Effects of Explicit Reading Strategy Instruction on EFL Students’ Reading Anxiety and Comprehension 明示閱讀策略教學對 EFL 學生閱讀焦慮 與理解的影響 指導教授：鍾榮富 博士 研究生：李秋美 2011, May

Major Findings and Discussions The First Research Question: What are the major causes of the students reading anxiety? The Answer: -- Statements in the FLRAS with a mean score of 3 or more points (3 points means neither agree nor disagree/neutral opinion) are considered the major causes. -- A total of 12 statements (Item 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, and 18)

Major Findings and Discussions -- The 12 items are categorized into five aspects: 1. impaired comprehension of text meaning 2. lack of background knowledge 3. impaired comprehension of linguistic units 4. reading experience 5. self-evaluation of reading competence (See table 4.1)

Table 4.1 The Mean Scores of the 12 Items ItemMean 1. I get upset when I’m not sure whether I understand what I am reading in English When I’m reading English, I get so confused I can’t remember what I’m reading I am nervous when I am reading a passage in English when I am not familiar with the topic I get upset whenever I encounter unknown grammar when reading English. 3.19

ItemMean 7. When reading English, I get nervous and confused when I don’t understand every word I usually end up translating word by word when I’m reading English By the time you get past the funny letters and symbols in English, it’s hard to remember what you’re reading about I am worried about all the new symbols I have to learn in order to read English I enjoy reading English.3.09

ItemMean 13. I feel confident when I am reading English I don’t mind reading to myself, but I feel very uncomfortable when I have to read English aloud I am satisfied with the level of reading ability in English that I have achieved so far. 3.92

Major Findings and Discussions The Second Research Question: Does the strategy instruction reduce the students’ reading anxiety? The Answer : 1. For the high-anxiety group and mid-anxiety group, the answer is positive significant post-test mean score decreases were found for HRAG significant post-test mean score decreases were found for MRAG. 2. The low-anxiety group achieved comparatively less significant decreases (2 items only). (see the following table)

CategorizationFLRAS Items HRAGMRAGLRAG Impaired Comprehension of Text meaning Item 1  Item 3  Background KnowledgeItem 5  Impaired Comprehension of Linguistic Units Item 6  Item 7  Item 9  Item 10  Item 11  Reading ExperienceItem 12 Item 13  Item 17 Self-evaluation of Reading Competence Item 18  Total1082 ××× ×××

Major Findings and Discussions ＊ Point for Discussion: Why did the low-anxiety group achieve comparatively less significant decreases in their reading anxiety? Possible Explanation: Two Viewpoints (1) The traditional English learning context of Taiwan is inherently anxiety-provoking since English is a required subject, learned and tested in school settings. It is natural for students to experience a more or less amount of anxiety in such a competitive classroom, where tests are usually adopted as a primary tool for evaluation (Chung, 2011).

Major Findings and Discussions (2) Maybe “a state of attentiveness”, “positive incentive”, “a little bit of an edge” (Young, 1991, p.9, p 23) is still necessary in FL learning or students will be too relaxed to absorb anything. If their reading anxiety level is lowered to zero, chances are that they will make slower progress towards a higher level of proficiency.

Major Findings and Discussions ＊ Point for Discussion: Why was no significant difference found for Item 12? Possible Explanation: A short period of strategy instruction was not enough for students to feel the fun of reading English. The result is consistent with Chen’s (2005) finding that for senior high school students, reading English is difficult and not interesting either before or after the intervention of strategy instruction. Students’ fondness for English reading can not be cultivated in such a short period of time. More time must be devoted to developing students’ motivation and turning them into independent and happy readers.

Major Findings and Discussions ＊ Point for Discussion: Why was no significant difference found for Item 17? Possible Explanation: During the teaching experiment, the common practice of oral reading was not deliberately reduced or avoided because the reading mode of silent reading or public reading was not the focus of the study. According to Kern (1989), “not only can reading aloud short-circuit comprehension processes by shifting available attentional resources to phonological encoding, but it can also cause anxiety which often thwarts the reader’s attempts to synthesize meaning” (p. 145). The result indicated that their fear of being publicly evaluated could not be easily erased only with the administration of the explicit comprehension instruction.

