Enhancing Reading Comprehension via Metacognitive Strategy Training: Gender and Discipline Variation
محورهای موضوعی : language teaching
Zohreh Seifoori
1
(
Department of English, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
)
کلید واژه: reading comprehension, gender, metacognitive strategy training, discipline,
چکیده مقاله :
The aim of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the impact of a metacognitive training program on university freshmen’s reading comprehension skill in a three-credit General English (GE) Course. The participants included eight groups of freshmen, in four disciplines: Management, Psychology, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Engineering. They were randomly assigned as four experimental and four control groups, each including approximately 30 participants. The same materials were taught to all groups after their initial homogeneity in English was assessed via Analysis of Variance of the pre-test scores obtained from a Key English Test (KET). In the experimental groups, one whole session was devoted to explicitly teaching three sets of metacognitive strategies and five reading strategies: skimming, scanning, previewing, using context clues, and making inferences. These groups also received metacognitive awareness-raising while applying the strategies in each reading lesson for six sessions. The analyses of the research data revealed that metacognitive strategy training promoted the participants’ learning when integrated with a reading-focused GE course regardless of their gender and a small effect from discipline. The findings have implications for teachers, materials developers, and teacher trainers.
تحقیق حاضربا هدف بررسی تأثیر آموزش راهبردهای فراشناختی بر مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب دانشجویان سال اول در درس زبان عمومی انجام گرفت. آزمودنی‌ها شامل هشت گروه دانشجویان سال اول در قالب هشت کلاس هریک با حدود سی زبان‌آموز در چهار رشته تحصیلی مدیریت، روان‌شناسی، مهندسی مکانیک و مهندسی کامپیوتر بودند که به‌طور تصادفی به چهار گروه تحقیق و چهار گروه شاهد تعیین شدند. ابتدا با انجام آزمون استاندارسطح مبتدی و تحلیل نمرات این آزمون با استفاده از تحلیل واریانس، همگنی اولیه گروه‌ها در انگلیسی عمومی تأیید شده و سپس مطالب آموزشی یکسانی در همه گروه‌ها به مدت 6 جلسه تدریس شدگردید. در گروه‌های تحقیق یک جلسه کامل به تدریس صریح3 مجموعه راهبردهای فراشناختی و 5 راهبرد خواندن شامل درک کلیات متن، درک جزئیات متن، پیش‌خوانی مطلب، استفاده از نشانه‌های بافتی و استنتاج پرداخته شد. در طول شش جلسه آموزشی و حین تدریس فصل‌های مختلف کتاب نیز آموزش‌های مشابه و مختصری درابتدای هرجلسه و در حین انجام فعالیت‌های آموزشی با هدف ایجاد آگاهی فراشناختی در گروه‌های تحقیق انجام گردید. تحلیل داده‌های تحقیق حاصل از پس آزمون خواندن و درک مطلب نشان داد که آموزش راهبردهای فراشناختی در درس زبان عمومی توانسته بود خواندن و درک مطلب آزمودنی‌های مؤنث ومذکر را ارتقا بخشد. گرچه دانشجویان رشته کامپیوتر بالاترین میانگین را در آزمون پایانی کسب نمودند، ضریب تأثیر پایین نشانگرتأثیر جزئی رشته تحصیلی بر نتایج بود. معلمان و اساتید زبان، مؤلفان کتاب‌ها و مطالب آموزشی و مربیان می‌توانند نتایج تحقیق حاضررا مورد استفاده قرار دهند.
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