[ARABIC] IMPACT OF FREE READING AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE IN ARABIC READING COMPREHENSION OF TENTH GRADE STUDENTS IN PALESTINE

Abstract

Reading comprehension is one of the vital fields in the process of teaching and learning in general and language learning in particular; it is also classified as a reading skill aimed at by all parties in the teachinglearning process to instill in the learner, as there is no reading without grasping (Rubin, 1993). For the study of reading comprehension to be clear the factors affecting it must be examined, and which might be either helping to achieve and improve it or obstructing it. Accordingly, this research is aimed at studying the effect of some factors or variables in reading comprehension, both with regard to the student (Reader) represented in the variable of the number of hours of reading and free weekly reading in Arabic by students, or both with regard to the social environment surrounding the student represented here by the variable of the student’s residence. To achieve this goal, the researcher set up a test assessing the level of reading comprehension among a sample of tenth grade students in the province of Ramallah and Al Bireh, Palestine; the stratified sample size of 505 mixed gender students was selected randomly.The study reached the following findings: the presence of statistically significant differences in the level of reading comprehension in Arabic related to the variable: number of hours of reading and free weekly reading and in favor of those students who had attained three or more hours of reading and free reading per week. The results also showed a statistically significant difference in favor of the students who live in the city and the village against those who live in a refugee camp. Finally, some recommendations that can benefit the concerned parties in the teaching-learning process were put forward.