概念導向閱讀教學應用在國小英語補救教學之研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系英語教學碩士在職專班碩士論文. 指導教授：許麗媛博士 Advisor: Dr. Li-yuan Hsu. 政治大概念導向閱讀教學應用在國小英語補救教學之研究立. ‧ 國. 學. Implementing Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction in a. ‧. Primary EFL Remedial Program. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 研究生：黃薰瑤撰 Name: Syun-yao Huang 中華民國一百零八年十二月 December 2019. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(2) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(3) Implementing Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction in a Primary EFL Remedial Program. 立. A Master Thesis Presented to Department of English. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. National Chengchi University. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. By Syun-yao Huang December, 2019. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.


(5) Acknowledgments Firstly, I am grateful to my thesis advisor Dr. Li-yuan Hsu. Whenever I ran into problems or had questions about my study or writing, she always kindly discussed with me, found solutions to the problems, and encouraged me not to give up. With her supportive guidance, I had overcome numerous obstacles in doing research. I am also thankful for having Dr. Yi-ping Huang and Dr. Mei-lan Lo in my oral defense. All the encouragements and suggestions given from them made this research possible. Secondly, I would also like to thank my colleagues in the elementary school.. 政治大. Without their support, I could not complete the research smoothly. In addition, I. 立. would like to thank all my students for their cooperation and feedbacks during the. ‧ 國. 學. research, so that both the pre- and post-tests, questionnaire, and interviews could be successfully conducted.. ‧. Lastly, I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my family, for. y. Nat. sit. their support, encouragement and love on the path of doing research. I also express. al. n. limited time frame.. er. io. my appreciation for my friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this study within the. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. i. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(6) 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士在職專班碩士論文摘要論文名稱：概念導向閱讀教學應用在國小英語補救教學之研究指導教授：許麗媛博士研究生：黃薰瑤論文提要內容：. 政治大採取問卷分析法進行國小英語補救教學之閱讀內在動機之分析，所使用的評量立. 本研究旨在分析及探討概念導向閱讀教學應用在國小英語補救教學情況，. ‧ 國. 學. 依據為小學全民英檢閱讀測驗之前後測分析，並使用問卷分析及訪問調查受試者對於此閱讀教學法的看法與感受。. ‧. 本研究的結果顯示：在閱讀內在動機部份，包含閱讀功效、閱讀參與度、. sit. y. Nat. 閱讀意願，尤閱讀參與度受概念導向閱讀教學法的正向影響而增長最具；在閱. al. er. io. 讀能力部份，以小學全民英檢之前、後測做比較後無明顯差異；而受試者對於. v. n. 概念導向閱讀教學法的看法與感受普遍呈現正向回饋。最後，依據本研究結果. Ch. engchi. i n U. 提出相關建議，供日後英語閱讀補救教學與研究之參考。. 關鍵字：概念導向閱讀教學、第二語言內在閱讀動機、第二語言閱讀能力、補救教學. ii. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(7) Abstract. The study aims to explore how Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) affects students’ intrinsic reading motivation and reading ability in a primary EFL remedial program. Students’ perceptions of the use of CORI in their English remedial class were also investigated. Seven students from the same remedial program were recruited to participate in the present study. Data were collected from the following sources: the post-experiment questionnaire, the GEPT-Kids Reading pre-test and post-. 政治大 The results of the 立 study show that among the three dimensions of intrinsic. test, and interviews.. ‧ 國. 學. reading motivation, the use of CORI as a teaching method was more effective in enhancing students’ reading involvement. No significant differences, however, were. ‧. found between students’ scores on the GEPT-reading pretest and post-test. As for. sit. y. Nat. students’ perceptions of the remedial course, the findings from the questionnaire and. al. er. io. interviews indicate that most students were positive about the use of CORI in the. v. n. class. Finally, suggestions on teaching English reading to struggling young students are also discussed.. Ch. engchi. i n U. Keywords: CORI, L2 Intrinsic Reading Motivation, L2 Reading Ability, Remedial Program iii. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(8) TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 CONCEPT-ORIENTATION READING INSTRUCTION ........................................................ 2 MOTIVATION ............................................................................................................... 3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................................. 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................... 4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY...................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 7 YOUNG CHILDREN’S L2 READING .............................................................................. 7 CONCEPT-ORIENTED READING INSTRUCTION ............................................................. 9. 治政大 Definition ............................................................................................................... 9 立 Principles ............................................................................................................. 10 ‧ 國. 學. Teaching Effects in CORI ..................................................................................... 14. ‧. INTRINSIC READING MOTIVATION ............................................................................. 15 Definition ............................................................................................................. 15 Characteristics ..................................................................................................... 16 STUDIES IN REMEDIAL TEACHING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN TAIWAN ................. 18. y. Nat. sit. n. al. er. io. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHOD .................................................................... 21 PARTICIPANTS ........................................................................................................... 21 THE CORI INSTRUCTION .......................................................................................... 22 INSTRUMENTS ........................................................................................................... 24 Teaching Materials .............................................................................................. 25. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. GEPT Kids reading test ....................................................................................... 27 Post-experiment Questionnaire............................................................................ 28 Interviews ............................................................................................................. 29 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 30 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................ 31 STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO POST-EXPERIMENT QUESTIONNAIRE .............................. 31 Items Regarding Students’ Reading Efficacy ....................................................... 32 Items Regarding Students’ Reading Involvement ................................................. 33 Items Regarding Students’ Reading Willingness .................................................. 34 STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE ON THE GEPT KIDS READING TESTS ............................. 36 The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Overall Reading Ability ............................ 36 The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Word Recognition ..................................... 37 iv. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(9) The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Grammar Knowledge ............................... 37 The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Reading Comprehension .......................... 38 STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARD CORI ................................................................. 39 Post-experiment Questionnaire on Students’ Perceptions to CORI ..................... 39 Interviews on Students’ Perceptions of CORI ...................................................... 42 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ................................................ 47 FIGURE 5.0.1 MODEL OF EFFECTS OF CORI ON INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND READING ABILITY ......................................................................................... 47 DISCUSSION OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS ...................................................................... 48 RESEARCH QUESTION ONE: TO WHAT EXTENT DOES CORI ENHANCE STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC READING MOTIVATION IN A PRIMARY EFL REMEDIAL PROGRAM? .............. 48 RESEARCH QUESTION TWO: TO WHAT EXTENT DOES CORI INCREASE STUDENTS’ READING ABILITY IN A PRIMARY EFL REMEDIAL PROGRAM? ..................................... 49. 治政大 :H. RESEARCH QUESTION THREE OW DO THESE STUDENTS PERCEIVE THE USE OF CORI IN THEIR ENGLISH REMEDIAL CLASS? ........................................................................ 50 PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS.................................................................................... 51. 立. ‧ 國. 學. LIMITATIONS OF THE PRESENT STUDY AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH .. 52. ‧. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 54 APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................. 66. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. APPENDIX 2 .............................................................................................................. 69. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. v. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(10) Lists of Tables. TABLE 4.1 STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO ITEMS REGARDING READING EFFICACY............ 32 TABLE 4.2 STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO ITEMS REGARDING READING INVOLVEMENT .... 33 TABLE 4.3 STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO ITEMS REGARDING READING WILLINGNESS ..... 34 TABLE 4.4 COMPARISON OF THE STUDENTS’ OVERALL READING ABILITY BEFORE AND AFTER CORI......................................................................................................... 36 TABLE 4.5 COMPARISON OF THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH WORD RECOGNITION BEFORE AND AFTER CORI ................................................................................................. 37 TABLE 4.6 COMPARISON OF THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE BEFORE AND AFTER CORI ................................................................................................. 37 TABLE 4.7 COMPARISON OF THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION. 學 ‧. ‧ 國. BEFORE AND AFTER. 政治大 CORI.................................................................................... 38 立. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. vi. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(11) Lists of Figures. FIGURE 3.1.1 A FLOW CHART OF CLASSROOM READING ACTIVITIES: BEFORE READING .............................................................................................................................. 23 FIGURE 3.1.2 A FLOW CHART OF CLASSROOM READING ACTIVITIES: DURING READING .............................................................................................................................. 24 FIGURE 3.1.3 A FLOW CHART OF CLASSROOM READING ACTIVITIES: AFTER READING .............................................................................................................................. 24 FIGURE 3.2.1 THE FIRST NONFICTION BOOK FOOD TRUCKS ......................................... 26 FIGURE 3.2.2 THE SECOND NONFICTION BOOK BASKETBALL ........................................ 26 FIGURE 3.2.3 THE THIRD NONFICTION BOOK ALL KINDS OF HOMES ............................. 27 FIGURE 3.2.4 THE FORTH NONFICTION BOOK FIREFIGHTERS ........................................ 27. 立. 政治大 CORI. FIGURE 5.0.1 MODEL OF EFFECTS OF ON INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND READING ABILITY ................................................................................................................. 47. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. vii. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.


