Assessing Literary Comprehension through Barrett's Taxonomy: A Study of Philology Students' Critical Reading Skills

Authors

  • Bakhtiniso Turakulova

    Teaching Theory and Methodology Department, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanisation Engineers (TIIAME ), Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
  • Barnokhon Samatova

    Teaching Theory and Methodology Department, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanisation Engineers  (TIIAME ), Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
  • Munirabonu Raxmonova

    Interfaculty Foreign Languages Department, Gulistan State University, Gulistan 120100, Uzbekistan
  • Dilorom Rahmonova

    English Functional Lexicology Department, Uzbek State World Languages University, Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
  • Gulnozakhon Ganiyeva

    English Language Department, Jizzakh State Pedagogical University, Jizzakh 130100, Uzbekistan
  • Umida Jiyanmurodova

    Professional Education Department, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanisation engineers (TIIAME), Tashkent 100000, Uzbekistan
  • Dildora Norkuziyeva

    Uzbek and Russian Languages Department, Samarkand University of Economics and Pedagogy, Samarkand 140100, Uzbekistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11316
Received: 28 July 2025 | Revised: 19 August 2025 | Accepted: 12 September 2025 | Published Online: 10 November 2025

Abstract

Students need to be able to read critically, interpret deeply, and interact with literature at higher cognitive levels in today's technologically sophisticated and information-rich world. Barrett's Taxonomy serves as the analytical framework for this study, which examines the critical reading skills of philology students at the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanisation Engineers (TIIAME). Due to its philosophical and thematic depth, Ray Bradbury's short story The Last Night of the World was selected as the stimulus text. Written responses to evaluative and appreciative prompts, as well as multiple-choice questions designed to assess literal and inferential comprehension, were used to gather data. Each level's performance was evaluated using a scoring rubric. According to the findings, students' ability to identify explicit details at the literal level was moderately successful, but their inferential, evaluative, and appreciative skills declined significantly. Pupils found it challenging to engage with the text's literary and emotional aspects, decipher implied meanings, and examine deeper themes. These findings were supported by qualitative interviews, in which participants expressed confidence in simple tasks but struggled with higher-order comprehension because they had limited experience with critical reading. The combined findings of the quantitative and qualitative data point to a lack of development of advanced comprehension skills in the current curriculum. These results demonstrate the urgent need for curriculum reforms that prioritize critical reading and methodical practice in higher-order thinking to better prepare philology students for the demands of academic scholarship and modern literacy.

Keywords:

Barrett's Taxonomy; Critical Reading; Reading Comprehension; Philology Students; Literary Analysis

References

[1] Alderson, J.C., 2005. Assessing Reading. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. p. 398.

[2] Vacca, R.T., 1981. Content Area Reading. Little, Brown: Boston, MA, USA. p. 392.

[3] Heilman, A.W., Blair, T.R., Rupley, W.H., 1998. Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading, 9th ed. Merrill: Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA.

[4] Turdibekova, D., Ruzmetova, M., Kanayev, B., et al., 2025. A Systematic Review Analysis of Papers from the Web of Science Database Published in English between 2019 and 2023. Forum for Linguistic Studies. 7(6). DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i6.9808

[5] Ruddell, M.R., 2008. Teaching Content Reading and Writing, 5th ed. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, USA. p. 494.

[6] Goyibova, N., Muslimov, N., Sabirova, G., et al., 2025. Differentiation Approach in Education: Tailoring Instruction for Diverse Learner Needs. MethodsX. 14, 103163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2025.103163

[7] Woolley, G., 2011. Reading Comprehension: Assisting Children with Learning Difficulties. Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht, Netherlands. Available from: https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-007-1174-7 (cited 5 July 2025).

[8] Mardieva, D., Bakiyeva, G., Kannazarova, Z., et al., 2024. A Bibliometric Review: Interventions for Enhancing Speaking Skills in Non-English-Speaking Contexts. XLinguae. 17(4), 195–224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.2024.17.04.12

[9] Klingner, J.K., Vaughn, S., Boardman, A., 2007. Teaching Reading Comprehension to Students with Learning Difficulties. Guilford Press: New York, NY, USA. p. 178.

[10] Elmuratova, A., Sabirova, G., Alautdinova, K., et al., 2025. Increased Popularity of AI and Digital Technologies in ESP: A Bibliometric Review. Forum for Linguistic Studies. 7(6). DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i6.9715

[11] Brassell, D., Rasinski, T.V., 2008. Comprehension That Works: Taking Students Beyond Ordinary Understanding to Deep Comprehension. Shell Education: Huntington Beach, CA, USA.

