Development and transfer in reading ability

299 Pages·2014·3.08 MB·English

by  Mukengeshay, Djeh Katombe

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DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFER IN READING ABILITY:
A STUDY OF ZAIREAN EFL LEARNERS
MUKENGESHAY Djeh Katombe
Thesis Submitted to the University of London
for the Degree of PhD
1993
University of London Institute of Education
Department of English for Speakers of Other Languages
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ABSTRACT
In general, educational practices in Zairean secondary schools point to a
positivistic orientation to literacy, in spite of the fact that one of the stated aims of
secondary education is to encourage independent thinking in students.
For this reason, one of the aims of the present study was to promote greater
independence in students by presenting a humanistic-interpretive approach to
reading, as demonstrated by the practice of sustained silent reading. For this
purpose, some of the students involved in the study (the experimental subjects)
were presented with graded readers in English, in a 20h (1h/week) experimental
reading programme. Moreover, in keeping with the view of reading as a unitary
process, transferable across languages, a second aim of the study was to explore
the possibility of transfer in reading ability between French as a L2 and English as
a FL.
Data were supplied by experimental and control subjects from questionnaires and
cloze passages in French, and in English, that were administered before and after
the reading programme. These data failed to provide unequivocal evidence for the
expected transfer and improvement, and reasons are offered for this outcome.
Nonetheless, the experimental subjects performed as well as the control subjects
at the second administration of the measurement instruments. In other terms, one
hour of sustained silent reading in English, along with 4 hours of traditional EFL
teaching, appeared to be as educationally beneficial as the usual 5 hours/week
orally driven, teacher-directed EFL classroom practice.
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in memoriam mortuorum et vivarum
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A number of people inspired me the confidence and enthusiasm necessary for the
completion of this work. I would like to thank them all.
I am particularly indebted to C Wallace, to the late K R Cripwell, to C P Hill, and to
H G Widdowson for the academic supervision and the models of scholarship that they
each provided me with.
I would also like to express my indebtedness to the staff and students of three
secondary schools of Kinshasa, Zaire: Complexe Scolaire Cardinal Malula, College
Boboto, and Lycee Bosangani where the data exploited in this study originated.
For their timely advice and support, I wish to express my gratefulness to the
following: Haile M Aberra, Nicholas Drennan, S Kapeta, J I Kapoli, Kayembe
Shamba, Luanga Kasanga, Malele ma Ludani, Manuela Manun-Ebo, Matondo Mbela,
Mbatika Placide, Mulamba Nshindi, Mumba wa Mumba, Mwaka Hippolyte, Mwaka
Lusala Lona, Tshibengabo Kamana, Nkulu Kabuya, Nzwanga Mazemba, to William
Halton and all the members of the 20 Gower Street PhD support group.
I would also like to acknowledge the daily words of encouragement from Sybil
Spence in the ESOL Department.
A special contribution to the achievement of this work, which I acknowledge with
love, consisted of mailed words of love and prayers from my wife, Kapinga Ngalula,
from afar sharing the burden of a would-be thinker.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge that without the financial assistance of the
government of the United Kingdom (through the O.D.A. and the British Council
officials), and that of the government of the Republic of Zaire, this work could not
have been conceived of and brought to fruition.
