This multiple case study examined the experiences of elementary L2 learners who received instruction in either reciprocal teaching or the think aloud strategy (TAS), and identified patterns of use that emerged from participants' employment of the strategies. The three L2 participants took a pre- test and a posttest, were recorded using the strategies, and responded to interview questions about the strategies. Using qualitative data analysis techniques, four themes emerged from analysis of the data, including; talking like a teacher, I know what I know, established strategies, and declines to use the steps in the strategy. Implications from these findings suggest that the discussion facilitated by reciprocal teaching assists elementary L2 participants in better understanding the text and also supports their language acquisition, whereas TAS does not facilitate discussion. Further, even though reciprocal teaching promotes discussion, teacher assistance during discussion is necessary. Finally, it is essential that teachers are mindful of students' understandings of topics and the difficulty of texts used when students are learning the strategies.

Detta examensarbete handlar om lärares syn på lässtrategiundervisning. Då mina egna erfarenheter inom skolans årskurs 1–3 vittnar om att läsfixarna används som metod trots att det inte finns forskning som stödjer metoden, har intresset legat i att undersöka lärares syn på läsfixarna som metod. Ett hett ämne inom skoldebatten har länge varit svenska elevers sjunkande resultat i läsförståelse enligt kunskapsmätningar som PISA. Detta menar Barbro Westlund, lektor i läs- och skrivutveckling och deltagare i flera forskningsprojekt, beror på bristande förmåga att plocka fram de rätta strategierna i mötet med olika texttyper. Westlund betonar vikten av att undervisa om lässtrategier ämnesspecifikt vilket ökade mitt intresse av att även undersöka hur lärare använder läsfixarna i samhälls- och naturorienterande ämnen. Undersökningen bygger på sju intervjuer av verksamma lärare i årskurs 1–3 samt en observation av ett lektionstillfälle. Resultatet visar en positiv syn på läsfixarna som metod som går att knyta till tidigare forskning. Resultatet har även visat på att metoden till största del används i svenskämnet, men att det på flera sätt går att använda strategierna ämnesspecifikt. Den positiva synen på läsfixarna som metod väcker nya frågeställningar om varför det saknas vetenskapliga bevis på att metoden är effektiv för läsförståelseutveckling. Det här är dock något som öppnar nya dörrar för vidare undersökningar i bredare omfattning på huruvida läsfixarna som metod hjälper läsaren att utveckla läsförståelse eller inte. / This master thesis is about the teachers view of reading strategy teaching. As my own experiences within the school grades 1-3 testifies that “läsfixarna”, which is a method of reading comprehension strategies, as method is used despite there existing no research that supports the method. For this reason, thesis aims to investigate the teachers’ view of “läsfixarna” as a method. A hot topic in school debate has been for a long time the decreasing results for reading comprehension for Swedish students in knowledge test like the PISA test. This is a cause according to Barbro Westlund, a senior lecturer in reading and writing development and participant in multiple research projects, of the lack of ability to use the correct strategies when encountering different kinds of text. Westlund emphasizes the importance of teaching about the reading strategies specific to the study which increased the interest to also investigate on how teachers use “läsfixarna” in society and science studies. The present study is based on seven interviews with working teachers in grades 1-3 and an observation of a period. The results are show a positive view of “läsfixarna” as a method which is also connected to earlier research of reading comprehension strategies. The results also suggest that the method is largely used in the Swedish subject, but it is also possible to use the strategies in various subject-specific ways. The positive view of “läsfixarna” as a method raises new issues, as there is no scientific evidence that the method is effective for reading comprehension development. This is something that opens doors for further and new investigations to a much wider extent on whether “läsfixarna” as a method help readers to develop reading comprehension or not.