(13) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION. Children in Taipei have already started learning English as a foreign language in twenty years. Instead of gaining abilities in four skills of English, some learners cannot keep up with their classmates in their English classrooms. According to the. 治政大 are left behind due to different Ministry of Education in Taiwan (2014), more students 立 ‧ 國. 學. family background, lack of English learning resources after school, and low learning. cognition. As a consequence, these students become low achievers in class. Moreover,. ‧. low achievers tend to have less motivation in learning to read. Since reading is an. sit. y. Nat. important skill for students to gain knowledge in the school setting, it is essential for. n. al. er. io. teachers to find effective ways to help low achievement learners gain their motivation. i n U. in reading as well as build up their reading competence.. Ch. engchi. v. Given the increasing number of students with low academic achievement, remedial education has been launched at public schools nationwide by the Ministry of Education since 2006. English remedial programs have also been established to help students improve their English ability. Teachers in training programs and schools have designed learning resources and teaching materials for students in these programs. However, one of the major problems of these remedial classes is students’ lack of motivation (Chen, 2004). To help solve the problem, the present study aims to explore the effectiveness of a teaching approach, Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction 1. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(14) (CORI), to enhance students’ reading motivation and reading ability. A number of researchers have claimed the effectiveness of using the ConceptOriented Reading Instruction to increase learners’ reading motivation and comprehension (Anderson, 1998; Barbosa, 2008; Guthrie, 2008; Guthrie, Wigfield, & VonSecker, 2000; Guthrie, 1996). Studies have shown positive outcomes of students’ reaction and perception through learning science in CORI in L1 learning environment (Wigfield, Guthrie, Tonks, & Perencevich, 2004). However, few studies have been investigated the effectiveness of CORI in L2 or EFL settings. To fill this gap, the. 治政大 Reading Instruction present study intends to investigate the use of Concept-Oriented 立 ‧ 國. 學. in an EFL context and how it can affect students’ reading motivation and ability in a primary remedial program in Taipei. To gain a better understanding about the use of. ‧. CORI as a teaching approach to increasing motivation, the concepts of both CORI. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. and motivation are briefly explained in the sections below.. Ch. Concept-Orientation Reading Instruction. engchi. i n U. v. Concept-Orientation Reading Instruction (CORI) has been conducted in studies to investigate students’ reading motivation and learning comprehension enhancement in a science program (Wigfield et al., 2004). The science program was developed to improve students reading engagement in learning environment (Wigfield et al., 2004). Although positive outcomes have been found from these studies, they were primarily conducted in L1 elementary schools. According to Guthrie et al. (1999), there are several principles to follow in teaching under CORI, including collaboration, 2. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(15) conceptual knowledge development, hands-on activities, and social interaction in groups. The present study only focuses on the principles that are more suitable for young learners in the current educational context.. Motivation. Motivation is the reason a person has for behaving or acting in a certain way. Motivation in second language learning was defined by Gardner (1985) as “referring. 治政大to learn the language because of to the extent to which the individual works or strives 立 ‧ 國. 學. a desire to do so and satisfaction experienced in this activity (p.10).” Motivation is a strongly drive that influence individual to engage in a specific activity (Alhamdu,. ‧. 2016).. sit. y. Nat. According to Gambrell and Marinak (2008) and Guthrie, Wigfield, and. n. al. er. io. VonStecker (2000), the important role that play in reading is motivation. Reading. i n U. v. motivation is classified into extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. According. Ch. engchi. to Guthrie et al. (2000), extrinsic motivation is relatively low effect when conducting CORI. Thus, only intrinsic motivation is focused in this present study. Intrinsic motivation for reading refers to reading for readers’ own sake, and reading for enjoyment (Guthrie, McRae, & Klauda, 2007). Learners with higher intrinsic motivation enjoy involving in activities more. Intrinsic motivation can be further defined as the activities in which pleasure is inherent in the activity itself.. 3. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(16) Purpose of the Study. The primary goal of this study is to examine whether remedial learners can enhance their intrinsic reading motivation and reading ability after receiving CORI instruction. Based on CORI, teaching and learning principles will be adjusted to administer in this particular class in the remedial program. Another goal of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of the CORI approach. To achieve these goals, three research questions were proposed in this study.. 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Research Questions. ‧. 1.. To what extent does CORI enhance students’ intrinsic reading motivation in a. 3.. y. sit. al. n. remedial program?. er. To what extent does CORI increase students’ reading ability in a primary EFL. io. 2.. Nat. primary EFL remedial program?. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. How do these students perceive the use of CORI in their English remedial class?. Significance of the Study. This study aims to see how CORI can be implemented in an L2 remedial program in an elementary school. The findings of the study can thus provide reading instructional principles for teachers who are interested in using CORI to increase students’ reading motivation and reading ability in either regular English classes or 4. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(17) remedial ones. In addition, students’ perceptions of the CORI approach collected in the study can also help gain a better understanding of how to teach L2 reading to low ability students.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 5. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(18) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 6. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(19) CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This section aims to present the literature related to the present study in four parts: (1) young children’s L2 reading, (2) concept-oriented reading instruction, (3) intrinsic reading motivation, and (4) remedial teaching in elementary schools.. 立. 政治大. Reading and L2 Learners. ‧ 國. 學. A simplified identification of reading can be viewed as a complex ability to. ‧. extract, or build, meaning from a text (Grabe, 2014). Reading is the ability to draw. Nat. sit. y. meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately (Stoller,. n. al. er. io. 2002). However, comprehending what the texts are describing about is an essential. i n U. v. process in reading. That is, reading is to identify the key component abilities and. Ch. engchi. skills that allow reading comprehension to emerge (Grabe, 2014). Reading comprehension involves the following abilities, including recognizing words rapidly and efficiently, developing and using a very large recognition vocabulary, processing sentences in order to build comprehension, engaging a range of strategic processes and underlying cognitive skills (e.g., setting goals, changing goals flexibly, monitoring comprehension), interpreting meaning in relation to background knowledge, interpreting and evaluating texts in line with reader goals and purposes, and processing texts fluently over an extended period of time (Grabe, 2014). Besides, 7. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(20) reading is a complex process involving mental operations above in which readingrelated cognitive skills play an important role in these operations (Keung & Ho, 2009).. Reading is regarded as a major source of comprehensible input and as the skill that many learners need to employ (Eskey, 2002). Reading relates to the notion of schema theory for second language reading. It has been highlighted by Carrell (1984b, 1987) and Carrell and Eisterhold (1983). Schema theory deals with the. 政治大. reading process, where readers are expected to combine their previous experiences. 