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An investigation of two methods of teaching poetry to secondary one students
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Type
Thesis
Author
Ho, Bella
Supervisor
De Souza, Dudley
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two different teaching methods, the Convention Method and the Response Methods, in the teaching of English Literature. It is an attempt to improve existing instructional methods and to evoke more interest in implementing the response-type of instruction in the teaching of English Literature in order to bring about better achievement and greater interest in the subject.
One hundred and sixty secondary one pupils were drawn from two secondary schools with average performance in the General Certificate of Education "O" Level Examination in Singapore. In each school, two intact classes which were non-randomly assigned were used in the study. One class in each school was the control group and the other, the treatment group. The main study was the experiment carried out in School A whilst in School B the experiment was replicated. The control groups were taught in the Conventional Method whilst the experimental groups were taught in the Response Method. The Conventional Method was characterised by a stereotyped approach, not unlike a comprehension lesson whilst the Response Method maximised on the interaction of the minds of the students with the poem leading to pronouncements of felt responses - overt responses which hardly betrayed the complex processes that had gone on in the students' minds.
After ten weeks of treatment, the post-test was administered. The pre-test and post-test results were statistically analysed. The picture that emerged was that the control group in School A did better than the experimental group, whilst there was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the experimental group and the control group in School B. When the scores of both schools were computed together, there was again no statistically significant difference between the two groups taught in the two diverse ways.
However, when attitudes were compared, students taught in the Response Method evinced more positive attitudes towards literature learning. They claimed to have enjoyed their literature lessons, found poetry learning interesting and now desired to learn more poems. They felt adventurous enough to try reading poetry by themselves and wanted to try composing poems. The regular literature teachers reported, three months after the experiment, that the students who had been taught via the Response Method were "slightly more" interested in literature than those taught via the Conventional Method.
According to the findings of this study, both methods recorded approximately the same scores in grades when achievement was measured. In fact, there was an indication that those taught via the Conventional Method registered a slightly higher score in achievement than those taught via the Response Method. It was, however, in the shaping of a positive attitude towards poetry learning that the Response Method showed its strength.
One hundred and sixty secondary one pupils were drawn from two secondary schools with average performance in the General Certificate of Education "O" Level Examination in Singapore. In each school, two intact classes which were non-randomly assigned were used in the study. One class in each school was the control group and the other, the treatment group. The main study was the experiment carried out in School A whilst in School B the experiment was replicated. The control groups were taught in the Conventional Method whilst the experimental groups were taught in the Response Method. The Conventional Method was characterised by a stereotyped approach, not unlike a comprehension lesson whilst the Response Method maximised on the interaction of the minds of the students with the poem leading to pronouncements of felt responses - overt responses which hardly betrayed the complex processes that had gone on in the students' minds.
After ten weeks of treatment, the post-test was administered. The pre-test and post-test results were statistically analysed. The picture that emerged was that the control group in School A did better than the experimental group, whilst there was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the experimental group and the control group in School B. When the scores of both schools were computed together, there was again no statistically significant difference between the two groups taught in the two diverse ways.
However, when attitudes were compared, students taught in the Response Method evinced more positive attitudes towards literature learning. They claimed to have enjoyed their literature lessons, found poetry learning interesting and now desired to learn more poems. They felt adventurous enough to try reading poetry by themselves and wanted to try composing poems. The regular literature teachers reported, three months after the experiment, that the students who had been taught via the Response Method were "slightly more" interested in literature than those taught via the Conventional Method.
According to the findings of this study, both methods recorded approximately the same scores in grades when achievement was measured. In fact, there was an indication that those taught via the Conventional Method registered a slightly higher score in achievement than those taught via the Response Method. It was, however, in the shaping of a positive attitude towards poetry learning that the Response Method showed its strength.
Date Issued
1988
Call Number
PN1101 Ho
Date Submitted
1988