A Study on English Teachers’ Beliefs towards Reading Activities and the Practice of Reading Activities in the Elementary Schools

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(1)A Study on English Teachers’ Beliefs towards Reading Activities and the Practice of Reading Activities in the Elementary Schools 國小英語教師對實行英語閱讀活動之信念以及英語閱讀活動實行現況之研究 Wei-Lin Liang Hsin-Hsin Yang National Pingtung University of Education. Abstract Studies on English teachers’ beliefs towards reading instructions and reading activities in a class and a school context have been conducted by several researchers in Taiwan (Hsieh, 2002; Hou, 2006; Kao, 2008; Lee, 2003; Liao, 2004; Liang, 2005; Wu, 2002; Yen, 2003). With the same trend, this study aims to discover elementary school English teachers’ beliefs, the practice of reading activities, and the impeding factors influencing the practice in the schools. The two instruments were a questionnaire and interview which were undertaken to 30 elementary school English teachers in Kaohsiung and Pingtung as subjects. The results revealed that, firstly, English teachers had positive beliefs on the practice of reading activities and curriculum guidelines. Meanwhile, they mentioned that how to use resources and being equipped professional knowledge of English reading were in a great need to them. Secondly, the impeding factors, including students’ proficiency, time limitation, and student numbers in a class, were taken importantly and should be improved, as suggested. Based on the results of the present study, four suggestions were put forward. First, grouping students in English classes can reduce teachers’ burden in selecting suitable reading materials for young readers. Second, extending the English class time can offer teachers enough time to do reading activities. Third, the government can buy the books for the schools or edit the reading materials suitable to Taiwanese students. Last, English teachers can work together to share ideas and exchange collected resources at workshops or study groups. Key Words: beliefs, reading activities. 91.

(2) Introduction In Taiwan the Grade 1-9 English Curriculum guidelines on students’ English learning at the elementary school stage emphases listening and speaking skills, then with the supplementary skills, reading and writing. The focus shifts to equally cover four skills at junior high school stage (MOE, 2006). In reality, English education at junior high schools puts more emphasis on reading skills because of test-oriented atmosphere. Students have to read more while taking the tests which are different from the assessments in elementary schools which mainly focus on listening and speaking. This change of the emphases may depress students in their learning confidence and also their efficiency in English learning because it was hard to catch up (Chang, 2006). Researchers also argued that reading should not be isolated or marginalized from English learning in Taiwan (Huang, 2005; Jan, 2001; Su, 2001). Hence, the issue about less emphasis on students’ reading competence has been discussed. Huang (2005) suggested that reading should begin when students have learned phonics rules in elementary schools instead of starting from junior high school. It is because the results showed the reading practice could be carried out in elementary schools. Jan (2001) also put forward the implementation of reading activities, such as read aloud, role play, and so on, but not much on writing drills elementary schools. In his point of view, not only English teachers but the government and parents play important roles in students’ reading practice. There have been studies which used different reading activities to improve children’s literacy and enhance language learners’ learning motivation and language ability, such as picture books, reader’s theater, and so forth. The results showed positive effects of these varied activities on learners’ reading motivation or reading abilities in terms of vocabulary size and reading fluency (Chang, 2007; Chung, 2008; Dlugosz, 2000; Hou, 2006; Hung & Tsou, 2008; Iwahori, 2008; Krashen, 1989; Liang, 2005; Pigada& Schmitt, 2006). Eventually, elementary schools in Taiwan did implement these reading activities in the curriculum. However, the guidelines or policies from Minister of Education concerning those activities and related evaluation systems are neither clear nor specific. Accordingly, the present study will investigate the practice of reading activities and the factors which influence its implementation in elementary schools. One of the issues regarding English reading is concerned with teachers’ beliefs. A person’s beliefs might influence individual’s behaviors, thinking process, and so on (Pajares, 1992). Thus, teachers’ beliefs and practices in classroom correspond to each other. What they believe would affect how they instruct in the classrooms. The real happenings in the classrooms would also change teachers’ beliefs to fit in with the reality. Studies on teachers’ beliefs have contributed useful information to in-service 92.

