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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
101

Čtenářství žáků vyučovaných genetickou metodou / Readership of pupils taught by the genetic method

Ryšková, Julie January 2013 (has links)
112 ABSTRACT This thesis explores the influence of so called "genetic method of initial reading learning" for further readership of children in the third class of elementary school. The aim of this thesis is to compare children's results in individual monitored elements at both children taught earlier by so called "analytic-synthetic method" and those taught by the "genetic method" monitoring the impact of both methods on these results. The data obtained has been linked with the effects brought by individual teachers. Subsequently, proposals for each of the monitored classes were presented to optimize the reading skills development. The theoretical part contains the topics that are closely related to children's reading skills development. The practice part is based on the research leading to the fulfillment of the thesis objectives. A questionnaire for children and teachers was used as the main source of data. The conclusion summarizes the thesis learnings and points out its results showing positive impacts of "genetic method" combined with specific activities used by the teacher. In the conclusion, I refer also to the steps for further reading skills development proposed for each of the classes monitored, which can become an inspiration for all teachers who care about the children's reading.
102

En framgångsrik undervisning i läsförståelse : En litteraturstudie

Sandberg, Marielle January 2017 (has links)
Syftet med denna litteraturstudie har varit att ta reda på vad läsforskningen anser som viktiga faktorer för elevers läsförståelse samt vad läsforskningen anser om läsförståelsestrategier och dess positiva verkan på elevers läsförståelse. Det framkom i denna litteraturstudie att forskningen anser att en lärares kunskap, speciellt i elevers läsutveckling och hur man undervisar i läsförståelse är en viktig faktor för en framgångsrik läs-och skrivutveckling. Resultatet för denna studie visade bland annat att läsforskningen anser att läsförståelsestrategier främjar elevers läsförståelse samtidigt som det i svenska skolor och deras undervisning visade sig att det inte ges speciellt mycket tid för läsförståelse. Att den svenska skolan i sin undervisning inte ger mycket tid till läsförståelse anses bero på lärares okunskap. Detta kan således vara en anledning till svenska elevers allt sämre resultat i de tidigare undersökningarna som PIRLS och PISA genomförde 2000– 2012. / <p>Svenska</p>
103

”Läsförståelse är nyckeln i alla ämnen” : En kvalitativ studie om hur lärare i grundskolans årskurs 1–3 beskriver sin undervisning i läsförståelse utifrån de didaktiska frågorna vad, hur och varför / “Reading comprehension is the key in all subjects” : A qualitative study on how teachers in the elementary school years 1-3 describe their teaching in reading comprehension based on the didactic questions what, how and why

Johansson, Emma January 2019 (has links)
Enligt rapporter från Progress in Reading Literacy Studies [PIRLS] har de svenska elevernas för­måga att läsa och förstå text försämrats sedan 2001. Resultatet från 2016 visar dock en ökad förmåga hos eleverna. Aktuell forskning visar på vikten av att lärare undervisar i läsförståelse. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka hur verksamma lärare i grundskolans årskurs 1–3 beskriver sin undervisning i läsförståelse utifrån didaktiska frågor. Detta syfte besvaras med följande frågeställningar: Vilka läsförståelsestrategier lärs ut? Hur beskriver lärarna sin läsförståelseundervisning utöver dessa strategier? Hur ofta undervisar lärarna i läsförståelse och varför anser de att denna mängd behövs? Varför väljer lärarna att undervisa i läsförståelse? Studien utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv där nya kunskaper utvecklas tillsammans med andra utifrån individens egen proximala utvecklingszon. Materialinsamlingen har gjorts genom en kvali­tativ enkät med öppna frågor där deltagarna valts ut via tre urvalskriterier. Innan materi­al­insamlingen började genomfördes en pilotstudie. Resultatet visar på att fem strategier är vanligast i undervisningen: att förutspå, att reda ut oklarheter, att sammanfatta, att ställa frågor och att skapa inre bilder. Denna undervisning sker i ett gemensamt lärande genom att lärarna modellerar och använder olika strategier. Lärarna motiverar dessa val utifrån styrdokument och forskning samt att de vill stärka elevernas läsförståelse. Slutsatsen är att studiens resultat har en relevans för lärar­studenters och yrkesverksammas planering av undervisning. / According to reports from Progress in Reading Literacy Studies [PIRLS], the ability of Swedish students to read and understand text has deteriorated since 2001. However, the results from 2016 show an increased ability of the pupils. Current research show the importance of teachers teaching reading compre­hension. The purpose of the study is to investigate how active teachers in the elementary school years 1-3 describe their teaching in reading comprehension based on didactic questions. This purpose is answered with the following questions: What reading comprehension strategies are taught? How do the teachers describe their reading comprehension teaching in addition to these strategies? How often do teachers teach reading comprehension and why do they think this amount is needed? Why do the teachers choose to teach reading comprehension? The study is based on a socio-cultural perspective where new knowledge is developed together with others based on the individual's own proximal development zone. The material collection has been done through a qualitative questionnaire with open questions where the participants were selected via three selection criteria. Before the material collection began, a pilot study was carried out. The result shows that five strategies are most common in the teaching: predicting, clearing out uncertainties, summarizing, asking questions and creating inner images. This teaching takes place in a common learning by the teachers modeling and using different strategies. The teachers motivate these choices based on curriculum and research, that they want to strengthen the pupils reading comprehension. The conclusion is that the study's results have a relevance for the teaching students 'and professionals' planning of teaching.
104

