Incorporating “Questioning the Author” into Reading: An Action Research Study

• Main Authors: Tsang, Ming-Huan, 臧明煥
• Other Authors: Yeh, Chieh-Yue
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/4857jm

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 英語教學碩士在職專班 === 105 === This action research study aims to investigate the process of fostering reading comprehension ability of EFL vocational high school students by incorporating a critical thinking strategy, namely, “Questioning the Author”, into the English reading teaching activities. A total of thirty-eight 10th graders from a vocational high school in northern Taiwan participated in the present study for a five-week implementation. The data were collected through qualitative methods, including participants’ worksheets, learning surveys using Likert Scale and open-ended questions, the field notes and the teaching logs of the teacher researcher, and the focus group interviews for high and low achievers. The results were analyzed and interpreted with an attempt to have a profound and extensive understanding of the effect of the strategy “Questioning the Author” on students’ reading comprehension ability, along with generating more feasible pedagogical implications. Major findings are as follows: 1. Most students in the present study had a positive perception to the strategy “Questioning the Author”. Despite their different English proficiency levels, the strategy made a difference in their reading experiences, and meanwhile boosted their interest in reading and improved their reading comprehension ability. 2. When incorporating the strategy into teaching activities, the teacher as a facilitator observed the responses from students to modify the ongoing activities. 3. Discussions during reading provided a low-anxiety and supportive environment for students to express their opinions and construct meanings actively as well. 4. Although both high and low achievers made progress in their critical thinking and reading ability, the latter benefited more from the strategy than the former, for they developed more interests in reading as well as obtained higher confidence in themselves through the strategy. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are also included at the end of the thesis.