(3) teachers, pre-service teachers, related administrators, and also policy-makers (Butler, Powers & Zippay, 2006; Duffy & Anderson, 1984; Kuo, 2007; Lenski, Wham & Griffey, 1997). Teachers can attend workshops for developing their profession according to their needs after realizing their deficiency in certain areas through the investigation of teachers’ beliefs. The survey of the teachers’ beliefs also makes policy-makers know what exactly happen in the real school context. By referring to that, they can improve or amend the policies to be much appropriate with clear guidelines. In Taiwan, several studies about the implementation of reading activities were conducted in a class or a school context. Researchers favored the effect of those activities on English learning but few of them concerned the practice in elementary schools. Investigating the implementation in several schools will be a start to promote the reading activities in elementary schools. According to the survey, the pros and cons of the practice can be a reference for the other schools who would like to execute reading activities in their schools. In the elementary school, the executants of the reading activities are supposed to be the English teachers because the principals and deans in elementary schools generally possessed less English teaching competence (Cheng, 2002). Therefore, the survey on English teachers’ beliefs towards the practice of reading activities can present their willing to hold reading activities in their schools, and also understand the difficulties in promoting the activities in the school. The main purposes of the present study are first to investigate English teachers’ beliefs towards reading activities and also the implementation in the elementary schools. Investigating teachers’ beliefs will give a framework of present teachers’ beliefs towards reading activities in terms of its effects, perspectives on policy and curriculum guidelines, and the resource for reading activities. Secondly, this study will summarize the implementation of reading activities and figure out the possible factors which influence the execution in the elementary schools. Third, the researcher will give some suggestions to the present practice of reading activities in elementary school. The policy makers or related educators can take the results as a reference to implement reading activities in elementary school. This study is intended to answer the following research questions. 1. What are elementary school English teachers’ beliefs towards reading activities in the school in terms of the effects, the perspectives on reading policy and curriculum guidelines, and resources? 2. What have been done so far in the practice of English reading activities in the elementary schools? 3. What are the factors, if any, influencing the practice of English reading activities in the elementary schools? 93.

(4) Literature Review In language learning, reading plays a substantial role to learners (Nuttall, 2005). Reading provides a steady and reachable resource for language learners (Day& Bamford, 1998). While learners have left the school, reading skills and reading habits are beneficial to sustain language learning. Others also suggested that reading facilitate language learning development in terms of motivation, vocabulary, grammar competence (Dlugosz, 2000; Krashen, 1989; Yen, 2003). In the lights of the research, more studies on reading in language learning will be discussed in the following sections. Significance of reading for children’s literacy Reading is an interesting and simple way for children to establish their literacy competence. During the process of reading, children not only have chances to have language input but also extend their scope about the world (Harrison, 2004; Lee, 2003; Yen, 2003). The exposure in rich print environments can increase learners’ language proficiency including vocabulary size, grammatical competence, learners’ awareness of the rules and the use of language and speech (Dlugosz, 2000; Krashen, 1989; Vygotsky, 1986). Dlugosz (2000) conducted a pilot study to examine the effects of teaching kindergarten children to read on their speaking and understanding the foreign language. The children in the experimental group accepted listening and reading input and the control group only accepted listening input. The results showed the positive effect of teaching reading on children’s speaking and understanding. Several factors could explain the results and the beneficial role of reading in foreign language learning. First, the exposure in both aural and visual input can increase children’s memory. Second, children learned the language through sentences instead of single words in the text would develop their listening comprehension and language production skills. Last but not the least, children’s motivation to read also contributed to the success of learning foreign language. This study indicated children’s language proficiency and language skills could be enhanced through this simple, steady and reachable way. The exposure to the print word was important to young learners’ language learning. Dorothy Strickland mentioned that “Children who are immersed in activities that combine active experiences, rich conversations and print-related activities are apt to develop the foundational skills required to become successful readers and writers” (as cited in Miller, 2010, vii). In her point of view, children fully involved in the activities with rich exposure to the target language may enhance their language development. In the past, a number of studies suggested that children’s language abilities were developed by applying different reading programs or activities in classroom (Grabe, 94.

