scholarly journals The Effect of Text Summarization as a Cognitive Strategy on the Achievement of Male and Female Language Learners' Reading Comprehension

Author(s):  
Iraj Khoshnevis ◽  
Sorour Parvinnejad

<p>This study aims at investigating the effect of teaching the summarization of text as a cognitive strategy on achievement of male and female students’ reading comprehension. 60 English undergraduates studying at the University of Tonekabon participated in this study. The participants were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. A series of treatment were provided for the participants in the experimental group. Two reading comprehension tests, as the pretest and posttest, were given to the students of both groups to observe their reading comprehension ability at the beginning and at the end of the treatment sessions. A Two-way ANOVA was run on the obtained data. The results revealed that the instruction of summarization strategy had a significant effect on the participants reading comprehension. Finally, the findings of this study suggest that teaching summarization strategy empowers students’ reading comprehension ability<strong>.</strong></p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Reading comprehension strategies, Cognitive strategy, Summarization

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
Shahram Esfandiari Asl ◽  
Asgar Mahmoudi

The current study was carried out to investigate whether elaborative text modification improves reading comprehension ability of pre-intermediate male and female EFL learners. To do this, 60 pre-intermediate learners were chosen based on their performance on a standard version of Longman's New Opportunities Placement Test. The participants also received a piloted version of a researcher-made reading comprehension test as the pretest to ascertain their homogeneity. The participants were then divided into two equal groups to represent the experimental and the control groups. Each group was further subdivided into male and female groups. Five reading passages in two formats (unmodified and elaborated) were administered to the participants in five weeks which was followed by a posttest. The experimental group received the elaborated texts, while the control group received the unmodified baseline texts. The results of a Two-way ANOVA indicated no significant effect for gender but there was a significant difference between the experimental and the control groups' reading comprehension. Findings of the study suggest that elaborative text modification can be a worthy option in EFL reading classes.


Author(s):  
Nava Nourdad ◽  
Sanam Masoudi ◽  
Parisa Rahimali

This quantitative and quasi-experimental study dealt with the effect of the teaching higher order thinking (HOT) on the reading comprehension ability of foreign language learners. Since reading ability plays a crucial role in learners’ education, it is language teachers’ mission to be aware of the useful and beneficial strategies to improve their students’ reading comprehension ability. Considering the fruitful results of applying HOT skills in education, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of their instruction on students’ reading comprehension ability. To achieve the objectives of the study, a group of 236 male and female university students majoring in various fields but all taking General English course was selected by convenience sampling. They were randomly assigned into two groups of control and experimental. PET test was applied to homogenize the participants of the two study groups. The study followed pre-test, treatment, post-test design. While the experimental group followed a nine-session treatment on strategies of HOT, the control group was instructed through conventional method determined by the course book. The results of independent samples t-test revealed the positive effect of teaching HOT skills on improving reading comprehension ability of adult EFL learners. Pedagogical implications of these findings for language learners, language teachers, course book developers, and educational policy makers are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Karim Shabani ◽  
Samaneh Samarghandi ◽  
Elahe Mashayekh Bakhshi

The current study aims to consider the effectiveness of content feedback (CF) along with reading strategies on L2 learners' reading comprehension ability based on the extrovert/introvert personality type. So, 35 pre-intermediate learners studying in a private language institute in Chaloos, Mazandaran, Iran participated in the study and were divided into experimental groups and control one. In order to answer the research question regarding the effectiveness of utilizing content feedback and reading strategies, eight treatment sessions were applied and the pre- post- and delayed post- tests were analyzed through SPSS software (version 20). The results revealed the positive effect of CF on the learners’ reading comprehension ability and also the extroverted learners outperformed the introverted ones. In order to mention the implication side, the study suggests that teaching reading skill by using effective strategies along with content feedback can improve the learners’ reading comprehension ability.


