West Visayas State University

College of Education
Iloilo City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Sustained Attention and Its Relation to Reading Comprehension

Most teachers are everyday confronted that students attention are wandering inside the
class. Some are texting, sleeping, working on for another class and talking. It’s always
been a struggle for educators to get the full attention of learners inside the classroom.
Study says, that one’s attention ranges from 15-20 minutes only. There may been
multiple interventions that had been done to address the said issue.

As stated by Cetinkaya (2017), attention is a prerequisite for learning. It can be

categorized as focused attention, sustainable attention, selective attention and divided
attention. This study mainly focuses on sustainable attention. Sustainable attention is
the type of attention that provides the ability to focus on a task for a long time. It is
required to analyze the sentences in reading material and to utilize them actively at
different times. Therefore, it is crucial for reading skill. Students with inadequate
sustainable attention will probably fail to accomplish the tasks assigned to them.

The critical factor in the learning process, according to Hale and Lewis (1979:33) is
attention. Unless the attention of the learner is captured, optimal learning will not
occur. Teachers need to capture the attention of learners during a lesson, irrespective
of their learning style and, if the attention of learners tends to wander, teachers should
be able to shift rapidly to a new activity to capture it once again (Rinne, 1997:131).
Therefore,

Reading is a complex process that is affected by several factors. According to the

automatization theory of LaBerge and Samuels (1974), attention is a prerequisite both
for reading fluency and reading comprehension. Efficient reading requires sustainable
attention since it provides an active preparation process during which the reader aims
to read the text fully. Sustainable attention is the ability to direct attention to a subject
 West Visayas State University
College of Education
Iloilo City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

and focus on a specific goal for even a long period of time [4]. It also facilitates the
improvement of cognitive text comprehension [21].

Difficulty in reading and distraction lead to poor reading skills in the early years of
learning . Both Perfetti’s verbal efficiency theory and LaBerge and Samuels’ limited
attention model suggest that the attention span required for reading is limited to the
extent of attention used by the individual during the process of word recognition. To
have superior comprehension, unused processing memory should be capable of rapid
and accurate word recognition. This theory suggests that inadequately talented readers
recognize the printed words more slowly, and understand later than those who are
talented. Furthermore, those who have poor ability to recognize words can also be
inadequate in the mechanism of controlling attention, which negatively affects reading
skills. Thus, poor readers have difficulty in expressing their thoughts as a result of the
inadequate attention control.

This study would like to investigate the extent of students’ attention level and its
relationship to their reading comprehension.
 West Visayas State University
College of Education
Iloilo City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What is the relationship between sustained attention and reading

comprehension?
2. To what extent do students’ attention level affects their reading comprehension?

Importance of the Study

This study believes to benefit the following concerned persons in the field of
teaching. It sometimes been a struggle to engage students in reading activity. Lapses in
attention may result to poor comprehension of the reading text. This study will utilize
senior high school students given that they are already knowledgeable and could learn
independently. Thus, this study aims to determine the relationship between sustained
attention and reading comprehension and as to what extent do students’ attention level
affects their reading comprehension.
 West Visayas State University
College of Education
Iloilo City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Definition of Terms

Attention- is defined as a system of cognitive control in which the vast amount of

information processed by the cognitive system is reduced to a tolerable extent
(Ackerman, Kyllonen & Roberts, 1999:162).

This study refers to comprehending the reading text fully and sustaining the
attention till the task is done.

Reading Comprehension- Reading comprehension is increased when strategies are

explicitly taught and used by the student during reading (Coyne et al., 2009; Duke &
Pearson, 2002; McKeown, Beck, & Blake, 2009; Sencibaugh, 2008)

In this study, it refers as how the students would comprehend a given reading
task and how is result the related to their attention during the time the task is
given.

Sustained Attention- is the basic ability to look at, listen to and think about classroom
tasks over a period of time.

In this study, it refers to the ability of the learner to focus on the reading
task for a long time without being distracted.
 West Visayas State University
College of Education
Iloilo City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Conceptual Framework

Dependent and Independent Variable

Sustained Attention Reading Comprehension