IMPROVING THE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF GRADE 3 READERS THROUGH WHOLE LANGUAGE APPROACH AND MULTIMEDIA APPROACH

   Reading comprehension is a vital foundation for academic success, enabling learners to construct meaning from texts and apply knowledge across contexts. Yet many Grade 3 pupils remain focused on decoding rather than understanding, limiting literacy growth. Diagnostic results from the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) confirmed comprehension difficulties among Grade 3 learners. This study examined the effectiveness of the Whole Language Approach (WLA) and the Multimedia Approach (MA) in improving comprehension skills, specifically noting details, making inferences, and sequencing events. A quasi-experimental design with pretest–posttest measures was employed, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t tests, and ANCOVA. Results revealed that both groups demonstrated significant improvement after the interventions, with the WLA group showing greater progress and statistically significant differences across sub-skills. The MA group also improved, particularly in learner engagement and motivation, though its gains were less statistically robust. ANCOVA results showed that, after controlling pretest scores, no significant difference existed between the two approaches, indicating both are effective for Grade 3 readers. Addressing the research gap on comparative evidence in the Philippine Grade 3 context, the study recommends that future researchers further explore integrated applications of whole language strategies and multimedia tools to maximize literacy outcomes.