Author(s) HAMADA, Yusuke; SHIMURA, Akinobu
Citation 北海道教育大学紀要. 教育科学編, 72(1): 159‑172
Issue Date 2021‑08
URL http://s‑ir.sap.hokkyodai.ac.jp/dspace/handle/123456789/12026
Rights
ErrorCorrectionActivitiesEncourageRepeatedReadinginClass
HAMADAYusukeandSHIMURAAkinobu＊
GraduateSchoolofEducation,SapporoCampus,HokkaidoUniversityofEducation
＊DepartmentofEnglishLanguageEducation,SapporoCampus,HokkaidoUniversityofEducation
間違い訂正活動が英文繰り返し読みを促す効果について
濱田 裕介・志村 昭暢＊
北海道教育大学大学院教育学研究科
＊北海道教育大学札幌校英語教育学研究室
ABSTRACT
Repeatedreading(RR)entailsthereadingofthesamematerialsrepeatedlyandisa techniqueintendedtodevelopreadingfluencyandcomprehensionforlearnersofEnglishas aforeignlanguage(EFL).However,thepracticeofRRtodayinclassroomsthroughout Japanisseeminglyinsufficientforseveralreasons.Thepresentstudyfocusesmainlyon concentrationandmotivationforRR,whichsuggestthaterrorcorrectionactivities(ECAs) areeffectiveinencouragingRR.ECAsdenoteactivitiesthroughwhichlearnersidentifyand correctseveralerrorsthatareintentionallyembeddedinthetext.Thisresearchexamines whether ECAs enhance the concentration and motivation of learners for RR using a questionnaire.Theresultsindicatethatlearnersmaintainconcentrationandmotivationthe mostduringECAs,andthatECAscanbeacatalystforfurtherRR.
1.Introduction
1.1 Background
Underthecurrentcircumstanceinwhichreadingfluencyandaccuracyareincreasinglyrequiredskills, manylearnersofEnglishinJapancontinuetofinddifficultydespitevariousmethodsandactivities appliedtoteaching.Toenhancethereadingabilityoflearners,theautomaticityoftheelementsof language,suchasvocabularyandgrammar,isneeded.Towardthisend,learnersshouldencounterthe sameelementsoflanguagerepeatedly.However,repetitioniscurrentlyinsufficient,whichleadstogaps inEnglishknowledge.Variousstrategiescanbeusedtoprovideopportunitiesforrepetition,suchas
extensive reading (ER). However, the current study focuses on repeated reading (RR) because textbooksforjuniorhighandhighschoolstudentssystematicallyarrangevocabulary,expressions,and grammar.Byreadingthemrepeatedly,learnersgainstep-by-stepenhancementstotheirsubordinate skillsofreading,namely,automaticityoftheelementsoflanguage.Atpresent,researchonimprovingthe readingabilityoflearnerspayslessattentiontoRRforseveralreasons.Simplyput,readingthesame materialrepeatedlytendstobecomeboringandmonotonous;therefore,maintainingconcentrationand motivationisdifficultforlearners.Inaddition,RRlargelydeviatesfromtheprimarypurposeofreading, i.e.,toobtaininformation.However,RRisinfactpracticedinmanyclassroomstoacertainextent becauseitisapromisingmethodforenhancingreadingfluencyandcomprehensionforlearnersof Englishasaforeignlanguage(EFL).ThroughRR,learnerslearntoautomatizewordrecognitionand syntacticrelationships;consequently,thefocusisonthecontentofthereadingmaterial.Inaddition,they canacquirecertainelementsoflanguage,suchasvocabularyandgrammar,whichareessentialfor communicatinginEnglish.Consideringthesepoints,animportantquestionthatshouldbeconsideredis howtomaximizetheutilizationofRRinclassrooms.ToencourageRRinmoreclassrooms,thepresent studyexaminedtheeffectivenessandpotentialoferrorcorrectionactivities(ECAs).Thenextchapter demonstratestheneedforRRandECAsbyconsideringpreviousresearch.
1.2 What is RR?
Samuels(1979),aresearcherinthefieldofreadingprocesses,firstproposedRRasamethodfor languagelearning.Sinceitsproposal,themethodhasbeenpracticedinseveralways,suchasreading silentlyoraloud,readingwithorwithoutaudiosupport,andreadingwithorwithoutarecordingofspeed andaccuracy.Inclassrooms,oneoracombinationoftheabovementionedmethodsmaybepracticed.The currentstudydefinesRRaslearnersreadingthesamepassagerepeatedlytoimprovereadingfluency andcomprehensionusingallcitedmethods.Thestudyfocusesonthedifferenceintheeffectivenessof eachmethodofreadingbutmoreonincreasingthequalityandquantityofreading,suchaswhether learnerspayattentiontothecontentofthematerialandthenumberoftimestheyreadthematerial, respectively.Inessence,RRshouldbepracticedafterunderstandingthetexttoacertainextent,andthe numberofre-readingsshouldberandom.
