Pdp framework applied to a social studies reading lesson plan.

Abstract

English reading comprehension plays a significant role in academic success; however, students face linguistic and conceptual challenges when engaging with texts such as those found in social studies. This study focuses on the PDP (Pre-During-Post) instructional framework, analyzing reading comprehension in English-taught social studies texts among secondary school students in Manta, Ecuador. It employs a quantitative, pre-experimental, field-based, cross-sectional design, comparing two groups of second-year secondary students (control = 25; experimental = 30). Both groups took a reading comprehension test (PCLES) before and after the intervention. Non-parametric tests (Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U) were used due to the non-normal distribution of the data. Results indicated that while the control group's scores remained stable (M_pre = 7.10; M_post = 7.18; p = 0.610), the experimental group showed a statistically significant improvement in comprehension (M_pre = 8.35; M_post = 8.88; p < 0.001). Furthermore, the experimental group's learning progress significantly surpassed that of the control group (U = 249.5, p = 0.023). These findings suggest that the PDP framework effectively supports the comprehension of content-based social studies texts in English and promotes more consistent academic performance in bilingual learning contexts.