferential: consequently, therefore, as a result, consequently, therefore, so, etc.(6)
Exemplifier: as an illustration, for instance, as an illustration, etc.


### 3.1. Research Design

The current study was conducted using a quantitative method of data collection and analysis. The researchers took the help of the Excel Analytics Tool to run the statistical tests. As the primary aim of the research was to find the correlation between the variables and to make predictions of one variable’s effect on the other, the study ran a correlation test in order to measure the intervariable correlation coefficients. Then, the variables were put through a linear regression analysis to spot the exact percentage of variance in the dependent variable that the independent variable could explain. Regression analysis is the most widely used data analysis practice in social science research today. Students were given 25 minutes for them to write answers to the questions from the reading comprehension and 5 minutes to put the appropriate categories of expression in the transition test. The researchers paid special attention to the correlation matrix and the regression analysis in order to determine the amount of predictions transition words can make on the variance in students’ reading comprehension.


### 3.2. Sampling

The present study employed random sampling as data collection procedure. First, the researchers obtained permission from the university authorities before performing the formal procedure of conducting research among the students. There were almost 4,000 students enrolled in Fall-2021 in different undergraduate programs across all disciplines, and the whole student body was divided into over 100 sections, each consisting of an average of 40 students. The researchers randomly selected 100 data samplesM = 68 and F = 32 from the collected over 150 data samples from 6 different sections for this research.


### 3.3. Participants

The subjects of this current research were 100 undergraduate EFL students in their first trimester at a private university in Bangladesh. Students in their first trimester are required to show a certain level of proficiency in their preassessment test, and failing in which involves taking English-I in order for them to fulfil the requirements for their degrees. The data samples were collected from the 100 students who belonged to the School of Business, with concentrations in Marketing, Finance, and Economics. Among the students (n = 100), male consisted (68%) and female consisted (32%). The descriptive statistics of male and female are demonstrated in Table 1.Table 1
Descriptive statistics of male and female ratio.
NMinimumMaximumSumMeanStd. deviationGender 21.002.003.001.500.70Number 232.0068.00100.0050.0025.45The average mean of the students was mean = 50 with range = 36 on standard deviation = 25.455.


### 3.4. Instruments

As the central aim of the research was to determine students’ transition knowledge and its correlations with their level of reading comprehension in order to predict how much their knowledge of transition words manipulate their reading comprehension, the researchers gave two different sets of questions to the students. The current research adapted two instruments as tools to facilitate effective data collection and assessment through testing students’ transitional word knowledge of reading comprehension. To ensure research validity of the source text, the researchers adapted a sample reading comprehension and a transitional word list from an officially accepted book, “Cambridge English, Vocabulary for IELTS,” an Official Cambridge Preparation material for IELTS [49].At first, the students were given a reading comprehension test in order to test their ability to understand the internal consistency and to identify, different types of expressions forged with the placement of cohesive devices, namely, the transition words. The reading passage was 360 words long and was followed by four short-answer questions. The total marks for the questions were 20, with each question carrying five marks. The reading passage was designed with different expressions facilitated by the usage of transition words, with each one of the expressions distinct from another, so that students had to read between lines and compare and contrast between statements so as to identify the nature and meaning of each statement. Then, they had to answer the questions. The questions were designed in such a manner that the students ought to identify the transitional points in between statements in the reading comprehension. As the students were tested on their knowledge of transition words and their correlative expressions, most of the questions asked required them to show a cause or a reason. Therefore, the authors emphasized “why” and “how” questions instead of what questions. As shown in Table2, an item type was provided below for each question for the students to write the correct answer. Table 2 shows a sample of the questions related to reading comprehension.Table 2
Sample question of reading comprehension.
QuestionItem type(a) Where did the Smith family want to go on their holiday this year and why?Answer(b) Where Mr. Smith did prefer going and why?Answer(c) Where did the children decide to go and why?Answer(d) How did Mr. Smith become successful in going on a holiday?AnswerFollowed by the comprehension test, students were given a transition word test. Table3 shows a sample item of transition word test.Table 3
A sample item of transition word test.
SequenceOppositionCauseEffectComparisonContrastTransitionsCorrelative categoryAs a consequence,As both,Consequently,Conversely,Despite, due to, finally,Furthermore,However,In addition,In fact,Instead of, likewise,Moreover,Nevertheless,Nevertheless,Since, whereasTo illustrate,Example: effectInstructions were provided to the students, asking them to relate the transition words to their stipulated correlative categories and to write them on the right-hand side rows according to their expressive nature of meaning. Each question carried one mark (1 × 20 = 20 points). The transitions on the right-hand side were arranged in a disorderly manner in order to test students’ acumen for understanding the difference in meaning between two transition words. A matching exercise was adapted as previous research shows its manifold benefits as students need to identify the meaningful match between two words. Folse [50] mentions that testing the understanding of meaning in a specific context is one of the vital aspects in vocabulary practice. Son [51] states that matching exercises are considered more effective than fill in the blank exercises as filling in the blanks does not require students to do semantic processing, whereas in vocabulary exercises, such as matching between words, students have to match the words with their meanings.