1.3 RR promotes the effective use of cognitive resources
RRisimportantforlearnersbecauseitenhancesreadingfluencyandcomprehension.Toprovidea concreteexample,althoughcognitiveresources,whichrequirelimitedamountsofmentalpowerand concentration,arerequiredforcomprehensionduringreading,manylearnerstendtousecognitive resourcesforsubordinateprocesses,suchasdecodingwordsandidentifyingsyntacticconstructions.RR enables learners to automatize subordinate processes and gradually direct cognitive resources to comprehension.KadotaandNoro(2001)discussedtheimportanceofthemannerofusingcognitive resourcesbyproposingthatreadersneedtoautomatizetheprocessofdecodingwordsandusecognitive resourcesforunderstandingtoreadfluently.However,manylearnersexperiencedifficultyinthisregard because they cannot decode words automatically and are forced to waste cognitive resources for decoding.Asaresult,cognitiveresourcesforunderstandingarereduced,whichleadstoreducedreading
fluency.AsKadota,Noro,andShiki(2010)described,theautomaticityofthesubordinateprocesses enableslearnerstoimprovereadingcomprehension.Inaddition,Ito(2016)statedthatbeginnersare forcedtowastecognitiveresourcesforunderstandingthecomponentsoflanguage,suchasvocabulary andgrammar,and,thus,cannotpayattentiontotheentirestoryofapassage.AccordingtoStanovich (1980),goodreadersidentifywordsnaturallyandrapidly;bycontrast,poorreadersareslowtorecognize words and tend to depend on context to access the meaning of words. Horiba and Araki (2002) mentionedthatone’sreadingabilityincludesnotonlytheknowledgeofvocabularyandgrammarbut alsotheeffectiveuseofworkingmemoryforsuchknowledge.Inotherwords,slowreadingprevents readersfromretainingtheirmemoryofthecontent.Ito(2016)arguedthatreadersshouldreadrapidly beforethetextalreadyunderstooddisappearfromworkingmemorytounderstandtheassociation betweenthetextandthewriter’sintention.Thus,theautomaticityofthesubordinateprocesses,suchas readingordecodingwords,isessentialforimprovingreadingfluencyandcomprehension.Inthisregard, RRcanbeaneffectiveactivityforenhancingautomaticity.
1.4 A positive balance between reading fluency and extensive reading
ComparingbetweenRRandERcanpointtoclearreasonswhyRRisrequiredtoimprovethereading skillsoflearners.Moreover,RRandERshouldbecombinedbecauseeachonehasitsadvantages.
AccordingtoMatsuiandNoro(2010),a10-minuteERforjuniorhighschoolstudentsimprovedreading fluencyanddevelopedintrinsicmotivation.Inaddition,TanakaandStapleton(2007)mentionedthata 5-monthtreatmentofERforhighschoolstudentscanenhancereadingspeed.InthecaseofER,learners canfreelyselectmaterialsaccordingtotheirinterest.Inaddition,incontrasttoRR,learnersreadnew materialswithoutreadingrepeatedly,suchthattheyexperienceenjoymentinreadingandmaintainhigh levelsofmotivation.However,incaseswherethesubordinateskillsofreadingandtheknowledgeof vocabularyandgrammarareinsufficient,learnersexperiencedifficultyinreadinginlargeamountsand enjoyingreading,whichmakescontinuingtheprocessdifficult.AsTaguchi(2003)mentioned,slow readerscannotreadefficiently;thus,theylosefocusonobtaininginformation,whichistheprimary purposeofreading.Inotherwords,readingbecomeslessenjoyableforthem.Consequently,readinga largequantityisdifficultforslowreaders,and,inmanycases,theyareunabletoimprovereading,which indicatesthatERmaynotalwaysbeeffective.Inaddition,thepossibilityofseeingthesamewords, expressions,andsentencestructuresrepeatedlyinERissmall,unlessreadersreadconsiderableamounts oftext,whichisinsufficientforpromotingreadingfluency.Leroux(2016)statedthat“ifthesamewords aremetrepeatedly,thenthecognitiveresourcesallocatedtodecodingarereducedorminimized,which promotesautomaticity”(p.14).Inotherwords,otheractivitiesshouldbepracticedtoenhancethe readingskillsoflearners.Therefore,theuseofRRshouldbeconsidered.
