the Influence of Demography on Reading and Comprehension Skills of LINUS Pupils

This study is conducted to review to what extent demography had played a role in infl uencing reading and comprehension skills of LINUS pupils. The respondents for this study comprised 131 Standard 1 pupils who participated in the LINUS Program and 17 LINUS teachers who were picked at random from 15 schools. The schools were selected based on their demographic location; urban,suburban and rural. The instrument used in this research is a set of dichotomy questionnaire which were given to the LINUS pupils. The researcher will analyze the data by calculating the percentage and mean. To obtain data from the LINUS teachers, the researcher has constructed a set of questionnaire which they have to respond using the 5 Likert-scale measurement in addition to a set of structured interview questions. The analysis done by the researcher is based on the Theoryof Psychosocial Vygotsky (1935) which outlined the role of “scaffolding” and “ZPT”. These two concepts serve as a guide for the LINUS teachers in teaching reading and comprehension skills in the LINUS class. The data showed that not all demographic factors of students or teachers infl uence the students’ reading and comprehension skills. The phenomenon demonstrates that LINUS teachers must possess the expertise to determine student readiness, as well as be clear aboutthe level/stage of guidance (scaffolding) that needs to be delivered to the LINUS students. Additionally, it will be valuable for the LINUS teachers to acquire the psycholinguistic method of teaching which emphasizes mental ability and mastery of language. This teaching method can have a deep impact on the LINUS pupils’ reading and comprehension skills.