APPLYING CHILDREN''S STORYBOOKS TO DEVELOP ELEMENTARY STUDENTS'' ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION- TEACHERS'' BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

• Main Authors: Shih-yu Wang, 王世宇
• Other Authors: Hsin-hsin Yang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/06627067623330213005

碩士 === 國立屏東教育大學 === 英語學系 === 99 === English reading has been emphasized for children in elementary stage. In order to cultivate children''s reading habit and increase their English ability, storybooks are provided for children to read. In addition, as the development of technology, e-storybooks are very popular now. E-storybooks can not only increase children’s learning motivation and interest but let them read independently. However, teachers'' roles in class are very crucial and the e-storybooks cannot replace teachers’ instructions. There are two main purposes in this study. The first one is to investigate elementary English teachers’ beliefs toward storybook using and the current using situation in class. The second one is to see if the e-storybook along with teachers'' instructions, which is Teacher-Computer Integrated Storytelling Instruction (TCISI) can benefit children’s reading comprehension and vocabulary learning than Teacher-Mediated Storytelling Instruction (TMSI) and Computer-Mediated Storytelling Instruction (CMSI). Perceptions from teachers and children toward each instruction were explored and described in this study. There were 90 English teachers from Kaohsiung and Pingtung provided their thoughts in the questionnaire which investigated their beliefs toward storybook using. Also, according to the questionnaire, there was an actual practice which contained 66 sixth graders in the elementary school in Pingtung city. The children were chosen to take the three storytelling instructions and then provided their feedback toward them. 3 storybooks were used in this study, 1 paper storybook and 2 e-storybooks were used in the storytelling instructions. Five kinds of instruments were used in this study, which were the teacher’s questionnaires, the comprehension test, the vocabulary test, and children’s questionnaires. There are two main points in this study based on the results of the teachers’ questionnaires and children’s experiment. First, teachers in general support storybook using in class, and many of them have provided storybooks for children to read. Besides, most teachers thought that using storybooks can promote children’s English learning motivation and ability. When it came to the preferred instruction which used in this study, most teachers considered TCISI the efficient and effective way to let children learn from storybooks. Although storybooks were useful supplementary materials for teachers, there were some practical problems that teachers faced, such as the insufficiency of time and facilities, and children’s diverse English proficiencies. Second, children’s mean score in comprehension test in TCISI was significantly higher than TMSI and CMSI. In the result of vocabulary test, children’s scores in TCISI and TMSI were significantly higher than CMSI; however, the scores between TMSI and TCISI did not reach to the significance. Lastly, children in the interview indicated TCISI was the best way for them to learn English. According to the results in this study, there were five pedagogical implications in this study. First, each storytelling instruction has their effectiveness, so teachers can use them flexibly. Second, teachers can provide more opportunities for children to read storybooks or e-storybooks because they love them. Third, teachers can speak more English in their instructions to increase children’s listening and speaking abilities. Fourth, provide suitable storybooks for children. Fifth, teachers can spend more time to let children read storybooks independently to cultivate their reading habit.