Kadotaetal.(2010)suggestedthatteachersprovidelearnerswithampleopportunitiestoreadthe same text repeatedly to deepen their understanding and absorb the components of language.
Furthermore,Taguchi,Takayasu-Maass,andO’Neill(2004)statedthatRRimprovestheunderdeveloped wordrecognitionskillsofESL/EFLreaders;itmaybemoreefficientthanERbecauseitfacilitates comprehensionbyallowinglearnerstore-readandtransferpracticegainsbyreadingnewpassages.In addition,KadotaandNoro(2001)impliedthatRRwillbeeffectivebecausethemajorityofJapanese
juniorhighandhighschoolstudentscannotrecognizewordsnaturally.InRR,learnersseethesame words,expressions,andsentencestructuresrepeatedly;hence,theyareabletotraintheirsubordinate skills efficiently.Furthermore,as previouslymentioned,textbooksfor junior high and high school studentsorganizevocabulary,expressions,andgrammar;therefore,theirsubordinateskillsinreadingare enhancedstep-by-step.UndergoingthisprocessenableslearnerstoenjoyanddoER.Inotherwords,RR canserveasagoodbridgetoER.Taguchi,Takayasu-Maass,andGorsuch(2004)mentionedthat“RR hasthepotentialtorivalandstronglyfacilitateERasameansoffluencybuilding,allowingFL/L2 learnerstobecomeindependentreaders.”
1.5 Issues of RR
WhataretheinfluencingfactorsassociatedwiththelackofsufficientpracticeofRRinJapanese classrooms? Various reasons are plausible; however, the current study focuses mainly on the concentration andmotivationoflearnersforRR.AsTaguchi,Gorsuch,Takayasu-Maass, andSnipp (2012)cited,RRmayleadtoboredomanddemotivation.Kusui(2011)alsostatedthatreadingaloud tendstobecomeamonotonousactivity.Therefore,theconcentrationandmotivationoflearnersforRR tendtodecreasewitheachreading.Evidently,teachersencouragelearnerstocontinuereading;however, inmanycases,learnersonlymakesoundswhenreadingaloud,althoughtheyappeartobereading seriously.Whenreadingsilently,motivatinglearnersandmaintainingtheirconcentrationaredifficultfor teachersbecauselearnersarefamiliarwiththecontent.Moreover,formulatingtasksandquestionsto encouragethemtoreadseriouslyagainischallenging.Althoughseriouslearnersreadthesamepassage repeatedly,readingwillremainineffectiveiftheirlevelsofmotivationandconcentrationarelow.In addition,teachersmayoptforothermethodsapartfromRRdespitetheevidentneedformoreRRifthey observelowlevelsofmotivationandconcentrationamonglearners.Thereasonbehindthisnotionisthat theattitudesoflearnersstronglyaffectteachers.Basedonpersonalexperience,Kanatani(2017)stated thatiflearnersinhisclassreactunfavorablytotherepetitionofthesameactivity,hemaycancela similarfutureactivity.Thistypeofsituationfrequentlyoccursinclasses.Tochangethesetwocases, wherethepracticeofRRinclassroomsisinsufficient,thestudysuggeststhatabettermethodfor encouragingRRshouldbedevised.
1.6 What are ECAs?
ThestudyputsforwardECAsasastrategyforaddressingtheabovementionedproblemsregarding RR.ECAsareactivitiesthroughwhichlearnersdetermineandcorrectseveralerrorsembeddedinthe textastheyread.BasedonthesuggestionsbyShizuka(2002)andMatsushita(2012)aboutatest throughwhichlearnersidentifyandcorrectseveralerrorsembeddedinthetext,theseactivitiesare devisedtoengagestudentsinRR.Themainobjectiveoftheactivitiesistomaintainorenhancethe concentrationandmotivationoflearnersforRR.Passagesshouldcontainmorethan300wordsbecausea shorterpassagefacilitatesthememorizationoftextandidentificationoferrorwithoutadequatethought.
Teachersmakeandembederrorsinthetextbasedontheirintention.Sucherrorsaremainlyrelatedto thecontentofthepassageandeasilyidentifiableiflearnersfollowthecontentproperly.Withreference totheconceptbyShizuka(2002),thestudypresentsseveralexamplesofappropriateerrors,suchas
antonyms:changing“happy”to“sad”;conjunctions:changing“but”to“so”;denial:addingoromitting“not”;
andamount:changing“many”to“few.”Grammaticalerrors,suchaserrorsoftenseandwordform,can alsobeused,althoughsucherrorsarerare.AppendixBprovidesconcreteexamplesoftheseerrors.The numberoferrorsisnotfixed;however,roughlyfiveerrorsshouldbeappropriateforonepassage.The basicprocedure istodisseminate thepassage, giveabriefexplanation, suchasallocated timeand numberoferrors,andsignalthestartofreading.Theseactivitiesareversatile,i.e.,learnersneedtoread rapidlyifashorttimelimitisprovidedbutreadrepeatedlywithoutatimelimituntiltheyfindtheerrors.
