A Study of Visual Mapping on Taiwanese EFL Fifth Graders’ Reading Comprehension

• Main Authors: Chung-wen Hsu, 許瓊文
• Other Authors: Li-ling Chuang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/42836987709705832930

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 兒童英語研究所 === 96 === The major purpose of the present study was to explore the effect of visual mapping strategy through story reading instruction on Taiwanese EFL fifth graders’ reading comprehension. The effect of visual mapping combined with reading instruction on these primary students’ reading proficiency was also probed. The participants were sixty-four fifth-graders from two homogeneous intact classes of a public elementary school in central Taiwan. They were divided into the control group and the experimental group, and received story reading instruction with or without visual mapping strategy respectively. Both groups received seventeen story reading instruction from the same instructor during the nineteen-week treatment. Overall pre-, during-, and post-test of reading proficiency tests and story immediate posttests were also employed. At last, a questionnaire was administered to investigate the learners’ attitude toward visual mapping. The outcomes from the reading proficiency posttest and reading comprehension tests indicated that, subjects who received visual mapping strategy instruction outperformed those who had mere story reading instruction. On the other hand, through the analysis of the questionnaire, subjects from the experimental group expressed positive affirmation in the response to visual mapping activities. They affirmed that visual mapping activities helped them grasp story main ideas, enhance their vocabulary leaning and facilitate their reading ability. On the basis of the findings, it is consequently suggested that story reading instruction combined with visual mapping strategy assists the students in improving their reading comprehension ability and reading proficiency.