MDK
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
ABSTRACT(cid:9) 2
DEDICATION(cid:9) 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS(cid:9) 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS(cid:9) 5
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS(cid:9) 11
LIST OF FIGURES(cid:9) 12
LIST OF TABLES(cid:9) 13
INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 16
Note(cid:9) 18
1 LIIERACY, READING TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE,
AND THE TRANSFER OF LIIERACY SKILLS(cid:9) 19
1.1 Literacy(cid:9) 20
1.1.1 Literacy as social practice(cid:9) 20
1.1.2 Literacy as knowledge(cid:9) 29
1.2 Reading to learn a foreign language(cid:9) 38
1.2.1 The key issue: language learning(cid:9) 38
1.2.2 Reading: a means to an end(cid:9) 41
1.3 Transfer of literacy skills(cid:9) 47
1.3.1 The notion and requirement (cid:9) 47
1.3.2 The generating principle: CALP(cid:9) 50
1.3.3 The threshold hypothesis(cid:9) 52
1.4 A concluding note(cid:9) 53
Note(cid:9) 55
2 THE LTIERACY CONTEXT OF ZAIRE AND THE TEACHING/
(cid:9)
LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 56
2.1 Multilingualism and language policies(cid:9) 57
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2.1.1 Zaire's large language repertoire(cid:9) 57
2.1.2 A three-layer structure of languages(cid:9) 59
2.1.3 Orality vs. literacy(cid:9) 60
2.1.4 Language in formal education(cid:9) 62
2.1.5 The language situation and the development of CALP(cid:9) 64
2.2 Some aspects of the educational system(cid:9) 66
2.2.1 Primary education, and introduction to literacy(cid:9) 66
2.2.2 Secondary education, and the practice of literacy(cid:9) 69
2.2.3 Tertiary education, and teacher training(cid:9) 72
2.3 English as a foreign language (EFL) in Zaire(cid:9) 74
2.3.1 Social importance of English(cid:9) 74
2.3.2 Aims of secondary school EFL teaching/ learning(cid:9) 77
2.3.3 Timetable for secondary school EFL teaching/ learning(cid:9) 80
2.4 Constraints on reading development in Zairean schools(cid:9) 80
2.4.1 Institutional constraints(cid:9) 81
2.4.1.1 The organisation and conduct of reading classes(cid:9) 82
2.4.1.2 Provision of resources(cid:9) 83
2.4.1.3 The textbook (cid:9) 84
2.4.2 Teacher constraints(cid:9) 86
2.4.2.1 Teacher training(cid:9) 87
2.4.2.2 Classroom practice(cid:9) 89
2.4.2.3 Model(cid:9) 91
2.4.3 Student constraints(cid:9) 92
2.4.3.1 Motivation(cid:9) 92
2.4.3.2 Perception of the use of reading in English(cid:9) 94
2.4.3.3 World experience and level of competence(cid:9) 94
2.5 In conclusion(cid:9) 96
Note(cid:9) 98
3 READING AND READING DEVELOPMENT(cid:9) 99
(cid:9)
3.1 A definition of reading 99
(cid:9)
3.1.1 Reading as decoding 100
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3.1.2 Reading as communication(cid:9) 104
3.1.3 Reading as search for meaning(cid:9) 105
3.1.4 Reading as asking questions(cid:9) 106
3.2 Reading ability: a skill or a compendium of skills(cid:9) 108
3.2.1 The debate(cid:9) 110
3.2.2 The subskill view of reading, and some evidence for it (cid:9) 111
3.2.3 The unitary view of reading, and some evidence for it (cid:9) 114
3.2.4 The two approaches in action(cid:9) 117
3.2.5 A choice, for the promotion of learning(cid:9) 118
3.3 Graded readers and the development of reading(cid:9) 123
3.3.1 Development of language knowledge(cid:9) 124
3.3.2 Development of the knowledge of language use(cid:9) 125
3.3.3 Development of reading strategies(cid:9) 126
3.3.4 Development of attitude to reading(cid:9) 127
3.3.5 Some exemplars(cid:9) 127
3.4 A few words of caution(cid:9) 130
3.5 Reading in Ll and reading in FL: strategy use and
knowledge, and comprehension(cid:9) 132
3.5.1 Strategy use and knowledge(cid:9) 133