A leitura do texto escrito pela escrita de leitores: uma abordagem da prática de leitura em sala de aula

Pedrosa, Nilma Alves 05 March 2015 (has links)
Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:33:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nilma Alves Pedrosa.pdf: 16197626 bytes, checksum: feeca707890f7d7bbf8fa254d0340862 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis thematizes the effort to identify a model of reading practice, able to focus on the proficient learning principles, guided by fundamentals of Linguistics Textual socio-cognitiveinteractive part, contribute to explain necessary conceptions through which the representations of these practices were to contribute to the textual reading-production and exceeds the limits of a pedagogical practice oriented pedagogy inherited from the distant past. Points out that the starting point of the survey is woven into teaching process this researcher who dared to use their own prior knowledge and also intuitively to turn those students in "readers." And so it happened, so that the qualitative character that now the topic is covered focused on the scientific conception of "reading strategies" for 9th graders of elementary school. The first movement is investigated models and strategies that guided reading instruction for our traditional schools and it follows, through a review procedure, the theoretical foundations proposed by the language of our modern times, compared to awareness of experiments by modeling -escultura of literary characters of the work of the Auto da Barca Gil Vicente Hell. The following is the order that the another new alinear character model, user-centered-learner comprised both the teaching and learning of reading through three stages: pre-reading, reading and post-reading. Each of these knowledge production moves by student-learners was designed sequenced way and they followed oriented activities for the purpose of identifying the satisfaction or efficiency as to the uses of language resources and not linguistic. The sequence of activities was considered to be an efficient model to easily moldable curricular adaptations to meet the needs of students in the resolution of the activities and effective to present a configuration that allowed proficient students and / or not proficient in reading-production develop texts strategies in solving activities, demonstrating competence and increasing rate in prior knowledge about the topic of the reading of literary texts (good and evil). The physical arrangement of modeling-carving literary characters, as a motto for writing, presented an adequate level of usability to meet the students. It can be said that the model created alinear proved consistent with the needs of students to collect the information, considering their statements of satisfaction for having participated in the reading workshop. In addition, the studio seemed to be in accordance with the building of a social-cognitive-interactive reading teaching model construction and (re) construction of knowledge in view of the activities, especially the modeling-carving characters, such as tone for writing efficient, effective and satisfactory for student learning, because these allowed, for example, demonstrate competency and proficiency. It is hoped that this model contribute to the educational process, even though it was aware that its use in the classroom does not guarantee by itself, student learning / Esta Dissertação tematiza o esforço despendido para identificar um modelo de prática de leitura, capaz de incidir sobre a aprendizagem proficiente de princípios que, orientados por fundamentos da Linguística Textual da vertente sócio-cognitivo-interativa, contribuísse para explicitar concepções necessárias por meio das quais as representações dessas práticas viessem a contribuir com a leitura-produção textual e ultrapasse os limites de uma prática pedagógica orientada por uma pedagogia herdada do passado longínquo. Pontua-se que o marco inicial da pesquisa realizada está entrelaçado ao trabalho de docência dessa pesquisadora que ousou fazer uso dos seus próprios conhecimentos prévios e, ainda de forma intuitiva para transformar aqueles seus alunos em leitores . E, assim, aconteceu, de sorte que o caráter qualitativo de que, agora, o tema se reveste incidiu sobre a concepção científica de estratégias de leitura por alunos do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental. O primeiro movimento investigado trata de modelos e estratégias que orientavam o ensino da leitura por nossas escolas tradicionais e a ele se segue, por um procedimento de revisão, os fundamentos teóricos propostos pela linguística dos nossos tempos modernos, comparado a experimentos de sensibilização através da modelagem-escultura de personagens literários da obra Auto da Barca do Inferno de Gil Vicente. Segue-se a essa ordem o outro-novo modelo de caráter alinear, centrado no usuário-aprendente que topicaliza o ensino-aprendizagem da leitura por três etapas: Pré-leitura, Leitura e Pós-leitura. Cada um desses movimentos de produção de conhecimentos pelos alunos-aprendentes foi concebida de forma sequenciada e a eles se seguiram atividades orientadas pelo propósito de identificar a satisfação ou eficiência quanto aos usos dos recursos linguísticos e não linguísticos. A sequência de atividades foi considerada como eficiente por ser um modelo facilmente moldável às adaptações curriculares para atender as necessidades dos alunos na resolução das atividades e eficaz por apresentar uma configuração que permitiu que alunos proficientes e/ou não proficientes em leitura-produção de textos desenvolvessem estratégias na resolução das atividades, demonstrando competência e ritmo crescente em conhecimentos prévios sobre o tema abordado na leitura do texto literário (bem e mal). O arranjo físico da modelagem-escultura de personagens literários, como mote para a escrita, apresentou um nível de usabilidade adequado para atender os alunos. Pode-se afirmar que o modelo alinear criado se mostrou coerente com as necessidades dos alunos para coletar as informações, considerando-se suas declarações de satisfação por ter participado do ateliê de leitura. Além disso, o ateliê pareceu estar em conformidade com o construir de um modelo de ensino de leitura sócio-cognitivointerativo de construção e (re)construção de conhecimentos tendo em vista as atividades, principalmente a modelagem-escultura de personagens, como mote para a escrita de forma eficiente, eficaz e satisfatória para a aprendizagem dos alunos, porquanto possibilitou a esses, por exemplo, demonstrar competência e proficiência. Espera-se com este modelo contribuir para o processo educacional, ainda que se tenha consciência de que sua utilização em sala de aula não garanta, por si só, a aprendizagem dos alunos
105