立. with the text they are reading. Schema theory has found that activating content. ‧ 國. 學. information plays a major role in students’ comprehension and recall of information from a text (Grabe, 1991). In L2 reading contexts, readers resort to coping strategies. ‧. by translating or by guessing to form a coherent account of the text, whether that. y. Nat. er. io. sit. account matches the text or not (Stoller, 2002). The importance of automatic lowerlevel processing in second language contexts has been proposed by Eskey (1988),. al. n. v i n McLaughlin (1990), and SegalowitzC(1991). readers, in particular, are h e nStruggling gchi U. stuck in the processing of word-bound level. Related to the automaticity issue is the recognition that syntactic and vocabulary knowledge are critical components of reading comprehension (Berman, 1986; Carrell, 1989a; Eskey, 1986; Koda, 1989; Swaffar, 1988).. Reading comprehension strongly relates with reading efficacy. That is, learners’ self-efficacy is the crucial aspect in comprehending reading materials. Self-efficacy is hypothesized to influence task choice, effort, persistence, and achievement (Bandura, 8. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(21) 1986, 1997; Schunk, 1995). Learners with high reading efficacy tend to put more effort into readings, comparing with low reading efficacy learners. Raising learners’ self-efficacy is likely to try to attempt a similar task, reading a book of comparable difficulty in the future (Henk and Melnick, 1995). Wigfield and Guthrie (1997) and Zimmerman (2000) have examined the influence of students’ belief in their own reading abilities and found that students with low reading self-efficacy tried to avoid challenging reading activities and tended to withdraw from tasks they perceived as too difficult. Learners with high reading efficacy attempt to read with motivation.. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction. ‧. io. sit. y. Nat. Definition. er. According to Vongkrachang and Chinwonno (2015), Concept-Oriented Reading. al. n. v i n C h approach thatUallows students an opportunity to Instruction (CORI) is an instructional engchi engage in reading informational texts when using hands-on activities and fostering collaboration. Moreover, explicit reading instructions are essential to reading engagement (Vongkrachang & Chinwonno, 2015). Several studies have proved that Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction can be conducted in lessons to improve children’s reading comprehension and motivation (Anderson, 1998; Guthrie, Anderson, Alao, & Rinehart, 1999; Guthrie et al., 2007; Guthrie et al., 2004; Guthrie et al., 2000; Guthrie, 1996). Concept-oriented reading instruction (CORI) has developed since 1995, conducting by a scholar called Guthrie in University of 9. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(22) Maryland. CORI is an instructional program that contains reading strategy instruction, conceptual knowledge in domain specific study, and support for student motivation (Guthrie, 1996).. Principles. CORI consists of seven principles related to reading instruction, as showed in the following: (1) conceptual themes, (2) real world interactions, (3) self-direction, (4). 政治大. collaboration, (5) strategy, (6) self-expression, and (7) coherence (Guthrie et al.,. 立. 1999).. ‧ 國. 學. 1.1 Conceptual Themes. Conceptual themes refer to a set of principles that defines a knowledge domain. ‧. (Alexander, 1992) and can be understood through multiple texts and genres (Hartman,. y. Nat. io. sit. 1995). Building up conceptual themes for learners to have basic knowledge in their. er. reading is essential in CORI. Teachers conduct activities to activate background. al. n. v i n Cactivities knowledge of each learner. Hands-on in CORI classes for learners h e n garecgiven hi U to learn in situational settings. This concept building experiences through hands-on. activities can be transferred to new situation to solve different problems (Guthrie et al., 1999). 1.2 Real World Interactions The purposes of real world interactions are (1) to provide sensory opportunities to experience phenomena linked to conceptual theme, (2) to provide opportunities for learner questioning (Guthrie et al., 1999). Real world interactions include direct and sensory observations that boost up engagement. Learners later build up situational 10. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(23) interests which allow them to reach long-run, generative, personal interests under supportive conditions in the classroom (Guthrie et al., 1999). Intrinsic motivation in learning to read is initiated in these settings. In order to initiate learners’ intrinsic motivation, reading materials are the ones connected to real world. 1.3 Self-direction Learners in CORI classrooms are self-direction. Teachers construct an environment that is supportive for learner autonomy. On the one hand, learners are capable of finding reading materials in their interests as well as what they find useful.. 治政大their significant issues, set On the other hand, choices are given to conceptualize 立 ‧ 國. 學. meaningful learning, and express knowledge with visible consequences (Guthrie et al., 1999; Guthrie et al., 2007; Guthrie et al., 2004; Guthrie, 1996; Vongkrachang &. ‧. Chinwonno, 2015).. sit. y. Nat. 1.4 Collaboration. n. al. er. io. In the CORI classrooms, learners are supported to work together with their. i n U. v. classmates as a team. In the circumstances, learners understand conceptual theme,. Ch. engchi. gain cognitive strategies, and communicate effectively through learning (Guthrie et al., 1999). Formats that are useful in collaboration are literature circles and idea circles. Learners can gather in literature circles to discuss issues in their reading as the literacy works. Idea circles allow learners to come up with different dimensions of information in hands to think aloud and communicate. Collaboration provides opportunities for learners to practice individual sharing as well as positive group interactions. Collaborative learning is a core principle of CORI. For young learners in 11. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(24) elementary schools, collaboration within pairs, groups, even in class is an essential way to understand more conceptual knowledge, build up cognition techniques, and learn to engage and communicate (Guthrie et al., 1999). It is crucial for EFL learners to learn in collaboration with classmates guided by teachers. In order to lead learners’ participation in effective learning in reading, collaboration is taught under social structure practices. Accordingly, students supported by teachers in collaboration can lead to the constructions of knowing and using cognitive strategies, conceptual themes, communicating effectively in pairs or teams (Guthrie et al., 1999). These. 治政大 as well as using constructions are crucial for gaining reading ability. By knowing 立 ‧ 國. 學. cognitive strategies, learners can find the main topic in each reading. By building up conceptual themes; on the other hand, learners can widen their schema in reading.. ‧. Lastly, meaning negotiations can help individuals engage in learning. Collaboration is. sit. y. Nat. a core principle to be implemented for low achievers in remedial programs in L2. al. n. 1.5 Strategy Instruction. er. io. settings (Guthrie et al., 1999; Guthrie et al., 2004; Logan, Medford, & Hughes, 2011).. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Teachers provide the support students needed to acquire strategies for learning. and expressing conceptual knowledge through a variety of genres (Guthrie et al., 1999). Strategies are taught in CORI classrooms. Under different circumstances, reading strategies such as using prior knowledge (Anderson & Pearson, 1984), searching for information (Guthrie et al., 1993), comprehending informational text (Dole et al., 1991), interpreting literary text (Graesser et al., 1991), and selfmonitoring (Baker & Brown, 1984) are modeled in class (Guthrie et al., 1999). 1.6 Self-expression 12. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(25) Self-expression is practiced through different activities. Forms of expression contain written reports, performances, posters, videos, peer teaching, poetry, and stories (Guthrie et al., 1999). In self-expression practicing, teachers must provide ample time for students to think, plan, write, and revise (Oldfather & McLaughlin, 1993). Tasks provided by the instructors are considered to be more open than closed when it comes to self-expression practicing. Such "open" tasks are more motivating than "closed" activities, which are highly defined and constrained (Turner, 1995). When students are empowered to be self-expressive, they tend to view knowledge as. 治政大 and value both contextual, experience themselves as creators of knowledge, 立 ‧ 國. 