A Case Study: Using finding specific information as instruction to enhance struggling readers’ Comprehension

Edith Chung

Introduction

• Learning to read is one of the most crucial learning processes that students are involved in schools. Therefore, students need to use some appropriate reading strategies to enhance their reading comprehension.

• According to the previous study, reading strategies as “tactics that readers use to engage and comprehend the text.”(Paris, Wasik and Turner, 1996).

• Block (1992, p. 263) stressed that “strategies reveal a reader’s resources for comprehending a text, including how readers conceive a text, what textual cue they attend to, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they don’t understand.”

• Using strategy instructions can help readers understand mean ideas of texts.

Introduction

Literature review

• One of strategy instructions is scanning. That is, readers go through a text quickly to find specific information (Grellet, 1981, p.4; Seal, 1997, p.10).

• Readers use scanning to organize main ideas in texts. On the other hand, teachers should be good reading models for their students, and show good and effective reading strategies in their classrooms (Brooks, 2007).

• Levine et al. (2000, p.1) state: “the ability to use strategy in academic text is considered one of the most important skills that learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) need to acquire”.

• Dogan (2002) pointed out good readers use lots of strategies before, during and after reading. So, instructors should provide or teach strategies to learners.

Literature review

• In the 1980s, educators identified the useful reading strategies that enable readers to deeply understand what they read.

• Other studies have shown significant improvements in reading for struggling students who were trained in the use of reading strategies (Block, 1992; Carrell, Pharis, & Liberto, 1989).

Literature review

• The research (Durkin, 1979) revealed that teachers actually devoted only 2% of the classroom time to teach students how to comprehend what they read.

• Most of the participants in the studies were not struggling readers.

Literature review

• The aim of this study will investigate application of strategy instructions among a struggling reader learning to read English as second language.

• How does strategy instruction enhance struggling readers’ comprehension in texts?

Literature review

Research Methodology• Information of the participating student

The subject was selected from simple random sampling for this case study.

Researchers investigate subjects the phenomenon or events with a specific aim (Bromley, 1990).

She is a struggling reader (senior high school student).

• Action research (participatory action research)

• The researchers taught the subject to use a reading strategy, find specific information as instruction, in English reading.

• Finding specific information is a reading strategy that is related to scanning to organize main ideas in texts.

Research Methodology

• After 6 weeks (from April to May in 2010), the researchers asked her opinion about using find specific information in English reading.

• The researcher develops powers of reflective thought, discussion, decision and action by participating on private troubles (Ademan, 1993).

Research Methodology

• Interview

• (a) ‘Do you think it is helpful or not about using finding specific information in English reading?’

• (b) ‘How easy is it for you to comprehend meanings of a text in English reading?’

Research Methodology

• Data analyses

• Miles and Huberman (1994) mentioned interpretative approaches were applied for data analysis.

• The approaches allow the researcher to transcribe interviews and observational data into written text for analysis. (Berg, 1989)

Research Methodology

Research Methodology

Results• She organized main ideas and have more

comprehension in a text. She employed finding specific information during reading.

• Strategy instruction to reading

• According to the struggling reader’s opinion, using strategies in reading can help her find main ideas or information in texts fast.

• She mentioned that she started to use this strategy after she understood how to use it according to the instruction.

• Her opinion is related to Brooks’ thought. Teachers should use good reading models and strategies in class (Brooks, 2007).

Results

• Mary: 很有用阿 ! 當我使用這個方法的時候，我很快就找到訊息。 我可以用這個方法知道它 (文章 )在說什麼 ! 妳還沒教我之前，我都不知道它 (文章 )再說什麼。我都只好重頭看到尾，但是還是不知道重點在哪，還有什麼意思。

• [It’s very helpful. When I use this strategy, I can find information fast. I can use this strategy to understand meanings of a text. Before you taught me this strategy, I had no idea about meanings in a text. I have to read whole text, but I still didn’t know main ideas and meanings.]

Results

• She compared her reading process before and after using the strategy. Furthermore, she mentioned that she used the strategy to construct her reading comprehension.

• Her opinion about using reading strategy is support Shelton’s contention that ‘learners use reading strategies, they may construct better reading comprehension.

Results

Discussion• The qualitative analyses showed that the

struggling reader had developed the strategy to reading after she learned the four stages from the strategy instruction.

• Moreover, she could use this strategy to find main ideas and to construct meanings of a text.

• In other words, if learners want to become a good reader, they might use strategies in reading (Dogan, 2002).

• Besides, instructors need to teach learners who are struggle for reading. Alexander (1996) claimed that to become strategy users, they need ‘systematically orchestrated instruction or training’.

Discussion