Cursos de língua estrangeira para leitura: teoria e prática, com exemplos para o alemão / Foreign language reading courses: theory and practice, with examples from German

Nascimento, Priscilla Maria Pessutti 30 July 2007 (has links)
Este trabalho busca estabelecer diretrizes teóricas e práticas para a preparação e execução de cursos de língua estrangeira para leitura, com exemplos retirados de um curso de alemão para leitura de textos de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais, realizado através do Centro de Línguas da Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo no ano letivo de 2006. Com este trabalho buscamos orientar professores que trabalham com o desenvolvimento da habilidade de leitura em língua estrangeira e levantar questões relacionadas ao tema. / This dissertation tries to establish theoretical and practical guidelines for the preparation and implementation of foreign language reading courses utilizing examples from a German reading course for Philosophy and Social Sciences that took place in 2006 at the Languages Center (Centro de Línguas) of the Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Social Sciences at the University of São Paulo (Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo). We are attempting to help language teachers who work with the development of foreign language reading skills and to raise questions about this subject.
106

Adult Literacy Program Evaluation for First Year Traditional College Students

McCauley, Yvette Joyce 01 January 2016 (has links)
First year traditional college students required to register in a sequence of remedial courses prior to enrollment in credit-bearing courses often get discouraged by the financial burden and time commitments of this additional work and, subsequently, decide to drop out. The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the remedial adult literacy program being used at a 4-year urban college in the northeast and assess the curriculum alignment with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) standards. Knowles theory of andragogy, which suggests that adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for their own decisions, was the conceptual framework for this study. Research questions addressed participants' perceptions of the current adult literacy program. All 60 students enrolled in the adult literacy program completed open-ended questionnaires and participated in focus group interviews. Two faculty and 3 administrators responsible for the adult literacy program completed questionnaires and participated in individual interviews. Thematic coding and member checks allowed for data triangulation to analyze the findings. Three themes emerged to improve the quality and effectiveness of the current program: reform of instructional program, technology intervention, and enhancing student learning through assessment. Staff members did not think curriculum aligned with CHEA standards. The majority of students and staff preferred a media versus text-based curriculum. Social change is promoted by continued program evaluation and integrating technology in adult literacy programs to improve student achievement and self-efficacy, prompting greater college completion and workforce preparation.
107

