The Effects of Computer-Assisted Concept Mapping Learning Strategy on EFL Students’ English Reading Pei-Lin Liu 劉沛琳 Assistant professor, National Chia-Yi University, Taiwan

閉上眼睛，腦海想像這些字詞的 圖案 汽車 小狗 樹 橘子

再想想另一些字詞的圖案 下雨 遊戲 打雷 洗衣服

兩組字詞之間有什麼不同 ?

第ㄧ組是物件，物件不會動，是名詞 第二組是事件，事件是發生的事情，動詞 我們對這些字詞聯想而出現在腦海中的圖案 ，就叫做概念

再請同學想想這些字詞 是 哪裡 然後 例如

這些無法在腦海中想像的字，我們稱他為連 結語，是用來連結概念的

Introduction Reading is an important skill to absorb new knowledge in a variety of fields. Poor readers are not aware reading strategies which can facilitate the reading comprehension. The English instructors in Taiwan still focus on the grammar correction or on increasing students ’ vocabulary size. The instructors seldom help students to improve their reading comprehension with effective reading strategies.

Introduction Concept mapping is a strategy that organizes information through visual aids. Concept-mapping reading strategies can enhance learners’ reading comprehension, and it helps learners to memorize and retrieve knowledge (Brookbank et al., 1999; Huang, 2000).

Concept map inner to outer upper to lower Main-concept Main Concept Figure1: Concept map linked with related nodes

Lit. Review Relevant concept mapping research applied in Taiwan were limited to science and math subjects. Is concept mapping a useful strategy that improves all of high and low achievement learners’ reading ability? Novak, Gowin & Johansen (1983) assumed that all kinds of learners could obtain benefits by the use of concept mapping. Seaman (1990) thought low achievement learners can not gain further benefits from the concept mapping strategy while Guastello’s (2000) research indicated the opposite result.

Research Questions The purpose of this research was to investigate the application of the concept mapping learning strategy for improving learners’ English reading comprehension. What was the influence of the concept mapping learning strategy on different learners’ English reading comprehension? What was the influence of the concept mapping on learners’ other English reading strategies use?

Method Subject: 192 freshmen who took the English course 94 (experiment) low-level 49 : high-level (comparison) low-level 50 : high-level 48 Instruments Reading material: The high-intermediate proficiency level of Studio Classroom magazine Reading tests: provided by the Studio Classroom magazine Reading strategy application questionnaire

Instruments : Reading strategy application questionnaire 13 items (α = 0.83) Listing 1. I underlined the important information in the source texts. 2. I took notes of the important information in the source texts. Enforcing 5. I tried to recall my personal experiences related to the theme of the source texts. 6. I recalled my personal prior knowledge related to the theme of the source texts. Reviewing 12. I would reread the source texts. 13. I paid attention to the structure of the source texts for later use in writing.

Procedure Week1:Pre-test: “English Reading Test” (α=.76) & “ Reading Strategy Application Questionnaire” Week 2:Concept mapping reading strategy instruction Week 3-4:1 st concept-mapping → test 1 (α=.78) Week 5-7:2 nd concept-mapping → test 2 (α=.72) Week 8-10:3 rd concept-mapping → test 3 (α=.78) “ Reading Strategy Application Questionnaire”

Result The influence of concept mapping on learners ’ English reading comprehension the analysis of two-way ANOVA The influence of the concept mapping on learners’ other English reading strategies use independent sample T-test analysis

According to the result of the independent sample T-test analysis, the learners learned listing, enforcing, and reviewing reading strategies after they went through the concept mapping instruction.

Conclusion The positive influence of concept mapping on learners ’ English reading comprehension the low-proficiency group have a greater affect on their reading comprehension than the high- proficiency group The application of concept-mapping reading strategy has direct influence on the learners’ reading ability. When training students’ English reading ability, teachers should assist them with application of reading strategies like concept-mapping.

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