Republic of Turkey Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Institute of Social Sciences Department of English Language Teaching an I
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REPUBLIC OF TURKEY ÇANAKKALE ONSEKİZ MART UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL SCHEMA AND READING ACTIVITIES ON READING COMPREHENSION MA THESIS Supervisor Asst. Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı ERTEN Submitted by Salim RAZI Çanakkale-2004 Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğüne Salim RAZI’ya ait ‘An investigation into the impact of cultural schema and reading activities on reading comprehension’ Adlı çalışma, jürimiz tarafından Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Anabilim Dalı İngilizce Öğretmenliği Programında YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ olarak kabul edilmiştir. Başkan Doç. Dr. Dinçay KÖKSAL Akademik Ünvanı, Adı Soyadı Üye Yrd. Doç. Dr. İsmail Hakkı ERTEN Akademik Ünvanı, Adı Soyadı (Danışman) Üye Yrd. Doç. Dr. Mehmet Ali YAVUZ Akademik Ünvanı, Adı Soyadı Üye Yrd. Doç. Dr. Hidayet TUNCAY Akademik Ünvanı, Adı Soyadı Üye Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ece ZEHİR TOPKAYA Akademik Ünvanı, Adı Soyadı i ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the influence of cultural schema and reading activities on reading comprehension. The impact of cultural schema was tested nativizing short stories to make them culturally more familiar. The study was carried out at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University with 3rd grade students at the department of English Language Teaching through a 2X2 true- experimental research design where the participants were homogenously placed in different groups according to their Grade Point Averages (GPAs). The first group were given the original short story while the second group were given the nativized (Turkified) one. To find out the effect of reading activities on the comprehension of nativized and original short stories, the third group read the original short story with reading activities while the fourth group read the nativized short story with the same reading activities. Post-tests were administered. In both studies, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) on SPSS indicated that the treatment groups who received the nativized version of the short story, regardless of whether they received any reading activities or not, outperformed the other two treatment groups who received the original short story. This implied that cultural schema appears to have a significant effect on the comprehension of short stories. Nevertheless, the treatment groups who were supported with reading activities outperformed the others who did not do any reading activities, which indicated that the lack of cultural knowledge can be compensated for through the use of reading activities. This study concludes that cultural schema has a noticeable impact on reading. Therefore, it suggests teachers use nativized texts in reading classes in order to help readers to gain better comprehension. This study also suggests that readers’ schemata be activated before reading. Finally, it points out that teachers are strongly recommended to give background knowledge about the topic if there is a lack of background knowledge among the students. ii ÖZET Bu çalışma kültürel arka plan bilgisinin ve okuma aktivitelerinin okuduğunu anlama üzerindeki etkisini belirleme amacıyla oluşturulmuştur. Kültürel arka plan bilgisinin etkisi, kısa hikayeleri kültürel olarak aşina hale getirmeyi amaçlayan yerelleştirme aracılığıyla test edilmiştir. 2X2 deneysel araştırma metodunun kullanıldığı bu çalışma, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi İngiliz Dili Eğimi Anabilim Dalı 3. sınıf öğrencilerinin, not ortalamalarına göre homojen olarak dağıtıldığı dört grupla yapılmıştır. İlk grup orijinal kısa hikayeyi, ikinci grup yerelleştirilmiş hikayeyi okumuştur. Okuma aktivitelerinin, yerelleştirilmiş ve orijinal kısa hikayelerin anlaşılmasında ne ölçüde etkili olduğunu saptamak amacıyla, üçüncü gruptaki öğrencilere orijinal, dördüncü gruptaki öğrencilereyse yerelleştirilmiş hikayeler okuma aktiviteleri yardımıyla verilmiştir. Çalışmalardan sonra testler uygulanmıştır. Her iki çalışmada SPSS programıyla yapılan varyans analizi (ANOVA) sonuçlarına göre, okuma aktiviteleriyle birlikte çalışılıp çalışılmadığına bakılmaksızın yerelleştirilmiş hikayeyi okuyan gruplar orijinal hikayeyi okuyan gruplardan daha başarılı olmuşlardır. Bu, kültürel arka plan bilgisinin kısa hikayelerin anlaşılmasında önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğunu vurgulamaktadır. Bununla birlikte, okuma aktiviteleriyle desteklenen gruplar, okuma aktivitesi yapılmayan gruplardan daha başarılı olarak, kültürel arka plan bilgisi eksikliğinin okuma aktiviteleri aracılığıyla giderilebileceği ortaya koymuşlardır. Bu çalışmada kültürel arka plan bilgisinin okumada oldukça etkili olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Bu yüzden, öğretmenlere okuma derslerinde öğrencilerin okuduklarını daha iyi anlayabilmeleri amacıyla, yerelleştirilmiş parçaları kullanmaları önerilmektedir. Bu çalışma ayrıca okuma derslerinden önce arka plan bilgisinin hazır hale getirilmesinin önemini vurgulamaktadır. Son olarak, öğrencilerin konuyla ilgili arka plan bilgilerinin eksik olması durumunda, öğretmenlerin bu arka plan bilgisini sağlamaları kesinlikle önerilmektedir. