Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Education." Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-157).

Abstract The main purpose of this paper was to explore the effects of reading motivation and reading self-efficacy on Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks for third grade students in elementary schools. The researcher adopted the ¡§Equivalent Control Group Pretest-posttest Design¡¨ of Quasi-experiments Research Method and used the third grade students of two classes in the Kaohsiung elementary school as samples. One class was assigned to the experimental group for the purpose of carrying out Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks. Another class was the control group for the intention of proceeding Common Reading Instruction of picture storybooks. The research instrument of this paper included Elementary Reading Motivation Scale (Su-Zu Li, 1999) and Elementary Reading Self-efficacy Scale (Chih-Hsien Tu, 1998). In addition, the data was analyzed and tested by descriptive statistic, t-test, independent sample one-way ANCOVA, and product-moment correlation. The findings of the study were as follows: I.The influences of Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks on students¡¦ reading motivation A.In the aspect of reading motivation, there was no significant difference between the experimental group and the control group before accepting Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks. B.There was a significant difference in reading motivation between the students who accepted Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks and the students who didn¡¦t. II.The influences of Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks on students¡¦ reading self-efficacy A.In the aspect of reading efficacy, there was no significant difference between the experimental group and the control group before accepting Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks. B.There was a significant difference in reading efficacy between the students who accepted Creative Thinking Instruction of picture storybooks and the students who didn¡¦t. III.There was a significant positive correlation between reading motivation and reading self-efficacy. According to the study results of above, the researcher offered the suggestions for the reference in educational applications and prospective studies as follows: I.If quantification and action research was operated together, the research benefit would be higher. II.Creative Thinking Instruction was subsumed in school-based curriculum. III.The research subject could be extensively discussed.

Over the last decade, the idea of providing students with choices in their learning experience has attracted academic interest (Flowerday & Shraw, 2000; Katz & Assor, 2007; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008). Although some previous research has suggested that choice is beneficial to language learning, other research has indicated that choice has negligible (Iyengar & DeVoe, 2003) or even damaging effects (D’Ailly, 2004; Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, & Turner, 2004) on language acquisition. Considerable differences in the focuses of previous research can explain the conflicting results of these choice studies (Iyengar & DeVoe, 2003; Schwartz, 2004); however, researchers agree that choice is closely associated with motivation (Stefanou et al., 2004). For instance, various motivational models, such as self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), include the concepts of choice, autonomy, and control as key elements of intrinsic motivation and performance. This study had three main purposes, the first of which was to quantitatively examine the relationships among Reading Anxiety, Autonomy, Interest, Reading Self- Efficacy, and Reading Proficiency in Japanese EFL students in a first-year pre-intermediate reading course. The second purpose was to quantitatively examine the effect of having No Choice, Option Choice, and Active Choice (Reeve, Nix, & Hamm, 2003) on Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, Reading Self-Efficacy, and reading performance over one academic year in a foreign language reading curriculum. The final purpose was to qualitatively corroborate and support the quantitative findings through a series of structured interviews based on students’ beliefs and attitudes toward the provision of choice in the reading curriculum. A quantitative quasi-experimental design supported by a qualitative phenomenological component was used during the year-long longitudinal study with 201 first-year Japanese EFL students at a private university in Japan. Nine intact classes were randomly assigned into three groups: No Choice (n = 66), Option Choice (n = 67), and Active Choice (n = 68), as defined by Reeve et al. (2003). Affective Variable Questionnaires were administered to measure the levels of Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, and Reading Self-Efficacy before, during, and after a 32-week treatment. The results of reading performance measures, including Vocabulary Definition