### 3.5. Instrument Validity

The researchers conducted reliability testing on both the instruments separately in order to determine internal validity through an equal distribution of data in both the data set. According to Mitchell [52]; “internal validity deals with the question of whether the experimental treatment (variable A) did indeed have an effect (on variable B). When there is a lack of internal validity, there is a possible alternative explanation for the relationship between A (the cause) and B (the effect).”The result of the reliability test on both the data sets of the reading comprehension test and the transition word test is given as follows.Table4 displays the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for all the numbers under the independent and dependent variables. The Cronbach’s alpha level was α = 0.907∗ which is above the acceptable alpha level in statistical research. Thus, it can be said that both the data sets maintained internal consistency among the measures under each variable. Cronbach’s alpha is one of the most widely used statistics in research that involves a test-making process. According to Vaske et al. [53]; Cronbach’s alpha is used to measure the internal consistency and reliability of a data set. Any value between (0.93–0.70) is considered excellent and high. Since the Cronbach alpha values of the two instruments are more than .70, it can be said that the instruments are both valid and reliable.Table 4
Cronbach’s alpha.
Variables and testsCronbach’s alphaV1 reading comprehension0.870V2 transition words knowledge0.907∗


### 3.6. Research Findings

As the focus of the current study was to determine the measure of correlations and predictions or the extent of the impact concerning students’ translation knowledge has on their reading performance, the researchers conducted a two-tailed Pearson Correlation under Multiple Regression analysis. The first research question is “To what extent is the transition word knowledge of Bangladeshi undergraduate EFL learners related to grasping reading comprehension?” Table5 demonstrates the degrees of correlation between the transition word knowledge and reading comprehension.Table 5
Correlation between reading comprehension and transition word knowledge.
GenderReading comprehensionTransition knowledgeGender1−0.8059−0.6574V1 read comprehension−0.805910.9607∗∗V2 transition knowledge−0.65740.9607∗∗1Table5 shows that there was a significant positive correlation between the independent variable and the dependent variable. Reading comprehension was taken as the dependent variable while transition word knowledge was used as the independent variable. A correlation test showed that students’ transition knowledge is strongly correlated with their performance in reading comprehension. Hemphill [54] mentioned that, according to widely accepted notions among researchers, an association between the tested variable that amounts to a value of (r = .50) suggests an estimate of significant positive correlations between the variables.In like manner, Table5 demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between reading comprehension and transitional world knowledge at the 0.00 level (r = 0.960; p<0.001), which means the (p<0.05). It can be assumed that students with better knowledge of transition words possess a higher level of reading comprehension as their performance indicated that they could distinguish the movements and contradictions between ideas in reading comprehension and could detect differences between expressions of the categories. Table 5 also demonstrates that the students’ gender had no bearing on the correlation between the two variables. It is also confirmed that there is a strong correlation between students’ performance in reading comprehension and their knowledge of transition words and their correlative categories of expressions.The second research question is “In what measure can transition word knowledge predict the performance level of EFL learners in reading comprehension?” The third research question is “To what extent do transition words used by EFL learners at the undergraduate level in Bangladesh affect their reading comprehension.” One of the main objectives of the current study was to determine the extent to which prediction of the knowledge of transition words and their associative categories of expression of 100 EFL undergraduate students at a private university in Bangladesh affected their level of reading comprehension. In this line, the study also investigated the measure of the effects students’ knowledge of transition words has on their performance in reading comprehension. To find out answers to the research questions Two and Three, the researchers executed a linear regression analysis. The findings of the analysis are shown in Table6.Table 6
Prediction, coefficients, and ANOVA values of performance.
RR2AdjustedR2CoefficientsβStandard error of estimatesANOVAdfMSFP0.8340.6950.6920.7570.0501213.82224.320.001IV∗IV = independent variable.Table6 shows the value (R = 0.834) which represents a reliable coefficiency of the variables. In addition, R2, multiple correlation coefficient 0.695, means that the knowledge of transition words can explain (r2 = 0.66%) of the variance in students’ reading comprehension performance. This shows substantial variance (i.e. 66%) is explained by transitional words in reading comprehension. As per Table 6, transition word knowledge had a considerably large Beta value (β = 0.757; p = 0.001). This suggests that transitional words have a considerably larger effect on explaining the dependent variable, reading comprehension. The significant Beta value tells us that the value (β = 0.75) statistically significant, which means that transition words are responsible for (0.75%) of the variance in the reading comprehension ability. The alpha level at (p=0.001; p<0.05) is less than the standard alpha level. Hence, transition words are a strong predictor of students’ reading comprehension ability, and it is implied that their poor knowledge of transitions can pose difficulty in their handling reading comprehension.