The Effects Of Direct And Integrated Instruction Of Cognitive And Metacognitive Reading Strategies At Awareness-raising Level On Reading Proficiency And Strategy Use

Cicekoslu, Deniz 01 September 2003 (has links) (PDF)
This study intends to find out the possible effects of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategy instruction at awareness-raising level on reading proficiency and strategy use. In the study both qualitative and quantitative data were utilized. The relevant data were obtained by means of think-aloud protocols, semi-structured interviews, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning &ndash / SILL- (Oxford, 1990), learning diaries and the reading scores of students on a proficiency exam (COPE). A total of 24 students studying at Bilkent University School of English Language were involved in the study. The scores of the students who received the strategy instruction on the reading paper of COPE, and the scores of the students who were not subject to any strategy instruction were used to run a t-test so as to reveal whether there was a significant difference between these two sets of scores. The data that came from the think-aloud protocols, semi-structured interviews and learning diaries were analyzed so as to trace the type of strategies employed by the students and the frequency with which they were employed. The results did not indicate a statistically significant difference. It was also discovered that all students involved in the study had a tendency to use more cognitive strategies than metacognitive ones. The cognitive strategies were more varied with the group of students who received the strategy instruction.
108

Lässtrategier och skönlitteratur : En undersökning om lässtrategier, läsundervisning och skönlitteratur i ämnet svenska / Reading stategies and fiction : A survey about reading strategies, teaching literature and fiction in Swedish lessons

Hallberg, Emelie, Johansson, Anneli January 2012 (has links)
Uppsatsen undersöker fem lärares arbete och undervisning om litteraturoch lässtrategier utifrån skönlitteratur. Skönlitteratur visade sig vara ettviktigt arbetsredskap i undervisningen för att utveckla lässtrategier och godläsförståelse. Litteratur anses vara traditionsbärare för kultur, historia ochgemenskap och för människorsutveckling. Läroplan och kursplan i svenska har tydliggjort vikten av läsningoch lässtrategier i undervisningen. Elever behöver tillgång till lässtrategierför att kunna läsa olika typer av texter på ett ändamålsenligt och effektivtsätt. Trots skolors medvetenhet kring läsnings vikt visar rapporter ochundersökningar från statliga utredningar att läsförståelse överlag försämratshos dagens skolungdomar. Vi ställer oss frågorna hur lärare arbetar medskönlitteratur, vad lässtrategier innebär och hur de arbetar med strategierna.Vår metod var en kvalitativ enkätundersökning ochdeltagare var samtliga svensklärare från samma skola. Vårt resultatvisade att lärarnas kunskaper i och om lässtrategier varierade och så ävenarbetet med skönlitteratur och hur de arbetar med elevernas läsförmåga.Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att läsning är mer än en aktivitet mellanläsare och text, den kan berika människors liv och bidra till en förståelse förbåde sig själva och andra individer.  Läsning av litteratur är ettarbetsverktyg och hjälpmedel i undervisningen och det kan skapa delaktighet isamhället då förmågor som kritiskt tänkande och ett analytiskt förhållningssättkan uppkomma i samband med boksamtal eller diskussioner. / This paper investigates five teachers work and teaching about literature and reading strategies based on fiction. Fiction turned out to be an important tool in teaching, especially in reading strategies and reading comprehension. Literature is considered tradition bearer of culture, history and intellectual fellowship and human development. The Swedish curriculum and syllabus has clarified the importance of reading and reading strategies in teaching. Students need access to reading strategies so they can read different types of texts in an effective and efficient manner. Despite schools' awareness of the importance of reading, reports and surveys from government investigate reading comprehension in students’ ability to comprehend reading have worsened.  The paper investigates how teachers work with fiction and what reading strategies mean for the participants and how they work with the strategies. Our method is a qualitative survey and the participants are all Swedish teachers from the same school. Our results showed that teachers 'skills and reading strategies varied and so even work with fiction and how they work with students' reading skills. Our conclusions are that reading is more than an activity between readers and the text they have read. Reading can enrich people's lives and contribute to an understanding of both themselves and other individuals. Reading of literature is a tool and a teaching tool which can create participation in society, because students evolve skills such as critical thinking and an analytical approach which can arise when they take part of conversions of books and other types of literary discussions.
109