學. subjective and objective strategies for knowing (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986).. ‧. 1.7 Coherence. y. Nat. er. io. sit. Teachers create coherence by linking the activities, materials, and contexts, which enabled students to make connections. Teachers enable students to perceive the. al. n. v i n C h experience and U connections among (a) real-world e n g c h i reading, (b) strategies for reading and knowledge about a particular topic, and (c) scientific and literary texts by emphasizing integration of reading and content. As Lipson, Valencia, Wixson, and Peters (1993) reported, and as Pate, McGinnis, and Homstead (1995) suggest, the rationale for integrated instruction is usually to enhance the learning of content and. metacognitive strategies. They also note that coherence provides a more interesting, structural way to teach and reach the main goals of the curriculum. Although relatively few empirical studies have been conducted to examine whether varying degrees of coherence in fact benefit students, a number of educational researchers 13. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(26) (Brophy & Alleman, 1991) and curriculum specialists (Beane, 1995) advocate coherence.. On top of the seven principles in CORI, courses in the CORI programs provide learners weeks of learning experiences in a phase. A complete phase is designed for six weeks. For the first and second weeks, learners practice to observe and personalize by teacher’s guidance in activating background knowledge, questioning, linking world to books, and relating. For the third and fourth weeks, learners practice to. 政治大. search and retrieve ideas in the reading materials. Techniques such as searching for. 立. information, collecting data, and connecting interests are instructed by the teacher.. ‧ 國. 學. For week five and week six, the teachers guide the learners to express themselves and combine the concepts in books for reading comprehension and communication. ‧. strategies.. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat Teaching Effects in CORI. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Positive effects such as reading engagement, reading motivation, and reading proficiency are shown to positively enhance in students’ learning (Guthrie et al., 1999; Guthrie, Hoa, Wigfield, Tonks, & Perencevich, 2006; Guthrie et al., 2007; Guthrie et al., 2004; Guthrie, 1996). Reading engagement here is viewed as the interplay of strategies, conceptual knowledge, motivation, and social interaction in reading activities (Guthrie et al., 1999). Hence, engagement in the classroom is an essential element of active learning during different activities. CORI is designed to foster students’ reading engagement and comprehension under the instruction of teaching 14. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(27) strategies to read, and concepts to know (Guthrie et al., 2007). It explicitly supports the development of students’ intrinsic motivation of reading (Anderson, 1998; Guthrie et al., 2000). Studies have shown that CORI plays a crucial role on building students’ reading ability and intrinsic motivation in both elementary school and adolescent stage in America. In this instruction, learners build up higher competence in reading. On top of that, intrinsic reading motivation is enhanced during the activities. This study analyzed the effect in elementary school students in Taiwan.. 立. Intrinsic Reading Motivation. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Studies have proved that learning motivation is the key to effective and. ‧. successful learning (Gardner, 2001). In this study, CORI was conducted as the reading. sit. y. Nat. instruction to motivate students’ learning. According to Guthrie and Wigfield (1997),. n. al. er. io. the motivational factors are divided into two aspects: intrinsic and extrinsic. i n U. v. motivation (Guthrie, Wigfield, & McGough, 1996). The motivation in this study will. Ch. engchi. be focused on intrinsic reading motivation. The reason why the extrinsic motivation of reading is excluded here is that researchers have claimed that CORI has the main impact on intrinsic motivation of reading. Extrinsic constructs are relatively low effect when conducting CORI (Guthrie et al., 2000).. Definition. Intrinsic motivation for reading refers to reading for readers’ own sake, and reading for enjoyment (Guthrie et al., 2007). That is, choosing to do and enjoying 15. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(28) doing the activity, which focuses on reading in this study. The indicators of intrinsic motivation for reading are treating reading as a favorite activity and enjoying reading (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). With high intrinsic motivation, learners involve in the activity without noticing the time and they are not aware of themselves (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). Intrinsic motivation can be further defined as the activities in which pleasure is inherent in the activity itself. Children who are more intrinsically motivated are more likely to put more efforts to activities both inside and outside the class as an individual (Logan et al., 2011). They tend to be more energized in their. 治政 state of concentration. Based on the core concept of CORI,大 fostering reading 立 ‧ 國. 學. motivation as well as enhancing motivation inside the reader in language learning environment are crucial to successful learning (Wigfield et al., 2004). In this study,. ‧. attentions remain to pay on estimating the intrinsic reading motivation aspect.. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Characteristics. i n U. v. According to Guthrie et al. (1996), there are four constructs of intrinsic. Ch. engchi. motivation: self-efficacy, reading involvement, preference of challenge, and curiosity. They encourage teachers to use the aspects as a tool to examine their beliefs about CORI and the ways to teach reading. Therefore, the constructs can be viewed as the characteristics of recognizing the enhancement of intrinsic motivation. Self-efficacy Students’ belief in their capacity to read successfully is referred to as selfefficacy (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1996). A review of the associations of self-efficacy in reading and reading comprehension are obtained across a range of ages and reading 16. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(29) tasks in the elementary school years. Self-efficacy for reading is associated with realistic goal setting regarding the texts and tasks in reading instruction. Efficacy, however, is also dependent on frequent feedback regarding success and internalization of standards for performance (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1996). Involvement Involvement refers to the quality of the interpersonal relationship with the teachers and peers; its opposite is rejection or neglect (Skinner & Belmont, 1993). Teachers are involved with their students to the exposure of taking time reading. 治政大 interactions with each other. together, doing activities to express affection, or enjoying 立 ‧ 國. 學. Teachers provide provision of guidance, which maps onto structure construct, and choice for learners’ autonomy support.. ‧. Preference of Challenge. sit. y. Nat. Learners who are intrinsic-motivated to read tend to be more challenge-. n. al. er. io. preference. Research claimed that learners undertaken the instruction of CORI, are. i n U. v. more likely to put themselves on difficult tasks or activities in class (Guthrie et al., 1996).. Ch. engchi. Curiosity The Curiosity subscale concerns children’s intrinsic interest in schoolwork versus doing academic work as an obligation or for external reasons. Learners with high curiosity are estimated to have more willingness to read. Moreover, learners with high curiosity involve actively in learning (Guthrie et al., 1996). In sum, motivation researchers have shown that when individuals have positive ability beliefs about an activity and think they can do the activity efficaciously, value 17. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(30) the activity for intrinsic reasons, and have learning and social goals, they should do better at the activity and choose to do it more frequently (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).. Studies in Remedial Teaching in Elementary Schools in Taiwan. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has put remedial teaching as after-school classes in elementary schools since 2006. The low achievement learners are. 政治大. considered to be the remedial students in these programs. Government and teachers. 立. devote to find better ways to improve the remedial students’ learning. Teachers have. ‧ 國. 