THE EFFECTS OF ENGLISH LEARNING MAGAZIENS ON LISTENING AND READING ABILITIES OF VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EFL STUDENTS

• Main Authors: Chun-yu Huang, 黃純瑜
• Other Authors: Ling-zu Yang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/09796852589248349444

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 93 === This study aimed to find out the effects of English learning magazines on listening and reading abilities of vocational high school EFL students, with particular focus on the learning effects of the students in different year levels. In addition to the year level, other important variables likely to influence the improvement of the students' receptive abilities via English learning magazines were also investigated. These variables included the time spent on the magazines, the students' language learning strategies, and the assistance from the school English teachers. At last, the correlation between the students' listening and reading abilities was probed. A total of 312 students from Department of Electronics, Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Industrial High School (KSVS) participated in the study. Among them, the number of the first-year students is 103, of the second year is 107, and of the third-year is 102. No matter which year the students were in, all of them were required to study the same copy of English learning magazines, to listen to the English learning programs through the broadcasting system at KSVS every Tuesday and Friday mornings, and then to take three listening and reading achievement tests held during six months. The first two listening and reading tests were conducted in the first semester; the last one was administered in the second semester. After finishing the third test, they were asked to fill in one questionnaire. The major findings of this study are summarized as follows: 1.The use of English learning magazines had a positive effect on both the listening and reading abilities of the vocational high school students. The students who used the magazines for more than one year outperformed those who used the magazines for less than one year in both listening and reading. 2.The amount of time spent in listening to the English learning programs did not cast a significant influence on the subjects' listening performance. On the other hand, the amount of time spent in reading the English learning magazines produced a telling effect on the subjects' reading and listening performance. Those who read more than 0.5 hour per week scored significantly higher on both listening and reading tests than those who read 0 hour. 3.Most of the students expected their teachers to explain the content of the magazines after listening to the English learning programs, while most of the teachers assisted their students by giving the vocabulary tests. As a result, the teachers' assistance did not exert a discriminatory effect on the subjects' listening and reading scores. Moreover, the students who expressed no need for their teachers' help scored significantly higher than those who expressed the need. 4.The previewing strategies had a telling effect on the subjects' listening performance, but not on their reading performance. The reviewing strategies did not have a significant influence on both the subjects' listening and reading performances. As far as the compensation strategies are concerned, most of the subjects checked the Chinese translation to overcome both the listening and reading difficulties. 5.According to the subjects' self-evaluation on the effects of using English learning magazines, the use of the English learning magazines helped most of the subjects gain lexical knowledge, improve reading abilities, and understand Western culture. 6.There was a high correlation between the students' listening scores and reading scores in every year level. To sum up, the results of the study revealed that reading English learning magazines and listening to English learning programs cast beneficial effects on enhancing the vocational high school students' receptive skills. As a result, the teachers should encourage their students to learn English through this channel.