and Vocabulary in Context quizzes, Intensive Reading tests, Extensive Reading quizzes, Timed Reading assignments, Composite TOEFL, and TOEFL Reading component scores were tracked over the academic year. The results showed low to medium Pearson correlations ranging between r = - .39 to r = .29 among Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, and Reading Self-Efficacy. In addition, a stable, significant relationship was found between Reading Self-Efficacy and Reading Proficiency, as measured by students’ TOEFL scores and TOEFL Reading Component scores at the start and end of the academic semester. Initially, no such relationship was found between Reading Anxiety, Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, and Reading Proficiency. However, by the end of the academic year, significant correlations were found among the Reading Autonomy, Reading Interest, Composite TOEFL, and TOEFL Reading component scores. The results indicated significant changes in the affective variables within each group over the academic year. Over the year, significant decreases in Reading Anxiety, and significant increases in Reading Self-Efficacy in each of the three groups were particularly salient. In addition, there were significant changes in many of the Reading Performance measures for each of the groups; however, only the Active Choice group had significant changes in all seven Reading Performance measures over the year. In terms of the effect of choice on the affective variables, students in both the Active Choice and the Option Choice groups had significantly higher Autonomy gains than students in the No Choice group over the academic year. Thus, giving students any type of choice in their reading curriculum exerted a positive effect on Reading Autonomy. With regards to the effect of choice on reading performance, mixed results were found in the reading components among the three groups. First, in the Intensive Reading and Timed Reading components, students in the Active Choice group performed significantly better than students in the Option Choice and No Choice groups. This finding indicated that when choice is given to students, it is necessary that the locus of control be with the student. With respect to Vocabulary Definitions and Vocabulary in Context components, both the Active Choice and Option Choice groups had significantly higher scores than the No Choice group. In other words, any choice was considered better than no choice. The type of choice had no effect on the Vocabulary components. In Extensive Reading, the Active Choice group significantly outperformed the No Choice group in the Extensive Reading quizzes; however, the Option Choice group was not significantly different from the other two groups. The results indicated that only autonomous choice led to greater self-determination, and increases in performance. Finally, no differences were found among the three groups in the Composite TOEFL scores and the TOEFL Reading component scores. The quantitative findings were corroborated by interviews with 18 students with a wide range of motivation and reading performance, as measured by the Affective Variables Questionnaire and the reading performance measures. The students were interviewed about the treatment process and their feelings about having choice in the reading curriculum. Common themes derived from the interview data indicated that choice affected students’ sense of Reading Autonomy. A common pattern emerged from the data indicating that students in the Active Choice group with lower levels of affect and reading performance were less comfortable making choices than students with higher levels of affect and reading performance abilities. Additionally, students in the No Choice group with higher levels of affect and reading performance were frustrated by the lack of choice in the reading course. The study contributed four unique points to the field of choice in language learning. First, choice was found to increase students’ sense of Reading Autonomy, a key component in intrinsic motivation and successful learning (Littlewood, 1999). Next, having any type of choice was found to be beneficial in Vocabulary acquisition. Moreover, only autonomous choice was found to be advantageous in the more complex tasks of Intensive Reading, Extensive Reading, and Timed Reading. Finally, the benefits of choice did not extend to performance on the Composite TOEFL and TOEFL Reading components. The testing environment and the lack of choice available in standardized testing were demotivating and contributed to a decrease in reading performance. The mixed results of this study indicate that choice is a complex phenomenon. The field of choice in education and language learning offers a wealth of teaching and research possibilities for future study. / Teaching & Learning