Inaddition,theseactivitiescanbepracticedbyreadingsilentlyandaloud.Moreover,theycanbe conductedintensivelyusingdictionariesaslearningtools.ThetypeofECAsthatshouldbeimplemented isdependentontheintentionoftheactivity.
1.7 How can ECAs help?
Ishihara(2002)conductedastudyonjuniorandseniorhighschoolstudentsandfoundthatmanyof themconfirmtheusefulnessofreadingaloudbutcommentthatitisboringandtroublesome.Inmany cases,theconcentrationandmotivationoflearnersforRRdecreaseastheyreadthesamematerial repeatedly.Therefore,goalsandcompetitionshouldbeconsideredtoaddressthisissue.Dörnyei(2001) statedthatsettingspecificandshort-termgoalscanhelplearnersinstructuringthelearningprocess, whichisparticularlyimportantinlearningasubject,suchasasecondlanguage.ThegoalofECAsis specificandshort-term.Moreover,Dörnyei(2001)arguedthat“theopportunitytocompetecanadd excitementtolearningtasks.”Hiromori(2015)agreedbysaying“competingcanmakeanactivity motivating.”Inthisregard,ECAscanbecompetitivebecauselearnerscancomparethenumbersof errorstheycanidentifyintheactivities.Basedonthesetwopoints,ECAsareeffectiveforpromotingRR.
2.Research Question
Previous studies suggest that RR is a promising method for improving reading fluency and comprehension;however,learnersfinddifficultyinmaintainingconcentrationandmotivationforRRdue toitsboringandmonotonousnature.Moreover,otherscholarsproposethatECAscanbereasonably effective means to encourage RR in classrooms because they present clear goals and promote competition.Toexaminethiseffectiveness,thecurrentstudycollecteddatafromlearnersandposedthe followingresearchquestionsfromwhichthequestionnairewasformulated.
ResearchQuestion1:CanECAsenhancetheconcentrationandmotivationoflearnersforRRin classroomsastheycopewithECAs?
ResearchQuestion2:DoestheknowledgethatlearnerswillbedoinganECAafterRRincreasetheir concentrationandmotivationwhiledoingRR?
3. Method
3.1 Participants
Theparticipantsinthisresearchcomprised41Japanesestudentsfromanall-boyshighschoollocated
inHokkaido.Theywere12th-gradestudentsagedfrom17to18yearsandwerelearningEnglishforat least6yearsatthetimeofthestudy.Insummary,theirEnglishproficiencylevelwashighforhigh schoolstudents,wherethemajorityofthemacquiredatleastgrade2inthePracticalEnglishProficiency Test(EIKEN).TheiraveragescorefortheListeningandReadingTestoftheTestofEnglishfor InternationalCommunicationwas630.24.Specifically,theiraveragescoresforthelisteningandreading sectionswere328.17and302.07,respectively.Inotherwords,theirlevelofproficiencyinEnglishis beyondtheB1leveloftheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReference.Regardingthemasbeginnersor slowreadersisdifficult;however,theyremainunabletofullyautomatizetheirsubordinateprocesses especiallywhenreadingEnglishtextswithunfamiliarexpressionsanddifficultsentencestructures.
Hence,thestudyconsideredthemappropriatesubjectsofresearch.TheylearnedEnglishinthesame classroomandperformedECAsseveraltimesfromApril2017toDecember2018.
3.2 Procedure and materials
BeforethesurveywasconductedonDecember15,2018,RRsessionsandECAswerecontinuously practicedfromApril2017toDecember2018.FortheRRtasks,thestudentsreadthesamematerials repeatedlyinsideandoutsidetheclassroomafterunderstandingthecontenttoacertainextent.They wereencouragedtoreadinvariouswaysofreading,suchassilently,aloud,withanaudiomodel,and speedreading.Moreover,theywereencouragedtopayattentiontocontentastheyread.Theywere instructedtoreadonematerialatleast10timestoabsorbthevariouselementsoftheEnglishlanguage andautomatizethedecodingofwordsandsyntacticprocessestoenablefluentreading.ECAswere mainlypracticedinclassafterRR.Insomecases,thestudentswereinformedthatanECAwillfollow shortlyafterRR(i.e.,anintervalof10min).Withinthisinterval,theypracticedRRindividuallyorwith otherclassmatesunderthesupervisionofateacher.ManymethodscanbeusedtoconductECAs,such aswithatimelimit,withoutatimelimit,andwithreferencetoadictionary(withpermissionfromthe teacher).However,forthemajorityofthetime,ECAswithatimelimitwerepracticedbecausetheyare time-efficientandencouragerapidreading.AftereachECA,learnerscomparetheirscoreswiththoseof otherstudents.Onepointisawardedforeacherroridentified,andanotherpointisawardedforeach error corrected. Specifically, if five errors are presented in one material, then the full score is 10.
