influence of inferential skills on the reading comprehension ability of adult thai

334 Pages·2017·2.7 MB·English

by  Pawadee Srisang

INFLUENCE OF INFERENTIAL SKILLS
ON THE READING COMPREHENSION
ABILITY OF ADULT THAI (L1) AND
ENGLISH (L2) STUDENTS

Pawadee Srisang

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

University of Canterbury
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Christchurch, New Zealand

2017
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The material presented in this thesis is the original work of the candidate except as
acknowledged in the text, and has not been previously submitted, either in part or in whole, for a
degree at this or any other University.
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Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to Professor John Everatt, my primary supervisor, for his invaluable
advice, guidance, feedback, and support, with great patience and kind understanding throughout
the period of my study. My heartfelt thanks are also extended to Dr. Amir Sadeghi for his
constructive comments and suggestions, and Dr. Jo Fletcher for her useful suggestions,
motivation, and ongoing support. My deep appreciation goes to my mentor Dr. David Victor
Furman for his academic support for editing my thesis and his encouragement throughout my
PhD journey.
This research would have been unachievable without the support of Burapha University,
my home university in Thailand, which granted me study leave and the financial support to
complete my PhD studies. I would also like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the
University of Canterbury for the UC Doctoral Scholarship, as well as to the College of Education
for conference and research funds. I would also like to acknowledge all the Thai students who
participated in the empirical study which provided the data for the thesis, as well as my Thai
colleagues who supported me and facilitated the data collection in Thailand.
I offer my sincere thanks to all my fellow PhD candidate colleagues who together created
a very pleasant and enjoyable academic environment within the College of Education, and in
Christchurch, and to my Thai colleagues and friends who have supported me from afar. All of
you have provided me with continued guidance, advice, and invaluable friendship to brighten my
long days of research and writing. I know that I have not taken this journey alone.
My final expression of gratitude goes to my family for their understanding and
encouragement throughout my study. Particularly to my mother Supa Srisang, as her positive
attitudes always brought valuable suggestions and encouragement in the continuance of my
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studies and to Apichaya Clarks, my Thai friend who has been consistently supportive,
particularly throughout my recovery period from a medical operation.
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Abstract

The ability to make inferences from linguistic information (spoken and written discourse)
is regarded as a significant factor in successful reading success. Although, this relationship has
been researched with English first language/monolingual cohorts (see Cain, Oakhill, Barnes, &
Bryant, 2001; Oakhill & Cain, 2012; Silva & Cain, 2015), there is a paucity of research on
inferential skills in other languages as well as in bilinguals or second language learning contexts.
Therefore, the present study focused on investigating inferential skills and reading
comprehension in two different languages (Thai and English) within the same group of adult
students at a college in Thailand. The primary objectives of this study, as reported in this thesis,
were to examine the reciprocal relationships of inferential skills within Thai and English, and to
investigate whether inferential skills can predict reading comprehension both within each
language and across languages (Thai-L1 and English-L2).
The study involved measures of inferential skills, reading comprehension, vocabulary
and listening comprehension in Thai and English, following appropriate adaptation, piloting and
revision. Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices test (short form) was also used to explore non-
verbal reasoning, and a questionnaire was used to provide background details about the participants
and their views on reading comprehension strategies. Data collection was conducted at one
campus of a university in Thailand. All ten measures were administered to a group of 220 Thai
undergraduate students.
The results demonstrated a significant inter-relationship between inferential skills in Thai
(L1) and English (L2). Scores on the inferential tasks were also related to reading comprehension
within the same language. Furthermore, the findings from hierarchical regression analyses
indicated that the addition of inferential skill scores significantly increased the predictability of
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reading comprehension in the same language, after controlling for within-language vocabulary
levels (and listening comprehension in the case of Thai) and non-verbal reasoning. Analyses
across languages showed positive correlations between Thai inferential skills and English
reading comprehension, and between English inferential skills and Thai reading comprehension.
Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the addition of English inferential skills scores
predicted extra variability in Thai reading comprehension, after controlling for English and Thai
language related skills and non-verbal reasoning measures, but the addition of Thai inferential
skills scores did not influence the level of prediction of English reading comprehension after
controlling for the same variables. The reading strategies questionnaire did not reveal a
significant relationship with either the Thai or the English reading comprehension scores.
However, relationships between self-reported reading comprehension strategies and inferential
skills scores were found, though the correlations were relatively small.
Overall, the findings are consistent with the ability to make inferences being an important
component of successful text comprehension–although there is little evidence of awareness
influencing performance among the current participants. The influence of inference making does
not seem to be explained by more general language skills (such as vocabulary and listening
comprehension), nor by more general (non-verbal) reasoning skills, and it has the potential to
occur across languages (from English to Thai in the present study), although within language
influences may be larger than between languages. These findings have both theoretical and
practical implications, which are discussed in this thesis.
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Presentations Arising from the Thesis
Srisang, P., Everatt, J., Fletcher, J., & Sadeghi, A. (2015). Impacts of Inferential Skills on
Reading Comprehension of Thai (L1) and English (L2). Society for the Scientific Study of
Reading 22nd International Conference (SSSR), 14-17 July 2015. Hawaii, U.S.A. (Conference
Contributions - Oral Presentation)

