GENDER DIFFERENCES IN READING COMPREHENSION SKILL AND SUCCESS AT SCHOOL

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyze the differences between girls and boys of third and fourth grades of primary school in the skill of understanding a reading text, as well as, the link between this skill and the success of pupils in the subject of Albanian language, math and general success at school. To implement this goal, a text containing adequate questions was selected, and the analysis of the success at school of 141 tested pupils has been conducted. Differences between girls and boys of third and fourth grades have been obtained through the analysis of canonical discrimination and t-test, whereas the link of four applied variables was conducted through Spearman’s correlation coefficient and multiple regressive analyses. Statistical data obtained through the canonical discrimination analysis show that there are significant statistical differences between the two genders, while the results of t-test prove that the tested girls are more successful compared to the tested boys only in the variable: correct answers in a reading text, while there are no significant differences in the variables of success at school. The degree of inter-relation between the applied variables in this research is extremely high for the two tested groups. By means of the multiple regressive analyses it has been proved that inter-relation between the reading comprehension skill and success at school is highly influenced by the variables of success in math and in Albanian language. However, based on the obtained results through this research it can be concluded that girls are more skilled in understanding a reading text compared to boys, and that the higher the grades in math and Albanian language the greater the skills of pupils in reading comprehension will be. Further research in reading comprehension skill is recommended in order to identify children with reading disorders as early as possible.