Indirectly,lowscoresmayindicateinsufficientRR.Therefore,studentswithlowscoresareencouraged toconductmoreRR.
AsuitablequestionnairerelatedtoRRdoesnotexist.Therefore,thestudyformulatedanewone (Appendix A) based on a preliminary survey on ECAs. The questionnaire included open-ended questionsontheimpressionofstudentsaboutthepracticeofECAsintheclassroom.Moreover,thestudy referredtoaquestionnairedevelopedbyUshiro(1995).
ThequestionswereintendedtomeasurethelevelsofconcentrationandmotivationoflearnersforRR infourtypesofreading,namely,readingaloud,readingsilently,readingaloudrepeatedly,andwith ECAs.Questions1,4,6,9,11,13,18,and23comparedthelevelsofconcentrationofstudentsforRRand theextenttowhichlearnerscanretaintheirattentiononthecontentusingtheabovementionedtypesof reading.Questions31and32wereintendedtodeterminethemotivationofthestudentsintheprocessof performing ECAs, whereas questions 36, 37, 38, and 39 measure the levels of concentration and
motivationofstudentsforRRbeforeperformingECAs.Finally,questions42,43,and44areopen-ended questionsthatsolicittheopinionsofstudentsaboutECAs.
Thequestionnairewasconductedinaclassroomoneday(December15,2018),andtheparticipants ratedthe41statementsusingasix-pointLikert-typescale(i.e.,rangingfrom1=stronglyagreeto6=
stronglydisagree)andansweredthethreeopen-endedquestions.Learnerswererequestedtoindicate theirlevelsofconcentrationandmotivationastheywerereadingaloud,readingsilently,readingaloud repeatedly,andperformingECAs.TheparticipantswerepreviouslyengagedwithECAsforseveral timesusingvariousmaterialsandstyles.AppendixBprovidesanexampleofthematerials,whichwas derivedfrom“CuttingEdge22018”(Ikegami,2018)andwasoriginallyapartofapastuniversity entranceexamination.Thepassageiscomposedof655wordswithatimelimitoffiveminutes.The learnerswereaskedtoidentifyandmarkerrorsandmakethecorrectionsonthematerialdirectly.The materialcontainedfiveerrors,namely,“nowhere”(line5)shouldbechangedto“anywhere,”“increases”
(line 15) to “decreases,” “in” (line 20) to “from,” “does not provide” (line 37) to “provides,” and
“vulnerable”(line46)to“stronger.”Afterfiveminutes,thelearnersweregiventheanswerstonotehow manyerrorstheyidentifiedandcorrected.
Thestudycalculated,compared,andanalyzedthemeanandstandarddeviationofdatabasedonthe responsestothequestionnaire.
4.Results
4.1 Research Question 1
TheresultsrevealedtwopointstoaddressResearchQuestion1.First,learnerstendtoretaintheir attentiononthecontentmoreeasilyduringECAscomparedwithreadingEnglishpassageswithout errors.Table1indicatestheaveragescoresonaquestionregardingtheextenttowhichlearnersretain theirattentiononthecontentwhilereadingaloud,readingsilently,readingaloudrepeatedly,anddoing ECAs.Thequestionwas“whileyoureadaloud,readsilently,readaloudrepeatedly,anddoanECA,you sometimesreadthepassagewithoutpayingattentiontothecontent”(AppendixA).Thehigherthe scoresfortheseitems,themorethelearnersretainedtheirattentiononthecontent.Comparedwiththe fouraveragescores,theaveragescoreforECAswas4.76,whichisthehighest.Inotherwords,learners canconcentrateonthecontentmosteffectivelyastheyperformECAs.
Inaddition,Table2presentsthescoresforthestatement“yousometimesreadthepassagewithout thinkingwhilereadingaloud,readingsilently,readingaloudrepeatedly,anddoingECAs.”Similartothe previousresult,theaveragescoreforECAswas4.85,whichwasthehighestamongthefourtypesof
Table 1
To what extent learners can keeptheir attention on the content
Group N M SD
readingaloud readingsilently
readingaloudrepeatedly ECA
41 41 41 41
3.02 4.24 2.49 4.76
1.13 1.18 1.03 1.30
reading.Insummary,thisresultindicatesthatlearnerscanretaintheirconcentrationthemostasthey performECAs.