[12] Hughes, A., 2002. Testing for Language Teachers, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. Available from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9780511732980/type/book (cited 4 July 2025).

[13] Swanwick, R., 2008. How Language Works. Deaf Education International. 10(2), 115–116.

[14] Rayner, K., Foorman, B.R., Perfetti, C.A., et al., 2001. How Psychological Science Informs the Teaching of Reading. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 2(2), 31–74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1529-1006.00004

[15] Schwegler, R.A., 2012. Patterns of Exposition, 20th ed. Pearson: Boston, MA, USA. p. 584.

[16] Freire, P., Macedo, D.P., 1987. Literacy: Reading the Word & the World. Bergin & Garvey Publishers: South Hadley, MA, USA. p. 184.

[17] Elder, L., Paul, R., 2016. The Thinker’s Guide to Analytic Thinking: How to Take Thinking Apart and What to Look for When You Do, 1st ed. Foundation for Critical Thinking: Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA.

[18] Pirozzi, R.C., 2003. Critical Reading, Critical Thinking: A Contemporary Issues Approach, 2nd ed. Longman: New York, NY, USA. p. 507.

[19] Barrett, T.C., 1968. The Barrett Taxonomy of Reading Comprehension. In: Smith, E.B. (Ed.). The Pursuit of Meaning: Reading and Writing as Communication. National Council of Teachers of English: Urbana, IL, USA. p. 35.

[20] Gunning, T.G., 1996. Creating Reading Instruction for All Children, 2nd ed. Allyn and Bacon: Boston, MA, USA. p. 586.

[21] Heaton, J.B., 1988. Writing English Language Tests, New ed. Longman: London, UK; New York, NY, USA. p. 192.

[22] Reeves, C., 2012. Developing a Framework for Assessing and Comparing the Cognitive Challenge of Home Language Examinations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31962.67525

[23] Dupuis, M.M., Askov, E.N., 1982. Content Area Reading: An Individualized Approach. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA. p. 382.

[24] Snow, C.E., 2010. Reading Comprehension: Reading for Learning. In: International Encyclopedia of Education. Elsevier: Oxford, UK. pp. 413–418. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-044894-7.00511-X

[25] Heilman, A.W., Blair, T.R., Rupley, W.H., 1981. Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading, 5th ed. Merrill: Columbus, OH, USA. p. 524.

[26] Hoffman, J.V., Alvermann, D.E., 2020. What a Genealogical Analysis of Nila Banton Smith’s American Reading Instruction Reveals About the Present Through the Past. Reading Research Quarterly. 55, 251–269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.269

[27] Brown, H.D., 2001. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, 2nd ed. Longman: White Plains, NY, USA. p. 480.

[28] Riry, J.G.I., Binnendyk, S., 2025. Analyzing Reading Comprehension Questions in English Textbooks Using Barrett’s Taxonomy. MATAI International Journal of Language Education. 5(2), 144–154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30598/matail.v5i2.18343

[29] Ramadea, N., Egar, N., Yulianti, F., 2023. Bloom vs Barrett: Comparing Reading Comprehension Types. Language Education Journal. 8(2), 128–145.

[30] Yude, U.H., Zainil, Y., 2024. Evaluating Teacher’s Competence in Developing Reading Comprehension Questions Based on Barrett’s Taxonomy. English Review: Journal of English Education. 12(3), 1053–1062. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v12i3.10296

[31] Krismadayanti, A., Zainil, Y., 2022. The Level of the Students’ Reading Comprehension Analyzed by Using Barrett Taxonomy. Journal of Culture and Linguistics. 3(1), 39–48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37301/culingua.v3i1.110

[32] Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E., Airasian, P.W., 2009. Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications, 9th ed. Merrill/Pearson: Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA. p. 618.

[33] Creswell, J.W., 2009. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 3rd ed. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA. p. 260.

[34] Akhir, M., Marwiah, M., 2021. Barrett Taxonomy Reorganization to Improve Students’ Intensive Reading Ability. Journal of Education Science and Technology (EST). 76–83.

Downloads

How to Cite

Turakulova, B., Samatova, B., Raxmonova , M., Rahmonova , D., Ganiyeva, G., Jiyanmurodova, U., & Norkuziyeva, D. (2025). Assessing Literary Comprehension through Barrett’s Taxonomy: A Study of Philology Students’ Critical Reading Skills. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(12), 681–697. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11316

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 12 (December 2025): In progress

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Bakhtiniso Turakulova, Barnokhon Samatova, Munirabonu Raxmonova , Dilorom Rahmonova , Gulnozakhon Ganiyeva, Umida Jiyanmurodova, Dildora Norkuziyeva

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.