Major Findings and Discussions The Third Research Question: Does the strategy instruction facilitate the students’ reading comprehension? The Answer: (1) As a whole, students’ English reading comprehension development was significantly improved after the reading strategy training. (2) Students with higher levels of reading anxiety benefited more from the strategy instruction than those with lower levels of reading anxiety. (see Table 4.8 and 4.9)

Table 4.8 Means, Standard Deviations, and Comparisons of the RCT Pre-test and Post-test Scores MeasureNMSDtp Pre-test ＊＊＊ Post-test ***p<.001

Table 4.9 Means, Standard Deviations, Comparisons and Eta Squared of RCT Pre-test and Post-test Scores of Each Group GroupMeasureNMSDtpEta squared HRAGPre-test ＊＊＊ 0.65 Post-test MRAGPre-test ＊＊＊ 0.58 Post-test LRAGPre-test ＊ 0.20 Post-test (1) *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 (2) eta squared values:.01 = small effect,.06 = moderate effect,. 14 = large effect 0.65>0.58>0.20

Major Findings and Discussions ＊ Point for Discussion: Why do students with higher levels of reading anxiety benefit more from the strategy instruction than those with lower levels of reading anxiety? Possible Explanation: High-anxiety readers Low-achievers in comprehension, unable to make flexible use of reading strategies They responded more favorably to clear instruction. Low-anxiety readers High-achievers in comprehension Because they had developed adequate strategies on their own, they didn’t benefit that much from instruction.

Major Findings and Discussions The Fourth Research Question: Does the strategy instruction enhance students’ ability to answer different types of reading comprehension questions, including main idea questions, detail questions, inference questions, and word-in-context questions? The Answer : (1) The strategy instruction was of significant help in enhancing the subjects’ ability to identify main ideas, search for detailed information, draw logical inferences and derive contextual meanings of unfamiliar words. (2) The eta squared values revealed that the strategy of deriving word meanings from context was considered as the most difficult strategy to command. ( see Table 4.10 )

Table 4.10 Means, Standard Deviations, Comparisons and Eta squared of the Pre-test and Post-test Scores of Each Question Type Type of Questions Measure NMSDtp Eta squared Main Idea Questions Pre-test ＊＊＊.51 Post-test Detail Questions Pre-test ＊＊＊.66 Post-test Inference Questions Pre-test ＊＊＊.38 Post-test Word-in- Context Questions Pre-test **.22 Post-test (1) **p<.01, ***p<.001 (2) eta squared values:.01 = small effect,.06 = moderate effect,. 14 = large effect The hardest reading skill

Major Findings and Discussions ＊ Point for Discussion: Why was the strategy of guessing meanings of unfamiliar words in context viewed as the hardest reading strategy to acquire and apply? Possible Explanations: (1) It is difficult to determine the meaning of a word with multiple definitions. (2) There are still difficult words in the context surrounding the target word. (3) The presence of unfamiliar words in the choice items makes the decision even complicated.

Major Findings and Discussions The Fifth Research Question: What are the students’ responses to the explicit strategy instruction? The Answer: A. According to the result of the first section of the QSRERSI, 1. A majority of subjects had a positive response toward their acquisition of the instructed strategies, including -- identifying the text structure -- skimming for the topic and main idea -- scanning for details -- drawing inferences However, only 57.1% of the subjects agreed that after the instruction, they had acquired the strategy of guessing word meanings in context.

Major Findings and Discussions 2. Most of the subjects got pleasure from learning reading strategies, and recognized the effectiveness of the strategy instruction. 3. Most of the subjects showed a high degree of acceptance for the teaching method and materials used in the explicit reading instruction. 4. Most of the subjects considered the five instructed strategies as practical and useful in taking a reading comprehension test.

Major Findings and Discussions B. According to the open questions of the QSRERSI, the findings are demonstrated as follows. First Question: How does the reading strategy instruction benefit you? Responses: 1. Better comprehension of the text structure, the main ideas, details, and unstated implications 2. More accuracy and efficiency in answering reading questions 3. Decreased anxiety for long articles 4. Fortified confidence to ignore the unfamiliar

Major Findings and Discussions Second question: What is the most difficult part while you are learning the strategies? Responses: Vocabulary problems paralyzed their application of the instructed strategies, especially the strategy of guessing word meanings from contextual clues.

Implications 1.Effective reading strategy instruction should be given explicitly to help students lower their affective filter and achieve better comprehension. 2.The instruction should be highly integrated into the normal English course activities. 3.Teachers should administer a program in which students are gradually guided to read with the flexible use of both top- down and bottom-up strategies to achieve better comprehension proficiency. 4.Teachers should take students’ fear for oral reading into consideration and minimize the common instructional practice of reading aloud in class

Implications 5. Teachers should choose texts which coincide with the students’ linguistic competence because part of the ability to make use of the strategies is determined by their vocabulary knowledge. 6. Specific time in the school curriculum should be devoted to pleasure reading to cultivate students’ interest and trigger their motivation for English reading.

Thanks for Attention!