## 3.1. Research Design

The current study was conducted using a quantitative method of data collection and analysis. The researchers took the help of the Excel Analytics Tool to run the statistical tests. As the primary aim of the research was to find the correlation between the variables and to make predictions of one variable’s effect on the other, the study ran a correlation test in order to measure the intervariable correlation coefficients. Then, the variables were put through a linear regression analysis to spot the exact percentage of variance in the dependent variable that the independent variable could explain. Regression analysis is the most widely used data analysis practice in social science research today. Students were given 25 minutes for them to write answers to the questions from the reading comprehension and 5 minutes to put the appropriate categories of expression in the transition test. The researchers paid special attention to the correlation matrix and the regression analysis in order to determine the amount of predictions transition words can make on the variance in students’ reading comprehension.


## 3.2. Sampling

The present study employed random sampling as data collection procedure. First, the researchers obtained permission from the university authorities before performing the formal procedure of conducting research among the students. There were almost 4,000 students enrolled in Fall-2021 in different undergraduate programs across all disciplines, and the whole student body was divided into over 100 sections, each consisting of an average of 40 students. The researchers randomly selected 100 data samplesM = 68 and F = 32 from the collected over 150 data samples from 6 different sections for this research.


## 3.3. Participants

The subjects of this current research were 100 undergraduate EFL students in their first trimester at a private university in Bangladesh. Students in their first trimester are required to show a certain level of proficiency in their preassessment test, and failing in which involves taking English-I in order for them to fulfil the requirements for their degrees. The data samples were collected from the 100 students who belonged to the School of Business, with concentrations in Marketing, Finance, and Economics. Among the students (n = 100), male consisted (68%) and female consisted (32%). The descriptive statistics of male and female are demonstrated in Table 1.Table 1
Descriptive statistics of male and female ratio.
NMinimumMaximumSumMeanStd. deviationGender 21.002.003.001.500.70Number 232.0068.00100.0050.0025.45The average mean of the students was mean = 50 with range = 36 on standard deviation = 25.455.