In my workplace, the pupils' shortcomings in reading comprehension were noticed after a teacher at theschool noticed that only a few students actively participated in the whole class teaching and that few pupils could answer questions related to the text that was read in the whole class. The pupils in year sixat the school already have uneven results in reading comprehension and the reading lessons that has been conducted in the two classes has for the most part consisted of whole class tutoring and individual work.  Based on the development needs that I have noticed in my workplace, the purpose of this study is to analyze four student groups' work with text conversations and find out what role support has in text conversations to develop students' reading comprehension. Furthermore, the study intends to investigate whether text conversations in small groups can increase students' participation in reading instruction inthe the swedish subject. Based on this, the following questions have been formulated:  How can text conversations in small groups serve as support for students and promote the use of reading strategies? How can text conversations in small groups increase students' participation in reading lessons?  The analytical tools that has been used to analyse the empirical data is scaffolding, reciprocal teaching and the participation model. Qualitative methods have been used to collect empirical material. These arefocus group interviews and observations. The results show that support, participation and interaction are important concepts that can, to a large extent, effect students' reading comprehension development.

Economics as a subject is one of the sciences that is required for any nation's development, but its teaching and learning has not being easy, which has resulted in poor student achievement. In search of solutions, this study has considered the reflective-reciprocal teaching technique and investigates its effectiveness on student teachers' academic achievement and attitude in the subject. Four Null hypotheses were formulated to guide this study. The study adopted the quantitative method of inquiry, using specifically a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design. Three Colleges of Education out of 22 federal Colleges of Education in Nigeria were purposively selected based on certain criteria to be the sites for the study. The sample for the study consisted of 178 second year Economics student teachers; the participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The pre-test scores of the participants was obtained using achievement test, numerical ability test questionnaire. Participants in the experimental group were exposed to six weeks of teaching using the reflective-reciprocal teaching strategy while participants in the control group were exposed to the traditional method of teaching. The quantitative data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics in the form of proportions, frequencies, means and standard deviations, independent t- tests and paired t-tests to compare differences between two groups, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and ANOVA for repeated measures. The Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) aspect of ANCOVA was used to determine the magnitude of the performance of the groups. The findings of the study show that there exists a significant difference in the achievement of student-teachers in Economics when taught using reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies compared to the conventional method. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that Economics student teachers should make effective use of reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies in the classroom in order to further enhance the achievement of their students in the subject. In addition, the Federal and States Ministries of Education should encourage the use of the reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies by organizing workshops for educational trainers and teachers to better equip them in the use of the reflective-reciprocal teaching strategy. The use of reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies should be encouraged in other teaching subjects as well. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

