Ineffective reading takes place if the reader does not understand what he reads. Therefore it is important for everybody to be able to make sense of what they read. Teachers often do not pay enough attention to the teaching of comprehension in schools. Reading comprehension is an aspect that has been the least adequately explained arid therefore it is the most difficult one to teach. Even students think of it as only another exercise of English and rush through it just to finish as soon as possible. Teachers hand back the exercises and give the correct answers without instructing students on how to improve their comprehension. By teaching students different reading strategies their proficiency in comprehension may improve. Most of the students are unaware of reading strategies and they don't know how to implement them in their comprehension.• This study offers an empirical investigation into the teaching of four specific reading strategies to students in an attempt to help them to improve their reading comprehension. The literature on language learning strategies and reading strategies, as well as the teaching and learning of reading strategies, is surveyed. The results of an empirical investigation into the teaching of four reading strategies (guessing the meaning of the word from the context, finding the main idea in a passage, making inferences and generalizing) indicate that, although there was only a marginal improvement in reading comprehension, it is clear that the teaching of reading strategies has enormous potential. English Second Language teachers may find it worth their while to implement the teaching of reading strategies to develop their students' proficiency in reading comprehension. / Thesis (MEd (Vakdidaktiek))--PU vir CHO, 1996

Ineffective reading takes place if the reader does not understand what he reads. Therefore it is important for everybody to be able to make sense of what they read. Teachers often do not pay enough attention to the teaching of comprehension in schools. Reading comprehension is an aspect that has been the least adequately explained arid therefore it is the most difficult one to teach. Even students think of it as only another exercise of English and rush through it just to finish as soon as possible. Teachers hand back the exercises and give the correct answers without instructing students on how to improve their comprehension. By teaching students different reading strategies their proficiency in comprehension may improve. Most of the students are unaware of reading strategies and they don't know how to implement them in their comprehension.• This study offers an empirical investigation into the teaching of four specific reading strategies to students in an attempt to help them to improve their reading comprehension. The literature on language learning strategies and reading strategies, as well as the teaching and learning of reading strategies, is surveyed. The results of an empirical investigation into the teaching of four reading strategies (guessing the meaning of the word from the context, finding the main idea in a passage, making inferences and generalizing) indicate that, although there was only a marginal improvement in reading comprehension, it is clear that the teaching of reading strategies has enormous potential. English Second Language teachers may find it worth their while to implement the teaching of reading strategies to develop their students' proficiency in reading comprehension. / Thesis (MEd (Vakdidaktiek))--PU vir CHO, 1996

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-90).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-90). Also available in print.

Progressive child-centred education has led to the ascendancy of look and say methods for children learning to read, perpetuating the use of a guessing strategy and promoting a dependency culture. Explicit synthetic phonics with direct teaching of the alphabetic principle has been replaced by gradual analytic phonics or no phonics, leaving children to discover spelling patterns for themselves. This investigation was directed towards identifying the relationship between different teaching methods and children's progress in word reading, spelling and reading comprehension. Initially, such progress was monitored from 1993-1995 in 12 Primary classes. Analyses of the data collected indicated that (a) accelerated letter-sound knowledge and the ability to blend letter sounds had a significant effect on children's progress in reading, spelling and comprehension and (b) the degree to which blending had been explicitly taught had a significant positive effect on the proportion of spelling errors produced which encode orthographic information. The effects of accelerating letter-sound knowledge and sounding and blending were then examined experimentally in Primary 1 children using two experimental groups and one control group. It was found that explicit synthetic phonics, which demonstrates how letters blend together to form words, (a) accelerated reading, spelling and phonemic awareness more rapidly than just learning the letter sounds at an accelerated pace and (b) produced a higher proportion of mature orthographic spelling errors than in the other conditions. It was found that the strategies children use for decoding and encoding mirror the teaching methods they have experienced. Gradual analytiC phonics teaching encourages phonetic cue reading, children only processing some of the letters and sounds in words. Explicit synthetic phonics teaching encourages early cipher reading, children processing all of the letters and sounds in words. This method teaches children how to use their knowledge of the alphabetic code to decode unknown words, thus establishing an orthographic memory for such words.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-79).

Since the late 1980s, pronunciation has played a prominent role in the foreign/ second language classroom. Recently, under the influence of the growing attention to language learning strategies and instruction, pronunciation instructors have devoted more attention to teaching learners the strategies that can contribute to their improvement in pronunciation. The purpose of this Report is to examine the literature on language learning strategies and strategy training, with a specific focus on pronunciation. This Report concludes with a pedagogical lesson grounded on the literature reviewed. The main goal of the lesson is to facilitate students’ pronunciation learning through strategy training and practice. / text

This thesis examines the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to Second-language (L2) learning. It analyzes the use of electronic mail as a cognitive tool and aims at providing a better understanding of the learning process in a computerized environment. In this meta-analysis, qualitative data were drawn from independent studies (n=29) published between 2000 and 2010. The thesis briefly reviews historical and theoretical perspectives on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and language learning strategies. Then, with reference to Oxford’s (1990) typology, it investigates the use of learning strategies in email exchanges or projects of L2 learners. The identification of five categories of learning strategies (cognitive, social, meta-cognitive, compensatory and affective) constitutes the ground work to defining the paradigms of L2 learning associated with the use of electronic mail. The study draws parallels between this electronic learning environment and Jonassen et al.’s (1999, 2008) five principles of meaningful learning, namely active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative learning. Furthermore, a (non-exhaustive) list of five variables associated with successful L2 learning via email interaction (sustained communication, proficiency level in L2, audience interaction, structure of the language-related task and the topics of email correspondence) is presented. As demonstrated in this research, this ICT’s ability to provide a favorable L2 learning environment is threefold. First, the use of electronic mail, as a cognitive tool, fosters learners’ activation of learning strategies. Second, patterns reflecting the principles of self-appropriated learning in the electronic environment suggest its role in the development of transversal skills. Finally, attitude changes towards L2 culture and stereotypes and towards L2 learning, among others, indicate modifications to learners’ behavior. This study also provides updates to Oxford’s (1990) typology of learning strategies in the five categories identified, based on data from the 29 studies. The pedagogical implications, discussed in the conclusion, draw attention to the qualitative and non-linguistic learning outcomes, as well as to the social, affective and cultural dimensions related to the use of email interaction in L2 learning.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Includes appendices: p. 53-58. Title from PDF title page (October 20, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-52)