Effects of Reader Theater on EFL Learners' Oral Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension
蔡純媚、曹秀蓉
E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of Reader Theater on English oral reading fluency and reading comprehension.
The research was conducted with sixty-one 5th-grade students chosen from an elementary school in central Taiwan.The participants were selected by a convenient sampling method from two classed.One class was categorized as the experimental group receiving instruction with aReader Theater method and the other the control group being taught with a Teacher-directed method. For data analysis, students in each group were further divided into English high-proficient and low-proficient students. The instruction lasted for twelve weeks, once a week. Before the experiment, a pretest was conducted. During the experimental period, those participants took a quiz after each lesson, 4 quizzes in total. In addition, all participants of the two groups are requested to finish the quiz of story map and multiple choices after each teaching. After the experiment, a posttest was conducted and a questionnaire was filled out. The pretest,4 quizzes and posttest all included one-minute recording of reading a story and 10 multiple-choice questions of reading comprehension.The effects of Reader Theater and Teacher-directed method are compared by two-way MANCOVA with data from the pretest and the posttest. Trend diagrams and t-tests are presented to explore students’ performance in the four quizzes over the experimental period. Students’ answers to the questionnaire are investigated with Chi-square test and the Goodness of Fit test. The results of data analysis are summarized as follows:(1) There is significant difference in the test of oral reading rate between the RT group and the TD group, but there is no significant difference in the progress of oral reading rate between English high-proficient and low-proficient students.(2) There is significant difference in the test of oral reading fluency between the RT group and the TD group, but there is no significant difference in the progress of oral reading fluency between English high-proficient and low-proficient students.(3) There is no significant difference in the test of reading comprehension between the RT group and the TD group, but there is significant difference in the progress of reading comprehension between English high-proficient and low-proficient
students.(4) RT students’ interest in English learning is not enhanced by the RT method,but their negative feeling toward English becomes more moderate.Students’ response toward the effects of RT on oral reading fluency is positive. More students in the RT group than those in the TD group agreed that their reading comprehension was enhanced with teachers’ instruction.Students in the RT group also held positive perception toward cooperative learning under RT setting.Some pedagogical implications are provided: (1) teachers can involve the RT method in the contents of the textbook. (2) RT method may create a cooperative learning environment. (3) RT method can be applied in the other subject teaching. (4)RT method offers teachers an alternative for creative teaching and meanwhile provides students an imaginative probability for active learning.
Keywords : Reader Theater, oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, cooperative learning Table of Contents
COVER PAGE SIGNATURE PAGE AUTHORIZATION………
…...iii ABSTRACT (English)………...iv ABSTRACT (Chinese)………...vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
………...viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
...ix LIST OF FIGURES ...xii LIST OF TABLES………...xiii CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background and Motivation ...1 1.2 Statement of the
Problem...4 1.3 Purpose of the Study ...5 1.4 Research Questions...6 1.5 Significance of the Study
...7 1.6 Definition of Terms………
………8 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Instruction of Oral Reading Fluency