Withrespecttomotivation,theresultsforstatements31and32revealthatECAscancontributeto enhancingmotivationforRR.Table3illustratesthedatafromstatements31and32,thatis,“youare motivatedtoreadeagerlybecauseyoucandiscoverhowmanyerrorsyoucanfind,andthegoalof findingerrorsincreasesyourmotivationforreadingasyouperformECAs.”Datafromstatement31 presentameanof2.34,where85.3%oftheparticipantsselected“stronglyagree,”“agree,”or“slightly agree.” Similarly,data from statement 32 present a mean of 2.39, where 82.9% of the participants respondedwith“stronglyagree,”“agree,”or“slightlyagree.”
Table 3
Whetherthe motivation for reading goes up while doing ECAs
Statements N M SD
WhiledoinganECA,youaremotivated toreadeagerlybecauseyoucandiscover howmanyerrorsyoucanfind.
41 2.34 1.11
WhiledoinganECA,thegoaloffinding errors increases your motivation for reading.
41 2.39 1.09
Inaddition,responsestothethreeopen-endedquestionsonECAsindicatethatECAscanboostthe levelsofconcentrationandmotivationoflearnersforreading.Tenparticipantsmentionedthatthey intendedtopaymoreattentiontothecontentduringECAs,whereassevenparticipantsreportedthat theywerehighlymotivatedtoreadduringECAs.
4.2 Research Question 2
ResearchQuestion2pertainstowhetherECAscanbeacatalystforRRbeforethestudentsare informedofupcomingECAs.FourstatementsarevalidforResearchQuestion2.Twoofthempertainto whetherlearnerspaymoreattentiontothecontentofapassageastheyreadaloudandreadsilently beforeanECA,giventhattheywereinformedabouttheECAafterreading(statements36and37).The twootherstatementsdenotewhetherthemotivationforreadingaloudandsilentlybeforeanECAwill beenhancediftheyarenotifiedaboutperforminganECA(statements38and39).Datafromthefour
Table 2
To what extent learners read with some intention
Group N M SD
readingaloud readingsilently
readingaloudrepeatedly ECA
41 41 41 41
3.07 4.29 2.51 4.85
1.19 1.10 1.12 1.31
statementsrevealthatECAscanbeacatalystforRR.
TheresultinTable4clearlysuggestedthatalthoughthestudentspaidmoreattentiontothecontent ofthematerialastheyreadaloudandsilentlybeforeanECA,theirmotivationforreadingincreases.
Specifically,22(53.7%)and12(29.2%)participantsstronglyagreedandagreed,respectively,thatas theyreadaloudbeforeanECA,theypaymoreattentiontothecontentofthereading(statement36).In thesamemanner,asmanyas24(58.5%)and11(26.8%)participantsstronglyagreedandagreed, respectively,thatastheyreadsilentlybeforeanECA,theypaymoreattentiontothecontentofthe reading(statement37).Withrespecttomotivation,38participants(92.7%)toonedegreeoranother agreedthattheirmotivationforreadingincreasedastheyreadaloudbeforeanECA(statement38).
Moreover,38participants(92.7%)moreorlessagreedthattheirmotivationforreadingincreasedasthey readsilentlybeforeanECA.
Accordingtodatafromtheopen-endedquestions,fourparticipantsreportedthatECAspositively influencedtheirreadingbeforeanECA.Forexample,theirconcentrationonreadingbeforeanECA increased,whereasthequalityoftheirreadingbeforeanECAalsoimproved.
Table 4
Whether ECAs can be a catalyst for RR when learners are toldthey will do an ECA.
Statements N M SD
IfyouaretoldthatyouwilldoanECA,youpaymore attentiontothecontentofamaterialwhilereading aloudbeforedoingtheECA.
41 1.68 0.88
IfyouaretoldthatyouwilldoanECA,youpaymore attentiontothecontentofamaterialwhilereading silentlybeforedoingtheECA.
41 1.61 0.86
If you are told that you will do an ECA, your motivationforreadingaloudbeforedoingtheECAwill beenhanced.
41 2.15 1.01
If you are told that you will do an ECA, your motivationforreadingsilentlybeforedoingtheECA willbeenhanced.