(5) 1991). In Burlew, Gordon, Holst, Smith, Ward, and Wheeler’s (2000) study, they favored that a library in class, a librarian’s and a teacher’s modeling reading, and reader’s theater could increase learners’ motivation in reading. An organized classroom library with abundant books could motivate students to pick up a book from the classroom and school library during their free time. The modeling reading of school librarians and teachers were also essential to students’ reading interest. They could give suggestions to children while they were selecting a book or read aloud some books for them to facilitate their understanding about reading materials and reading behaviors. Miller (2010) suggested that read-aloud was the best way to instruct a young learner become an independent learner. Teachers could spend at least five to six minutes at the beginning of a day or before or after lunchtime to read aloud part of a story to children. Reader’s Theater was also suggested as a chance for children to interact with the books. This activity could increase children’s reading enjoyment because they could act out their favorite selections. Also, several studies suggested the benefits of extensive reading program to learners’ reading fluency and vocabulary knowledge. Through reading numerous reading materials, such as graded readers, readers’ interests, learners’ vocabulary knowledge in terms of spelling, word recognition, and reading rate were enhanced (Iwahori, 2008; Pigada & Schmitt, 2006). In conclusion, the exposure to the print-rich environment is favorable to children’s language learning. Moreover, children fully involved in the activities which integrate active experiences, rich conversations and print-related activities may learn fundamental skills to become a successful reader. Nuttall (2005) suggested the aims to a reading lesson were enable students to read enjoyable, to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts, to read at appropriate speed, to read silently, and to read with adequate understanding. To attain these aims, applying various activities in reading lesson is necessary. According to the results of related studies, the decoration of the classroom and practicing different reading activities which applied in children language learning could increase their learning motivation and also language proficiency (Burlew, et al., 2000; Iwahori, 2008; Miller, 2010; Pigada & Schmitt, 2006). Studies on English reading in Taiwan Numerous researchers have done studies on the effects of various reading approaches in developing language proficiency and reading ability. In Taiwan, several researchers have conducted studies to investigate the effects of different English reading approaches on language learners. The results of these studies have paved the way for the present implementation of reading activities. 95.

(6) Huang (2005) was aware of the deficiency of English reading education in Taiwan so she conducted a four-year longitudinal research about teaching children literature in a group of children with diverse ages. The study showed elementary school children could read authentic texts, enjoy reading, and also become independent readers after the step-by-step training. There were also studies applied different reading approaches or programs and investigate the effects on learners reading ability, reading motivation, and language proficiency. In Hou’s (2006) study, the influence of an English reading program implementation through an English Mini-Library on students’ reading motivation and behavior was positive. The program consisted of “Book Leveling”, the “We Love Reading” TV Program, “Read, Collect Points and Earn Rewards”, “Self-Learning with CDs” and “Reading Billboard”. Students’ extrinsic motivation was triggered by the rewarding system and the recognition of reading behaviors. Their intrinsic motivation was not obvious but was progressed by building up their confidence in English reading ability through reading large amount of simplified readers. Small-group shared reading also had positive effect on students’ reading comprehension and English reading interests (Liang, 2005). Researchers also implemented shared reading with graded books in elementary school classrooms. The results of their studies indicated that students’ reading fluency, ability of word and sentence recognition, and reading comprehension were significantly improved (Hung & Tsou, 2008). Chuang (2008) implemented extensive reading program through reading graded readers, discussing in groups, writing and reporting reading journals in an elementary school. The results favored that intermediate-proficiency level students’ vocabulary learning was enhanced. Students’ reading attitudes were also better than they used to be. In the light of previous studies, applying reading activities to Taiwanese children is possible and workable. However, most of those activities used to implement in classroom or to a small group of learners, rarely of them apply to students in a school. Recently, more elementary schools have been aware of the importance of reading in English learning, and held more reading activities in their schools. Numerous activities have been practiced as a competition or a program at school. Take an elementary school in Taipei as an example, the school has English library which was donated by the parents, read aloud competition, story-telling competition, and dramas competition, shared reading, reading picture books, English reading passport program, and so on. However, not all of the schools implement these useful and valuable activities in children’s English learning. In the present study, the researcher intends to investigate the practice in elementary schools through the mailed questionnaires and interviews of elementary school English teachers 96.

