Thus, this quasi-experimental study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the Marungko Approach in developing these foundational reading competencies of Grade 1 Learners. It is in this context that beginning reading teachers may explore beginning reading teaching approaches such as the Marungko approach to help improve in the teaching of these foundational reading competencies. Thus, this study contends that this reading comprehension problem can be intervened and corrected by educators at the ground level by developing reading comprehension skills through an effective beginning reading teaching approach for its learners at the beginning reading stage to authentically develop and solidify the foundational reading competencies of the learners such as the ability to identify letter name, identify letter sound, discriminate initial sound, read familiar words and read oral passage before promoting them to the next level. However, despite this fact on the implied relationship of reading competence to a country’s economic growth, the Philippines turned out to be the last among 79 countries based on the report provided by the OECD through its Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2019 of which Filipino students around the age of 15 got a rating of 340 points in reading comprehension, lower than the average of 487 points.
In fact, the competence to read by an individual can transform him into a valuable economic asset for a country as pointed out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The development of reading competence among young children is fundamentally crucial in improving educational outcomes and has far-reaching implications.