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The impact of metacognitive scaffolding and monitoring on reading comprehension
Author
Dabarera, Carol
Supervisor
Renandya, Willy A.
Zhang, Lawrence Jun
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of metacognitive strategy instruction on reading comprehension gains among two intact classes of Secondary 1 students from a neighbourhood secondary school in Singapore.
The Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) and the University of New South Wales, International Competitions and Assessments for Schools, (UNSW ICAS) English competition Paper F (2008) were respectively used to measure the students’ extent of metacognitive awareness and reading comprehension ability. In addition, qualitative data on student perception of reading strategies and their experiences with metacognitive strategy instruction was collected via semi-structured interviews. Explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies via the Reciprocal Teaching approach was adopted in the intervention phase for the experimental group that took place over 10 sessions of instruction.
The findings corroborated previous research in the field that there is a relationship between metacognitive awareness raising and reading comprehension improvement. In addition, metacognitive strategy instruction was found to be effective in increasing metacognitive awareness, and is linked as well to small but statistically significant reading comprehension gains. These quantitative findings are further supported by qualitative data gathered from the student interviews.
The results of this study contribute to existing understandings in the field in the form of the applicability of this research to the unique Singapore context. Furthermore, it has illustrated the feasibility of the application of the recommended teaching processes outlined in the English Language Syllabus 2010, as well as identified a relevant tool in the form of the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) for use in student needs analysis.
The Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) and the University of New South Wales, International Competitions and Assessments for Schools, (UNSW ICAS) English competition Paper F (2008) were respectively used to measure the students’ extent of metacognitive awareness and reading comprehension ability. In addition, qualitative data on student perception of reading strategies and their experiences with metacognitive strategy instruction was collected via semi-structured interviews. Explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies via the Reciprocal Teaching approach was adopted in the intervention phase for the experimental group that took place over 10 sessions of instruction.
The findings corroborated previous research in the field that there is a relationship between metacognitive awareness raising and reading comprehension improvement. In addition, metacognitive strategy instruction was found to be effective in increasing metacognitive awareness, and is linked as well to small but statistically significant reading comprehension gains. These quantitative findings are further supported by qualitative data gathered from the student interviews.
The results of this study contribute to existing understandings in the field in the form of the applicability of this research to the unique Singapore context. Furthermore, it has illustrated the feasibility of the application of the recommended teaching processes outlined in the English Language Syllabus 2010, as well as identified a relevant tool in the form of the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) for use in student needs analysis.
Date Issued
2012
Call Number
LB1050.45 Dab
Date Submitted
2012