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Effects of explicit teaching of comprehension strategies in a Singapore secondary school
Abstract
This study is an investigation into pupil's comprehension abilities, specifically the issue of whether students can improve their question answering and inferential skills after explicit teaching of two inferential comprehension strategies.
The present study assumes that secondary pupils are in need of explicit teaching of reading strategies. This is especially true of students who are second language learners in the Singapore context.
The Study involved 46 students in secondary five ( 17 years old ) from the Normal (Academic) course attending a co-educational government secondary in Singapore.
There are five phases to the study. The first phase consists of a pre-test to assess students' general comprehension abilities prior to explicit teaching of the two inferential strategies. A questionnaire is also administered at this stage to analyse students' attitudes towards comprehension. The second phase of the study involves the explicit teaching of the two selected inferential strategies, namely Johnson's Ten Major Inference Types and Raphael's Question Answer Relationship (QAR) for a period of five weeks over 7 lessons. The third phase of the administration of the post-test to assess if students' comprehension skills, including inferential abilities, have improved. In the fourth phase of the study, the students' answers are analysed in terms of Raphael's Question Answering Relationship categories of Right There(RT) [literal], Put it Together(PIT) ]Inferential] and Author and You (AY) [Inferential] to see how the high and low groups in comprehension abilities differ or are similar in their use of the strategies taught as well as to assess if one group shows more improvement than the other in their inferential abilities. In the fifth phase of the study, a further questionnaire is given to elicit students' comprehension strategies and attitude towards comprehension. The responses to this questionnaire are contrasted with the responses to the first questionnaire to assess to what extent students' perceptions of their comprehension abilities have undergone changes. ' Students' views regarding the benefits of the explicit teaching of the comprehension strategies are elicited by another set of questionnaires form the last phase of the study.
The results show that the students improved in their inferential comprehension abilities to some extent as 100% of the students scored higher on the post-test.
Analysis of the students' performance in the he various categories of Raphael's Question-Answering Relationship revealed that the training enhanced the inferential comprehension abilities of the low group more than the high group though both groups had shown strong improvement in the PIT categories.
Findings from the questionnaires revealed unanimous agreement among the subjects that the two strategies taught were beneficial as they perceived themselves to have improved in their general comprehension abilities. Besides, 98% felt strongly that the explicit teaching of the two comprehension strategies should be carried out for other students as it was beneficial.
The present study assumes that secondary pupils are in need of explicit teaching of reading strategies. This is especially true of students who are second language learners in the Singapore context.
The Study involved 46 students in secondary five ( 17 years old ) from the Normal (Academic) course attending a co-educational government secondary in Singapore.
There are five phases to the study. The first phase consists of a pre-test to assess students' general comprehension abilities prior to explicit teaching of the two inferential strategies. A questionnaire is also administered at this stage to analyse students' attitudes towards comprehension. The second phase of the study involves the explicit teaching of the two selected inferential strategies, namely Johnson's Ten Major Inference Types and Raphael's Question Answer Relationship (QAR) for a period of five weeks over 7 lessons. The third phase of the administration of the post-test to assess if students' comprehension skills, including inferential abilities, have improved. In the fourth phase of the study, the students' answers are analysed in terms of Raphael's Question Answering Relationship categories of Right There(RT) [literal], Put it Together(PIT) ]Inferential] and Author and You (AY) [Inferential] to see how the high and low groups in comprehension abilities differ or are similar in their use of the strategies taught as well as to assess if one group shows more improvement than the other in their inferential abilities. In the fifth phase of the study, a further questionnaire is given to elicit students' comprehension strategies and attitude towards comprehension. The responses to this questionnaire are contrasted with the responses to the first questionnaire to assess to what extent students' perceptions of their comprehension abilities have undergone changes. ' Students' views regarding the benefits of the explicit teaching of the comprehension strategies are elicited by another set of questionnaires form the last phase of the study.
The results show that the students improved in their inferential comprehension abilities to some extent as 100% of the students scored higher on the post-test.
Analysis of the students' performance in the he various categories of Raphael's Question-Answering Relationship revealed that the training enhanced the inferential comprehension abilities of the low group more than the high group though both groups had shown strong improvement in the PIT categories.
Findings from the questionnaires revealed unanimous agreement among the subjects that the two strategies taught were beneficial as they perceived themselves to have improved in their general comprehension abilities. Besides, 98% felt strongly that the explicit teaching of the two comprehension strategies should be carried out for other students as it was beneficial.
Date Issued
1999
Call Number
LB1050.45 Ng
Date Submitted
1999