隨著資訊社會的來臨，數位文本逐漸普及，數位閱讀已成為閱讀的主要發展趨勢。相較於傳統偏向於線性閱讀的紙本閱讀模式，在閱讀過程中常以非線性進行閱讀的數位閱讀必須要有適當的輔助閱讀策略或機制，方能改善淺層閱讀，以及無法長期持續閱讀的問題。換言之，為提昇讀者在數位閱讀環境中的閱讀理解和成效，數位文本需要設計更有效的輔助閱讀機制來引導讀者進行更有效的閱讀學習，而發展高層次的閱讀認知策略鷹架輔以閱讀，為一可行的發展方向。 基於上述原因，本研究在「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」輔以數位閱讀的環境中發展閱讀認知策略鷹架，並與沒有結合此鷹架的「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」進行比較，以驗證有採用閱讀認知策略鷹架的實驗組學習者，是否在英語閱讀理解成效、科技接受度及學習滿意度上優於沒有採用閱讀認知策略鷹架的控制組學習者。也進一步探討「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」輔以所結合的閱讀認知策略鷹架對於場地獨立與場地依賴不同認知風格、以及高低不同英語起始能力者在英語閱讀理解成效、科技接受度及學習滿意度的影響。 實驗結果發現，在使用「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」之學習情境下，採用閱讀認知策略鷹架之實驗組學習者的閱讀理解成效、平台瀏覽次數以及各類型策略標註數量皆優於控制組學習者；並且場地相依型學習者的閱讀理解進步分數優於場地獨立型學習者。也就是本研究在「合作式數位閱讀標註系統」所發展的閱讀認知策略鷹架能有效協助學習者提升其閱讀理解成效，特別是場地相依型認知風格的學習者。另外，無論是對高分、中間、或低分組的學習者而言，採用閱讀認知策略鷹架之英語閱讀理解成效皆優於沒有採用閱讀認知策略鷹架；最後也發現認知有用性、認知易用性及學習滿意度三者之間具有顯著關連性。 / With the coming of the Information Age, digital texts are getting more and more popular. Compared to the traditional paper-based reading, nonlinear digital reading requires proper strategies or mechanism to help improve the shallow reading and short-term retention, which have been reported as the main disadvantages of digital reading. In other words, readers need inferential reasoning and comprehension monitoring strategies in order to keep concentration while reading digital texts. A scaffold of cognitive reading strategies, therefore, was developed and combined into Collaborative Digital Reading Annotation System (CDRS) in this study. It aimed to confirm whether the learners in the experimental group with the scaffold of cognitive reading strategies support outperformed the learners in the control group without the scaffold of cognitive reading strategies support on English reading comprehension, technology acceptance degree, and learning satisfaction. Furthermore, this study also examined the effects of distinct cognitive styles of field independence and field dependence and learning capability between both groups on English reading comprehension, technology acceptance degree, and learning satisfaction. The experimental results present the following findings. First, the learners in the experimental group applying CDRS with the scaffold of cognitive reading strategies outperformed the learners in the control group using CDRS without the scaffold of cognitive reading strategies on English reading comprehension, platform views and annotation numbers of four different cognitive strategies. Besides, while reading by CDRS combined with the scaffold of cognitive reading strategies, the field-dependent learners significantly outperformed the field-independent ones on reading comprehension gain. Moreover, the learners in the experimental group, either with high, medium or low learning capability, remarkably outperformed the ones in the control group on English reading comprehension. Finally, significant correlations among perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and learning satisfaction in both groups were found.

Le présent mémoire expose les effets de l’enseignement réciproque sur la compréhension en lecture en français langue seconde d’élèves allophones immigrants nouvellement arrivés en situation de grand retard scolaire, scolarisés dans des classes d’accueil au secondaire. Deux groupes expérimentaux et un groupe contrôle ont pris part à la recherche. Deux modèles d’intervention en enseignement réciproque ont été proposés aux groupes expérimentaux, soit une intervention traditionnelle ou une intervention qui favorise l’ouverture aux langues maternelles. Un questionnaire administré en grand groupe ainsi que des entretiens individuels menés auprès de 11 élèves sous forme d’études de cas ont permis de mesurer les effets des interventions et de présenter des portraits de lecteurs. Les résultats au questionnaire valident que les interventions ont eu des effets significatifs sur la compréhension en lecture des élèves des groupes expérimentaux comparativement aux élèves du groupe contrôle. De plus, les 11 études de cas vont dans le même sens et révèlent que les élèves des groupes expérimentaux, au post-test, se sont améliorés dans la mise en place des stratégies cognitives et métacognitives. Finalement, lorsque les deux groupes expérimentaux sont comparés entre eux, les deux présentent des gains significatifs sur le plan de la compréhension en lecture. Cependant, le groupe ayant participé à des interventions avec une ouverture aux langues maternelles présente des changements de perceptions plus positifs et explicites à l’égard de la relation, en lecture, entre les langues. / The present thesis explores the effects of reciprocal teaching on the reading comprehension of French as a second language learners who are recent immigrants with limited prior schooling educated in welcoming classes at the secondary school level. Two experimental groups and a control group took part in this research. In the experimental groups, two intervention models were proposed to the students, one which consisted of a traditional reciprocal teaching method and another with an intervention designed to foster openness to the first languages of the students. A questionnaire was administered to the three groups as well as 11 individual interviews which enabled the researcher to measure the effects of the interventions and to create reading portraits of the 11 individuals through case studies. The results of the questionnaire confirm that the interventions in reciprocal teaching had significant effects on the reading comprehension of the students in the two experimental groups in comparison to the students of the control group. Moreover, while the case studies support the same conclusions as of the questionnaire, the post-test results show that the students who took part in the experimental groups improved their cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Finally, when the two experimental groups are compared, both present positive gains in reading comprehension scores. However, the group which received an intervention with the added value of fostering openness to the first languages of the students showed a more positive and explicit perception of the relationship in reading between the first and second languages.