Author(s):  
Marlin Marpaung

This study is to find out the reading comprehension ability of the students at SLTP Advent 4 Paal Dua Manado, when being taught using the Direct Method and the Lecture Method. The population of this study was seventy-six second year students at SLTP Advent 4 Paal Dua Manado, who were divided into two groups, the experimental and control group. The main problem of this study is to find out the effect of the Direct Method in teaching reading comprehension. The result showed that there was no difference in the reading comprehension ability of the students who are taught using Direct Method and students who are taught using Lecture Method. But there was slightly difference between the mean score of post-experimental and post-control. Therefore, the suggestion for English teachers is to teach the reading comprehension using the Direct Method because the Direct Method can improve students’ ability in reading comprehension. Key words: Reading comprehension, Direct Method.


Author(s):  
Parisa Farrokh ◽  
Reza Ebrahimi

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of discoursal approach on Iranian intermediate EFL learners&rsquo; reading comprehension ability. Quick Placement Test (QPT) was used to select 60 intermediate EFL learners as the participants of this study. Then, they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Each consisted of 30 learners. Prior to the treatment, the participants of both groups were given a pretest to ensure their reading comprehension. The experimental group was exposed to the Hymes&rsquo; model. In the control group the researcher used placebo for teaching reading skill. Then a posttest was administered to both groups. An Independent samples t-test between posttests of the study and a paired-samples t-test between the pretest and posttest of the groups of the study were run. The results of the study revealed and emphasized that the Hymes&rsquo; model improved the learners&rsquo; reading comprehension.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELT Department

The C-test as a measure of first and second language proficiency suffers from ceiling effect. That is, the C-test is very easy for native speakers and for advanced second language learners and many examinees obtain full scores. Therefore, the test cannot distinguish among advanced learners or native speakers. Grotjahn, Schlak, and Aguado (2010) and Grotjahn (2010) suggested Speeded C-test or Standard-C-test as a remedy for this problem. They argued that if C-test is administrated under time constraint it can better differentiate among advanced learners and native speakers. In this study we aimed to compare the psychometric characteristics of speeded and standard C-test and investigate the relationship between standard and speeded C-test and reading comprehension. One-hundred Iranian undergraduate EFL learners studying at Islamic Azad University and Tabaran University of Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran, were selected to take part in this research. A standard (power) C-test, a speeded C-test, and a reading comprehension test were given to the students. Findings revealed that both speeded C-test and standard C-test could measure reading comprehension ability but standard C-test is a better predictor of reading comprehension ability and enjoys higher reliability. Exploratory factor analysis of the data resulted in a one-factor solution. All C-test passages (speeded and power) and reading comprehension passages loaded heavily on the single extracted factor. Nevertheless, power C-test passages had higher loadings compared to speeded passages.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly M. Martinez ◽  
LaTasha R Holden ◽  
Sara Ann Hart ◽  
Jeanette Taylor

Non-cognitive factors have gained attention in recent years as potential intervention targets for academic achievement improvement in students. Two notable facets, intelligence mindset and grit, have been of particular interest. Both have been shown to consistently improve educational outcomes, although little work has focused on reading ability. We used a correlational and twin method design to preliminary test if mindset and grit could be potential intervention targets to increase reading ability. As such, we examined the relation between both grit and mindset on current, future, and change in reading comprehension ability in a twin sample. We used data from 422 twin pairs (171 monozygotic pairs, 251 dizygotic pairs) drawn from the Florida Twin Project on Reading, Behavior and Environment (Taylor et al., 2019). Twins were on average 13 years old when the questionnaire and first reading ability measure were collected, and on average 15 years old when the second reading ability measure was collected. Weak and moderate positive correlations were found between both mindset and grit with each reading ability score and neither were significantly related to change in reading ability. Twin modeling suggested little to no common genetic or environmental influences between mindset and grit to reading ability. In total, our results do not lend support to the notion of mindset or grit being a mechanism of change for reading ability.


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