學. already used different teaching instructions as well as techniques to enhance students’. ‧. learning in remedial programs (Wu, 2005; Chen, 2004; Hsu, 2003b; Lin, 2004).. sit. y. Nat. Instructions such as the Direct Instruction, the Mastery Teaching, the Individualized. n. al. er. io. Instruction, and the Cooperative Learning have already been used on both L1 and L2. v. settings (Zhang, 2001). Recently, researchers who support Differentiated Instruction. Ch. engchi. i n U. have argued that learning in individuals’ specific level is the key to learn better (Lawrence-Brown, 2004). However, studies utilizing on CORI instruction in remedial programs are little to be found. CORI instruction has not been used widely in L2 remedial settings. In this present study, the researcher aimed to investigate how CORI affected students’ learning in a primary EFL remedial program. Research into reading as a second language of young learners has put great emphasis on reading as one of the main language skills to teach young learners. Teachers also concern about the low achievers in remedial programs’ learning in 18. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(31) reading. However, not only the remedial learners’ reading abilities but their reading motivation are in a low level. In primary school years, remedial learners’ motivation to read declines gradually due to the lack of learning achievements. This circumstance reveals major problems about how to improve students’ reading skills. This study devotes to provide a way by conducting CORI instruction in a primary EFL remedial program to enhance students’ reading ability and reading motivation.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 19. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(32) 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 20. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(33) CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHOD. This quasi-experimental study intended to investigate the effects of ConceptOriented Reading Instruction on a primary EFL remedial learners’ English reading ability and intrinsic motivation of reading. In addition to focusing on the effects of. 治政 CORI, students’ perceptions to the instruction were大 also investigated. To answer the 立 ‧. ‧ 國. 學. three research questions, this study employed a mixed-method research design.. Participants. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. The participants were 7 six graders from an elementary school in northern Taipei. i n U. v. city, including 4 boys and 3 girls. They had received formal English instructions in. Ch. engchi. school for five years. The average English hours students received at school were 80 minutes per week for the first and second grades and 120 minutes for those in the grades above. These 7 participants’ general academic ability levels were relatively lower than normal classes’ students based on school’s examination in midterm and final sections of each semester. Because their grades were at the bottom 25%, these students were selected to participate in the English remedial program. The remedial program, initiated on the recommendation with the support of the Ministry of Education (MOE), aims to provide lectures to help struggling learners to learn better. 21. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(34) Also, the program was established to help low achievement learners with their basic academic learning.. The CORI Instruction. The researcher, also the instructor, used the principles based on CORI to conduct the remedial lessons for three months. The class met 80 minutes every week. According to Guthrie et al. (2006), the instructional practices are as follows:. 治政大 selecting providing content goals for reading, supporting learner autonomy, 立 ‧ 國. 學. interesting texts, facilitating social interactions related to reading, maintaining close relationship between students and teachers, and using hands-on activities to inspire. ‧. interests.. sit. y. Nat. Based on the core principles of CORI, a set of instructional practices was. n. al. er. io. developed in this study. The teaching process for each book was divided into three. i n U. v. sections: before the reading, during the reading, and after the reading. Before the. Ch. engchi. reading, storybooks were selected based on student’s reading ability level, interests and willingness to explore. In the remedial class, teacher provided the background information about the content. The brainstorming technique was used for students to firstly think about the things they knew about the topic of the books. During the reading, the class had a thorough discussion about the topic. While teacher read aloud to the class, the students repeated after the teacher and practiced reading. Collaborative learning as facilitating social interactions related to reading was used as the main technique in the classroom. The teacher guided students to read in groups 22. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(35) and raised questions for students to discuss with their classmates. By facilitating students’ interactions through reading and discussion, the students were able to build up the key concepts in each text as well as negotiate meaningful conceptual themes with their peers (Lutz, Guthrie, & Davis, 2006). After the students were familiarized with the core concepts of the reading content, they practiced reading in pairs. After the reading, the teacher firstly checked their understanding of new vocabulary with the class. After that, the students were given a chance to reflect on their own experience related to the reading material. At this stage, a variety of tasks and. 治政 activities were used to engage students individually大 or in groups with the reading 立 ‧ 國. 學. material. One example is the use of the reading poster activity to help students. associate the reading with the real world. For the reading of each book, the same set. ‧. The teacher selected books.. n. al. er. io. sit. Nat. the following three flow charts, see Figures 3.1.1 to 3.1.3.. y. of instructional procedures was utilized. The teaching procedures are also depicted in. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The teacher provided bakcground information about the content.. The teacher brainstormed the topic with students. Figure 3.1.1 A Flow Chart of Classroom Reading Activities: Before Reading. 23. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(36) The teacher and students discussed about the topic.. The teacher read aloud to students.. The students practiced repeated reading with the class.. The teacher asked questions about the content page by page with students.. 政治大. The students practiced reading in pairs.. 立. Figure 3.1.2 A Flow Chart of Classroom Reading Activities: During Reading. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. The teacher checked the understanding of new vocabulary with students.. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. The students reflected on daily life experience related to the reading content.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The students shared the poster project in pairs.. Figure 3.1.3 A Flow Chart of Classroom Reading Activities: After Reading. Instruments. In order to answer the research questions proposed in this study, four instruments 24. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(37) were used and described in the following sections. These included teaching materials, the GEPT kids reading test, the post-experiment questionnaire, and interviews.. Teaching Materials. The storybooks adopted in this study were selected from the website Reading A to Z (https://www.readinga-z.com), an online reading instruction resource with extensive collection of leveled reading resources. The original CORI program provided learners leveled books of science. However, the aims of the present study. 治政大 in Reading A-Z. Reading Awere not focused on science. The materials were selected 立 ‧ 國. 學. Z's English leveled books were carefully written in accordance with standardized Learning A-Z Text Leveling System and quality checked with custom software.. ‧. Leveled books are available in a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction genres. In. sit. y. Nat. attempt to strengthen the connections in literacy and content-area instruction, the. n. al. er. io. website provides reading materials with engaging, developmentally appropriate. i n U. v. leveled books at 29 reading levels. With graduated levels of difficulty, the website. Ch. engchi. helps build students' confidence while increasing their reading comprehension and fluency. Key to any leveled reading program, leveled books support instructions in comprehension, vocabulary, close reading of text, and so on. The books selected in this study were all nonfiction books from the reading A-Z website, which contained information about the topic in pictures and words. In this resource, all books in the online reading program were categorized into different levels based on the word count, the book length, and the frequency headwords. Four books were chosen for the remedial class in this study: Food Trucks (98 words), 25. