A Study on Teenagers’ Reading Reflection in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver's Travels and Its Application to English Teaching

• Main Authors: Shu-ling Chang, 張淑玲
• Other Authors: Chang, Shui-Mu
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/85120186607047833664

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 英語學系 === 104 === Abstract This study aims to explore teenagers’ reading reflection in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver's Travels and to apply children’s literature to English teaching for EFL students in a junior high school classroom setting in central Taiwan. The study consists of six chapters. Chapter One includes five sections, which are motivation and background, purpose and significance of the study, major research questions, literature review, and organization of the study. The literature review section explores the benefits of children’s literature and the use of it in EFL classroom, and investigates content-based instruction and its application to language teaching. The three models proposed by Carter and Long (1991) are also employed in this study. The criteria of choosing appropriate children’s literature and the suitability of Gulliver's Travels as teaching material is also analyzed. In Chapter Two, the biography of Jonathan Swift and a brief illustration of Gulliver's Travels are first presented. In the brief examination of Gulliver's Travels section, the first voyage to Lilliput, the second voyage to Brobdingnag, the third voyage to Laputa and other Islands, and the fourth voyage to the land of the Houyhnhnms are illustrated. Finally, the last section of this chapter discusses the elements of satire in Gulliver's Travels. Chapter Three examines the feature and value of various literary passages and language elements in Gulliver's Travels. Consideration of their application to teaching is also presented. In Chapter Four, the details of the main study are presented, including the participants, the instruments, the data collection procedures, and the teaching procedures. In Chapter Five, comparative analysis of the responses in students’ pre-instructional and post-instructional questionnaires is included. Then, the results of the pre-test and the post-test for the comprehension of the reading texts are also presented. Finally, Chapter Six concludes the findings of this teaching experiment. In this final section, major findings of the study, recommendations and pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies are discussed. Key words: children's literature, satire, Gulliver's Travels