APPLICATION OF READER THEATER IN ENHANCING ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND READING FLUENCY 報 告 人 : 賴 美 珍 指 導 教 授 : 張 韶 華 老 師

Chapter 2 : Review of Literature  Introduction  (a ) the origin of the reader’s theater 1. The origin of Reader’s Theater may be traced back to Greece 2500 years ago. 2. The earliest use of the term Reader’s Theater dates back to 1945 when a professional group in New York who called themselves Readers Theater, Inc., produced Oedipus Rex. 3. Their stated purpose was “ to give the people of New York an opportunity to witness performances of great dramatic works which were seldom if ever produced.” 4. During the sixties, Readers’ Theater became popular within college theater department and from there spread into secondary English education.

Introduction  (b ) the definition and goal of reader’s theater 1. Reader’s theater is a strategy that combines reading practice and performing. 2. Its goal is to enhance students’ speaking skills and confidence by having them practice speaking with a purpose. 3. Reader’s theater also gives students a real reason to speak aloud through role-play performing. 4. (Susan Finney, 2004) Students’ learning is usually passive; thus, the theory right gives the students real situation to express the ability of the oral speaking in English.

How to apply R.T. for students 1. Students use a strategy to present characters, story and content or textbook materials to express their voices, actions and verbal words. 2. These skills allow them to translate themselves through a lot of modes and props. 3. reader theater is often described as “ a stylized form of dramatization” ( Trousdale& Harris, 1993, p.201) 4. Educators suggest that adolescent literacy should strengthen by performance styles and be concerned on effective learning foreign language.

How to apply R.T. for students 5. An oral interpretation of literature and stories provides the readers with a plenty of materials and becomes an integrated language in the classroom through Reader Theater. 6. It not only integrate the language arts in thinking, reading, writing, listening and speaking but also emphasize upon the oral performance of the text. 7. “Through their expressive reading, posture, limited actions, and carefully selected production elements, the performers are suggesting and enhancing meaning and creating pictures. (Alison & Anna, 2007, p4 )” 8. “ reader theater creates an opportunity for students to explore a text and to become involved with the process of rehearsal and repeated readings (Herrell & Jorden, 2002).

the advantage of the reader’s theater 1. “ It’s hard for a child to be a passive observer when you have a script in your hands." (Susan Finny, 2004) 2. Reader’s theater motivates reluctant readers and provides fluent readers the opportunity to explore genre and characterization. 3. A great deal of fluency research reiterates the need for repeated reading. 4. "Reader’s theater is a wonderful technique for helping readers learn to read aloud with expression. 5. we can recognize RT, a form of repeated oral reading, is a reading-aloud activity to “ communicate” a story through oral interpretation instead of acting ( Walker, 2005).

the advantage of the reader’s theater 6. During RT, readers take turns “reading” the lines from the script and are totally absorbed in the activity ( Carrick, 2001). 7. Using only their voices, facial expressions, and bodies, the readers interpret the emotions, beliefs, atttitudes, and motives of the characters in the story ( Carrick, 2001). 8. A lot of concepts support the fact that repeated oral reading will enhance the reading fluency and comprehension. 9. Reading fluency has become a key issue in English as a first language settings (Kuhn & Stahl, 2003; National Reading Panel, 2000).

the advantage of the reader’s theater 10. These readers are able to build their speed and words of reading by rapid and automatic lower-level reading processing and promote their interests in reading. 11. An important element of reading fluency is the reading and rereading of decodable text, and repeated reading (RR) is one of the most popular means of teaching reading fluency.( Wenli Tsou, 2011) 12. This strategy has been well researched and has been found to improve fluency in a wide range of students (Samuels, 2002). 13. Students increase their recognition of words and phrases so that they can set up their identification of the words. This best way to enhance is repeated reading ( RR).

Oral Communication Skills 1. Oral communication skills are enhanced through the use of Readers Theater ( Ediger,2002). 2. It helps students defeat the reciting lines or scripts and let them show the creativity as well as learn how to communication on the stage. 3. Readers Theater not only supplies an unusual and creative approach to drama, but also provides an intense focus on fiction and nonfiction texts, making available the poems, narratives, and expository writings of the finest authors. (Alison & Anna, 2007) 4. The listeners need to catch clearly speaking and pronunciation and then they will get the important points from the Readers Theater.

Oral Communication Skills 5. It can serve as strong indicators of successful speaking skills ; nevertheless rereading is essential for fluency and comprehension. 6. One of the most characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language, combining these into a more full communicative view ( William Littlewood,1988, p.1) 7. Therefore, leaners have to care about their articulation, grammar, usage, fluency and pronunciation.

Oral Communication Skills 8. Communicating—getting our message across—is the concern not only of second language teachers but of us all in our daily lives in whatever language we happen to use ( Sandra J. Savignon, 1997, p.9). 9. conversations are based on what the characters say and the language they use is especially important for understanding motivation and perspective (Alison & Anna, 2007, p.7) 10. Kelleher (1997) defined RT as “the oral interpretation of literature presented by readers who bring forth the full expression of the literature through their oral reading” (p. 6). 11. RT brings voices to life and offers an entertaining and engaging means of improving fluency and enhancing comprehension (McAndrews, 2004).

Reading Fluency and Comprehension 1. Fluency—the ability to read accurately and with expression, pacing, and ease— allows students to read aloud effortlessly and animated. 2. As a fluent reader, they read with automaticity : They decode text automatically so their attention may be focused on comprehending what they read ( Samuels, 1979). 3. For that reason, RT provides an alternative approach to promote reading fluency ( Adams et al., 2007). 4. One of the primary goals of RT is to enhance learners’ reading skills and confidence through practice by giving them a legitimate reason to reread a text and practice fluency (Rasinski, 1999).

Reading Fluency and Comprehension 5. RT brings voices to life and offers an entertaining and engaging means of improving fluency and enhancing comprehension (McAndrews, 2004). 6. It is a strategy for improving students’ skills and interest in reading through a forum for interpreting and orally presenting written text (Owocki, 2001). 7. a successful reader can be enhanced through the use of repeated readings by decoding, comprehension, fluency, and automaticity. Because RT includes many readings of the selected script, it provides readers with the opportunity to explore genre and characterization. ( Wenli Tsou, 2011). 8. Prescott (2003) discussed this in her study and stressed the dramatic changes that RT can bring about in children’s fl uency, listening, and social skills.

Reading Fluency and Comprehension 9. She emphasized that RT’s power is greatly increased when learners prepare their own scripts, as then children can truly integrate reading, writing, and thinking skills. 10. according to Guthrie (2001), instruction that provides autonomy support encourages student choice of both reading materials and project formats. 11. RT activities allow students to make decisions regarding roles, choice of text, pacing, and expression. 12. These decision-making practices not only allow students to share in controlling their learning (Sloyer, 2003) but also empower them and foster greater enthusiasm (Black & Stave, 2007).

Conclusion In gerneral, repeated reading will promote fluency and deepen students’ comprehension of text and content ; nevertheless, the key parts of Readers Theater is reading.

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