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(38) Basketball (237 words), All Kinds of Home (161 words), and Firefighters (296 words). The selections of each book were based on the following criteria: word count, learners’ preference, motivation-initiative, learners’ ability level. The books were selected in different levels due to the preference of students. One of the CORI principles was self-direction (Guthrie et al., 1999; Guthrie et al., 2007). The participants could express their preference of reading, based on their interests. The screenshots of the four books are also found in Figure 3.2.1 to 3.2.4.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Figure 3.2.1 The First Nonfiction Book Food Trucks. i n U. v. Figure 3.2.2 The Second Nonfiction Book Basketball 26. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(39) 政治大. Figure 3.2.3 The Third Nonfiction Book All Kinds of Homes. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 3.2.4 The Forth Nonfiction Book Firefighters. GEPT Kids reading test. The purpose of using the GEPT Kids reading test in the present study was to know the level of each individual’s reading ability before and after the CORI instruction. There are two main sections in the GEPT Kids test, the listening section and the reading section. In this study, only the reading section was employed. The 27. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(40) GEPT Kids reading test includes three sections. The first section includes 20 statements to test the ability of word recognition. The participants were asked to match the descriptions with the pictures to decide whether the statements were true or false. The second section contains 5 fill-in-the-blank statements to test the basic grammar knowledge. The final section consists of two reading passages, each followed by five reading comprehension questions.. Post-experiment Questionnaire. 立. 政治大. The aims of having participants to complete the post-experiment questionnaire. ‧ 國. 學. were, first, to examine the participants’ changes in the area of intrinsic reading motivation and, second, to investigate students’ perceptions of CORI. Motivation for. ‧. Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) was adopted in this study (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).. y. Nat. er. io. sit. Adjustments of the items were further made to manage in line with the present study. The post-experiment questionnaire consisted of 20 items, using a 5-point Likert scale.. al. n. v i n Cdata These items were aimed at collecting the participants’ responses to the h eabout ngchi U three dimensions of intrinsic reading motivation: (a) reading efficacy, (b) reading. involvement, and (c) reading willingness. There were six to seven questions within each dimension. The questions were all translated into Mandarin, the participants’ mother tongue, for easy comprehension and reducing the participants’ anxiety. Additionally, there were also five open-ended questions regarding the participants’ reading motivation as well as their perceptions toward CORI. Specifically, items 1 and 2 were designed to seek information from the participants about the enjoyment they found in reading in CORI; item 3 was designed to ask the participants’ 28. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(41) willingness to read after the program. As for items 4 and 5, the participants were asked to express their feelings about the three-month remedial program. The postexperiment questionnaire can be found in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.. Interviews. To further investigate the participants’ perceptions of the CORI courses, interviews were also conducted in this study. Due to the fact that talking in young. 政治大. learners’ native language was believed to promote the willingness to communicate. 立. and to reduce the anxiety. The interview questions were in their mother tongue, and. ‧ 國. 學. were open-ended questions. The questions given to the students were based on the post-experiment questionnaire, and it was hoped that they could provide further. ‧. details about their feelings and perceptions toward CORI.. y. Nat. er. io. sit. Due to the time constraint, only two out of the seven participants were invited to participate in the interviews. One of the interviewees was a boy, while the other was a. al. n. v i n C h without any particular girl. They were randomly chosen e n g c h i U differences compared to other participants in the program. Interviews were arranged after CORI experiment; each interview took about 10 minutes. The interview questions are shown in the following part. (a) How much did you like the reading materials in CORI? (b) Is there any difference in your reading motivation between reading with peers and reading on your own? (c) Among all the activities we have done in CORI, what helps you the most in your English Reading? 29. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(42) (d)After attending the remedial program, experiencing CORI, what progresses have you made?. Data Analysis. In this present study, both quantitative and qualitative analyses were adopted. To answer the first research question about the impact of CORI on intrinsic reading motivation of students, the mean scores and standard derivation of students’ responses to the 20 items in the post-experiment questionnaire were analyzed quantitatively. To. 治政大 on students’ reading answer the second research question about the effects of CORI 立 ‧ 國. 學. ability, the scores of the GEPT-Kids pre- and post- Reading Tests were compared quantitatively. Because of the small number of the participants in this study,. ‧. descriptive statistics was used to compare the scores of the GEPT-Kids Reading Test. sit. y. Nat. and the responses of the reading motivation questionnaire. To answer the third. n. al. er. io. research question about student’s perceptions of the CORI instruction, data collected. i n U. v. from the open-ended questions of the post-experiment questionnaire and the. Ch. interviews were analyzed qualitatively.. engchi. 30. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(43) CHAPTER 4 RESULTS. This chapter presents the results of the study, which can be divided into three parts. The first section is concerned with the effect on how CORI enhances students’ intrinsic reading motivation after the experiment on the basis of their responses to the. 政治大. first 20 items in the questionnaire. The second section, focusing on the effect on how. 立. CORI improves students’ reading ability, presents the results of the pre- and post- test. ‧ 國. 學. scores from the GEPT-Kids Reading Test. The third section is related to how these. ‧. students perceive the use of CORI in their English remedial class based on their. y. sit. io. er. interviews.. Nat. responses to open-ended questions in the post-experiment questionnaire and. al. n. v i n Research Question One: To C what extent does CORI enhance students’ intrinsic hengchi U motivation in a primary EFL remedial program?. Students’ Responses to Post-experiment Questionnaire. In this section, the participants’ responses to question items concerning intrinsic reading motivation in the post-experiment questionnaire are presented. These items were aimed at inquiring about the participants’ responses to the three domains in intrinsic reading motivation: (a) reading efficacy, (b) reading involvement, and (c) 31. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(44) reading willingness in CORI.. Items Regarding Students’ Reading Efficacy. The statistical results of students’ responses to items concerning reading efficacy are presented in Table 4.1 in terms of the mean scores and standard deviations. Table 4.1 Students’ Responses to Items Regarding Reading Efficacy Items. N. 政治大7. 1. I can guess the difficult words through teacher’s. 2. I make progress on remembering vocabulary after. ‧ 國. 7. 3. I make progress on L2 reading after CORI.. io. al. n. more on the reading contexts teacher prepares.. Ch. 14. I can understand more concepts of each vocabulary after CORI.. engchi. 15. I can use different reading strategies to understand better in L2 reading.. 0.49. 3.57. 0.53. 3.86. 0.69. y. 7 7. 3.71. sit. Nat. 12. Comparing to others in the program, I can understand. 0.53. ‧. 7. 10. I build up more confidence on L2 reading after CORI.. 4.43. 學. CORI.. SD. er. 立. guidance.. Mean. 3.71. 0.95. 7. 4.00. 0.58. 7. 4.00. 