THE APPLICATION OF SHORT STORIES AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN AN EFL SENIOR HIGH CLASSROOM

• Main Authors: Ju-ching Yeh, 葉汝擎
• Other Authors: Ching-chi Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72143402223832452701

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 92 === Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of the short stories and cooperative learning on reading instruction in an EFL senior high classroom. The subjects were 85 third-year students from two classes at Pingtung Senior High School. There were 43 students in the experimental group and 42 students in the control group. All the subjects in the two groups were assigned to read five short stories during 10 weeks. Three cooperative learning methods─Jigsaw, Student Teams-Achievement Division and Discussion Group─were adopted in the teaching process of the experimental group. Meanwhile, the traditional teacher-centered approach was adopted in the teaching process of the control group. The data collected from the reading proficiency tests and the questionnaire were analyzed by way of ANCOVA and the t-test. The major findings of this study were listed as follows: 1. Overall the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group in their performance of reading proficiency. 2. The higher English proficiency students (HEPS) in the experimental group significantly outscored their counterparts in the control group in reading proficiency posttests. 3. The lower English proficiency students (LEPS) did not significantly outscore their counterparts in the control group in the reading proficiency posttests. 4. The HEPS and the LEPS in the experimental group responded positively to short stories. On the other hand, the HEPS held a more affirmative attitude toward short stories than the LEPS. 5. The HEPS and the LEPS in the experimental group responded positively to cooperative learning. There was no significant difference in the responses to cooperative learning between the HEPS and the LEPS. 6. The HEPS and the LEPS in the experimental group responded positively to the reading benefit of this short story learning program. The HEPS and the LEPS did not respond differently to the reading benefit of this program. According to the above findings, it is suggested that EFL teachers use short stories as supplementary reading material to enhance senior high school students’ interest in reading. The combination of short stories and cooperative learning is recommended to improve students’ reading comprehension of narratives. In addition, in the process of conducting cooperative learning methods, EFL teachers are urged to give the LEPS more guidance to help them adapt to the learning context and enhance their reading proficiency.