The Effects of Teaching the English-learning Magazine on Junior High School Students' Reading Comprehension and Sentence-level Writing Abilities

• Main Authors: Chiu-li Chen, 陳秋理
• Other Authors: Dr. Yih-fan Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/31004602751980839118

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 101 === ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the English-learning magazine (ELM) instruction on junior high school students’ reading comprehension and sentence-level writing ability. The outcomes were analyzed and discussed within different English proficiency levels in the experimental group, which were high-achiever group (HAG), mid-achiever group (MAG), and low-achiever group (LAG). Students’ attitudes towards the instruction of ELM were also examined within HAG, MAG, and LAG. This study recruited sixty participants of eighth-graders. One class of thirty students was the experimental group (EG), and the other class was the control group (CG). First, both the groups took the pre-tests of reading comprehension and sentence-level writing respectively. After that, EG received an eight-week instruction of ELM, in which Communicative Language Teaching and Cooperative Language Learning were incorporated. On the other hand, CG still studied ELM on their own and watched DVD programs as usual. After the intervention, both EG and CG took the post-tests of reading comprehension and sentence-level writing. Besides, CG got a handout extracted from the content of ELM one week before the post-tests while EG didn’t. Last, EG completed the questionnaire on students’ attitudes towards the instruction of ELM. The data were computed and compared by a one-way ANCOVA, a one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni post-hoc test, and one-sample T-test quantitatively and qualitatively. The main findings are summarized as follows. 1. There was a significant difference between EG and CG both in post-tests of reading comprehension and sentence-level writing. 2. In GE, both HAG and MAG significantly got higher gain scores in reading comprehension than LAG, but there was no significant difference between HAG and MAG. 3. In GE, there were significant differences within HAG, MAG, and LAG in sentence-level writing. Specifically, MAG’s gain score was higher than HAG’s, and that of HAG was higher than LAG. 4. Both HAG and MAG had more positive attitudes towards ELM and the instruction of it than LAG. Based on the results, it is suggested that teachers should implement the instruction of ELM because junior high school students are English beginners with inadequate prior knowledge. Teachers are also suggested to adopt Communicative Language Teaching and Cooperative Language into the teaching so that students can increase their learning interest and learn better.