## 3.4. Instruments

As the central aim of the research was to determine students’ transition knowledge and its correlations with their level of reading comprehension in order to predict how much their knowledge of transition words manipulate their reading comprehension, the researchers gave two different sets of questions to the students. The current research adapted two instruments as tools to facilitate effective data collection and assessment through testing students’ transitional word knowledge of reading comprehension. To ensure research validity of the source text, the researchers adapted a sample reading comprehension and a transitional word list from an officially accepted book, “Cambridge English, Vocabulary for IELTS,” an Official Cambridge Preparation material for IELTS [49].At first, the students were given a reading comprehension test in order to test their ability to understand the internal consistency and to identify, different types of expressions forged with the placement of cohesive devices, namely, the transition words. The reading passage was 360 words long and was followed by four short-answer questions. The total marks for the questions were 20, with each question carrying five marks. The reading passage was designed with different expressions facilitated by the usage of transition words, with each one of the expressions distinct from another, so that students had to read between lines and compare and contrast between statements so as to identify the nature and meaning of each statement. Then, they had to answer the questions. The questions were designed in such a manner that the students ought to identify the transitional points in between statements in the reading comprehension. As the students were tested on their knowledge of transition words and their correlative expressions, most of the questions asked required them to show a cause or a reason. Therefore, the authors emphasized “why” and “how” questions instead of what questions. As shown in Table2, an item type was provided below for each question for the students to write the correct answer. Table 2 shows a sample of the questions related to reading comprehension.Table 2
Sample question of reading comprehension.
QuestionItem type(a) Where did the Smith family want to go on their holiday this year and why?Answer(b) Where Mr. Smith did prefer going and why?Answer(c) Where did the children decide to go and why?Answer(d) How did Mr. Smith become successful in going on a holiday?AnswerFollowed by the comprehension test, students were given a transition word test. Table3 shows a sample item of transition word test.Table 3
A sample item of transition word test.
SequenceOppositionCauseEffectComparisonContrastTransitionsCorrelative categoryAs a consequence,As both,Consequently,Conversely,Despite, due to, finally,Furthermore,However,In addition,In fact,Instead of, likewise,Moreover,Nevertheless,Nevertheless,Since, whereasTo illustrate,Example: effectInstructions were provided to the students, asking them to relate the transition words to their stipulated correlative categories and to write them on the right-hand side rows according to their expressive nature of meaning. Each question carried one mark (1 × 20 = 20 points). The transitions on the right-hand side were arranged in a disorderly manner in order to test students’ acumen for understanding the difference in meaning between two transition words. A matching exercise was adapted as previous research shows its manifold benefits as students need to identify the meaningful match between two words. Folse [50] mentions that testing the understanding of meaning in a specific context is one of the vital aspects in vocabulary practice. Son [51] states that matching exercises are considered more effective than fill in the blank exercises as filling in the blanks does not require students to do semantic processing, whereas in vocabulary exercises, such as matching between words, students have to match the words with their meanings.


## 3.5. Instrument Validity

The researchers conducted reliability testing on both the instruments separately in order to determine internal validity through an equal distribution of data in both the data set. According to Mitchell [52]; “internal validity deals with the question of whether the experimental treatment (variable A) did indeed have an effect (on variable B). When there is a lack of internal validity, there is a possible alternative explanation for the relationship between A (the cause) and B (the effect).”The result of the reliability test on both the data sets of the reading comprehension test and the transition word test is given as follows.Table4 displays the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for all the numbers under the independent and dependent variables. The Cronbach’s alpha level was α = 0.907∗ which is above the acceptable alpha level in statistical research. Thus, it can be said that both the data sets maintained internal consistency among the measures under each variable. Cronbach’s alpha is one of the most widely used statistics in research that involves a test-making process. According to Vaske et al. [53]; Cronbach’s alpha is used to measure the internal consistency and reliability of a data set. Any value between (0.93–0.70) is considered excellent and high. Since the Cronbach alpha values of the two instruments are more than .70, it can be said that the instruments are both valid and reliable.Table 4
Cronbach’s alpha.
Variables and testsCronbach’s alphaV1 reading comprehension0.870V2 transition words knowledge0.907∗