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people to thank who contributed to this study and there is one in particular who made this study possible. I owe special thanks to my supervisor Asst. Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı ERTEN who instilled in me the love of ‘Schema Theory’ and offered guidance throughout the study. Without his encouraging criticism at every stage of the study, it would never have been as detailed. I would also like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinçay KÖKSAL who encouraged me to complete the study. I am also grateful to Asst. Prof. Dr. Ece ZEHİR TOPKAYA for her critical comments. My special thanks go to İbrahim AKSU (Graham LEE) for proofreading the final version of the study and also to the other native-speakers of English, Mary ALTAY and Alison JONES, who did not hesitate to assist whenever necessary. I owe much to two other people at the department, Dr. Aysun YAVUZ and Müge KARAKAŞ. Their rating of the post-tests and constructive criticism guided me throughout the study. Müge KARAKAŞ was also very kind in allowing me to take over several of her classes in order to carry out the main studies. I would also like to thank my friends Sedat BECEREN, Sezin İNAN, Sibel BOSTAN, Ferah BURGUL, Sema SALTIK and Nalan TUR who shared the short stories they had in their own libraries. Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to the student participants in the study whose contribution made this research possible. iv TO MY PARENTS FAHRİYE AND AHMET & MY SISTER DUYGU FOR THEIR GREAT SUPPORT AT EVERY STEP I MADE v TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Abstract i Özet ii Acknowledgments iii Dedication iv Table of contents v List of tables ix List of figures x Abbreviations xi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Background of the study 1 1.2 Purpose of the study and research questions 3 1.3 Significance of the study 4 1.4 Assumptions of the study 5 1.5 Limitations of the study 6 1.6 Organisation of the thesis 6 1.7. Summary 7 CHAPTER TWO READING PROCESS 2.0 Introduction 8 2.1 The definition of reading 8 2.2 Reading process 12 2.2.1 Components of reading 14 2.2.2 Reading gears 15 2.2.3 Short circuit in reading 16 2.2.4 Lower level and higher level processes 16 2.2.5 Four steps in reading 17 2.2.6 Component skills in reading 18 2.2.7 Efficient and inefficient reading 19 2.3 Models of reading 22 2.3.1 Metaphorical models of reading 23 2.3.1.1 Bottom-up models 24 2.3.1.2 Top-down models 24 2.3.1.3 Interactive models 25 2.3.1.4 Comparison of bottom-up and top-down models 27 2.3.2 Specific models of reading 28 2.3.2.2 Other specific models of reading 30 2.3.3 Socio-psycholinguistic (meaning-emphasis) models 31 2.4 Reading activities 33 vi 2.4.1 Pre-reading activities 33 2.4.2 While-reading activities 36 2.4.3 Post-reading activities 37 2.5 Testing reading 37 2.5.1 Techniques for testing reading 38 2.5.1.1 The cloze test versus gap-filling test 38 2.5.1.2 C-tests 39 2.5.1.3 Multiple-choice test items 40 2.5.1.4 Summary tests 40 2.5.1.5 Dichotomous items (true-false technique) 41 2.5.1.6 Editing tests 42 2.5.1.7 Short-answer tests 42 2.5.1.8 Matching 43 2.5.1.9 Ordering tasks 43 2.6 Working memory and short term memory 44 2.7 Summary 47 CHAPTER THREE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND SCHEMA THEORY 3.0 Introduction 48 3.1 Schema theory 48 3.2 Background knowledge and schema 50 3.3 Schema and other related terms 53 3.4 Subcategories of schema 55 3.4.1 Formal schema 56 3.4.2 Content schema 57 3.4.3 Linguistic/language schema 58 3.4.4 Cultural schema 59 3.4.4.1 Culture 60 3.4.4.1.1 Culture and language 61 3.4.4.1.2 Teaching culture 62 3.4.4.1.3 Culture embedded texts 63 3.4.5 The other types of schema 64 3.4.6 The comparison of formal and content schema 65 3.5 The impact of background knowledge 67 3.5.1 Adaptation and reading comprehension 69 3.6 Criticism of schema theory 73 3.7 Summary 74 CHAPTER FOUR METHODOLOGY 4.0 Introduction 75 4.1 Approaches to educational research 75 4.1.1 Surveys 76 4.1.2 Experimental studies 77 vii 4.1.2.1 Pre-experimental studies 78 4.1.2.2 Quasi-experimental studies 78 4.1.2.3 True-experimental studies 78 4.1.2.4 Comparison of experimental study designs 79 4.2 Rationale for an experimental research design 80 4.3 Objectives and research questions of the study 80 4.4 Methodology of the study 81 4.4.1 Pilot study 81 4.4.1.1 Setting 81 4.4.1.2 Participants 81 4.4.1.3 Materials and instrumentation 82 4.4.1.3.1 The reading text and nativization process 82 4.4.1.3.2 Pre-test and post-test 85 4.4.1.4 Procedures for data collection 86 4.4.1.5 Procedures