0.82. i n U. v. Note: N=the number of participants As presented in Table 4.1, the mean scores of participants’ responses to Items 1 (M=4.43), 14 (M=4.00), and 15 (M=4.00) were above 4, indicating that students agreed that the instruction helped them guess the meaning of difficult words, understand the vocabulary better, and use different reading strategies. Concerning the participants’ responses to Item 2, 3, 10, and 12, they nearly 32. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(45) agreed with the mean scores ranged from 3 to 4. The remedial students’ responses to Item 2 (M=3.71) and item 3 (M=3.57) show that they had a tendency to agree that they made progress on remembering vocabulary and L2 reading after the program. Students’ responses to Item 10 (M=3.86) show that they nearly agreed that they became more confident in L2 reading after the program. As for students’ responses to item 12 (M=3.71), the result indicated that compared to their classmates, students almost agreed that they could comprehend the reading material better after the instruction.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Items Regarding Students’ Reading Involvement. As for participants’ responses to items concerning reading involvement, the. ‧. mean scores and standard deviations are presented in Table 4.2.. y. sit. 5. I like the books teacher prepared for us.. n. al. Ch. engchi. er. io. Items. Nat. Table 4.2 Students’ Responses to Items Regarding Reading Involvement. i n U. v. 7. I like to read with my classmates in this program. 9. I like the content and learning in this program. 13. I like to learn with the remedial class.. 16. I like the way teacher guided us to discuss in the CORI. 18. I like the activities teacher designed in this program. 19. I like the reading activities and discussions in the program.. N. Mean. SD. 7. 4.14. 0.69. 7. 4.29. 0.76. 7. 4.29. 0.49. 7. 4.29. 0.49. 7. 4.43. 0.53. 7. 4.58. 0.53. 7. 4.00. 0.58. 33. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(46) Note: N=the number of participants According to Table 4.2, the mean scores of all the items under the category of reading involvement are above 4, indicating students’ enhancement of reading motivation in this area. To be more specific, students particularly liked the activities in the reading program (item 18, M=4.58). They also liked the books (item 5, M=4.14) as well as the content they learned (item 9, M=4.29). Meanwhile, students’ responses to item 7 (M=4.29) indicated their positivity on reading with their classmates. Item 13 (M=4.29) also showed students’ enjoyment in. 治政大 responses to item learning with the class during the instruction. In addition, students’ 立 ‧ 國. 學. 16 (M=4.43) revealed that they liked the way the teacher led them to discuss during. the class. Similarly, they were fond of the reading activities and discussion parts in the. ‧. remedial class indicated by their agreement to item 19 (M=4.00).. sit. y. Nat. Items Regarding Students’ Reading Willingness. n. al. er. io. The results of the participants’ responses to items related to the dimension of reading willingness are presented in Table 4.3.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Table 4.3 Students’ Responses to Items Regarding Reading Willingness Items 4. After CORI, I won’t reject to read. 6. After CORI, I am willing to read books that interest me. 8. I want to know what happens next in the book we read. 11. After CORI, I am willing to try reading on my own.. N. Mean. SD. 7. 3.71. 0.76. 7. 3.71. 0.76. 7. 4.43. 0.79. 7. 3.14. 0.38. 34. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(47) 17. I am willing to read books I like with guidance by others. 20. I am willing to challenge myself to read books I like.. 7. 4.43. 0.53. 7. 3.14. 0.38. Note: N=the number of participants As the results shown in Table 4.3, the mean scores of items 8 (M= 4.43) and 17 (M=4.43) were above 4 indicating the participants were curious about the content of the reading material and were willing to read books of their interest under guidance. As for students’ responses to items 4 (M=3.71) and 6 (M=3.71), they nearly. 政治大. agreed that they would not resist the idea of reading in English and became more. 立. willing to read English books after the CORI instruction.. ‧ 國. 學. Regarding items 11(M=3.14) and 20 (M=3.14), students’ responses indicated. ‧. that they were more reserved in reading on their own or challenging themselves in. sit. y. Nat. terms of reading English books.. io. al. er. In short, the results of the post-experiment questionnaire revealed that among the. v. n. three dimensions of intrinsic reading motivation, reading involvement was the area. Ch. engchi. i n U. where CORI had a particular effect on. In other words, CORI instruction is more effective in promoting the participants’ reading involvement. As for the aspects in reading efficacy and reading willingness, the overall results indicated that although students agreed that CORI helped them deal with unknown vocabulary and made them more interested in reading English books, they were less confident in reading on their own and without guidance.. Research Question Two: To what extent does CORI increase students’ reading ability 35. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(48) in a primary EFL remedial program?. Students’ Performance on the GEPT Kids Reading Tests The second research question concerns how CORI increases students’ reading ability in a primary EFL remedial program. For the assessment of remedial students’ reading ability before and after CORI, GEPT-Kids Reading Test was conducted as a pretest and a post-test . The results are presented in four phases. The first phase showed the overall reading performance based on the outcomes of the two reading. 治政大 tests. The second phase presents the participants’ reading performance on questions 立 ‧ 國. 學. related to word recognitions. The third phase presents the students’ performance on. questions regarding basic grammar knowledge. The fourth phase shows the students’. ‧. performance on the reading comprehension questions from the two passages in the. n. al. er. io. The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Overall Reading Ability. sit. y. Nat. tests.. i n U. v. As presented in Table 4.4, the mean scores of the pre- and post-tests showed that. Ch. engchi. there were not much difference before and after the instruction (M=13.14 vs. M=13.00). Table 4.4 Comparison of the Students’ Overall Reading Ability Before and After CORI. Overall Reading Ability. Test. N. Mean. SD. Pretest. 7. 13.14. 3.236. Post-test. 7. 13.00. 3.958. Note: N=the number of participants 36. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(49) The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Word Recognition As shown in Table 4.5, the participants’ word recognition ability was in no difference before and after CORI. The numbers of the questions related to word recognition were 20. Thus, the range of correct-answered scores was from 1 to 20. As measured, the mean score was 11.00 in the pretest, and 10.00 in the post-test. Table 4.5 Comparison of the Students’ English Word Recognition Before and After CORI. 政治大 Mean N. Test. 立. 7. 11.00. 2.449. Post-test. 7. 10.00. 3.366. ‧. ‧ 國. Pretest. 學. Word Recognition. SD. Note: N=the number of participants. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Grammar Knowledge. i n U. v. As presented in Table 4.6, there was not much difference between the mean. Ch. engchi. scores of the pre- and post-test items on grammar. The total numbers of questions were 5 in grammar knowledge section. As the correct-answered questions’ range was from 1 to 5, the mean score was only slightly higher (1.14 > 1.00) in the post-test than the pretest. Table 4.6 Comparison of the Students’ English Grammar Knowledge Before and After CORI. Grammar Knowledge. Test. N. Mean. SD. Pretest. 7. 1.00. 1.154. 37. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(50) Post-test. 7. 1.14. 1.214. Note: N=the number of participants. The Effects of CORI on the Students’ Reading Comprehension According to Table 4.7, the results showed that there was not much difference in the mean scores of pre- and post-test items on the reading comprehension questions. The questions in reading comprehension were 5 in total, leading the mean scores ranged from 1 to 5. The mean score on the post-test (M=1.85) was only slightly. 政治大. higher than the pretest (M=1.14).. 立. y. 1.345. sit. io. SD. 1.069. Test. N. Mean. Pretest. 7. 1.14. Post-test. 7. 1.85. n. al. Note: N=the number of participants. Ch. engchi. er. Nat. Reading Comprehension. ‧. ‧ 國. After CORI. 學. Table 4.7 Comparison of the Students’ English Reading Comprehension Before and. i n U. v. In short, based on students’ performance on the pre- and post- GEPT-Kids reading tests, their overall reading ability was not improved before and after the CORI instruction. Students in general performed poorly on all subsets of the two reading tests including word recognition, grammar knowledge, and reading comprehension.. Research Question Three: How do these students perceive the use of CORI in their English remedial class?. 38. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(51) Students’ Perceptions toward CORI Post-experiment Questionnaire on Students’ Perceptions to CORI This section aims to present data regarding students’ perceptions towards the remedial program using CORI. The data were collected from the open-ended questions in the post-experiment questionnaire and interviews. Students’ responses to the five open-ended questions are presented below. Students’ responses to the first question: “Do the reading materials in the remedial program interest you? And why?” The results showed that 6 out of the 7. 治政大materials in CORI. To be more participants mentioned that they enjoyed the reading 立 ‧ 國. 學. specific, the books interested them for three major reasons: the improvement of. English proficiency, the curiosity to read new materials, and pleasure of learning. ‧. experience in the program. Their responses to the question showed that they enjoyed. sit. n. al. er. io. excerpted below.. y. Nat. the reading materials positively. Two of the participants’ responses to question 1 are. Ch. engchi. 「是；因為可以讓英文更好」. i n U. v. “Yes, because the reading materials can make my English better. ” (Student B) 「有一點；因為這些都是我沒看過的新奇事物」 “A little bit. These are things I never saw before.” (Student D). Students’ responses to the second question: “Which book is your favorite in the remedial program? And why?” The books they liked the most are “Basketball,” “All Kinds of Home,” and “Food Truck.” Overall, students’ perceptions towards the books 39. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(52) chosen in the program were mostly positive. The book “Basketball” was chosen by 3 out of 7 students, while “All Kinds of Home” and “Food Truck” were equally selected by 2 out of 7 students. The reasons for why the students liked the books were: the books were related to their own interests, and they enjoyed the way teacher introduced the book. Students’ responses are shown in the excerpts below.. 「Basketball；因為我喜歡打籃球」 “My favorite book is “Basketball,” because it is the sport I like the best.” (Student A). 立. 政治大. 「Food Truck；看起來很好吃，而且老師講解很有趣」. ‧ 國. 學. “I like the book “Food Truck.” The food introduced in the book is delicious and. ‧. it’s interesting to read through teacher’s explanations.” (Student E). sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. As for the participants’ responses to question 3, which asked them whether they. i n U. v. like to read English books in their free time, the participants claimed that they were. Ch. engchi. not willing to read books on their own even after the instruction mainly due to the difficulty in comprehending English reading texts. However, when they were asked whether they were willing to read English books with teachers’ guidance, their answers were positive. Most students expressed that with teacher’s guidance, they would do L2 reading. Students’ responses to question 3 are shown in the two excerpts below.. 「不會；因為我看不懂。會；因為老師可以幫我翻譯和解釋」 40. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(53) “No, I can barely understand the content of books on my own. Yes, I can get the meaning of the story with teacher’s help and explanations.” (Student B) 「不會；因為根本看不懂。會吧，因為有人陪同」 “No, I can barely get the meaning in books. Maybe yes, cause there will be someone accompanying me to read.” (Student E). According to students’ responses to question 4, “Do they like the CORI courses in the remedial program?” Five out of the seven participants expressed that they. 治政大 in learning to read in the enjoyed learning in the CORI program. Some felt interested 立 ‧ 國. 學. CORI class because of the activities provided by the instructor. The participants’ perceptions of CORI are shown in the excerpts below.. ‧ sit. y. Nat. 「喜歡；因為我上課很開心呀」. io. al. n. (Student A). er. “I like it a lot. Because I can learn happily in the program, so I like it.”. Ch. engchi. 「喜歡；因為活動很好玩」. i n U. v. “I like it; it’s fun to learn in different activities in the program.” (Student G). There were, however, two excerpts from the data indicated that the CORI lessons were not interesting for everyone. Two participants gave somewhat negative feedback about the CORI instruction. One of the participants found that course was not related to her personal interest, which was art. The other participant thought the class was too noisy to focus on learning. 41. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(54) 「還好；如果是有關畫圖的互動課程我才喜歡」 “So so. I like it better if it’s related to interaction lessons about art.” (Student D). In the fifth open-ended question, students were asked whether they would like to participate in a similar program like this in the future. 4 out of the 7 participants showed their willingness to join another CORI program after the study. The major reason was to improve more on their L2 proficiency. However, 3 participants lacked. 治政 the willingness to join another similar program because of 大 their concerns about who 立 ‧ 國. 學. would be the teacher and also the class learning atmosphere. Some students’ responses to question 5 are presented below.. ‧ sit. y. Nat. 「會；因為能練英文」. n. al. er. io. “Yes, cause I can practice a lot of things related to English here.” (Student A) 「不知道；要看老師好不好吧」. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. “I’m not sure about it. I want to know whether the teacher is good or not.” (Student C). Interviews on Students’ Perceptions of CORI Two interviews were conducted after CORI to gain further insights of the participants’ perceptions to CORI. The results of the interviews showed students’ positive perceptions of CORI. Their responses to the interview questions were translated to English and are presented below. 42. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(55) (a) How much did you like the reading materials in CORI? The interviewees claimed great enjoyment on the reading materials in CORI. They took the materials as fun and interesting things to read. The results in interviews were highly corresponded with the ones in the post-experiment questionnaire. On top of that, one interviewee pointed out that the reading material gave her an opportunity to see new things beyond her life experiences. Her opinions are shown in the following excerpt.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. “Most of the reading materials were interesting, especially the book called “Basketball.” I liked it a lot cause it’s one of my hobby, playing basketball in. ‧. leisure time. I wanted to know what happened to the next page when we did the. sit. y. Nat. choral reading with peers.” (I-1). n. al. er. io. “I liked the book “All Kinds of Home.” It gave me a good opportunity to see. i n U. v. new houses around the world. It’s interesting to know the things I did not know. Ch. before in the reading.” (I-2). engchi. (b) Is there any difference in your reading motivation between reading with peers and reading on your own? With respect to the question on reading with peers and reading as an individual, the participants replied negatively on reading as an individual due to the lack of confidence in understanding the concepts in English texts. They indicated that reading with peers could create a chance to understand more in 43. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.

(56) readings. This is similar to the results obtained from the questionnaire. The responses are shown in the following excerpted. .. “I don’t want to read English books on my own, because I cannot get the meaning of the sentences. I usually quit reading after I read a couple of pages. If I have partners to read with me, we might have chances to discuss what the contents are about.” (I-1) “I like to read on my own if the book is in Mandarin. However, I cannot get the. 治政 concept of the topic in most of the L2 reading, which 大 terrifies me to read on my 立 ‧. ‧ 國. 學. own. I want to read with friends in L2 more than read by myself.” (I-2). (c) Among all the activities we have done in CORI, what helps you the most in your. sit. y. Nat. English reading?. n. al. er. io. The activities that these students liked the most were the poster projects and. i n U. v. the mind-mapping activities. These two activities were utilized in class mainly to. Ch. engchi. help students practice sharing ideas. The participants enjoyed sharing ideas as well as illustrated their ideas in different forms of presentation.. “Questions raised by the teacher made our group collaborated together to finish recording our posters after reading the book.” (I-1) “I liked to draw things down. When we had the mind-mapping time, I could lead the group and illustrate what we thought. Teacher helped us to express as well. We could engage more in different activities.” (I-2) 44. DOI:10.6814/NCCU202000094.