Improving Reading Comprehension of Expository Texts through Text-Structure-Aligned Graphic Organizers for Higher Education Students

Background/purpose. Academic reading presents significant challenges for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners, especially when processing structurally dense expository texts in STEM disciplines. This study aims to assess the impact of text-structure-aligned goals on students’ reading comprehension and written summarization, while exploring their perceptions of using them as a cognitive and strategic learning tool.

Materials/methods. This research employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design involving 200 Indonesian university students in Information Systems and Informatics programs. Students completed expository reading tasks using either T-Charts (cause–and–effect texts) or Venn Diagrams (compare–and–contrast texts), followed by summary writing, which was evaluated using a four-dimensional rubric: accuracy, paraphrasing, focus, and language structure. Open-ended questionnaires captured qualitative data on student perceptions.

Results. Quantitative findings revealed significantly higher comprehension scores with T-Charts (M = 3.67) compared to Venn Diagrams (M = 3.24), with a medium effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.56). Rubric-based analysis showed strengths in focus and accuracy, but persistent weaknesses in paraphrasing. Qualitative data indicated that students found GOs helpful for visualizing textual relationships, improving focus, and enhancing information retention.

Conclusion. The study confirms the instructional value of aligning graphic organizers with text structure in ESP contexts. It highlights the need for explicit linguistic support, particularly for paraphrasing, and contributes practical and theoretical insights to academic reading pedagogy grounded in Dual Coding and Schema Theory.

Keywords: Graphic organizers, reading comprehension, expository texts, English for specific purposes

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