Comprehension Skills and Motivation of Primary Stage Pupils

Abstract
The present study aimed at developing story reading comprehension (SRC) skills by using mental imagery strategy. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design employing two groups (one experimental group and one control group). The two instruments used were a story reading comprehension test and a motivation scale. The sample consisted of 60 pupils from sixth grade primary school of Salem Madian Official Language school, in Dakahlia Governorate, where 30 pupils represented the first experimental group, and the other 30 pupils represented the control group. The mental imagery strategy was administered to the experimental group for six weeks. Results of the study revealed that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group in the post-test of the SRC. In addition, there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the pre-test and post-test of the experimental group in the overall SRC in favor of the post-test. These results showed that mental imagery strategy had a positive effect on the pupils' story reading comprehension and their motivation towards reading. finally, a number of recommendations related to the use of mental imagery strategy, reading comprehension of a story, and course design were presented .
Keywords: Story Reading Comprehension, Mental Imagery strategy, Primary Stage. Motivation.