An Integrated SQ3R-5E Instructional Module for Grade 7 Chinese Narrative Reading Comprehension: Classroom-Based Quasi-Experimental Evidence

Abstract

This study examined whether students receiving an integrated SQ3R-5E instructional module demonstrated greater improvement in Chinese narrative reading comprehension than students receiving conventional instruction. A quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test design was conducted in two public junior secondary schools in Shanxi Province, China. Two intact Grade 7 classes were assigned to the experimental and control conditions, with 40 students in each group. The experimental group received the SQ3R-5E module for six weeks, while the control group received conventional teacher-led Chinese reading instruction. Students’ reading comprehension was assessed using a Chinese Reading Comprehension Test covering four sub-dimensions: retrieval, inferencing, integrating, and evaluation. The same test was administered at the pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test. Results showed no significant pre-test differences between the two groups. At post-test, the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher baseline-adjusted performance than the control group across all four sub-dimensions. At delayed post-test, the observed advantages were more clearly sustained for retrieval, integrating, and evaluation, whereas the evidence for sustained differential improvement in inferencing was weaker. These findings suggest that the SQ3R-5E module may provide useful classroom-based support for Chinese narrative reading instruction, while also indicating that different comprehension processes may require different levels of instructional support. Given the use of intact classes from different schools, the findings should be interpreted as classroom-based quasi-experimental evidence rather than definitive causal evidence.