(7) Teachers’ beliefs and practices A belief is a proposition that an individual consciously or unconsciously accepted as true, and it is a guide to his or her thought and behavior. Teachers’ beliefs play an important role in teachers’ teaching (Borg, 2001). As a result, teachers’ beliefs influence the practices in classroom. The investigation of teachers’ beliefs also could present the shortage of teachers’ profession in certain domain and the difficulties they faced while teaching (Kao, 2008; Kuo, 2007). Therefore, the results of research about teachers’ beliefs are referable to policy makers, or administrators of school when they want to promote educational issues in the schools (Farrell & Kun, 2007). Teachers’ beliefs Beliefs were instrumental to an individual’s decision-making process. They played a crucial role in a person’s behavior and the organization of knowledge and information. And, teachers’ beliefs referred to teachers’ intention toward students, learning process, schools’ role in the society, teachers’ role, curriculum, and teaching approaches (Pajares, 1992). Hsieh (2002) studied indicated that teachers’ demographic background, educational background, career background had significant effects on teachers’ beliefs about EFL learning. And, the factors influenced the beliefs system including individual’s learning experiences, public opinions and examples of other people, motivation of EFL learning, and knowledge of educational theory. To sum up, teachers’ backgrounds, surrounding environments, and attitudes toward teaching and learning are influential factors in constructing teachers’ beliefs system. To know the implementation of an educational issue, investigation of teachers’ beliefs can provide valuable information because these responses will reflect the influence of the real teaching situation in school. Teachers’ beliefs and practices in class Several studies suggested that teachers’ beliefs would influence their teaching instructions in classroom. In Kuo’s (2007) study, most of the elements investigated in the study were consistent but only on teacher’s role. The incongruity might be associated with the culture of the school. Regarding the congruence between beliefs and practices, Lenski, Wham and Griffey (1997) presented three factors that account for the incongruence, including the influence of teacher training, the limitation of the policy, lack of professional progression and administrative support. Duffy & Anderson (1984) also suggested that the real condition in class, teaching context, and the limitation of the textbooks or teaching materials define the misalignment between beliefs and practices. In Butler, Powers & Zippay’s (2006) study, the conclusions, which were similar to the previous studies, indicated that classroom management, environment issues, requirements and 97.

(8) limitations of school and district policies result in the inconsistence between beliefs and practices. Although teachers’ beliefs can not be a predictor to their practices, the investigation of beliefs is still worth to be done. Farrell & Kun (2007) conducted a case study to investigate the impact of language policy on teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices. Although policy would be an influential factor to teachers’ beliefs (Butler et al., 2006; Wham & Griffey, 1997), they figured out that teachers followed their own beliefs to implement the policy, even their thoughts were in conflict with the government. Accordingly, it was suggested that policy makers should consult with teachers, and provide teachers with a clear guidelines to follow. The effects between teachers’ beliefs and practices were corresponding to each other. Teachers’ beliefs not only influenced the practices in the classroom but also influenced by other factors. Exploration of teachers’ beliefs can provide a sketch of the classroom situation and also the surrounding factors which may influence beliefs and also practices. English teachers’ beliefs towards reading Regarding teachers’ beliefs towards reading, Wu (2002) conducted a study to examine the relationship between high school pre-service teachers’ theoretical orientation and the practices in the classroom through a questionnaire, an ideal lesson plan choosing task, interview, and classroom observation. The findings indicated that the teachers’ beliefs towards reading instruction were incongruent to the practices. The researcher suggested that external factors, including time, the mentors, exams, students’ proficiency, number, preference for teachers, and school equipment and so on, mediated the teachers’ attempts to comply with their implicit beliefs. According to Liao’s (2004) investigation, most elementary school English teachers had consensus on the emphasis of beginning English reading programs. However, the result of teachers’ beliefs on instruction was inconsistent with their practices. The lack of proficiency in teaching instruction and the deficiency of reading materials were the reasons. Furthermore, the study also concluded that diverse English proficiency between students and the large number of students in a class were impeding factors to implement beginning English reading instructions in classroom. According to these two studies, several factors resulted in the inconsistency between teachers’ beliefs and their practices. Teachers’ proficiency and the environment were variables which mainly influenced the results.. 98.

