THE APPLICATION OF THE READER RESPONSE APPROACH IN EFL LITERATURE INSTRUCTION IN A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL: THE TEACHING OF THE SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

• Main Authors: Chia-yu Yen, 嚴嘉瑜
• Other Authors: Ching-chi Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/63803351273081733372

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 94 === The study investigates the effects of the application of the Reader Response Approach (RRA) in EFL literature instruction in a junior high school. The novel, the simplified version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is utilized as a demonstration. The junior high school EFL students’ reading interests in English literature, their opinions and responses to RRA tasks, activities, and relevant teaching materials, their responses to the classroom interaction, and the students’ responses and performance to the practice of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) in the RRA class are explored and analyzed. Moreover, the high-achieving (H-A) students’ and low-achieving (L-A) students’ responses to English literature reading, response tasks, and the application of the RRA in EFL literature instruction in a junior high school are also examined. In the study, the subjects are eighty second-year students in two classes in Changhua Yung Ming Junior High School. Based on the students’English literature reading experiences and a questionnaire on students’opinions of their first-year English learning experiences, the researcher designed the literary syllabus of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. During the literature instruction, the researcher also designed tasks and activities based on the RRA mode for students to promote their reading proficiency. In the study, students’ performance of the four language skills, the participation in classroom activities, the interactions with the teacher and the peers were the focus of observation and recorded by the researcher. Meanwhile, students’ reader response journals and their assigned works provided valuable information for the researcher about students’ improvement and reactions to RRA activities. In addition, a questionnaire was utilized to explore the subjects’ opinions and attitudes to literature reading and the literature instruction in the RRA mode. The results of the study were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, and the main findings of the study are presented as follows: 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer served as an appropriate reading material for the junior high school EFL students and the students had a positive attitude toward the English young adult literature. 2. The application of the syllabus of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in the RRA mode and the literature instruction benefits junior high school EFL students’ English reading interests. 3. The subjects H-A students and L-A students had the same favorite RRA activities and different favorite RRA activities. They both liked Group Discussion and Role-play. The difference between these two groups is that doing pre-reading questions & post- reading questions is H-A students’ favorite, but L-A students liked word-puzzle most. L-A students preferred to have easy, interesting, and simple activities, like Word- puzzle, without doing analytical and critical thinking. H-A students loved activities, like doing pre-reading questions & post-questions, which would help them to do critical thinking and to clarify and refine their construction of the meanings of the book. 4. Students liked the active interaction and atmosphere in the RRA class. Many students, including passive learners, were promoted to join the activities and reached the teacher’s requirements in the class by the cheerful and energetic group discussion, competition, and cooperation. The vivacious interaction and atmosphere in the RRA mode increased junior high school EFL students’ learning motivation, interests, and learning efficiency. 5. The students’ four language skills and performance were improved in the study. In order to provide EFL junior high school English teachers with an alternative way to teach English literature, some pedagogical implications are made as follows: 1. Young adult literature is appropriate reading material for junior high school EFL students. 2. The junior high school EFL teachers can use the reader response approach as a different teaching method in accordance with individual students’ needs. 3. The group discussion is a very useful tool in teaching literature to EFL junior high students. 4. Besides the traditional paper-and-pencil tests, junior high school EFL teachers should use multiple assessments to diagnose students’ performances.