Teaching reading comprehension to Thai EFL students : reciprocal teaching procedure in small group work

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of strategy training in small group work on the reading comprehension of academic texts in English by Thai English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The strategy-training used was the Reciprocal Teaching Procedure (RTF) which focused on the four reading comprehension strategies: predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarizing. The research study was an experimental one using a single group design. The participants were thirty-four first year students enrolled in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program at a tertiary institution in the north eastern part of Thailand. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The pre-,post- and follow-up reading tests were employed for quantitative analysis. The students' performances were analyzed for statistically significant differences immediately at the end of the ten-week training and in the follow-up test eight weeks after the training. Qualitative data were collected from students' pre-,post- and follow-up questionnaires, checklists and journals, teacher's checklists and journal, and independent observer's checklists and field notes.

Date of Award	2003
Original language	English
Supervisor	Jeremy Jones (Supervisor)