(9) Methodology The subjects of the present study are 30 English teachers in 6 elementary schools in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. The questionnaires were mailed to these teachers and two of English teachers in different schools were interviewed by the researcher. Teacher A is a female who has taught English for four years, and now she is a full-time English teacher in the elementary school. And teacher B is a female who has taught English for ten years, and now she is a full-time English teacher in the school. This study employed two instruments: a questionnaire and an interview. The questionnaire (see Appendix 1) was designed according to Liao’s (2004) questionnaire and the purposes of the present study. The first section of the questionnaire is teacher’s background. The second section was used to investigate teachers’ beliefs towards reading activities, their perspectives on English reading policy and reading competence indicators in Grade 1-9 English Curriculum guidelines, and the resource of implementing reading activities. The third section was the survey on the execution of reading activities in the elementary schools, including when and who held the activities and what activities was done in the schools so far. And also, the factors influencing the practice of reading activities were included in this section. The interview (See Appendix 2) was employed as an instrument to support the statistical results. The questions of the interview were used to reveal the practice of reading activities in schools in depth, including the execution of reading activities, the factors influencing the implementation of reading activities, and the resource of reading materials. The questionnaires were mailed to 30 English teachers, and then the results of the questionnaire were analyzed through the statistics system. Then, based on the results of questionnaire, the researcher interviewed two interviews to collect the data in depth. The data of the interview was used to support the findings of the questionnaire.. Data analysis The results of the questionnaires are presented in Table 1 which shows teachers’ beliefs in the practice of English reading activities in terms of perspectives on reading policy and curriculum guidelines, the implementation, and resources. Regarding English teachers’ beliefs towards the English Curriculum guidelines and also the profits of clear English reading policy, Item 3 and 4 showed that 66.7 percent of teachers agree and 30 percent of them strongly agreed that clear English reading policy can improve the implementation of reading instructions or activities. And, over half of teachers concurred with the reading competence indicators in curriculum guidelines are sufficient to elementary students’ English learning. With regard to English teachers’ recognition of reading competence indicators in guidelines, 99.

(10) Item 13 to Item 20 presented that over 70 percent of teachers agree that students should equip those English reading competence at elementary stage. According to Item 6, more than 70 percent teachers agreed the implementation of reading activates in classroom is necessary. All of them agreed the reading practice and the print-rich can benefit students’ English learning (Item 7 to Item 9). In relation to resources and information of teaching English reading, 53.3 percent of teachers disagreed that the amount of English book collection or the resource on the internet are adequate for reading activities. According to the Teacher A’s interview, she mentioned that the lack of English books for shared-reading caused the difficulty. Without enough books for all the students, the presentation of the books to students was challenged. Furthermore, the levels of the books were not clearly graded was the Table 1 Results of the questionnaires Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25. Strongly Agree 3.3% 3.3% 3.3% 30% 16.7% 23.3% 26.7% 33.3% 23.3% 23.3% 23.3% 26.7% 23.3% 30% 23.3% 36.7% 23.3% 30% 13.3% 6.7% 3.3% 23.3% 30.3% 23.3%. Agree. Disagree. 76.7% 46.7% 53.3% 66.7% 40% 70% 73.3% 66.7% 76.7% 56.7% 63.3% 70% 70% 70% 66.7% 63.3% 76.7% 66.7% 83.3% 40% 40% 73.3% 56.7% 70% 100. 20% 50% 36.7% 3.3% 40% 6.7% 0% 0% 0% 20% 13.3% 3.3% 6.7% 0% 6.7% 0% 0% 3.3% 0% 43.3% 53.3% 3.3% 0% 6.7%. Strongly Disagree 0% 0% 3.3% 0% 3.3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 3.3% 0% 0% 0% 3.3% 10% 3.3% 0% 0% 0%. Standard Deviation 0.46 0.57 1.35 0.52 0.79 0.53 0.45 0.48 0.43 0.67 0.61 0.50 0.53 0.47 0.66 0.49 0.43 0.52 0.52 0.77 0.63 0.48 2.58 0.53.

