University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects 5-2015 Use of C-Map as a Cognitive Tool in Collaborative and Individual Concept Mapping for Enhancing ELL Students' Reading Comprehension Enaz Yousef Rasheed Mahmoud Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Part of the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons Recommended Citation Mahmoud, Enaz Yousef Rasheed, "Use of C-Map as a Cognitive Tool in Collaborative and Individual Concept Mapping for Enhancing ELL Students' Reading Comprehension" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 922. https://commons.und.edu/theses/922 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. USE OF C-MAP AS A COGNITIVE TOOL IN COLLABORATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL CONCEPT MAPPING FOR ENHANCING ELL STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION by Enaz Yousef Rasheed Mahmoud Bachelor of Education, Educational Sciences Faculty (ESF-UNRWA), 2006 Master of Educational Technology, University of Jordan, 2009 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota May 2015 PERMISSION Title Use of C-map as a Cognitive Tool in Collaborative and Individual Concept Mapping for Enhancing ELL Students’ Reading Comprehension Department Teaching and Learning Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in his absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that the due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Enaz Yousef Rasheed Mahmoud /30/04 /30/04 2015 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................xiii ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................................xiv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1 Statement and Causes of the Problem ..................................................1 Cognitive Tools ....................................................................................6 Concept Map as a Cognitive Tool ........................................................7 Concept Map as a Cognitive too in ELL ..............................................8 Concept Map as a Cognitive Tool in ELL Reading Comprehension ..10 Collaborative vs. Individual Learning ................................................12 Collaborative vs. Individual Concept Mapping in ELL .....................14 Purpose of Study ................................................................................17 Questions of the Study .......................................................................18 Hypothesis of the Study .....................................................................19 II. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............21 A world Wide Review of ELL Reading Comprehension ..................21 ELL Around the World ..........................................................21 Learning ELL Reading Comprehension Around the Globe ...22 ELL Reading Comprehension in Jordan ...........................................26 A general Overview of Jordan ..............................................26 iv Jordanian Educational System ..............................................26 Instruction of ELL Reading Comprehension in Jordanian Classrooms ............................................................................28 Cognitive Tools .................................................................................38 Concept Map as a Cognitive Tool .....................................................40 Concept Mapping and Concept Maps ...................................40 Concept Mapping as a Meaningful Learning Strategy ..........43 Concept Map as a Cognitive Tool in English ....................................46 Concept Map as a Cognitive Tool in English Reading Comprehension ..................................................................................48 ELL Reading Comprehension as a Cognitive Process ...........51 Reviewing as a Sub-skill of ELL Reading Comprehension ...........................................................52 Listing as a Sub-skill of ELL Reading Comprehension ...........................................................54 Enforcing as a Sub-skill of ELL Reading Comprehension ...........................................................55 Computer-assisted Concept Mapping in ELL Reading Comprehension ...................................................................................56 Cmap Software .......................................................................59 Cmap Tools ................................................................59 Inspiration ...................................................................61 GetSmart .....................................................................62 SMART Ideas .............................................................63 Collaborative vs. Individual Learning ................................................65 Collaborative vs. Individual Concept Mapping in ELL Reading Comprehension ...................................................................................67 Collaborative and Individual Concept Mapping in Jordanian ELL Classrooms .....................................................................70 v Conceptual and Theoretical Framework .............................................73 Constructivism and Scaffolding ………………………...…..73 Cognitivism ............................................................................74 Ausubel’s (1968) Assimilation Theory ..................................75 Theory of Metacognition ........................................................75 Information Processing Theory ..............................................77 Operational Terms and Definitions ....................................................78 Cognitive Tool ........................................................................78 Concept Map ..........................................................................78 Concept Mapping ...................................................................79 Individual Concept Mapping ..................................................79 Collaborative Concept Mapping ............................................79 Meaningful Learning ..............................................................79 Reading Comprehension ........................................................80 English Language Learners (ELL) .........................................80 Computer-Assisted or Computerized Concept Mapping .......80 Cmap Tools ............................................................................81 Summary ............................................................................................81 III. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................83 Research Purpose ...............................................................................83 Research Questions of Study .............................................................84 Hypothesis of the Study .....................................................................85 Research Method Paradigm ...............................................................86 Research Design ................................................................................87 Timeline of the Study ........................................................................90 vi Research Sample ..............................................................................91 Research Instruments .......................................................................92 Data Collection and Research Procedure .........................................95 Data Analysis …………………………………………..….…….…97 Research Reliability and Validity ....................................................98 Orientation Training Plans ...............................................................100 Training Plan for the Cooperative Teacher ..........................100 Procedures for Cooperative Teacher’s Training .......101 Using of Concept Mapping in Teaching ..................101 Using of Collaborative Learning in Teaching ..........101 Teaching