investigation of the effects of discourse types on taiwanese college students' reading strategy use

An investigation of the effects of discourse types on taiwanese college students' reading strategy use. (2009). An investigation of the effects of discourse types on taiwanese college students' reading strategy use.

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Title	investigation of the effects of discourse types on taiwanese college students' reading strategy use
Abstract	The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of two different expository structures, collection and problem/solution, on Taiwanese L2 readers' strategy use during their L2 English reading. The impact of two expository structures, collection and problem/solution, on Taiwanese L2 readers' strategy use during real-time reading is the main focus of the study. In Phase I, the administration of an English reading proficiency test to a sample of 479 students allowed me to identify 280 intermediate Taiwanese L2 English readers. After completing this reading proficiency test, one hundred and sixty-seven participants read a passage written in the 'collection' structure, and one hundred and thirteen participants read a passage containing the same information, but organized in the 'problem/solution' structure. After their reading, they filled in a reading strategy survey based on their reading of the passage, and took a reading comprehension test based on the passage they had read. In Phase II, a smaller group of 15 intermediate-level L2 English readers were selected from the participants at one institution. The 15 participants were asked to read a longer expository text organized in the collection mode. After they read the text, through an interview, they explained their reading processes. Later, the same procedure was followed, except the same group was given a different longer text, this one written in the problem solving mode. In Phase I of the study, the t-test results showed that there were significant differences between the two discourse types, problem-solving and collection, in the participants' use of global reading strategies ( p<.01). According to the data analyzed from the participants' think-aloud verbal reports in Phase II, within the three categories of reading strategies proposed by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002), the participants employed the reading strategies more frequently when reading collection texts than when reading problem-solving texts. The three categories included global, problem-solving, and support strategies. The results do seem to suggest that there is a link between the Taiwanese college students' choice of reading strategies and discourse types.
Date	2009

Details

Title: investigation of the effects of discourse types on taiwanese college students' reading strategy use
Personal Name(s): Lei, Jiun-Iung
Fontaine, Jeannine
Corporate Name(s): Indiana University of Pennsylvania
English.
Note: Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Fontaine, Jeannine Committee members: Gary Dean; Nancy Hayward.
Topical Subject(s): Linguistics
Literacy
Reading instruction