Proficiency in Reading Comprehension in the Agutaynen and Filipino Languages: Basis for a Proposed Intervention

The Agutaynen language has long played a vital role in the lives of people in a part of Palawan, both in the past and in the present. It serves not only as a marker of tribal identity but also as a bridge for understanding and communication among community members. Thus, this study aimed to determine the proficiency of Grade 4 students of Agutaya Elementary School in reading comprehension using the Agutaynen and Filipino languages. This research employed a quantitative-comparative research design, wherein the researcher administered a test to 26 Grade 4 student-respondents. The pre-test was conducted using the Agutaynen language, while the post-test was conducted in Filipino, with the same number of students and the same grade level. The pre-test instrument consisted of a 10-item story written in Agutaynen by the researcher, while the post-test consisted of a 10-item short story in Filipino, sourced from the Grade 4 textbook. A T-test was used to analyze the data and determine any significant similarities or differences between the two test results. Findings revealed that the Grade 4 students demonstrated a higher level of comprehension when reading in the Agutaynen language compared to Filipino, which they had more difficulty understanding. As a result, the researcher proposed the development of an intervention material—reading passages in Filipino aimed at enhancing the students' critical reading and comprehension skills. Through the use of Filipino reading materials, it is hoped that students' comprehension levels will improve, addressing the gap observed in their performance when compared to their proficiency in Agutaynen.