Content-based strategic reading instruction within a distributed learning environment / Charl Nel

Nel, Charl January 2003 (has links)
Research conducted in South Africa indicates that many South African students who register for undergraduate study each year are under-prepared for university education and that many of these English Second Language students also have low levels of reading ability. This has an adverse effect on their chances of academic success. These students very often become part of the "revolving door syndrome". In order to meet the reading needs of students in the 21" century, educators are pressed to develop effective instructional means for teaching strategic reading at tertiary level. In order to help students acquire the strategic reading abilities deemed necessary for a successful academic experience, the Department of English at Potchefstroom University implemented a content-based strategic reading module. This module was offered to students via Varsite (technology-enhanced aspect of the module); a learning content management system developed at Potchefstroom University. This system provides an integrated environment for developing, managing and delivering learning content. The purpose of this study was to: discuss the structure and format of the content-based strategic reading module as developed and implemented for delivery within a distributed learning environment; determine what the reading comprehension and reading strategy use profile of first-year students at Potchefstroom University looks like; determine whether the students in the experimental group, who completed the strategic reading component of the English for Professional Purposes course in a technology-enhanced environment, attained statistically as well as practically significantly higher mean scores on their end-of-semester English, Communication Studies, and TOEFL reading comprehension tests, than did the students in the control group, who were not exposed to the technology-enhanced environment; determine whether the students in the experimental group differed statistically as well as practically significantly from the students in the control group in terms of their reading strategy use; determine the scope of the reading problem among the first-year students participating in this study; identify the strengths and weaknesses in the reading assessment profiles of one efficient and one inefficient student; make recommendations in terms of the reading support needed by these students; identify the factors that can affect first-year English Second Language (ESL) students' acceptance and use of the technology-enhanced component of a strategic reading module offered via mixed mode delivery; determine which factors can be considered as statistically significant predictors of technology acceptance and use by first-year ESL students; and discuss the implications of the above-mentioned results for the designing of technology-enhanced courses as well as the support that should be given to ESL learners who must use the technology. In this study a combined qualitative and quantitative research method was used. A Dominant-Less Dominant design was used. The qualitative research approach was consistent with naturalistic case study methodology. For the quantitative research component a quasi-experimental non-randomised pre-test post-test control group design was used. The participants in this study included the entire population of one hundred and thirty-one students taking the English for Professional Purposes module. The students included speakers of Afrikaans and Setswana. These students majored in Communication Studies and Psychology. Ten paper-and-pencil instruments were used in this study. In addition to the paper-and- pencil instruments, various qualitative data collection methods were also used, namely semi-structured interviews, e-mail messages, informal conversations and the researcher's field notes. The data were analysed by means of descriptive (i.e., means, standard deviations) as well as multivariate statistics (i.e., Pearson product moment correlations; t-tests; factor analyses; and stepwise multiple regression). The results of the study can be summarised as follows: The strategic reading module of the English for Professional Purposes course was designed for mixed mode delivery. The structure and format of the strategic reading module consisted of an interactive study guide, contact sessions, and Varsite (i.e., a learning content management system). The results indicated that the students who received strategic reading instruction in the technology-enhanced environment received both statistically and practically significantly higher marks on three reading comprehension measures than did the students in the control group. This was true for successful students, as well as for those considered to be at-risk. The post-test results indicated that the students in the experimental group used certain strategies statistically (p<0.05), as well as practically significantly (small to large effect sizes), more often than the students in the control group. An analysis of the reading assessment profiles of the students participating in this study indicated that they experienced problems across all aspects of the reading components assessed (vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension and reading strategies). An analysis of the successful student's reading assessment profile indicated that his/her profile was far flatter than that of the at-risk student; the successful student had far fewer ups and downs in his/her profile than the at-risk student (i.e., the majority of the successful student's mean reading assessment scores were scattered around or above the norm/guidelines for first-year students). The results of an exploratory factor analysis indicated that computer self-efficacy, ease of use, enjoyment, outcome expectations, usefulness, and quality of resources were major factors affecting ESL students' acceptance and use of the technology-enhanced component of a strategic reading module. In addition, the results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that approximately 71% of the total variance of Varsite acceptance and use was explained by computer self-efficacy, ease of use, enjoyment, and outcome expectations. Usefulness and the quality of the resources also contributed to the total variance, but the contribution was not statistically significant. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
110