41 2.05 1.16
5.Discussion
Accordingtotheobtaineddata,learnerspaidmoreattentiontothecontentofthematerialtheyare readingbeforeperformingECAscomparedwithreadingamaterialwithouterrors.Especially,aslearners readaloud,payingattentiontothecontentbecameincreasinglydifficultforthemcomparedwithreading silentlyandperformingECAs.Thereasonforthisnotionisthatwithreadingaloud,learnerstendto focusonarticulatingwords;consequently,lesscognitiveresourcesareusedtofollowthecontent.This findingimpliesthatpracticingverbalskillsisrequiredbeforereadingamaterialkeepingtheirattention onthecontent.Inaddition,informinglearnersofthepurposeofreadingaloudisnecessary.Ingeneral, teacherssetcertainmeasurestolimitthetimegivenforreadingaloud,suchasatimerestriction,given thatclasstimeislimited.Inthismanner,learnersareforcedtoreadmorerapidly.Asaresult,theyfail
tounderstandthecontentastheyreadaloud.Thisscenarioimpliesthatstudentscanbetterfocusonthe content even if they are unable to finish reading the material by reducing the burden on word pronunciation,suchasreadingsilently.ECAsareencouragedbecausetheyenablelearnerstofocusmore onthecontentcomparedwithsilentreading,andECAsprovidelearnerswithaclearobjective:to identifyerrors.Inotherwords,concentratingduringsilentreadingisdifficult.Althoughlearnerscan readsilentlyoraloudduringECAs,theyareforcedtofocusonthecontent.Otherwise,theywouldbe unabletoidentifyerrors.
ECAsalsoprovidelearnerswithfurthermotivationforRR.Aspreviouslymentioned,RRiseffective forimprovingthereadingcomprehensionandfluencyoflearners,althoughtheprocessismonotonous, such that the levels of concentration and motivation of students for RR decrease with increased repetition.Thus,ECAscanbeasolutiontothisproblembecauselearnerscanpracticeRRwithsustained highlevelsofconcentrationandmotivation.TeachersfrequentlycitetheimportanceandobjectiveofRR, suchas“RRisimportantforimprovingreading”and“pleasepicturethecontentwhilereading.”However, inmanycases,suchguidanceremainsinsufficient.Evidently,aclearerandmoreencouragingmethodis required,whichcanbeattainedwithECAs.Certainly,severalactivitiescanpromoteRR,suchasretelling andsummarizing.Suchtechniquesareundeniablyeffective.SimilarlyECAsfunctionasatypeofactivity thatcanbeusedtoencourageRR.Importantly,ECAsaremoreeasilypracticedbecauseteachersmake minimalchangestoatextforreading,i.e.,introduceerrorsforlearnerstoidentify.Forbusyteachers, thismethodistime-efficient.
Moreover,theresultssuggestthatECAscanbeacatalystforRR.Inotherwords,bypracticingECAs, RRbeforedoinganECAcanbegreatlyencouraged.Forexample,whenlearnersareinformedthatan ECAwillbeconductedin10min,theywilldotheirbesttoreadrepeatedlybeforetheECA.Thereason underlyingthisnotionisthateachECAprovideslearnerswithaclearandimmediateresult,suchasthe numberoferrorstheycanfind.Therefore,manyofthemwillaimtofindmoreerrorsthantheirpeers, whichissimilartoagame.Insummary,ECAscanbeaneffectivemeansofRRandcanbeacatalystfor promotingRR.Consequently,practicingECAsultimatelycontributestotheimprovementofthereading comprehensionandfluencyoflearners.
Fromtheteacher’sperspective,thepositiveattitudeoflearnerstowardRRduetotheuseofECAs promotes teachers’ willingness toincreasingly practice RRintheclassroom. Inaddition, ECAs are practicalactivitiesbecausetheteachersonlyneedtopreparetextdataandintroduceappropriateerrors, whichisaveryfavorablepointforteachers.
6.CONCLUSION
ThepresentstudyexaminedwhetherECAscanactivatetheconcentrationandmotivationoflearners forRRinclass.ThedataindicatethatECAshavethepotentialtoenhanceconcentrationonthecontent ofthereadingmaterialandmotivationforRRamonglearners.ThefindingssuggestthatECAsshouldbe introducedinclasstoencouragemoreRR,whichpromotestheautomaticityoflearners’subordinate processesofreading.Suchactivitiesencouragelearnerstoreadfluently.Asaresult,theycanreadalot withoutdifficulty.EspeciallyintheearlystageofEnglishlearning,ECAsaswellasRRshouldbe
emphasized.Withtheimprovementinsubordinateprocesses,ERshouldbegraduallyintroducedinclass, which will subsequently increase the coverage of ER. Consequently, the reading fluency and comprehensionofstudentswillbeenhanced.Inotherwords,ECAsaswellasRRarevaluablelinksfrom word-by-wordtranslationsandthoroughexplanationsofgrammartoER.Basedonthesefindings,the studyproposesthatECAsareidealforteachersandlearnersalike.