...11 2.2 Reader Theater ………
………15 2.3Ways to Reading Comprehension………
……… 24 2.4 Oral Reading Fluency…...………...29 2.5
Teacher-Directed Method………33 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY 3.1 Design of the Study...34 3.2 Participants...35 3.3
Instruments...36 3.4 Procedures of the Study
...40 3.5 Data Analysis ...43 3.6 Pilot Study...43 CHAPTER IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Effects of RT on Oral Reading Fluency………49 4.2 Effects of RT on Reading Comprehension……… 57 4.3 Students' Perception toward the Reader Theater Method……… 61 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of the Findings………67 5.2 Pedagogical Implication………70 5.3 Limitation of the Study………72 5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies………73 Chinese
References...76 English References
...77 Appendix A: Placement Test ... 85 Appendix B: Lesson Plan for the Experimental Group………...86 Appendix C: Lesson Plan for the Control Group ... 88 Appendix D: Script of Unit 1for the Experimental
Group...90 Appendix E: Story of Unit 1 for the Control Group………
………92 Appendix F: Pre-test and Post-test on Oral Reading Fluency... 94 Appendix G:
Pre-test and Post-test on Reading Comprehension…...95 Appendix H: Quiz on Reading Comprehension of Unit 1 ... 96 Appendix I: Story Map ... 97 Appendix J:
Multidimensional Fluency Scale... 98 Appendix K: Questionnaire (ChineseVersion)………
……… 99 Appendix L: Questionnaire (English Version)………
………100 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Trend Diagram of Oral Reading Rate…………
………52 Figure 4.2 Trend Diagram of Oral Reading Rate from the
Perspective of English Proficiency………53 Figure 4.3 Trend Diagram of Multidimensional Fluency ………
………55 Figure 4.4 Trend Diagram of Multidimensional Fluency from the Perspective of English Proficiency…… 56 Figure 4.5 Trend Diagram of Reading Comprehension………
…… 59 Figure 4.6 Trend Diagram of Reading Comprehension from the Perspective of English Proficiency…………60 Figure 4.7 Perceptions toward RT and TD in Enhancing Learning Interest……… 62 Figure 4.8 Perceptions toward RT and TD in Improving Oral Reading Fluency………63 Figure 4.9 Perceptions toward RT and TD in Enhancing Reading Comprehension……… 64 Figure 4.10 RT Students’ Perceptions toward Cooperative Learning………65 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Design of the Study………
………34 Table3.2 Standard of Determining Words Errors…
………39 Table 3.3 Procedure of the Study………
……… 41 Table 3.4 Experimental Schedule………
……… 42 Table 3.5 Students' Mean Scores of Oral Reading Rate………
……… 45 Table 3.6 Students' Mean Scores of Multidimensional Fluency ………
……… 45 Table 3.7 Students' Mean Scores of Reading Comprehension………
……… 45 Table 3.8 Test of Between -Subjects Effects………47 Table 4.1 Two-way MANCOVA………50 Table 4.2 Adjusted Means of Oral Reading Rate………51 Table 4.3 Comparison of Oral Reading Rate over Four Quizzes………52 Table 4.4 Adjusted Means of Multidimensional Fluency ………54 Table 4.5 Comparison of Multidimensional Fluency over Four Quizzes……… 55 Table 4.6 Adjusted Means of Reading Comprehension………58 Table 4.7 Comparison of Reading
Comprehension over Four Quizzes………59 REFERENCES
教育部 (2004)「國民中小學英語基本字彙」 http://teach.eje.edu.tw/9CC/context/03-1-5.html 許杏如(2004)。台北市國小五、六年級學童 英語學習動機、英語焦慮與英語成就之相關研究。台北市立師範學院國民教育研究所未出版碩士論文。 莊蕙瑜(2006)。國小高年級學生 英語焦慮、英語學習動機與英語學習策略之相關研究。國立嘉義大學國民教育研究所未出版碩士論文。 張湘君(2001)。 英語故事創意教
學。東西圖書。 雲美雪(2008)。讀者劇場運用於偏遠小學低年級英語課程之行動研究。國立嘉義大學幼兒教育研究所未出版碩士論文。
鄒文莉(2005)。讀者劇場在臺彎英語教學環境中之應用。東西圖書。 鄒文莉(2007)。讀者劇場對兒童英語閱讀之效益分析。教育研究月刊
。 劉曉玲(2008)。讀者劇場對國小五年級學童英語字彙學習之研究。玄奘大學外國語文學系碩士班未出版碩士論文。 ENGLISH REFERENCES Aaron, S. (1997). Readers on stage: Tips for reader’s Theater. Retrieved March 13,2007, from http://www.aaronshep.com.
Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press. Allington, R.L. (1984). Oral Reading. In P.D. Pearson, R.Barr, M.L.Kamil, &P.B.Mosentbal (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research, pp.829-864. NY:Longman. Ambe, E.B. (2007).