3.5.2 Comprehension(cid:9) 138
3.6 A final word(cid:9) 139
4 RATIONALE AND CONDUCT OF THE EMPIRICAL WORK(cid:9) 141
4.1 Problem and hypotheses(cid:9) 141
4.2 Subjects and context (cid:9) 145
4.3 Study instruments(cid:9) 148
4.3.1 Measurement instruments(cid:9) 148
4.3.1.1 Questionnaires(cid:9) 149
4.3.1.2 Cloze passages(cid:9) 151
4.3.2 Treatment instruments(cid:9) 154
4.4 Procedures(cid:9) 156
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4.4.1 Administration of measurement instruments(cid:9) 156
4.4.2 Administration of the treatment (cid:9) 159
4.5 Design synopsis(cid:9) 161
Notes(cid:9) 162
5 THE DATA(cid:9) 164
5.1 Questionnaire responses(cid:9) 164
5.1.1 Students' perception of their reading environment and
opportunities(cid:9) 164
5.1.2 Students' perception of their use of reading strategies(cid:9) 178
5.1.2.1 Definition of categories(cid:9) 178
5.1.2.2 Proportions of positive reading strategy claimers(cid:9) 181
5.2 Performance on the doze passages(cid:9) 188
5.2.1 Pre-treatment results(cid:9) 189
5.2.2 Post-treatment results(cid:9) 194
5.3 Relating questionnaire data to doze reading performance(cid:9) 198
5.4 The experimental subjects and the graded readers(cid:9) 200
5.4.1 Quantity of reading(cid:9) 201
5.4.2 Preferred levels and topics of graded readers(cid:9) 204
5.5 A concluding note on the data(cid:9) 206
6 A DISCUSSION OF THE STUDY HYPOTHESES IN THE LIGHT
OF THE DATA(cid:9) 207
6.1 On the similarity between reading in French and reading in
English(cid:9) 210
6.2 On the correlation between French and doze reading(cid:9) 214
6.2.1 Level of performance(cid:9) 216
6.2.1.1 Performance of high scorers in French(cid:9) 217
6.2.1.2 Performance of high scorers in English(cid:9) 221
6.2.1.3 Performance of low scorers in French(cid:9) 223
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6.2.1.3 Performance of low scorers in French(cid:9) 223
6.2.1.4 Performance of low scorers in English(cid:9) 224
6.2.2 Features on the similarity between reading in French and
reading in English(cid:9) 226
6.3 On the expected greater improvement of the experimental
subjects(cid:9) 228
6.3.1 Ascertaining the improvement (cid:9) 228
6.3.2 Ascertaining the greater improvement of the
experimental subjects(cid:9) 232
6.3.3 The treatment and the improvement in the experimental
subjects' performance(cid:9) 234
6.4 Re-visiting the subjects' perceptions about reading in
French and reading in English(cid:9) 238
6.5 A few notable cases(cid:9) 241
6.6 Conclusion(cid:9) 244
7 IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION(cid:9) 245
7.1 Summary of findings(cid:9) 245
7.1.1 On the involvement of strategies in successful doze
reading(cid:9) 246
7.1.2 On the importance of some of the strategies in doze
reading(cid:9) 247
7.1.3 On the transfer of one reading strategy: word skipping(cid:9) 247
7.1.4 On the overall tendency to improve on doze reading(cid:9) 248
7.1.5 On the experimental subjects' engagement with graded
readers(cid:9) 248
7.2 Reflections on the use of questionnaires(cid:9) 248
7.3 Reflections on the use of doze passages(cid:9) 251
7.4 On the practice of sustained silent reading(cid:9) 253
7.5 The winning team(cid:9) 256
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7.6 The missing link (cid:9) 257
BIBLIOGRAPHY(cid:9) 262
APPENDICES(cid:9) 277
Appendix A: Cloze passages in English(cid:9) 277
Appendix B: Cloze passages in French(cid:9) 282
Appendix C: Cloze deletion items by their analytical
categories based on Jons' (1990) 5-category model(cid:9) 286
Appendix D: Questionnaire in English(cid:9) 292
Appendix E: Questionnaire in French(cid:9) 294
Appendix F: List of graded readers(cid:9) 297