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Meaning-making strategies in the literary reading of gifted secondary two students in Singapore
Author
Wong, Marie Linda Shiu Leung
Supervisor
Lim, Shirley S. L.
Abstract
This study sets out to investigate the meaning-making strategies used in literary reading by Gifted Secondary Two Students in Singapore. It hypothesises that there is a relationship between (1) aspects of orientation to literary reading and achievement in Literature as a school subject as measured by examination performance, (2) aspects of orientation to literary reading and the use of meaning-making strategies, and (3) the use of meaning-making strategies and achievement. The study is prompted by the need to develop a more reader-response based pedagogy in the advent of a new Literature syllabus at the secondary level. The rationale of the study is based on the assumption that by identifying patterns of effective meaning-making strategies in Gifted readers one can achieve a better understanding of the literary reading processes of student readers and make recommendations regarding teaching approaches that can benefit students of Literature at the secondary school level. Subjects were 197 Secondary Two students in the Gifted Education Programme in Singapore. The Literary Response Questionnaire (Miall and Kuiken 1995), was administered to all subjects to obtain profiles of students' orientation to literary reading. The written responses to a poem of a sub-sample of 80 students (40 High-achievers and 40 Low-achievers) were rated on the Meaning-Making Strategies Scales (MMSS) developed by this researcher. The ratings of responses on eleven identified dimensions of meaning-making constituted a working profile of the students' use of strategies in meaning-making and their level of response in literary reading.
Statistical analyses were carried out on the data in search for significant relationships between the various variables. The statistical analyses included Chi-square tests testing independence of achievement level and use of strategies, analyses testing for significant correlations between LRQ factors, the use of meaning-making strategies and achievement, and a series of analyses of variance (F Tests) to test for gender effect on orientation and the use of strategies, and for significant relationships between LRQ orientations and the use of strategies. Results of the study were discussed in terms of their pedagogical implications. Further insights on the use of strategies characterising empowered and disempowered reading were obtained from qualitative observation made on 8 individual responses.
The findings of this study are:
● There is a significant negative relationship between 'Rejection of Literary Values' as a self-reported orientation and achievement in Literature as measured by examination performance.
● The 'Rejection of Literary Values' as a self-reported orientation is significantly negative related to the use of 5 meaning-making strategies: Questioning the text, Attending to Language, Hypothesising and Revising hypotheses during the course of reading, Engaging with the text by evoking prior knowledge, and Metacognition. More students who report a 'high' rejection of literary values use less of these 5 meaning-making strategies.
● Reading for 'Insight' as an orientation is significantly and positively related to achievement in Literature.
● The extent to which student readers use the whole range of meaning-making strategies is significantly and positively related to their achievement in Literature, as measured by examination performance.
● There is a marked difference in the use of each meaning-making strategy between High- and Low-achievers. High-achievers make use of more strategies and make more effective use of these than Low-achievers. The observed differences are statistically valid for at least 6 strategies, namely, Sensing the situation, Thematising, Attending to Language, Empathising and awareness of other perspectives, Hypothesising and revising hypotheses and Metacognition.
● Boys use more strategies, and use them at a higher level of sophistication than girls in meaning-making with a poem.
● More girls report reading for 'Insight', 'Empathy' and 'Leisure escape' while more boys report reading for the 'Story'.
● Besides the influence of the rejection of literary values on the use of strategies, there are significant relationships between 3 other orientation factors with the use of 4 different meaning-making strategies.
● More students who report reading for 'Insight' use more of 2 strategies: Questioning the Text and Engaging with the text using prior knowledge;
● More students who report reading for 'Empathy' use more of 2 strategies: Engaging with the text using prior knowledge and Hypothesising and Revising Hypotheses;
● More students who report reading emphatically for 'Imagery Vividness' use Questioning the text, Hypothesising and Revising Hypotheses and Engaging with the text, using prior knowledge extensively as strategies. However, those who engage actively with the text do not necessarily read for 'Imagery Vividness'.
Statistical analyses were carried out on the data in search for significant relationships between the various variables. The statistical analyses included Chi-square tests testing independence of achievement level and use of strategies, analyses testing for significant correlations between LRQ factors, the use of meaning-making strategies and achievement, and a series of analyses of variance (F Tests) to test for gender effect on orientation and the use of strategies, and for significant relationships between LRQ orientations and the use of strategies. Results of the study were discussed in terms of their pedagogical implications. Further insights on the use of strategies characterising empowered and disempowered reading were obtained from qualitative observation made on 8 individual responses.
The findings of this study are:
● There is a significant negative relationship between 'Rejection of Literary Values' as a self-reported orientation and achievement in Literature as measured by examination performance.
● The 'Rejection of Literary Values' as a self-reported orientation is significantly negative related to the use of 5 meaning-making strategies: Questioning the text, Attending to Language, Hypothesising and Revising hypotheses during the course of reading, Engaging with the text by evoking prior knowledge, and Metacognition. More students who report a 'high' rejection of literary values use less of these 5 meaning-making strategies.
● Reading for 'Insight' as an orientation is significantly and positively related to achievement in Literature.
● The extent to which student readers use the whole range of meaning-making strategies is significantly and positively related to their achievement in Literature, as measured by examination performance.
● There is a marked difference in the use of each meaning-making strategy between High- and Low-achievers. High-achievers make use of more strategies and make more effective use of these than Low-achievers. The observed differences are statistically valid for at least 6 strategies, namely, Sensing the situation, Thematising, Attending to Language, Empathising and awareness of other perspectives, Hypothesising and revising hypotheses and Metacognition.
● Boys use more strategies, and use them at a higher level of sophistication than girls in meaning-making with a poem.
● More girls report reading for 'Insight', 'Empathy' and 'Leisure escape' while more boys report reading for the 'Story'.
● Besides the influence of the rejection of literary values on the use of strategies, there are significant relationships between 3 other orientation factors with the use of 4 different meaning-making strategies.
● More students who report reading for 'Insight' use more of 2 strategies: Questioning the Text and Engaging with the text using prior knowledge;
● More students who report reading for 'Empathy' use more of 2 strategies: Engaging with the text using prior knowledge and Hypothesising and Revising Hypotheses;
● More students who report reading emphatically for 'Imagery Vividness' use Questioning the text, Hypothesising and Revising Hypotheses and Engaging with the text, using prior knowledge extensively as strategies. However, those who engage actively with the text do not necessarily read for 'Imagery Vividness'.
Date Issued
1997
Call Number
PR51.S5 Won
Date Submitted
1997