EFL CHILDREN’S READING BEHAVIORS, STRATEGIES AND RESPONSES TOWARDS ENGLISH PICTURE BOOKS—CASE STUDIES OF FOUR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS IN KAOHSIUNG CITY

• Main Authors: Kuan-ling Yang, 楊冠玲
• Other Authors: Hsin-hsin Yang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/phdwsj

碩士 === 國立屏東教育大學 === 英語學系 === 97 === ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate EFL children''s reading responses through the instructor’s instructing skills and also by these young readers'' journals toward reading picture books, in order to explore their reading strategies and behaviors while they did the individual reading. Moreover, the effects of the instructor’s interactive instructing skills on each student as the individual cases on long-term reading practice were also examined. The subjects in this study were two sixth-grade students and two fifth-grade students from Kaohsiung City. They were chosen on the account of how they showed the initial stage of their English picture book reading. In thisstudy, both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. The data were collected from students'' response journals, related questionnaires and devices. They were mainly analyzed according to The Categories of Instructor Reading Behaviors (Adapted from Andrea DeBruin-Parecki (2004, p.20): ACIRI) in order to examine what kinds of teacher’s interactive instructing skills occur frequently during the reading activities. Based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis, the major findings of the present study were: (1) The instructor’s interactive instruction helped students acquire the skills and strategies they needed so that students could understand a reading text and became independent and confident readers, (2) The functions of reading selections had a great impact on students’ reading responses, (3) The Teacher’s appropriate Interactive Instruction encouraged Students’ Reading Responses toward reading picture books, and (4) The functions of response journals on students’ reading motivation and interests were beneficial. The findings of the present study for the pedagogical implications in the EFL context suggested that EFL teachers in the elementary school and parents could implement individual reading with children and help children select appropriate picture books which could reinforce their reading motivation and interest. Moreover, children should be encouraged to share their responses with teachers or parents by these response journals to help teachers and parents improve their reading instruction skills. Key words: Instructor’s Interactive Instruction, Reading Selections, Students’ Reading Responses, Response Journals, Reading Motivation, Reading Interests