This study is a quasi-experimental, longitudinal investigation into the role that extensive reading and reading strategies play in the cultivation of reading self-efficacy. Conducted over the course of one academic year, how changes in reading self-efficacy translate into changes in reading comprehension was examined. In addition, the participants' perceptions of the utility of extensive reading and reading strategies, and how those perceptions related to reading self-efficacy were investigated. A final goal was to ascertain how retrospective ratings of reading self-efficacy influence current levels of the construct. The participants (N = 322) were first and second-year, non-English majors at a four-year, co-educational university in Osaka, Japan. The participants were divided into four groups: an intensive reading group (control group), an extensive reading group, a reading strategies group, and an extensive reading/reading strategies group. Data for the study were obtained from six major sources: a reading comprehension test, a reading strategy test, a reading self-efficacy questionnaire, a perceived utility of extensive reading questionnaire, a perceived utility of reading strategies questionnaire, and a sources of reading self-efficacy questionnaire. The questionnaires and tests were administered three times over the course of the academic year. Before conducting the quantitative analyses on the data gathered with the above instruments, the dichotomous test and questionnaire data were analyzed using the Rasch rating-scale model to confirm the validity and reliability of the instruments and to transform the raw scores into equal interval measures. By employing MANOVAs, ANOVAs, Latent Growth Curve Modeling, and Pearson correlation coefficients, the data were then analyzed to ascertain differences between groups and within groups for all tests and constructs measured. The results showed that the participants in the reading strategies and extensive reading/reading strategies groups gained significantly more in reading self-efficacy over the academic year than those in the extensive reading and intensive reading groups. In addition, all three experimental groups outperformed the intensive reading group in reading comprehension. Furthermore, results from the latent growth curve model showed that gains in reading self-efficacy were related positively to gains in reading comprehension. In a similar vein, the results showed that gains in reading strategy skill led to changes in reading self-efficacy, while reading amount was not significantly related to changes in reading self-efficacy. The results also suggested that those who more highly regard extensive reading as useful to improving reading comprehension exhibited higher levels of reading self-efficacy over the course of the study. On the contrary, there was no significant difference in levels of reading self-efficacy between those who highly rated reading strategies as useful and those who did not rate them as highly. Finally, Pearson correlation coefficients showed moderately strong relationships between junior high and high school (retrospective) levels of reading self-efficacy and university (current) levels. These results underscore the importance of self-efficacy in the learning process and how the cultivation of self-efficacy should be a goal of any educator or administrator in an EFL context. The findings also highlight the detrimental effects of teaching methodologies, such as grammar-translation, that deprive learners of the opportunity to develop their own cognitive abilities. With the introduction of reading strategy intervention and/or extensive reading practice, the participants in the experimental groups of this study were able to develop the skills needed to overcome comprehension breakdowns in the reading process, and this help them become more autonomous, empowered readers. / CITE/Language Arts

因應數位閱讀時代的來臨，在進行數位閱讀時，如何進行自我監控，協助學習者掌握閱讀技巧，特別是對於閱讀認知能力不足的小學兒童來說，在進行數位閱讀時更需要有完善的學習鷹架輔助，才能達到良好的閱讀成效。標註系統中也發展出許多不同機制來輔助閱讀，幫助提升學習者的閱讀動機與閱讀成效。但卻也發現學習容易著重在標註的量而忽略了標註的品質，反而無法提升其閱讀理解成效，在學習的過程中忽略了閱讀歷程與閱讀認知的適配性。因此，本研究在合作式數位閱讀標註系統上發展出一套基於閱讀標註支援更有效閱讀的「SOAR結構式筆記模組」，讓學習者於作筆記的過程中掌握文本的重點，幫助學習者提升其閱讀自我效能，希望可有效促進學習者在閱讀中有效的內化與重組，以提升閱讀理解的深度與成效。 本研究採單組實驗設計，探討學習者在使用具「SOAR結構化筆記模組」的「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」輔以閱讀學習的情境下，學習者的閱讀標註瀏覽行為、標註行為及SOAR筆記分數是否影響學生其閱讀自我效能、閱讀理解成效。此外，也針對不同性別與認知風格的學習者作探討。 研究結果發現: 1.在使用「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」支援閱讀的學習情境下，採用「SOAR結構化筆記模組」支援數位閱讀學習，其國小學生的標註行為、閱讀標註瀏覽行為及SOAR筆記分數與閱讀自我效能並無顯著相關2.女性學習者的自我效能與閱讀理解成效具有顯著高度正相關，並且具有線性迴歸之可預測性3.全體學習者的SOAR筆記分數與閱讀理解成具有顯著高度正相關，並且具有線性迴歸之可預測性4.男性學習者的SOAR筆記分數與閱讀理解成效具有顯著高度正相關，並且具有線性迴歸之可預測性5.對國小學生的閱讀理解成效具有顯著的提升6.對男性學習者與女性學習者的閱讀理解成效均具有顯著的提升7.對場地獨立型學習者與場地相依型的學習者的閱讀理解成效均具有顯著的提升。 最後，基於研究結果，本研究亦提出對教師及系統改良的建議，並提出幾個未來的研究方向，希望能對數位閱讀研究有所貢獻。 / Abstract To cope with the digital reading era, self-monitoring to assist learners in grasping reading skills during digital reading, especially for the digital reading of elementary pupils with inadequate reading cognitive capabilities, perfect learning scaffolding is required for achieving good reading performance. There are many different mechanisms developed in annotation systems to assist in reading and help learners promote the reading motivation and reading performance. However, it is also discovered that the learning could easily focus on the quantity of annotation, but ignore the quality of annotation so that the reading comprehension performance could not be enhanced and the suitability of reading process and reading cognition in the learning process is ignored. For this reason, a reading annotation based “SOAR structured note module” for supporting effective reading is developed on the cooperative digital reading annotation system, allowing learners grasping the key points in the text during the noting process and helping learners promote the reading self-efficacy. It is expected to effectively advance the effective internalization and organization of learners in the reading in order to enhance the depth and performance of reading comprehension. With one-shot experimental design, the effect of learners’ reading annotation browsing behaviors, annotation behaviors, and SOAR note scores on the reading self-efficacy and reading comprehension performance, under the reading learning situation with “cooperative digital reading annotation system” with “SOAR structured note module”. Besides, gender and learners with different cognitive styles are also discussed in this study. The research findings are concluded as below. 1. Under the reading learning situation with the support of “cooperative digital reading annotation system”, elementary students applying “SOAR structured note module” to support the digital reading learning do not appear significant correlations between annotation behaviors, reading annotation browsing behaviors, SOAR note scores and reading self-efficacy. 2. Female learners’ self-efficacy and reading comprehension performance present remarkably and highly positive correlations, with the predictability of linear regression. 3. All learners’ SOAR note scores and reading comprehension performance show significantly and highly positive correlation, with the predictability of linear regression. 4. Male learners’ SOAR note scores and reading comprehension performance reveal notably and highly positive correlation, with the predictability of linear regression. 5. Elementary students’ reading comprehension performance is remarkably enhanced. 6. Both male and female learners’ reading comprehension performance is significantly enhanced. 7. Both field-independent and field-dependent learners’ reading comprehension performance is notably enhanced. Finally, suggestions for teachers and system improvement are proposed, based on the research results, in this study, and several research directions are also proposed for research on digital reading. Key words: SOAR structured note; cooperative reading annotation; reading self-efficacy; reading comprehension performance

Afin de mieux comprendre le désengagement des garçons du secondaire envers les activités en lecture dans les classes de français langue seconde (FLS), une recherche portant sur leur sentiment d’efficacité personnelle (SEP) en lecture en contexte de FLS a été menée au cours de l’hiver 2020. Dans un premier temps, un sondage par questionnaire a été administré auprès d’élèves québécois du secondaire (1ère à 3e secondaire) dans des classes de français langue seconde (N=146). Dans un deuxième temps, trois groupes de discussion impliquant 14 garçons ont permis d’identifier les pratiques d’enseignement de la lecture en FLS les plus fréquentes et celles méritant d’être bonifiées. Du fait qu’aucune recherche n’avait jusqu’ici mesuré le SEP en lecture en FLS des garçons du secondaire, la présente recherche avait une visée exploratoire et poursuivait trois objectifs : 1) mesurer le SEP en lecture en FLS des garçons du secondaire ; 2) identifier les expériences de lecture et les pratiques d’enseignement de la lecture en FLS auxquelles les garçons ont été exposés depuis le primaire ; 3) identifier des phénomènes émergents entre les expériences antérieures et les pratiques d’enseignement en lecture en FLS vécues par ces garçons et leur SEP en lecture. Les données provenant de l’échelle de mesure du SEP en lecture en FLS nous indiquent que la moyenne du SEP en lecture en FLS des garçons ayant participé à la présente recherche (n=56) est de 66%, une moyenne inférieure à la moyenne de 75% obtenue par les filles (n=86). De plus, 50 % des réponses aux questions de ce questionnaire (17 sur 34) ont présenté des écarts supérieurs en défaveur des garçons (par plus de 10%) tandis que les filles ont obtenu des résultats supérieurs dans l’ensemble du questionnaire (à 33 des 34 questions). Au-delà de ces écarts, il a été observé que les pratiques de lecture générant le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle en lecture le plus élevé chez les garçons sont celles en lien avec la lecture partagée et la lecture guidée. Parallèlement, l’analyse des données provenant de l’échelle de fréquence d’exposition aux pratiques d’enseignement et expériences antérieures en lecture en FLS a présenté des écarts quasi inexistants entre les filles et les garçons. Somme toute, les résultats indiquent que l’ensemble des garçons ayant participé au sondage (n=56) ont rarement été exposés aux pratiques d’enseignement liées à la lecture partagée et guidée. À l’opposée, les