(11) problem. Without the clear levels, it was not easy to encourage students to read the books themselves. For the content of the textbook, 56.6 percent of teachers believed that it is not an ample source for reading instruction. In Teacher A and Teacher B’s interview, they did not agree with the result. They mentioned some versions of textbooks provide the fairy tales or stories instead of the dialogues which were sufficient for teachers to do reading activities. For the information and knowledge of teaching reading, most of teachers thought that the government should provide more information or opportunities for teachers to acquire the knowledge of teaching reading (Item 22 and Item 23). There are 93.3% of teachers regarded workshops or conference about English reading as a chance to acquire knowledge about teaching and practice. Table 2 Factors that influence the reading practice Factors. Numbers. Large number of students in a class The discrepancy between students’ language ability Administrators can not assist English teachers can not assist Parents can not assist The preparation of the activities is time consuming The deficient in numbers of books No professional support, such as the support of government or English instructional supervision group No sufficient budget for No time to implement No models of reading activities for teachers to follow. 18 26 5 2 5 5 9 12 5 21 4. Note: Total is 30 English teachers. As for the implementation of activities, most of them were held in these schools except English reading group and English reading feedback competition. Teacher B also noted that the school presented a sentence which is frequently used in daily life to all the students once a week. Moreover, the school recruited one or two students to read the story to whole school in lunchtime. The introduction of the story increased students’ interests to borrow and read the books. In the schools, English teachers were the main staffs to implement reading activities and instructions. And the time to practice reading activities were in English classes, morning time, English day, and also the class time of homeroom teacher. Regarding the difficulties of implementing reading activities, the discrepancy between students’ language ability was the one that most teachers selected (See Table 2). Then, time limitation and excessive student numbers in class are two crucial factors to cause the reading difficulty. Teacher A and Teacher B both agreed that students’ proficiency was a problem to do reading 101.

(12) activities, the solutions they suggested were grouping students according to their proficiency, and did the remedial teaching to the low achievers. Furthermore, Teacher A noted that the school-based curriculum influenced the administration support from the school. If English is not the main feature of the school-based curriculum, then the school would rather practice other activities, such as Chinese reading activities, but not English reading activities.. Discussion In this section, two findings of the present study are discussed. The first finding of the study is that English teachers have positive beliefs on the design of English curriculum guidelines, and the profits of implementing reading activities on students’ language learning. Teachers’ positive perspectives on guidelines are supposed to influence the practice of reading activities in the classroom and the school (Butler et al., 2006; Duffy & Anderson, 1984; Lenski et al., 1997). English teachers held positive beliefs towards the effects of reading on students’ English learning. Most teachers agree that reading activities can promote students’ English proficiency, enhance their understanding on diverse culture, and also the reading motivation. While teachers believe the benefits of reading activities, they might be willing to popularize the reading practice in their class and support the practice in the school. The second finding is the factors influence the reading practice in class and the school. English teachers indicate that the discrepancy between the students’ proficiency, time limitation, and the large number of students in a class are the main factors influence the reading practice. The results correspond to Liao (2004) and Wu (2002)’s studies. Furthermore, the present study also revealed that the lack of resources, the support by others, and the school-based curriculums are also impeding factors which influence the reading practice. English teachers believe that the government is supposed to provide more information about teaching reading and more opportunities for teachers to acquire new knowledge. According to the findings, English teachers in elementary school have positive faith in reading practice but the lack of the support and the resource impede the implementation in school or classroom. The government seems to play an important role in mending the policy and holding the progression workshops or conference to improve the practice of English reading activities in elementary school. There are few suggestions to solve the difficulties in teaching and promoting reading. First, the students can be grouped according to their English proficiency in English class. In this way, teachers can select authentic reading materials for students. Second, the time of English course must be extended instead of two times a week, and then teachers will have enough time to do reading practice or other related activities. As for resources, the third suggestion is the government can purchase books for schools or edit 102.

