The Effect of Readers Theater on Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, and Learning Motivation of EFL Seventh-Graders

• Main Authors: Yi-Shuang Lin, 林倚霜
• Other Authors: Lo, Chih-Cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/77313758281734311087

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 工業教育與技術學系 === 104 === While the effect of Readers Theater on English oral reading fluency has been extensively investigated, research on the effect of Readers Theater on adolescents’ English reading and listening comprehension was scant and yielded different results. Besides, learners’ learning motivation would likely affect their English learning as suggested by researchers of second language acquisition. Accordingly, this research aimed to explore how Readers Theater instruction influenced EFL students, especially adolescents, in English reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and English learning motivation. The correlations of English learning motivation with reading and listening comprehension were also investigated. The researcher conducted a ten-week quasi-experimental study involving two intact classes of 68 seventh-grade students from central Taiwan. The instruments included pretests and posttests of English reading comprehension, English listening comprehension, and English learning motivation, and a survey sheet of reflections on Readers Theater instruction. In addition, nine students were interviewed for an subsequent analysis. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, one-way ANCOVA, a samples t-test, and Pearson product-moment correlation. The results revealed that the experimental group statistically significantly outperformed the control group on reading comprehension, but not on listening comprehension. Furthermore, learning motivation of the experimental group was significantly enhanced after Readers Theater instruction. Finally, learning motivation correlated positively and significantly with English reading and listening comprehension in the Readers Theater group. Readers Theater instruction informed an effective approach to teach language and directions for future research were suggested at last.