Inviting reluctant adolescent readers into the literacy club: Some comprehension strategies to tutor individuals or small groups of reluctant readers.
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(8), 632-639. Anderson, R., Hiebert, E., Scott, J., & Wilkinson, I. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers:
The report of the commission on reading. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Education. Anderson, R.C., Wilson, P.T., & Fielding, L. G.
(1988). Growth in reading and how children spend their time outside of school. Reading Research Quarterly, 23,285-303. Annarella, L. A. (1999).
Using Readers’ Theatre in the classroom. Retrieved January 25, 2007 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/resultsadvanced. Armbruster, B.B., & Osborn, J.(2005). The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read. Put reading first. Retrieved June 13, 2007, from www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1.html. Blau, L. ( 2001). 5 Surefire Strategies for Developing Reading Fluency.
Retrieved March 30, 2007 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail. Blevins, W. (2001).Building Fluency: Lessons and Strategies for Reading Success Scholars. U.S.A: Scholastic. Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. NY:Longman.
Caposey, T., & Heider, B. (2003). Improving reading comprehension though cooperative leaning (CS512 283). Illinois, United States: Saint Xavier University and Skylight Professional Development Field-Based Masters Program. Carrick, L.U. (2000). The effects of Reader’s Theater on fluency and comprehension in fifth grade students in regular classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Lehigh University. Bethlehem, PA.
Carrick, L. U. (2001). Readers theatre resources-online and off-line. The Reading Teacher, 54,514. Chall, J.S. (1996b) Stages of reading development (2nd ed.) Fort Worth, TX:Harcourt-Bruce. Chang, Y. F. (2008). The effects of Readers’ Theatre on EFL fourth graders’ foreign language anxiety and oral reading fluency. Unpublished dissertation,Providence University, Taichung. Chang,Y.H. (2007). Reader Theater and oral reading fluency of sixth graders in Hualien City: an action research study. Unpublished dissertation, National Taipei University. Taipei. Chen, J. H. (2006). A study of oral reading fluency and motivation for reading: the implementation of Readers Theater in an elementary English class.
Unpublished dissertation, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-I. Corcoran, C.A. & Davis, A.D. (2005). A Study of the Effects of Readers’
Theater on Second and Third Grade Special Education Students’ Fluency Growth. Reading Improvement, V42 (2). Cornett, C.E. (1999). The arts as meaning makers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PrenticeHall. Dean, S., &Trent, J. (2002). Improving attitudes toward reading. (Master’s Theses, St.Xavier University & IRI/SkyLight). Dewitze, Peter, Dewitze, Pamela (2003). They can read the words, but they can’t understand:
Refining comprehension assessment: Comprehension problems can be difficult to detect and treat. Here are some suggestions for catching these problems and addressing students shortcomings. The Reading Teacher, 56(5),422-429. Ediger, M. (1997). Success in reading. Opinion Papers (120). Ediger, M. (2000). Appraising reading achievement. Opinion Papers, 2-11. Ehri,L.C. (1995). Phase of development in learning to read words by sight. Journal of Research in Reading, 18,116-125. Eme, E., Puustinen, M., & Coutelet, B., (2006). Individual and developmental differences in reading monitoring: When and how do children evaluate their comprehension? European Journal of Psychology of Education, 21(1), 91-115.
Finn,M., & Stevens, G.(1970). New directions in reading improvement for supervisors.Training and Development Journal,24 (8),22-24. Flynn, R.M. (2005) Curriculum-Based Readers Theater: Setting the stage for Reading and retention. The reading Teache, 58(4). 360-365. Fuch, D., Fuch, L., Loulee, Y., McMaster, K., Svenson, E., Young, N., er al (2001).Developing first-grade reading fluency through peer mediation. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34, 90-93. Fuch, L.S., Fuchs D.,& Hosp, M.K. ( 2001). Oral reading fluency as an indicator of reading competence: A theoretical, empirical, and historical analysis: Scientific Studies of Reading, 5(3), 239-256. Gauthier, L.R. (2001). Coop-Dis-Q: A reading comprehension strategy. Intervention in school and clinic, 36(4), 217-220. General Guidelines of Grade 1-9 Curriculum of elementary and Junior High School Education. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from http:www.moe.gov.tw. Ghaith, G. M.,& Bouzeinedding, A. R. ( 2003). Relationship between reading attitudes,achievement, and learners’ perceptions of their jigsaw cooperative learning experience. Reading Psychology, 24,105-121. Gmitrova, V., & Gmitrov, J. (2003). The impact of Teacher-Directed and Child-Directed pretend play on cognitive competence in kindergarten children.Early Childhood Education Journal, 30(4), 241-246. Grabe,W.,& Stoller,F.L. (2002). Teaching and researching reading. U.