(13) reading materials which are suitable for Taiwanese students. Furthermore, English teachers can cooperate with each other to collect teaching approaches and reading resources, and then they can share with others in workshops or study groups. The present study shows that these schools have already done several reading activities in classroom and the school, and also most English teachers hold positive beliefs towards the reading activities in elementary school, however; the factors influencing the practice do exit and need to be solve. In the future, more surveys about the reading needs to be carried out to understand the English reading practice in elementary schools.. Conclusion English education in elementary school has been carried for ten years. The emphasis on English reading instruction is gradually increased. Teachers and researchers promoted different activities and instructions to improve students’ English reading skills and language learning motivation in elementary schools (Hou, 2006; Lee, 2003; Liang, 2005). In the study, elementary school English teachers have positive beliefs towards the practice of the reading activities, and their schools implement several reading activities to promote students’ reading motivation and ability. However, some impeding factors influence the promotion of reading activities, including the discrepancy between students’ proficiency, the lack of official supports, and also inadequate resources for implementing reading activities. With the thorough support from the government, the difficulties influencing the practice of reading activities can be overcame. Holding workshops about English reading teaching can equip teachers with novel ideas about English reading. And delivering abundant resource to school, such as graded English books, can enhance the practice of reading activities in the schools. The results of the present study present the beliefs of 30 English teachers and the practice in 6 schools. In the future, the scope of the research can be extended, and the results can be a reference for English teachers or educators who attempt to implement the reading activities in their classes or schools. Furthermore, the policy makers can amend the policies or distribute resources by referring to the suggestions driven from the larger scale survey on the practice of English reading activities in Taiwan.. 103.

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(16) 黃惠雅(Huang, H. Y.)(2005)。「韋伯，不要光是站在那裡呀！」臺灣兒童英語閱讀教育部應再等待。兒童文學學刊，13，213-240。洪瑄和鄒文莉(Hung and Tsou)(2008)。分享閱讀搭配分級繪本在英語教學上之應用。教育研究與發展期刊，4(2)，119-144。教育部(Ministry of Education)(2006)。國民中小學九年一貫課程綱要-語文學習領域。教育部。詹偉佳(Jan, W. J.) (2001)。閱讀活動在國小英語教學的應用。教育資料與研究， 38，8-11。張武昌(Chang, W. C.) (2006)。台灣英語教育：現況與省思。教育資料與研究， 69， 129-144。蘇復興(Su, F. H.) (2001)。國小英語教學不宜偏廢讀寫訓練。第十八屆中華民國英語文教學研討會論文集(197-204 頁)。臺北市：文鶴出版社。. Appendix 1 English Reading Activities Questionnaire Dear all, The purpose of the questionnaire is to investigate the practice of English reading activities in elementary schools. The content consists of two sections. The first part is personal background, and the second and third parts are the main of the questionnaire. Please tick off the item based on the real situation in the school. The information you provide is confidential and anonymous. The results of the questionnaire are only for this research. Grateful for your assist to this research. National Pingtung University of Education Advisor: Hsin-Hsin Yang Student: Wei-Lin Liang 2009.11 First part: Background (Please tick off the item according to your background.) 1. Your position is □ Full-time English teacher □ English teacher and also teaches other subjects □ Homeroom teacher and also English teacher □ Part-time English teacher 2. Graduate from □ English-related department □ Education-related department □ Others . 3. English teaching experience: □ Under two years □ Two to five years □ Five to ten years □ Above ten years 4. Location of the school □ Common area □ Remote area. 106.