## 3.6. Research Findings

As the focus of the current study was to determine the measure of correlations and predictions or the extent of the impact concerning students’ translation knowledge has on their reading performance, the researchers conducted a two-tailed Pearson Correlation under Multiple Regression analysis. The first research question is “To what extent is the transition word knowledge of Bangladeshi undergraduate EFL learners related to grasping reading comprehension?” Table5 demonstrates the degrees of correlation between the transition word knowledge and reading comprehension.Table 5
Correlation between reading comprehension and transition word knowledge.
GenderReading comprehensionTransition knowledgeGender1−0.8059−0.6574V1 read comprehension−0.805910.9607∗∗V2 transition knowledge−0.65740.9607∗∗1Table5 shows that there was a significant positive correlation between the independent variable and the dependent variable. Reading comprehension was taken as the dependent variable while transition word knowledge was used as the independent variable. A correlation test showed that students’ transition knowledge is strongly correlated with their performance in reading comprehension. Hemphill [54] mentioned that, according to widely accepted notions among researchers, an association between the tested variable that amounts to a value of (r = .50) suggests an estimate of significant positive correlations between the variables.In like manner, Table5 demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between reading comprehension and transitional world knowledge at the 0.00 level (r = 0.960; p<0.001), which means the (p<0.05). It can be assumed that students with better knowledge of transition words possess a higher level of reading comprehension as their performance indicated that they could distinguish the movements and contradictions between ideas in reading comprehension and could detect differences between expressions of the categories. Table 5 also demonstrates that the students’ gender had no bearing on the correlation between the two variables. It is also confirmed that there is a strong correlation between students’ performance in reading comprehension and their knowledge of transition words and their correlative categories of expressions.The second research question is “In what measure can transition word knowledge predict the performance level of EFL learners in reading comprehension?” The third research question is “To what extent do transition words used by EFL learners at the undergraduate level in Bangladesh affect their reading comprehension.” One of the main objectives of the current study was to determine the extent to which prediction of the knowledge of transition words and their associative categories of expression of 100 EFL undergraduate students at a private university in Bangladesh affected their level of reading comprehension. In this line, the study also investigated the measure of the effects students’ knowledge of transition words has on their performance in reading comprehension. To find out answers to the research questions Two and Three, the researchers executed a linear regression analysis. The findings of the analysis are shown in Table6.Table 6
Prediction, coefficients, and ANOVA values of performance.
RR2AdjustedR2CoefficientsβStandard error of estimatesANOVAdfMSFP0.8340.6950.6920.7570.0501213.82224.320.001IV∗IV = independent variable.Table6 shows the value (R = 0.834) which represents a reliable coefficiency of the variables. In addition, R2, multiple correlation coefficient 0.695, means that the knowledge of transition words can explain (r2 = 0.66%) of the variance in students’ reading comprehension performance. This shows substantial variance (i.e. 66%) is explained by transitional words in reading comprehension. As per Table 6, transition word knowledge had a considerably large Beta value (β = 0.757; p = 0.001). This suggests that transitional words have a considerably larger effect on explaining the dependent variable, reading comprehension. The significant Beta value tells us that the value (β = 0.75) statistically significant, which means that transition words are responsible for (0.75%) of the variance in the reading comprehension ability. The alpha level at (p=0.001; p<0.05) is less than the standard alpha level. Hence, transition words are a strong predictor of students’ reading comprehension ability, and it is implied that their poor knowledge of transitions can pose difficulty in their handling reading comprehension.


## 4. Discussion

The findings in Table5 suggested that there was a strong and significant correlation between students’ transition word knowledge and their reading comprehension. This connection between transition words and reading comprehension should be considered an undeniable and integral part of research in reading comprehension and vocabulary. Therefore, the current study suggests that students’ knowledge of transition words can predict their performance in reading comprehension. It is observed that the existing research did not focus at all on learning and increasing the understanding of transition words among students, and it failed to mention the correlation and prediction of transition word knowledge to reading comprehension. For example, Laufer and Goldstein [17] and Wang-Taylor and Milton [18] emphasized the importance of knowing different aspects of vocabulary, such as denotative meaning, collocations, and connotative and implied meanings, in terms of writing and speaking.Research in the Bangladeshi context emphasized students’ vocabulary knowledge and analytical thinking to be significant predictors of students’ performance in reading comprehension. As mentioned in the literature review, Ara and Shorna [46] believed that vocabulary knowledge to be one of the most important components of language and communication whereas Sultana [47] believed that analytical and critical reading skill is necessary for reading comprehension. However, they have not given any importance to the quantitative research on the correlation and prediction of reading comprehension and transition word knowledge. As displayed in Table 6, transition word knowledge is seen to have a crucial role to play in reading comprehension. The strong correlation between reading and transition words implies that students with a better understanding of transition words could perform better. The EFL students who scored higher than others in the reading comprehension test are supposed to have a better understanding of the transition words and their correlative expressions. As there has been a lack of study related to the correlation and prediction of transitional words in reading comprehension, there remains a slim chance to compare or contrast the findings of the present study with other related studies.It is understood from the findings of the current study that the knowledge of transition word has a necessary role to play in determining EFL students’ understanding and performance in reading comprehension. The present study demonstrated evidence against the existing literature on students’ performance in reading comprehension. Likewise, this study provided quantitative data on the degree to which the knowledge of transition words has correlation and prediction to students’ understanding and performance in reading comprehension.