K.: Persons Education Limited. Griffith,L. W.& Rasinski ,T. V. (2004). A focus on fluency: How one teacher incorporated fluency with her reading curriculum. Reading Teacher, 58(2),126-137. Hollingsworth, A., Sherman, J., & Zaugra, C. (2007). Increasing reading comprehension in first and second graders through cooperative learning. Illinois,United States: Saint Xavier University and Pearson Achievement Solutions, Inc.Field-Based Master’s Program. Hoyt, L. (1992). Many ways of knowing: Using drama, oral interactions, and the visual arts to enhance reading
comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 45(8).580-584. Huang, S. S. ( 2006). A study of the effects of Reader Theater on oral reading fluency and motivation to read in elementary school. Unpublished dissertation, National Taipei University, Taipei. Hudson, R. F., Lane, H.B., &Pullen, P. C.
(2005). Reading fluency assessment and instruction: What, Why, and how? The Reading Teacher, 58, 702-714. Johnson, T.D.& Louis, D.R.
(1990). Bring it all together: A program for literacy.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Kagan,S. (1995). We can talk: Cooperative learning in the ESL classroom.Washington, DC:ERIC Clearing House of Languages and Linguistics. Kelleher, M. E. (1997). Readers’ Theater and Metacognition.
The New England Reading Association Journal, 33 ,4-12. Kessler, C. (1992). Cooperative language learning: A teachers’ resource
book.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Kimmel, M., & Segel, E. (1988). For reading out aloud: A guide to sharing book with children.
New York: Delacorte. Kinniburgh, L.,& Shaw, E. (2007). Building reading fluency in elementary science through Readers’ Theater. Science Activities: Classroom Projects and Curriculum Ideas, 44(1),16-20. Koskinen, P. & Blum, I. (1986). Paired Repeated Reading: A Classroom Strategy for Developing Fluent Reading. The reading Teacher, 40, 70-75. Kozub, R. (2000). Reader’s Theater and Its Affect on Oral Language
Fluency.Retrieved January 25, 2008 from http://www.readingonline.org. Kuhn, M.R.,& Stahl, S.A. (2003). Fluency: A review of development and remedial practices. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(1), 3-21. Martha(1995)The Use of Readers Theater in the EFL Curriculum. Retrieved February 10, 2008 from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICPortal/recordDetail/. Martinez, M., Roser, N. L., & Strecker, S. (1998).” I never thought I could be a star”:A reader’s theater ticket to fluency. Reading Teacher, 52(4), 326-334. Miller, D. (2002). Reading with meaning. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers. Moore-Hart, M., Karabenick, S.A. (2000). Becoming Successful Readers: A Volunteer Tutoring Program for Culturally Diverse Students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New Orleans, LA, April (24-28).
National Center for Education Statistics (1996). National assessment of educational progress facts: Listening to children read aloud: Oral fluency.
