Intercultural Understanding and Reading Comprehension: A Study of Higher Secondary School Students

Abstract

This research aims at analyzing the effect of intercultural pragmatics in the ability of higher secondary school students in Sindh, Pakistan to comprehend lectures. Since culture forms the basis of peoples’ interaction as the globe becomes a global village, mastering inter- cultural relations and differences plays a vital role in overall communication and understanding. This study uses a quantitative research design with an experimental research design with one experimental group comprised of culturally relevant reading texts and a control group that received neutral texts. Reading comprehension pre and post treatment tests were given to the participants and data was analyzed using t-tests analysis in SPSS Was used to evaluate pre and post scores of the group. The study shows a strong positive correlation of intercultural pragmatic awareness and the students’ ability to read, which implies that culturally conscious texts improve reading literacy. Therefore, this research has vital implications for enhancing intercultural views for enhancing reading skills as well as developing a culturally sensitive classroom for higher secondary students.

Key Words: Intercultural Pragmatics, Reading Comprehension, Language Pedagogy, Experimental Study