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Improving lower secondary students’ comprehension of narrative texts using critical reading strategies
Author
Chua, Dorothy Mui Ling
Supervisor
Lwin Soe Marlar
Abstract
There are few studies on teaching critical literacy (especially critical reading) to lower secondary school students, particularly those who are less proficient in English. Furthermore, the few studies on critical literacy for younger adolescents do not focus on narrative texts. With notable exceptions such as Teo (2014), critical literacy has also not received much attention in Singapore. However, critical reading supports the MOE’s Desired Outcomes of Education in producing critical and independent thinkers who are also concerned and civic-minded local and global citizens.
Using a mixed-methods research design, this study investigates two areas of critical reading: 1) whether teaching students two identified critical reading strategies will improve their comprehension of narrative texts and 2) the effects of the teaching on the ways they read narrative texts. The two identified critical reading strategies are understanding narrative texts by asking critical questions about their text structure, and identifying evaluative words and phrases in a narrative text. The strategies are grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis.
Twenty-one Secondary 1 students from a government co-educational school in Singapore participated in this study comprising five intervention lessons conducted over five weeks. Data was gathered via a pre-, post- and delayed post-test, a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire and a post-intervention focus group discussion.
The study found that the students’ comprehension of narrative texts did improve significantly. However, they were less able to distinguish between critical reading and reading. Instead, the students displayed strong examination-orientation in their approach to reading narrative texts. What is promising is that the students were receptive to learning how to read critically and more students reported being more confident and interested in reading narrative texts after the intervention. The data analyses also surfaced areas of critical reading which are difficult to teach.
The findings support this study’s aim to dispel the misconception that critical literacy can only be handled by older students who are more proficient in English. Critical literacy can be taught if it is perceived as “an orientation to literacy . . . [that] goes with decoding and encoding practices, not after” (Wooldridge, 2001, p. 259). While there are limitations to this study (e.g. short intervention period, small sample size), its promising findings suggest this is a potential area for further investigation that could yield more conclusive findings.
Using a mixed-methods research design, this study investigates two areas of critical reading: 1) whether teaching students two identified critical reading strategies will improve their comprehension of narrative texts and 2) the effects of the teaching on the ways they read narrative texts. The two identified critical reading strategies are understanding narrative texts by asking critical questions about their text structure, and identifying evaluative words and phrases in a narrative text. The strategies are grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis.
Twenty-one Secondary 1 students from a government co-educational school in Singapore participated in this study comprising five intervention lessons conducted over five weeks. Data was gathered via a pre-, post- and delayed post-test, a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire and a post-intervention focus group discussion.
The study found that the students’ comprehension of narrative texts did improve significantly. However, they were less able to distinguish between critical reading and reading. Instead, the students displayed strong examination-orientation in their approach to reading narrative texts. What is promising is that the students were receptive to learning how to read critically and more students reported being more confident and interested in reading narrative texts after the intervention. The data analyses also surfaced areas of critical reading which are difficult to teach.
The findings support this study’s aim to dispel the misconception that critical literacy can only be handled by older students who are more proficient in English. Critical literacy can be taught if it is perceived as “an orientation to literacy . . . [that] goes with decoding and encoding practices, not after” (Wooldridge, 2001, p. 259). While there are limitations to this study (e.g. short intervention period, small sample size), its promising findings suggest this is a potential area for further investigation that could yield more conclusive findings.
Date Issued
2017
Call Number
LB1632 Chu
Date Submitted
2017