Srisang, P., Everatt, J., Fletcher, J., & Sadeghi, A. (2015, November). Assessment of reading
comprehension skills in students with English as a second language: The potential benefit of
measures of inferential skills across languages. The Canterbury Postgraduate Showcase. The
Showcase Conference, University of Canterbury, 19 November 2015. University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, New Zealand. (Conference Contributions - Oral Presentation)

Srisang, P., Everatt, J., Fletcher, J., & Sadeghi, A. (2015, November). Assessment of reading
comprehension skills in students with English as a second language: The potential benefit of
measures of inferential skills across languages. The Eighth Educational Psychology Forum, 23-
24 November 2015. University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand. (Conference
Contributions - Oral Presentation)

Srisang, P., Everatt, J., Fletcher, J., & Sadeghi, A. (2015, December). Impacts of inferential skills
on reading comprehension of Thai (L1) and English (L2). Linguistic Society of New Zealand,
15-16 December 2015. The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. (Conference
Contributions - Oral Presentation)
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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... III
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... V
PRESENTATIONS ARISING FROM THE THESIS ................................................................ VII
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... VIII
LIST OF FIGURE ....................................................................................................................... XV
LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... XVI
GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................ XX
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Purpose and research questions ............................................................................................ 5
1.3. The overview of the research ............................................................................................... 5
1.4. Significance of the study ...................................................................................................... 6
1.5. Ethical consideration ............................................................................................................ 7
CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................. 8
2.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 8
2.2. Models of reading comprehension ....................................................................................... 9
2.2.1. The Constructionist-Integration model ....................................................................... 10
2.2.2. The Structure Building model ..................................................................................... 12
2.2.3 The Landscape model of reading ................................................................................. 14
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2.2.4. Sociocultural theories in reading ................................................................................. 16
2.2.5. Summary of reading comprehension models .............................................................. 17
2.3. Reading comprehension skills ............................................................................................ 18
2.3.1. Lower level comprehension skills ............................................................................... 18
2.3.2. Higher level comprehension skills .............................................................................. 19
2.4. Inferential skills .................................................................................................................. 21
2.4.1. The development of inferential skills .......................................................................... 21
2.4.2. Role of automaticity in inference generation .............................................................. 22
2.4.3. Types of inference ....................................................................................................... 23
2.4.4. Inference generation while reading ............................................................................. 26
2.4.5. Inference teaching ....................................................................................................... 31
2.4.6. Research on inferential skills in L1 and L2 ................................................................. 37
2.5. Additional skills assessed in this study .............................................................................. 44
2.5.1. Vocabulary .................................................................................................................. 44
2.5.2. Listening comprehension ............................................................................................ 47
2.5.3. Non-verbal reasoning abilities .................................................................................... 49
2.6. Models of cross-linguistic skill transfer in reading ............................................................ 50
2.6.1. The Reading Universal Hypothesis ............................................................................. 50
2.6.2. Common Underlying Proficiency Theory (Interdependence Hypothesis) .................. 52
2.6.3. The Language Threshold Hypothesis .......................................................................... 53
2.7. Research on cross-linguistic skill transfer in L1/L2 reading .............................................. 54
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2.7.1. Research on reading skills/strategies ........................................................................... 54
2.7.2. Research on language proficiency in L1/L2 ............................................................... 57
CHAPTER THREE ....................................................................................................................... 60
3.1. Thai education system ........................................................................................................ 60
3.2. Thai language ..................................................................................................................... 63
3.3. Teaching and learning English in Thailand ........................................................................ 64
3.3.1. Problems of teaching and learning English in Thailand ............................................. 66
3.4. Teaching and learning reading in English in Thailand ...................................................... 68
3.4.1. Problems of Thai students’ English reading comprehension ...................................... 69
3.5. Teaching and learning Thai in Thailand ............................................................................ 69
3.5.1. Problems of Thai students Thai language reading comprehension ............................. 70
CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 72
4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 72
4.2. Rationale of assessment measures ...................................................................................... 73
4.2.1. Measures of reading comprehension ........................................................................... 73
4.2.2. Measures of inferential skills ...................................................................................... 74
4.2.3. Measures of language skills ........................................................................................ 74
4.2.4. Measure of non-verbal reasoning abilities .................................................................. 76
4.2.5. Questionnaire on reading comprehension strategies ................................................... 77
4.3. Measure development ........................................................................................................ 78
4.3.1. Reading comprehension measures .............................................................................. 78
4.3.2. Inferential skills measures ........................................................................................... 82