THE EFFECT OF PRE-READING ACTIVITIES ON READING COMPREHENSION OF A1 LEARNERS

Annotasiya

​ Exploring how pre-reading activities shape the reading comprehension of A1-level Grade 4 learners, this study found consistent gains in students' understanding once strategies like pre-teaching key vocabulary and discussing topic-related images were introduced. Beyond comprehension itself, these activities appeared to hold learners' attention more steadily across the lesson – a quieter benefit, but one the data kept surfacing. We propose rethinking what a reading lesson actually begins with. This action research examines how pre-reading activities influence the reading comprehension and classroom engagement of A1-level Grade 4 learners — 16 primary school students studying English as a foreign language — with the central question being whether structured preparation before the text makes a measurable difference in how well students understand it. To answer that, a mixed-methods design was used, drawing on pre- and post-tests, a student questionnaire, classroom observations, and teacher interviews. Students first completed a reading task with no preparatory support, establishing a baseline. Two lessons followed, each built around specific strategies — vocabulary introduction, prediction tasks, and visual materials — after which a post-test measured whatever had shifted. The shift was visible. Comprehension scores improved noticeably, and the questionnaire revealed that most learners gravitated toward visual support and vocabulary preparation as their preferred forms of pre-reading help. Observations confirmed what the numbers suggested: students were more alert, more willing to participate, and less visibly stuck. Teachers, for their part, noted that the strategies seemed to lower the threshold of difficulty — learners arrived at the text already holding something useful, and that changed how they moved through it. Taken together, the findings point toward pre-reading activities as a reliable support structure for beginner readers — one that prepares them for the language ahead, sustains their motivation, and strengthens comprehension in ways that show up in both test scores and classroom behavior. Structured pre-reading, the results suggest, deserves a regular place in EFL reading lessons rather than an occasional one.