Table Of ContentDOCUMENT RESUME
ED 468 603
FL 801 534
Levine, Lewis
AUTHOR
The Responses of Adult ESL Learners to Short Stories in
TITLE
English in Collaborative Small-Group Discussions.
1999-00-00
PUB DATE
220p.; Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, Fordham University.
NOTE
Dissertations/Theses
Doctoral Dissertations (041)
PUB TYPE
EDRS Price MF01/PC09 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Adult Education; Adult Learning; Cooperative Learning;
DESCRIPTORS
*Discussion (Teaching Technique); *Discussion Groups;
*English (Second Language); Oral Language; Reading
Comprehension; Second Language Instruction; *Short Stories;
Small Group Instruction; Spanish; Teaching Methods
ABSTRACT
This study examined the collaboration of four adult English-
as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners as they participated in a small groups to
construct meaning in response to English short stories. The study
investigated learners' oral responses and utterances and noted how group
discussion influenced the content of their responses to short stories during
one particular discussion session and over the semester. Data collection
involved audiotaping peer group discussions. Oral responses in group
discussions were collected at three different intervals during one semester.
Students read and discussed three different short stories at each interval,
also giving presentations to the rest of the class. Students evaluated their
own and each others' work. Overall, participants discussed a broad range of
topics in the collaborative group. Their utterances during the discussions
were highly fluid, constantly shifting, and dynamic. They used various
strategies to communicate their ideas and opinions and to construct meanings
of English short stories. Collaborative discussion of short stories enabled
these ESL students to sharpen and extend their comprehension and oral skills.
Two appendixes present synopses of short stories and questions used to
evaluate group presentations. (Contains approximately 150 references.)
(Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education)
(SM)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
THE RESPONSES OF ADULT ESL LEARNERS TO SHORT STORIES
IN ENGLISH IN COLLABORATIVE SMALL-GROUP DISCUSSIONS
LEWIS LEVINE, PhD
BA, Harvard College, 1974
MA, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1976
Mentor
Rita S. Brause, EdD
Readers
Anthony N. Baratta, EdD
Clement G. B. London, EdD
LID
DISSERTATION
b0
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
OF FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE
AND
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NEW YORK
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL
HAS
e of Educational Research and Improvement
veOf
BEEN GRANTED BY
ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
E
1999
_eane'
CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
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received from the person or organization
BEST COPY
originating it.
AVAILABLE
Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality.
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
2
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
Points of view or opinions stated in this
1
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation is the culmination of a long and
Many people have been involved in my
fitful struggle.
efforts to complete this work and I would like to
To my many
acknowledge their varied contributions here.
colleagues who have consistently encouraged me over the
years, especially Audre Garcia-Grice, Kathleen Kane,
Bette Kerr, Luis Maiz, Pat Parzych, Barbara Radin, and
My colleague,
Mary Williams, I offer my appreciation.
friend, and former Chairperson, Diana Diaz, deserves
special mention for entrusting me with my first position
of academic leadership, pushing me to start my
doctorate, and being there for me every step of the way.
Cgceres,
I would like to thank my former students, Tanya
Robinson DeJesus, and Engels Restituyo, for their
expertise in helping to prepare the figures and tables
Special thanks must also go to my
in this dissertation.
friends Johanna Antar and Henry Jorisch for rescuing me
with kindness and humor whenever my computer skills were
Finally, I would
insufficient for the task at hand.
like to express my deep gratitude, love and admiration
for Tere Justicia, my wife, best friend, and colleague,
without whose love, support, knowledge, and insight this
work would never have been completed.
iii
DEDICATION
To my son, Gabriel Bernard Levine, whose youthful
exuberance, unbridled passions, and immense love of
life and learning are a constant source of delight
and inspiration.
4
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ii
DEDICATION
iii
LIST OF TABLES
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
ix
THE PROBLEM
CHAPTER I.