## 5. Conclusion

The present study was invested in finding out the relationship between transition word knowledge and reading comprehension. In addition, transitional words were found to be strong predictors of reading comprehension, and they have a considerably larger effect on reading comprehension. The study has shown that there is a statistically significant correlation between students’ knowledge of transition words and their level of expertise in reading comprehension. This study strongly suggests that students with a better understanding of transition words can perform equally better in their reading comprehension tasks. Hence, the current study suggests that the knowledge of transition words can be applied as an effective tool in EFL classrooms in order to help students improve their reading comprehension and overall language comprehension and develop their language skills.


### 5.1. Pedagogical Implication

In view of the findings in both literature and the survey itself, the current research aims at claiming an urgent need for introducing transitional words and a true implementation of its teaching through a well-chosen pedagogical technique in EFL classrooms in order to facilitate better understanding of reading comprehension by the target students. Historically speaking, students at Bangladeshi institutions have been in touch with English since English was first brought to the subcontinent by the British. For good or bad, English was taught and learnt from the primary through secondary to the tertiary level in Bangladeshi education system. As it was mentioned before, English is widely accepted as an international language and used as the major lingua franca around the globe. Students have to be good at all four skills of English in order to be able to get a better job and better placements at different universities abroad; the value and necessity of English is felt in and outside the classroom at every institution, and English language skills are emphasized greatly. Given the low achievement in reading comprehension compared to other skills, students’ reading comprehension is keenly monitored by their instructors. The findings of the current research suggest that a substantial achievement in reading comprehension still remains few and far between. Therefore, the research aptly claims strong pedagogical implications to the significance of teaching transitional words as a fundamental part of reading comprehension. As the study found that transition word knowledge was a reliable predictor of students’ reading comprehension in English, it could also be applied to other areas wherever vocabulary is taught to enhance students’ reading comprehension. The study also recommends EFL instructors to consider focusing specifically on transition words along with vocabulary knowledge in general.


### 5.2. Limitations

No research is above limitations, and so the researchers of the current study admit that further research can be conducted to gather large-scale data from more sections to ensure a broader scope of data sampling. The current study involved 100 data samples from the collected over 150 data samples from 6 different sections, which provided quite a significant set of findings, and it is able to give a genuine representation of the significance of transition words in dealing with reading comprehension. Though the sample size of this research was based on EFL learners from one institution, it can carry significance for a larger number of populations. In addition, the researchers tried to focus more on the most recent findings in the literature and suggested further research with a greater variety of demographic information and a broader perspective can be conducted.


## 5.1. Pedagogical Implication

In view of the findings in both literature and the survey itself, the current research aims at claiming an urgent need for introducing transitional words and a true implementation of its teaching through a well-chosen pedagogical technique in EFL classrooms in order to facilitate better understanding of reading comprehension by the target students. Historically speaking, students at Bangladeshi institutions have been in touch with English since English was first brought to the subcontinent by the British. For good or bad, English was taught and learnt from the primary through secondary to the tertiary level in Bangladeshi education system. As it was mentioned before, English is widely accepted as an international language and used as the major lingua franca around the globe. Students have to be good at all four skills of English in order to be able to get a better job and better placements at different universities abroad; the value and necessity of English is felt in and outside the classroom at every institution, and English language skills are emphasized greatly. Given the low achievement in reading comprehension compared to other skills, students’ reading comprehension is keenly monitored by their instructors. The findings of the current research suggest that a substantial achievement in reading comprehension still remains few and far between. Therefore, the research aptly claims strong pedagogical implications to the significance of teaching transitional words as a fundamental part of reading comprehension. As the study found that transition word knowledge was a reliable predictor of students’ reading comprehension in English, it could also be applied to other areas wherever vocabulary is taught to enhance students’ reading comprehension. The study also recommends EFL instructors to consider focusing specifically on transition words along with vocabulary knowledge in general.


## 5.2. Limitations

No research is above limitations, and so the researchers of the current study admit that further research can be conducted to gather large-scale data from more sections to ensure a broader scope of data sampling. The current study involved 100 data samples from the collected over 150 data samples from 6 different sections, which provided quite a significant set of findings, and it is able to give a genuine representation of the significance of transition words in dealing with reading comprehension. Though the sample size of this research was based on EFL learners from one institution, it can carry significance for a larger number of populations. In addition, the researchers tried to focus more on the most recent findings in the literature and suggested further research with a greater variety of demographic information and a broader perspective can be conducted.



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