(17) 5. Educational background: □ Above graduate school □ Graduate from University of Education □ University □ Elementary school English teachers Training Program □ Study abroad 6. School size: □ 13 to 36 classes □ below 37 classes 7. English courses for students each week: Fifth to Sixth graders □ Once a week □ Twice a week □ Three times a week □ Four times a week □ Others Third to Fourth graders□ Once a week □ Twice a week □ Three times a week □Four times a week □ Others First to Second graders□ Once a week □ Twice a week □ Three times a week □ Four times a week □ Others Second Part: Please tick off the item based on your understanding towards English reading. (The students mention in this questionnaire is elementary school students.) Strongly Agree Disagree Agree 1. MOE implement reading activities can enhance the development of students’ □ reading ability. 2. The implementation of reading activities in my city can increase students’ reading ability. 3. Competence indicator of reading in Grade 1-9 English Curriculum guidelines is sufficient to students’ language learning. 4. A clear reading policy can improve the implementation of reading activities and instructions. 5. Reading needs to be improved in four skills first. 6. Apply reading activities or instructions in class are necessary. 7. Apply reading activities or instructions can improve students’ English proficiency.. 107. Strongly Disagree. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □.

(18) Strongly Agree Agree 8. Apply reading activities or instructions can increase students’ understanding of □ multi-culture. 9. Create a print-rich environment in class or school can increase students’ reading □ motivation. 10. Encourage students join reading activities or competitions can enhance their English □ proficiency. 11. According to English learning tendency, the implementation of reading activities or □ instructions is needed.. Disagree. Strongly Disagree. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. 12. Please write down your understanding and suggestions towards Taiwan English reading education. 13. English education in elementary school should teach students to distinguish alphabets in class. 14. English education in elementary school should teach students phonics in class. 15. English education in elementary school should teach students to common words which are frequently used. 16. English education in elementary school should teach students English writing format. 17. English education in elementary school should teach students simple English words on the signs. 18. English education in elementary school should teach students to read aloud the dialogues or stories in the textbook correctly with teacher or CD. 19. English education in elementary school should teach students to read and understand the simplified stories or short dramas with the aids of pictures or other 108. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □.

(19) □. visual aids, or contextual clues.. 20. English education in elementary school should teach students to be able to predict or inference the content through the aids of pictures or topic of the books. 21. Implementation of reading activities is practicable according to the resource of the society, such as libraries or internet. 22. The reading materials in the textbooks are sufficient to implement reading activities. 23. I think government should offer more information about English reading teaching. 24. I think government should provide more channels for teachers to develop knowledge of teaching English reading. 25. I think attending the English reading conference or workshops could improve teachers’ knowledge about reading teaching and practice.. □. □. □. Strongly Agree Agree. Disagree. Strongly Disagree. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. □. This section would like to understand the implementation of reading activities in the school you taught from 2001-2009. Please tick off the items based on the real situation. 26. Does the school implement English reading activities? □ Yes □ No 27. What are reading activities implement in the school? □ English reading group □ Purchase English books □ English reading feedback competition □ □ □ □ □ □ □. English reading time English decoration English reading corner Reader’s theater English reading passport program Extensive reading Establish English reading website 109.

(20) □ □ □ □. Integrate reading activities into English class Read aloud textbook or other English books Recommended booklist Others. 28. Time to implement reading activities. (You can choose more than one answer) □ During English class □ Others 29. The members to implement reading activities in school. (You can choose more than one answer) □ Leader of teaching group □ Administrators □ English teachers □ Parents or volunteers □ Others 30. The reasons can not effectively implement reading activities in classroom and school. (You can choose more than one answer) □ large number of students in a class □ the discrepancy between students’ language ability □ administrators can not assist □ English teachers can not assist □ parents can not assist □ the preparation of the activities is time consuming □ the deficient in numbers of books □ no professional support, such as the support of government or English instructional supervision group □ no sufficient budget □ no time to implement □ no models of reading activities for teachers to follow The end. Appendix 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.. Interview What is the role of reading in elementary English education? How is the implementation of the reading activities in the school? Who are the initiators of the reading activities? According to your observation, what are English teachers’ attitudes towards the practice of reading activities? What are the factors that influence the practices of reading activities in the school? 110.

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