1
Statement of the Problem
3
Research Questions
3
Theoretical Rationale
4
Theory of Response to Literature
4
Second-Language Acquisition Theory
6
The Social Nature of Language,
Learning, and Knowledge
7
Limitations of the Study
13
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED THEORY AND
RESEARCH
14
Theory of Reader Response
14
Theory of Reading
28
Second-Language Reading Theory
32
Theory of Second-Language Acquisition
36
Collaborative Learning
43
Peer-Led Literature Discussion Groups
45
CHAPTER III. PARTICIPANTS, MATERIALS, AND
PROCEDURES
49
Participants
50
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Page
Selection of Texts
51
Data Collection Procedures for Group
Discussions
55
Analytical Procedures
60
CHAPTER IV. IDENTIFYING CATEGORIES OF RESPONSE
66
Identifying and Testing New Categories
78
Description of Preliminary Model of
.Meaning- Making Process of Adult ESL
Learners in Collaborative Group
Discussions
81
Types of Group Talk
83
Talk Related to Collaborative Task
83
Talk Related to Participants' Behavior
83
or Roles
Talk Related to Participants' Use of
84
English
Confirming Understanding of the Text
84
Speculating about a Particular Aspect
85
of the Text
Extracting a Message or Lesson from
85
the Text
Examples of Types of Utterances
85
Talk Related to Collaborative Task
86
Talk Related to Participants' Behavior
88
or Roles
Talk Related to Participants' Use of
92
English
Confirming Understanding of the Text
97
Speculating about a Particular Aspect
of the Text
100
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Page
Extracting a Message or Lesson from
110
the Text
Toward a New Model: The Need to Refine
Categories
111
Interrater Reliability
130
PARTICIPANT ROLES AND RESPONSES
CHAPTER V.
TO TWO TYPES OF TEXTS
133
Easily-Understood Text vs. Difficult-to-
Understand Text
133
A Comparison of Participant Roles in the
Group's Collaborative Discussion of Two
Types of Texts
140
Participation of Individual Group Members
144
Responses of Individual Participants
147
CHAPTER VI. HYPOTHESES, DISCUSSION OF
HYPOTHESES, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
158
Hypotheses
158
The Focus of Oral Responses by Adult
ESL Learners to Short Stories in English
158
How Collaborative Group Discussion
Influences the Content of Adult ESL
Learners' Oral Responses
160
Factors that Facilitate the Oral
Responses of Adult ESL Learners
161
Text-Based Factors
162
Reader-Based Factors
163
Context-Based Factors
163
Discussion of Hypotheses
164
The Kinds of Topics Adult ESL Learners
Discuss in Collaborative Group Contexts
165
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Page
The Nature of the Utterances of
Adult ESL Learners in Collaborative
Group Contexts
166
Strategies for Communicating
Opinions by Adult ESL Learners in
Collaborative Groups
168
Strategies Utilized by Adult
ESL Learners in Collaboratively
Constructing Meaning of Short
Stories in English
170
Ways in which Adult ESL Learners
May Reach a Consensus of
Interpretation about Short Stories
in English
174
Ways in which Teachers May Establish
Meaningful Communicative Contexts
174
in the ESL Classroom
The Role of Short Stories in
175
Second-Language Learning
Recommendations for Teaching
176
177
Implications for Research
180
REFERENCES
Synopses of Short Stories
193
APPENDIX A
Questions Used in Evaluations of
APPENDIX B
199
Group Presentations
201
ABSTRACT
204
VITA
8
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
Comparison by Type of Utterance of the
135
1
Group's Responses to the Short Stories
"Warm River" and "The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty"
Comparison of Type of Roles in the
141
2
Collaborative Group Discussion of the
Short Stories "Warm River" and "The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
Comparison by Type of Utterance of
146
3
Individual Participant's Responses to
the Short Stories "Warm River" and
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
Comparison of Individual Participant's
156
4.
Roles in the Collaborative Group
Discussion of the Short Stories "Warm
River" and "The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty"
9
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
Page
Galda's (1983). Oral Classification System
1.
70
W. Taylor's (1988) Modified Model of Language
2.
74
Function (for group discussions)
Preliminary Model of the Meaning-Making
3.
82
Process of Adult ESL Learners in
Collaborative Group Discussions of
Short Stories in English
Revised Model of the Meaning-Making Process
115
4.
of Adult ESL Learners in Collaborative
Group Discussions of Short Stories
in English
