Transfer of College Developmental Reading Students' Textmarking Strategies

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deidra W. Frazier

In this study transfer of textmarking strategy use was examined. Four college developmental reading students were asked to use textmarking strategies in their introductory biology course, but not in any other content course in which they were concurrently enrolled. However, at the semester's end, participants produced any textbooks in which they had marked for analysis of spontaneous textmarking. Results revealed that: (a) participants exhibited strong resistance to annotation, had difficulty distinguishing important from trivial information, and organizing and paraphrasing information; (b) participants cited existing knowledge of content material and test expectations as major reasons for textmarking adjustment; (c) participants' statements of textmarking utility were generally consistent with strategy use; and (d) participants gave similar reasons for lack of textmarking transfer. Implications for developmental reading programs based on a strategic learning approach are indicated. Findings support strategy training through direct explanation, including training in specific strategy components and text structure awareness, and integrated strategy instruction in which study strategies instructors are paired with content area specialists.

1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale H. Schunk ◽  
Jo Mary Rice

Two experiments investigated the effects of sources of strategy information on children's acquisition and transfer of reading outcomes and strategy use. Children with reading-skill deficiencies received comprehension instruction on main ideas. In Experiment 1, some students were taught a comprehension strategy, while others received strategy instruction and strategy-value feedback linking strategy use with improved performance; controls received comprehension instruction without the strategy. In Experiment 2, children were taught the comprehension strategy or received instruction without strategy training; they were then given comprehension instruction on details. Some children were taught how to modify the strategy; others did not employ the strategy on details. Children who received strategy-value feedback (Experiment 1) and strategy-modification instruction (Experiment 2) demonstrated the highest self-efficacy, skill, strategy use, and transfer. These results support the idea that remedial readers benefit from information about strategy usefulness.


Author(s):  
Ying-Chun Shih ◽  
Barry Lee Reynolds

Abstract After 16 weeks of extensive reading and reading strategy instruction in an English as a Foreign Language class (n = 52) at a junior college in Taiwan, three weak and three strong second language readers were recruited to investigate reading strategy use. Strategies were inferred from verbal reports gained through a think aloud methodology as participants read a text equivalent to those encountered during regular classroom instruction. Results indicated strong readers used more global strategies than weak readers. Strong readers had a more diverse reading strategy repertoire while weak readers tended to lean towards the use of a single strategy. In addition, strong readers tended to combine strategies. These and other results are discussed in terms of the translation-based reading instruction currently dominating Taiwanese secondary school classrooms. Suggestions are also provided on how classroom English teachers should implement reading strategy training in the English language classroom.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Hassan M. Kassem

The current study investigated the effect of communication strategy instruction on Saudi EFL learners’ strategy use, speaking proficiency and speaking self-efficacy. Two intact classes of EFL freshmen at Thadiq Sciences and Humanities College, Shaqra University, KSA participated in the study in the first semester of the academic year 2018-2019. They were assigned to an experimental group (N = 20) and a control group (N = 19). A speaking test and a speaking self-efficacy questionnaire were administered to the two groups. Students’ oral production and communication strategy use were assessed by independent raters. Independent samples t-tests performed on the pretest mean scores of the two groups showed that they were homogenous in strategy use, speaking proficiency and speaking self-efficacy prior to the treatment. Treatment group students were then taught four communication strategies: circumlocution, approximation, appeal for help, and fillers in the Listening and Speaking 2 (Eng 122) course. The control group received the teaching sequence adopted in the course’s textbook which includes no training on communication strategy. Independent and paired samples t-tests revealed that the treatment group outperformed the control group in all dependent variables, hence supporting the positive effect of communication strategy training on strategy use, speaking proficiency and speaking self-efficacy. Pedagogical implications are offered.


Author(s):  
Ming-yueh Shen

Abstract This study aimed to determine as to whether or not the text type and strategy usage affect the EFL learners’ lexical inferencing performance. The participants were comprised of 87 first-year English majors at a technical university. Data were collected from (1) a lexical inferencing test with excerpts of narrative and expository texts, for which both multiple-choice and definition tasks were designed, respectively, and then (2) the responses from the learners’ self-reported strategy usage. The quantitative analyses demonstrated that the text types significantly affected the EFL learners’ lexical inferencing performance, in which the EFL learners performed better for the narrative excerpt than for the expository texts. However, significant coefficients between the strategy use and the lexical inferencing performance were not found in this study. The results further implied that the text structure and the lexical inferencing strategies should be explicitly taught to the EFL learners.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. ar30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Sebesta ◽  
Elena Bray Speth

In college introductory science courses, students are challenged with mastering large amounts of disciplinary content while developing as autonomous and effective learners. Self-regulated learning (SRL) is the process of setting learning goals, monitoring progress toward them, and applying appropriate study strategies. SRL characterizes successful, “expert” learners, and develops with time and practice. In a large, undergraduate introductory biology course, we investigated: 1) what SRL strategies students reported using the most when studying for exams, 2) which strategies were associated with higher achievement and with grade improvement on exams, and 3) what study approaches students proposed to use for future exams. Higher-achieving students, and students whose exam grades improved in the first half of the semester, reported using specific cognitive and metacognitive strategies significantly more frequently than their lower-achieving peers. Lower-achieving students more frequently reported that they did not implement their planned strategies or, if they did, still did not improve their outcomes. These results suggest that many students entering introductory biology have limited knowledge of SRL strategies and/or limited ability to implement them, which can impact their achievement. Course-specific interventions that promote SRL development should be considered as integral pedagogical tools, aimed at fostering development of students’ lifelong learning skills.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Najar

This study examines the generalizability of research in the areas of instruction; learning; and transfer of learning to the role these play in the area of the use of strategic competencies in foreign language contexts (FLC). While previous studies have tended towards a focus on learner variables, this study includes the conditions of applicability with a task that can impact learning and transfer as well. The contributions of both variables, learner and task, were investigated through note-taking strategy instruction and transfer, to ascertain the effect on reading comprehension of textual materials in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Learning was measured as a precursor to transfer. In order to investigate the role of instruction and transfer in the transfer of strategy use, a mixed design using both qualitative and quantitative approaches for design and analysis was used. Findings suggest that the relationship between instruction and transfer as represented by strategy use and task performance is a multidimensional one, and that there are implications for language learning instruction in the foreign language classroom.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Reza Nemat Tabrizi ◽  
Mahnaz Ranjbar

The study investigates the impact of IELTS listening strategy use on the reduction of listening test anxiety and on the listening performance of the IELTS test takers in light of the data of 80 participants on the pretest and post-test IELTS listening along with the participants' score on pre-anxiety and post anxiety scale. So, drawing on the instruments including a proficiency test, pre/post-test, anxiety questionnaire, materials for strategy instruction, the participants were randomly divided into two groups: Control Group and Experimental Group, each including 40 participants. As per the procedure, after tackling their pre-listening performance and pre-anxiety score, one group was treated with IELTS-Listening related strategies and the other group was not treated, but both were administered listening test. The results of the study indicated that those treated with IELTS strategy outperformed ( t (78) = 4.57, p = .000, r = .460 ) those receiving no listening-related strategy. Furthermore, the results of a t-test run on the post-test of the groups anxiety arrived at a statistically significant difference (t (78) = 5.77, p = .000, r = .547), representing that the control group outperformed the experimental group. Also, Pearson Correlation done for finding out a potential relationship between anxiety and listening performance indicated a negative and weak to moderate relationship ((r (78) = -.26, p = .020). The pedagogical implications of the study are in detailed argued.


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