THE EFFECTS OF LITERATURE CIRCLES ON EFL LEARNING OF CHILDREN IN A BILINGUAL CLASS

• Main Authors: Lin, Show-jiuan, 林秀娟
• Other Authors: Chang, Ye-ling
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59448422703693481286

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 94 === ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of literature circles (LC) on EFL instruction in elementary school. The effects were examined in four aspects. First, the effect of the LC on the students’ reading comprehension was explored. Then the effect of the LC on the student responses to reading children’s literature was investigated. Finally, both of the student responses to the selected reading materials and the LC program were examined. The subjects in this study were 25 fifth-graders of English-Chinese bilingual program in Fu-Dong elementary school in Kaohsiung city. Before the LC, the subjects took the pretest on English reading comprehension test (ERCT) and the pre-study questionnaire on student’s attitudes and strategies of English reading (QSASER). Then the students formed discussion groups of five people and started to read the five selected books which came from their own choices. During the fifteen-week LC program, the subjects made decisions on the reading amount and rotated to play different discussion roles for different meeting. They shared their role sheets and discussed about the book with peers in their own group. When the subjects finished one book, they also made a presentation to showcase the book. After reading the five selected books, all the subjects were required to take the post-test on ERCT and the post-study QSASER. Finally, the subjects answered the questionnaire on student responses to literature circles (QSRLC). The subjects’ scores of the reading comprehension pretest and post-test were compared by a t-test and so were their responses to the pre-study and post-study QSASER. Besides, the subject responses to the five-point scale of QSRLC were analyzed quantitatively by means of descriptive statistics and their responses to the open-ended questions were analyzed qualitatively. Based on the quantitative and qualitative data analyses, the major findings of the study are summarized as follows: 1.The significant difference between the students’ reading comprehension pretest and post-test suggested that the LC program was beneficial for improving the students’ reading comprehension. 2.The study results showed that the LC had a positive effect on the students’ attitudes toward storybooks and reading strategies. 3.The student responses to the selected reading materials indicated that the LC was beneficial for the development of the students’ interests of literary works as well as the creativity for writing and drawing. 4.All of the student responses to the role sheets, the cooperative learning, and the implementation of the LC were positive. It implied that the students highly confirmed the value and function of the LC. Based on the study findings, the researcher proposed some pedagogical implications as follows: 1.Teachers of English can adopt children’s literature as teaching materials in EFL instructions to foster the development of literacy and lifelong readers. 2.Literature circles can be a balanced literacy approach for teachers to improve students’ reading interests and strategies, and to incorporate many different perspectives of learning. 3.Teachers can implement literature circles to elicit higher-order, student-centered and open-ended learning autonomy.