questions portant sur l’évaluation individuelle ont récolté la moyenne globale de fréquence la plus élevée, démontrant que ces expériences en lecture en FLS sont celles les plus fréquemment proposées aux garçons depuis le primaire. En ce qui concerne les données provenant des groupes de discussion, les garçons y ayant participé (n=14) et représentant la population ciblée par la présente recherche, ont clairement mentionné leur désengagement envers la lecture dans les cours de FLS (10 des 14 participants). Unanimement, ils nous ont confirmé que les expériences en lecture les plus souvent vécues dans la classe de FLS sont la lecture individuelle (autonome) et les évaluations individuelles de compréhension de lecture, toutes deux complétées sur des supports papier. Parallèlement, l’évocation des pratiques collaboratives en lecture a suscité leur enthousiasme. Selon eux, la lecture collaborative leur permet de s’entraider entre eux, ce qu’ils valorisent grandement. Misant sur l’entraide, la lecture collaborative leur permet de démontrer à leurs pairs leurs compétences (expérience de maitrise), d’être exposés au savoir-faire et aux opinions de leurs pairs (expérience vicariante) en plus de recevoir rapidement des rétroactions signifiantes et somme toute, d’être exposés à trois sources d’influence du SEP. / To better understand the disengagement experienced by secondary level boys in regard to reading activities in French- second-language classes, a study on their sense of self-efficacy in reading was conducted in the winter of 2020. To begin, a survey in the form of a questionnaire was filled out by secondary school students in Quebec (from secondary 1 to secondary 3) in FSL classes (N=146). Afterwards, three focus groups involving 14 boys made it possible to identify the most frequent FSL reading teaching practices and practices deserving improvement. Considering the fact that no research has been done to measure the Reading self-efficacy in FSL of teenage boys at a secondary level, the current research had an exploratory aim and had three objectives : 1) to measure Reading Self-efficacy in French second language programs among boys that were in secondary school ; 2) to identify the reading experiences and teaching practices in French second language that the boys were exposed to since elementary school ; 3) to identify the emerging phenomena between previous experiences and FSL reading-related teaching practices experienced by the boys and their current Reading Self-efficacy in French. The data provided from the self-efficacy measuring scale in FSL reading indicates that the average of value of self-efficacy in FSL Reading recorded among the boys who participated in the current study (n=56) is of 66%, an average which is inferior to the 75% average obtained by the girls (n=86). Furthermore, 50% of the answers to the survey’s questions (17 out of 34) showed significant deviations which were unfavorable to the boys (by over 10%) while girls scored higher overall (on 33 out of 34 questions). Beyond these gaps, it has been observed that the reading practices generating the highest sense of personal reading efficiency in boys are those related to shared reading and guided reading. In contrast to these results, the analysis of the data from the scale for measuring the frequency of exposition to teaching practices and to previous experiences in FSL reading showed almost non-existent deviations between boys and girls. Overall, the results indicate that all boys who participated in the survey (n=56) were rarely exposed to shared and guided reading teaching practices. On the other hand, the questions pertaining to individual evaluations got the highest frequency average which shows that these experiences in FSL reading are the ones most often presented to boys since elementary school. Regarding the data from the discussion groups, the boys who participated (n=14), and who represented the target population of the research, clearly communicated their disengagement for reading in their FSL classes (10 out of 14). Unanimously, they confirmed that the most frequent experiences they had in these classes were individual reading (autonomous) and individual evaluations of their reading comprehension skills, both of which were done using paper supports. Their conclusions corroborated the results of the survey from the second scale of the questionnaire which indicated that secondary level boys have rarely been exposed to collaborative reading practices and authentic reading tasks in their FSL classes. In parallel, bringing up the topic of collaborative reading practices sparked their enthusiasm. According to them, collaborative reading allows them to help each other out, which is something they value greatly. The emphasis of collaborative reading that relies on mutual aid allows them to showcase their skills to their peers (mastery experience) and to be exposed to the expertise and the opinions of their peers (vicarious experiences) while also quickly receiving significant feedback. Therefore, the boys are exposed to three sources of influence on Self-efficacy.