1(1) (Publication No. NCES 95-765). Retrieved April 4, 2007 from [online].Available: http//nces.ed.gov/pubs95/web/95762.asp. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implication for reading instruction (NIH Publication No.00-4769).Washington, DC: U.S.Government Printing Office. National Research Council (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health. Neumann, V.S., Ross, D.K., Slaboch, A.F. (2008). Increasing reading comprehension of elementary students through fluency-based interventions. Online submission. O’ Donnell, A.M., &O’Kelly, J. (1994). Learning from peers:
Beyond the rhetoric of positive results. Educational Psychology Review, 6(4), 321-349. Porter, S.M. (1995). Effects of a read-aloud program on Reading Attitudes of elementary children. Master thesis. Rasinski, T.V., (2000). Speed does matter in Reading. The Reading Teacher, 54(2),146-151. Rasinski,T.V., Padak, N., Linek,W.L., & Sturtevant, E.(1994). Effects of Fluency development on urban second-grade readers.
Journal of Educational Research, 87,158-165. Rasinski, T. V. (2004). Assessing Reading Fluency. Retrieved February 26, 2008 from
http://www.prel.org/products/re_/assessing-fluency.htm. Rasinski, T. (2006). Reading fluency instruction: Moving beyond accuracy,automaticity, and prosody. The Reading Teacher, 59(7), 704-706. Richard, M. (2000). Be a good detective: Solve the case of oral reading fluency. The Reading Teacher, 53(7), 534-539. Rinehart, S.D. (1999). “Don’t think for a minute that I’m getting up there”:opportunities for reader theaters’
Theater in a tutorial for children with reading problems. Journal of Reading Psychology, 20, 71-89. Samuels, S.J. (1997). The method of repeated reading. The Reading Teacher, 50,376-381. Schirrmacher, R. (2009). Child-centered art vs. Teacher-directed projects. Retrieved May 20,2009, from http://www.communityplaything.com/resources/articles/ArtwithChildren/chilldcenteredart.html. Shaaban, K. ( 2006). An initial study of the effects of cooperative learning on reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation to read. Reading Psychology, 27, 377-403.
Share, D.L.,&Stanovich, K.E.(1995). Cognitive processes in early reading development: Accommodating individual differences into a model of acquisition-Issues in education. Contributions from Educational Psychology, 9,203-211. Shepard, A. (1993). Stories on stage. New York: H.W.
Wilson. Simplicio, J. (2003). Effectively utilizing group reading strategies to enhance comprehension. Reading Improvement, 40 (3), 110-112.
Slavin, R.E. (1991). Synthesis of research on cooperative learning. Educational Leadership, 48,71-82. Slavin, R, E. (1995). Cooperative learning.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Swanson, C.C. (1988). Reading and Writing Readers’ Theater Scripts. Australian Reading Association, Adelaide.
Therrien, W.J. (2004). Fluency and comprehension Gains as a result of Repeated Reading: A meta-Analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 25.
Topping, K. (1987). Paired reading: A powerful technique for parents use. The Reading Teacher, 40, 608-614. Toria, G. A. & Graham, S. (2002).
The effectiveness of a highly explicit,Teacher-Directed strategy instruction routine: Changing the writing performance of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(4), 209-305. Trelease, J. (1989). The new read-aloud handbook: New York:Penguin Group. Tyler, B., & Chard, D.J. (2000). Using Readers Theatre to foster fluency in struggling readers: A twist on the repeated reading strategy. Reading and Writing Quartly,16,163-168. Wagner, B.J.(1991). Imaginative expression. In J. Flodd,J.M.Jensen, D.Lapp,&J.R.Squire (EDs.). Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (pp.787-804). New York: Macmillan. Walker, L. (2005). Reader Theater in the Classroom. (Chinese translation by East&West Book) Wolf, S. A. (1993). What’s in a name? Labels and Literacy in Readers Theatre. The Reading Teacher, 46(7), 540-545. Worthy, J. & Prater, K. (2002). “I thought about it all night”: Reader Theatre for reading fluency and motivation. The Reading Teacher, 56(3), 294-297. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Yang, Y. L. (2006). A study of oral reading fluency: the implementation of readers Theater in an EFL elementary school. Unpublished dissertation, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-I. Young, T. A. & Vardell, S.
(1993). Weaving Readers Theatre and nonfiction into the curriculum. The Reading Teacher, 46 (5), 396-406.