Content-based strategic reading instruction within a distributed learning environment / Charl Nel

Nel, Charl January 2003 (has links)
Research conducted in South Africa indicates that many South African students who register for undergraduate study each year are under-prepared for university education and that many of these English Second Language students also have low levels of reading ability. This has an adverse effect on their chances of academic success. These students very often become part of the "revolving door syndrome". In order to meet the reading needs of students in the 21" century, educators are pressed to develop effective instructional means for teaching strategic reading at tertiary level. In order to help students acquire the strategic reading abilities deemed necessary for a successful academic experience, the Department of English at Potchefstroom University implemented a content-based strategic reading module. This module was offered to students via Varsite (technology-enhanced aspect of the module); a learning content management system developed at Potchefstroom University. This system provides an integrated environment for developing, managing and delivering learning content. The purpose of this study was to: discuss the structure and format of the content-based strategic reading module as developed and implemented for delivery within a distributed learning environment; determine what the reading comprehension and reading strategy use profile of first-year students at Potchefstroom University looks like; determine whether the students in the experimental group, who completed the strategic reading component of the English for Professional Purposes course in a technology-enhanced environment, attained statistically as well as practically significantly higher mean scores on their end-of-semester English, Communication Studies, and TOEFL reading comprehension tests, than did the students in the control group, who were not exposed to the technology-enhanced environment; determine whether the students in the experimental group differed statistically as well as practically significantly from the students in the control group in terms of their reading strategy use; determine the scope of the reading problem among the first-year students participating in this study; identify the strengths and weaknesses in the reading assessment profiles of one efficient and one inefficient student; make recommendations in terms of the reading support needed by these students; identify the factors that can affect first-year English Second Language (ESL) students' acceptance and use of the technology-enhanced component of a strategic reading module offered via mixed mode delivery; determine which factors can be considered as statistically significant predictors of technology acceptance and use by first-year ESL students; and discuss the implications of the above-mentioned results for the designing of technology-enhanced courses as well as the support that should be given to ESL learners who must use the technology. In this study a combined qualitative and quantitative research method was used. A Dominant-Less Dominant design was used. The qualitative research approach was consistent with naturalistic case study methodology. For the quantitative research component a quasi-experimental non-randomised pre-test post-test control group design was used. The participants in this study included the entire population of one hundred and thirty-one students taking the English for Professional Purposes module. The students included speakers of Afrikaans and Setswana. These students majored in Communication Studies and Psychology. Ten paper-and-pencil instruments were used in this study. In addition to the paper-and- pencil instruments, various qualitative data collection methods were also used, namely semi-structured interviews, e-mail messages, informal conversations and the researcher's field notes. The data were analysed by means of descriptive (i.e., means, standard deviations) as well as multivariate statistics (i.e., Pearson product moment correlations; t-tests; factor analyses; and stepwise multiple regression). The results of the study can be summarised as follows: The strategic reading module of the English for Professional Purposes course was designed for mixed mode delivery. The structure and format of the strategic reading module consisted of an interactive study guide, contact sessions, and Varsite (i.e., a learning content management system). The results indicated that the students who received strategic reading instruction in the technology-enhanced environment received both statistically and practically significantly higher marks on three reading comprehension measures than did the students in the control group. This was true for successful students, as well as for those considered to be at-risk. The post-test results indicated that the students in the experimental group used certain strategies statistically (p<0.05), as well as practically significantly (small to large effect sizes), more often than the students in the control group. An analysis of the reading assessment profiles of the students participating in this study indicated that they experienced problems across all aspects of the reading components assessed (vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension and reading strategies). An analysis of the successful student's reading assessment profile indicated that his/her profile was far flatter than that of the at-risk student; the successful student had far fewer ups and downs in his/her profile than the at-risk student (i.e., the majority of the successful student's mean reading assessment scores were scattered around or above the norm/guidelines for first-year students). The results of an exploratory factor analysis indicated that computer self-efficacy, ease of use, enjoyment, outcome expectations, usefulness, and quality of resources were major factors affecting ESL students' acceptance and use of the technology-enhanced component of a strategic reading module. In addition, the results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that approximately 71% of the total variance of Varsite acceptance and use was explained by computer self-efficacy, ease of use, enjoyment, and outcome expectations. Usefulness and the quality of the resources also contributed to the total variance, but the contribution was not statistically significant. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

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