AnotheradvantageofECAsistheirpracticalityandversatility.Inmanycases,teachersarebusywith varioustasks.Therefore,theymaybeunlikelytoallocatesufficienttimetoelaboratenewteaching materialsandtoprepareforclass.Thus,practicingECAsiseasybecauseallteachersshoulddoisto introduceappropriateerrorsandembedtheminthetextfile.Moreover,ECAscanbepracticedusing variousmethodsandatvariousstagesofthecomprehensionoflearners.Bysettingtimerestrictions, learnersareforcedtoreadquickly,whichincreasestheirabsorptionofthereadingcontent.Conversely, byprovidingsufficienttimetoreadandgivingpermissiontouseadictionary,learnerscanbeencouraged toreadthoroughly.ECAscanbeintroducedasatest,whichpromotelearners’RRoutsidetheclassroom astheyprepareforthetest.AnotherpossiblescenarioisthatlearnersmaketheirownECAs(thatis, their own “errors”). Afterward, teachers collect and review the learner-made ECAs and provide feedback.Thisactivityissimilartoonethatencourageslearnerstomakeatest.Inthismanner,ECAs arerelativelybeneficialandshouldbeaddedtoeveryEnglishcurriculumasoneofmanyactivitiesthat canpromoteRR.
Thestudyhasitslimitations.First,thenumberofparticipantsissmall,andthebackgroundsofthe participantsaresimilar.Therefore,additionalresearchonothersubjectswithalargersamplesizeand withdifferentbackgroundsinEnglishlearningshouldbeconducted.Furthermore,ECAshaveenormous potentialforenhancingEnglishlearning.Therefore,studiesshouldbeconductedonthedifferentusesof ECAs,suchasfortestingandpromotingsilentandrapidreading,especiallyamongdiversegroupsof learners.
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Appendix A
Extract of questionnaire
1＝Stronglyagree 2＝Agree 3＝Agreealittle 4＝Disagreealittle 5＝disagree 6＝Stronglydisagree
When you read aloud in class a passage whose contents you already understand, 1 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutpayingattentiontothecontent.
4 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutthinking.
When you read silently in class a passage whose contents you already understand, 6 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutpayingattentiontothecontent.
9 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutthinking.
When you repeatedly read aloud in class a passage whose contents you already understand, 11 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutpayingattentiontothecontent.
13 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutthinking.
While doing an ECA,
18 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutpayingattentiontothecontent.
23 yousometimesreadthepassagewithoutthinking.
31 youaremotivatedtoreadeagerlybecauseyoucandiscoverhowmanyerrorsyoucanfind.
32 thegoaloffindingerrorsincreasesyourmotivationforyourreading.
If you are told that you will do an ECA,
36 youpaymoreattentiontothecontentofapassagewhilereadingaloudbeforedoingtheECA.
37 youpaymoreattentiontothecontentofapassagewhilereadingsilentlybeforedoingtheECA.
38 yourmotivationforreadingaloudbeforedoingtheECAisenhanced.
39 yourmotivationforreadingsilentlybeforedoingtheECAisenhanced.
Please feel free to write down your comments about the following points of ECAs.
42 ThegoodpointsofECAs.
43 ThebadpointsofECAs.
44 AnycommentsandsuggestionsaboutECAs.
Appendix B
Extract of errors from the passage
1InAustralia,therearemorethanonemillionspeciesofplantsandanimals,manyofwhicharefound nowhereelse.
InAustralia,therearemorethanonemillionspeciesofplantsandanimals,manyofwhicharefound anywhereelse.
2Inotherwords,ifitspopulationdecreases,thismeansthattherestoftheecosystemisintrouble.
Inotherwords,ifitspopulationincreases,thismeansthattherestoftheecosystemisintrouble.
3Inspiteofalonghistoryofkoalaprotection,thepopulationofkoalasissteadilydecreasingtoday.
Since European settlement, clearing of habitats for agriculture combined with hunting, diseases, bushfiresandsoonhasresultedinalowpopulationlevel.
Inspiteofalonghistoryofkoalaprotection,thepopulationofkoalasissteadilydecreasingtoday.
Since European settlement, clearing of habitats for agriculture combined with hunting, diseases, bushfiresandsoonhasresultedfromalowpopulationlevel.
4Eatingeucalyptusleaves,though,doesnotprovidemuchenergy.
Eatingeucalyptusleaves,though,providesmuchenergy.
5Stress,injury,orlackoffoodmaymakekoalasvulnerabletodisease.
Stress,injury,orlackoffoodmaymakekoalasstrongertodisease.
(濱田 裕介 札幌校大学院生)
(志村 昭暢 札幌校教授)