Economics as a subject is one of the sciences that is required for any nation's development, but its teaching and learning has not being easy, which has resulted in poor student achievement. In search of solutions, this study has considered the reflective-reciprocal teaching technique and investigates its effectiveness on student teachers' academic achievement and attitude in the subject. Four Null hypotheses were formulated to guide this study. The study adopted the quantitative method of inquiry, using specifically a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design. Three Colleges of Education out of 22 federal Colleges of Education in Nigeria were purposively selected based on certain criteria to be the sites for the study. The sample for the study consisted of 178 second year Economics student teachers; the participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The pre-test scores of the participants was obtained using achievement test, numerical ability test questionnaire. Participants in the experimental group were exposed to six weeks of teaching using the reflective-reciprocal teaching strategy while participants in the control group were exposed to the traditional method of teaching. The quantitative data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics in the form of proportions, frequencies, means and standard deviations, independent t- tests and paired t-tests to compare differences between two groups, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and ANOVA for repeated measures. The Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) aspect of ANCOVA was used to determine the magnitude of the performance of the groups. The findings of the study show that there exists a significant difference in the achievement of student-teachers in Economics when taught using reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies compared to the conventional method. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that Economics student teachers should make effective use of reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies in the classroom in order to further enhance the achievement of their students in the subject. In addition, the Federal and States Ministries of Education should encourage the use of the reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies by organizing workshops for educational trainers and teachers to better equip them in the use of the reflective-reciprocal teaching strategy. The use of reflective-reciprocal teaching strategies should be encouraged in other teaching subjects as well. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

Magister Educationis - MEd / Since the inception of the University in 1960 under the Apartheid regime and up until a few years ago Afrikaans had dominated both as educational and as communication medium. However, political change - at the University and in South Africa - has brought about a change in language patterns. According to the HSRC Work Committee on Languages and Language Instruction (1981), a high percentage (40%) of Afrikaans-speaking people classified as coloured and living in the Cape Peninsula choose English as the medium of instruction and also regard it as the most important language to be learnt at schools (also 40%). As a result of this, and the enrolment of a large percentage of Xhosa speaking students, who generally prefer English to Afrikaans as an educational medium, English has become the language most commonly used both inside and outside the classroom. The homogeneity of preference has, however, not been matched by mastery of the language. For approximately 70% of all first-year students English is a second or even a third language. Though University entry is based on at least ten years of the study of English, standards of proficiency differ quite considerably as a result of inequalities in education. Because students need to improve their level of English proficiency I investigated the effectiveness of using senior students as tutor assistants in an academic development programme, the English Special Project, at UWC. This study aims at revealing that the tutor assistantships in the English Special Project can alleviate problems that occur with annual increases in student numbers under certain conditions. These are that: 1 prospective tutor assistants undergo proper tutor assistant training; 2 tutor assistants are committed to the course of academic development; 3 tutor assistants have the time available that is necessary for the task. In Chapter 1 give an insight into what this study is about, the reasons for conducting it and what my personal involvement with the ESP has been. In Chapter 2 I review some of the overseas and local literature on TA systems. In Chapter 3 I describe a case-study to evaluate the success of the TA system in the ESP with reference to academic development. I emphasize the intensive, individual care of and attention to first-year students. In an attempt to address the problem, the effectiveness of senior students as tutor assistants to assist in tutorial sessions is described. In Chapter 4 I discuss the value of TA intervention in the ESP at personal and social levels. Chapter 5 contains the general conclusions and my recommendations to improve the ESP.

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