Abstract

 

The present study was conducted to compare the learners’ comprehension ability before and after the implementation of a pre-reading activity that is giving a short summary before reading the passage. The research participants consisted of 40 intermediate EFL students studying at Safir language institute in Lahijan, Iran. A test of reading comprehension ability (OPT) was administered of which the scores were used to assign the subjects into 2 homogeneous groups. Both groups had subjects with the same language ability. The 2 subject groups were taught the same reading passages as treatments, with the difference that one group was given a summary before the passages and the other group without any summary before the passages. The research instrument consisted of 16 lesson plans, two reading comprehension tests (used as pre- and post-tests). The experiment of summary giving as a pre-reading activity was carried out for eight weeks totaling 16 periods. The data was analyzed statistically to identify means, standard deviation, and t-value.

It was found that after implementation of summary giving as a pre-reading activity the subjects of the experimental group performed better in the post-test. When compared the results of the 2 groups, it was found that the group receiving summary before passage outperformed their counterpart who experienced reading without any preparation.

Also it was found that gender has not any notable effect on reading comprehension ability.

 

Key words:

Summary giving, pre-reading activity, EFL students, reading comprehension ability, schema.

 

 

 

Table of Content

Subject                                                                                                             Page

Chapter One: Introduction . . … 1

1.0. Introduction . . . . . 1

1.1. Theoretical Framework .. .. . . . 3

1.2. Statement of the Problem . . .. 6

1.3. Significance of the Study .. .. 7

1.4. Purpose of the Study . .. .. . . 9

1.5. Research Questions . . . 10

1.6. Hypotheses of the Study . . . . 10

1.7. Definitions of Key terms . . ….. 10

 

Chapter Two: Review of Literature . . 12

2.0. Introduction … . .. . 12

2.1. Review of Theoretical Literature … . .. 13

2.1.1. The Definition of Reading . 13

2.1.2. Successful Readers .. . .. 15

2.1.3. Purpose of Reading .. . . 17

2.1.4. Reading Comprehension . .. . 21

2.1.5. Reading Strategies . . … 26

2.1.6. Pre-reading Activities …. 33

2.1.7. Schema Theory … . .. 44

2.1.7.1. Formal Schema … . . .. .. .. 50

2.1.7.2. Content Schema . . … . . .. 51

2.1.7.3. Cultural Schema . . .. . . .. 54

2.2. Review of Practical Literature .. . 61

2.3 Summary . .. . 71

 

Chapter Three: Methodology … . 72

3.0. Introduction .. …. 72

3.1. The Design of the Study . .. .. . .. 72

3.2. Selection of the Sample .. .. 73

3.3. The Instrumentation of the Study … .. . 74

3.4. Procedure .. . … 75

3.5. Methods of Analyzing Data ….. 76

 

Chapter Four: Data Analysis .. . . 77

4.0. Introduction .. 77

4.1. Data Analysis and Findings . .. 77

4.2. Results of the Hypotheses Testing .. .. 83

4.2.1. Hypothesis One .. 83

 

4.2.2. Hypothesis Two .. … 84

4.3. Summary .. . 84

 

Chapter Five: Discussion and Implication . .. 85

5.0. Introduction … . … 85

5.1. General Discussion . . .. 85

5.2. Implications of the Study . . . … 86

5.3. Limitations of the Study .. . . 88

5.4. Suggestions for Further Study . . .. … 88

 

Appendices . .. . . 90

Appendix A: Proficiency Test (Oxford Placement Test) . 90

Appendix B: Reading Comprehension Pre-test . .. 95

Appendix C: Reading Comprehension Post-test … … 99

 

References . 104

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of Figures

Subject                                                                                                     page

Figure 1: Reading processes that are activated while reading .. .. .. 22

Figure 2:  Three Reading Comprehension Processes … ….. .. . 25

Figure 3: Ajideh’s Model of Reading Approaches ….. 26

Figure 4: Classification of Strategies . .. . 27

Figure 5: K-W-L Chart …. 43

Figure 6: Schema Types . ….. 54

Figure 7: The Design of the Study . .. 73

Figure 8: Selection of the Sample .. . 74

Figure 9: The Linear Relationship between Pre-test and Post-test .. 80

 

 

 

 

                                      List of Tables

Subject                                                                                                             Page

Table 0: Learning Strategies .. .. 30

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for the Proficiency Test 78

Table 2: Number of Students Participated in Pre-test and Post-test Case 78

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for the Pre-test and Post-test .. . 79

Table 4: Levene’s Test of Equality of Error . . 81

Table 5: Test of between – subjects’ effects .. .. 81

Table 6: Mean of reading Comprehension Ability . . …. 82

Table 7: Sum of Analysis of Covariance Source- Type III Sum of Squares . 82

Table 8: Independent t-test for male and female performance in reading 83

 

 

 

 

 

                                       List of Abbreviations

 

ANalysis of COVAriance …… ANCOVA

Degree of Freedom .. .. DF

English as a Foreign Language .. .. EFL

English as a Second Language .. .. ESL

English Language Learners . .. .. ELL

F-test distribution . .. … F

Know-Want to know-Learned . …. K-W-L

Language Experience Approach …… LEA

Mean .. . M

Number (of Participants) . N

Oxford Placement Test .. .. OPT

Significance . . . Sig

Standard Deviation … . SD

Standard Error .. . . SE

Teaching English as a Foreign Language .. …. TEFL

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages .. .. TESOL

Test Of English as a Foreign Language … … TOEFL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: Introduction

 

1.0. Introduction

Since early 1980s English language has become a widespread international language due to its worldwide political and business importance. English is the formal means of communication in different parts of the world from the North America to the East Asia, and it is the language of modern technology and internet. As a result, teaching English has become a global industry.

Consequently, many companies and publishing houses have been trying hard to facilitate the way toward English language learning through printing and producing teaching aids. Different types of technologies have been dedicated to help learners master language with minimum effort and within the shortest time. For example, the smart board has made teaching much easier, and language labs help students master listening and speaking.

However, in the case of reading comprehension it is one of the most important tasks of a good teacher to make the students interested and enthusiastic to the subject. In other words, preparation and motivation toward the subject should be created by the teacher. The reason is that students are often reluctant to spend their time for reading a piece of unknown text.

Language researchers give a lot of importance to the role of the prior knowledge and its activation for the purpose of comprehending a text better. Kant (1963) claimed that new information, new concepts, new ideas can be meaningful for us only if we can relate the information to something which we already know. The relating of our existing knowledge that is often called schema to the new information can contribute to a better comprehension.

Usen (1993) defines a pre-reading strategy as a technique used to encourage students to call upon background knowledge, to foster predictions, and to ascertain the level of knowledge to