To investigate the effect of the picture book program and to further answer the research questions, five different types of instruments were used in the present study, including the General English Proficiency Test (henceforth referred to as GEPT), teacher-made worksheets, the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (henceforth MRQ), semi-structured interviews, and the researcher’s reflexive teaching journals. The descriptions of each are provided in subsequent sections.
3.3.1 The GEPT on Reading at Elementary Level
The elementary level reading test of the GEPT (see Appendix A) generally tests examinees’ ability to understand simple written English related to daily life and to read simple short passages, stories, letters, and frequently used signs (The Language Training and Testing Center [LTTC], n.d.). The reading test comprises three types of tasks: sentence completion, cloze, and reading comprehension. Together they cover 35 items and examinees are required to finish them in 35 minutes. In this study, the standardized reading test, given to examine participants’ development of reading ability, was conducted before and after the picture book program.
3.3.2 Teacher-Made Worksheets
One worksheet was distributed along with the reading of one picture book. Over the four-week program, the students finished a total of four worksheets. The worksheet mainly consisted of three sections that attempted to develop the students’ reading ability and reading motivation. In the first two sections, the students were mostly expected to figure out the main idea of the story. Further, they would enlarge their word banks by learning some vocabulary in contexts. After the whole class finished reading the picture book, the teacher researcher had the students work in groups and provide the answers voluntarily or by turns. The students could either write down their own ideas or agree on responses from other group members.
During the process, the teacher also discussed the worksheet with the learners, sometimes guided them toward the right track on thinking, or deepened certain concepts by giving more illustrations. The third section included four to five discussion questions, which aimed for comprehension of the details of the story as well as connections with the students’ life experience (see Appendix B).
3.3.3 The MRQ
With 53 items belonging to 11 constructs of reading motivation, the student-rated
questionnaire assessed the extent to which the participants were motivated to read. The MRQ (see Appendix C) was administered twice in the present study, one prior to and the other following the picture book program, each within approximately 20 minutes. The student participants responded on a four-point scale (1: very different from me; 2: a little different
from me; 3: a little like me; 4: a lot like me) and their scores for respective aspects were later calculated by averaging the items in each construct. The MRQ was successfully applied to middle school students despite the original sample of elementary students (Wigfield &
Guthrie, 1997; Unrau & Schlackman, 2006).
3.3.4 Semi-Structured Interviews
In semi-structured interviews of the present study, the participants were expected to detail their perceptions of the picture book program. Questions following two interview guides (see Appendix D and E) were asked and probing questions formulated as the participants provided additional information. A total of two interviews were given
respectively during and after the picture book program, both of which were conducted in the researcher and the participants’ native tongue. As the participants read two picture books, four students were chosen to attend the interview. The four students came from the four different groups divided in class. They were chosen based on their reading involvement as well as their in-class interactions with the teacher and their peers. Generally, the students were active readers, more than willing to express themselves and share their ideas. Compared with their classmates, they also showed more curiosity about picture book reading. More information might well be elicited. With the students’ permission, each interview, lasting approximately 30 minutes, was recorded and saved as voice files. The first-hand data gathered were then transcribed, analyzed, and discussed.
The first interview was scheduled two weeks after the commencement of the picture book program. It focused on knowing the participants’ general ideas about picture books before and during the program. Their experience with picture books and the attitudes toward this picture book program were also investigated. The information that might be beneficial to the progress of the program was collected as a reference for later improvement. The second interview was arranged after the completion of the entire program. Similar questions were asked about the participants’ opinions of the picture book program to check if there were changes in the attitudes. Moreover, questions were posed on the effect of this reading program in increasing motivation to read. The participants were also asked to provide
self-reflections of this program. Furthermore, any feedback on the picture book program was positively encouraged for potential enhancement of future design.
3.3.5 Reflexive Teaching Journals
In order to develop a thorough understanding of the picture book program, the researcher kept a teaching journal for each session of the reading program. In each journal entry, the researcher described what had been planned before the session, including course objectives and a brief description of the lesson plan. After the session, classroom dynamics were recorded immediately and as faithfully as possible. The teacher-student interaction, the peer interaction, the social climate, and the physical and emotional aspects of the classroom were all carefully observed and included. Some difficulties encountered during the session were
also mentioned and possible solutions were given after careful thought. Additionally, the researcher reflected on her own teaching and the students’ learning. For the improvement of the next session, the overall strengths and weaknesses of each period were assessed toward the end of the reflexive teaching journal. Further, some tidbits noticed were recorded as footnotes to the picture book program.