Reading English for Academic Purposes - Literature review Example

First Article Reading English for Academic Purposes – What Situational Factors May Motivate Learners to Read? The study attempted to identify conditions which motivate students to engage in reading activities associated with English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), with the end in view of offering instructional assistance and developing a more positive environment beyond the four corners of a formal classroom. The specific objectives of the study are: (1) identify situations under which learners will be most willing to read texts for EAP purposes; (2) examine the presence of common factors behind the learners’ motivation for EAP reading and single these factors out; and (3) investigate associations which may exist between the subject area and their motivation to read in English. Using descriptive methodology and adopting the interview as preliminary data gathering technique, experiences of three business major students in reading content-area textbooks were audio recorded and analyzed to obtain information on how these students were able to sustain their reading under a pedagogical environment. On the basis of the interviews, a questionnaire in the native language of the business major students which would later serve as the primary research instrument was drafted and improved by the researcher with the assistance of these same students. The final version of the instrument is in English with 18 statements where the respondents will indicate their responses in a Likert-type questionnaire with a few open-ended questions to solicit information on subject areas for which the respondents would be most willing to read English texts and their reasons for such choices. The questionnaire was then administered to a total of 248 students from five randomly selected classes in a university of science and technology in Taiwan. A response rate of about 85% or 212 data sets were generated. From the data sets obtained, the typical student participant in the study has completed at least 3-year vocational high school and a 2-year program equivalent to the first two years of a four-year college program, majoring either in Business Administration or International Trade and had taken courses in English. Data obtained were statistically treated using descriptive (mean and standard deviation; frequency counts) and inferential (factor analysis) measures. Results revealed that the student-respondents are most willing to learn under three circumstances. Table 1 shows a condensed version of these results. Table 1. Top 3 circumstances which motivate learners to read English texts Item No. Motivating condition M1 SD2 18 2 17 Availability of teachers to answer questions Key points in the textbook highlighted clearly Reading skills and strategies are taught 6.21 5.99 5.90 1.03 0.95 1.16 1 Mean 2 Standard deviation From the data indicated in Table 1, the top motivating circumstances were selected based on the highest mean of ratings for the statements and the lowest standard deviations. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance and is most frequently used as a measure of dispersion of data (Picciano, 2004). Lower values of the SD each statement or condition, relative to the other conditions, suggest smaller variation in perception among the respondents and hence, generality of perception. Factor analysis was applied to examine the presence of common factors behind the learners’ motivation for EAP reading since this technique was developed to investigate mutual relationships among a number of measurements made on a measurable entities (McDonald, 1985). Item 5 was removed from the factor analysis because it seemed to be more complicated condition according to the researcher and displayed different characteristics compared with the 17 other items. The analysis yielded three different clusters of variables associated with motivation. Table 2 is presented from the original table in the study (also Table 2 in Shu-chen, 2006). Table 2. Factor matrix from the 17 conditions or variables From Table 2, the values of alpha represents the coefficient of reliability (i. e., consistency) of the factor and should be at least 0.70 to be acceptable. The percentage of the variance explained by this factor is also shown in the table. The first and most important factor which drives the motivation to read is EFL teacher facilitation which has a reliability of 0.8764 (> 0.70) and explains 32.82 percent of the variance. Meanwhile, the second most important factor is reading requirement which has a reliability of 0.8707 (> 0.70) and explains 15.556 percent of the variance. The third factor is text facilitation which has a reliability of 0.7342 (> 0.70) and explains 10.690 percent of the variance. When combined these factors account for close to 60% of the differences in motivation to read English texts. Consequently the remaining 40% may be attributed to other factors not considered in this study, particularly individual differences. As to content, the most preferred subject areas of EAP reading are Economics (91), Accounting (56), Marketing (54) and Business Statistics (46). Reasons for the choices range from the need for content familiarity in L1 to interest in the subject matter. Based on these findings, recommendations suggested include: provision of convenient consultation to answer questions from students, teacher support through the selection of texts for reading to address the learning needs of the students, tactful of requirements in assessment of learning outcomes and assignment of readings starting from less demanding content areas. Second Article Language Learning Strategies Used by Students at Different Levels of Proficiency The purpose of the study is to investigate the difference in the usage of language learning strategies between higher and lower proficiency English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and the strength of the effect of language learning strategy usage on the resulting English proficiency. In addressing the research problems, the following hypotheses stated in the null form were tested using a 0.05 and 0.01 level of significance (α = 0.05 and α = 0.01) : (1) There is no significant difference in the use of language learning strategy between higher and lower proficiency EFL students in terms of their mean total scores in the SILL; (1) There is no significant difference in the use of language learning strategy between higher and lower proficiency EFL students in terms of their mean subs-scores in the SILL; and (3) there are no significant associations between the English proficiency and use of any of the language learning strategies considered in the study. The descriptive method of research was adopted in this investigation which utilized the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Questionnaire ESL/EFL Version 7.0 and the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) as primary data gathering instruments. The 50-item SILL was administered in connection with the first two hypotheses (to address the first research question) as a measure of the students’ usage of language learning strategies. The type and frequency of use of the following strategies are measured in SILL: memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies. On the other hand, GEPT is divided into four areas: listening, reading, writing and speaking. The GEPT Questionnaire was administered to the student-participants in connection with the second hypothesis (to address the second research question). A total of 137 students from a Taiwan university participated in the study. These students were divided in two groups on the basis of their scores in the college entrance examination, where 49 sophomores majoring in English (36%) were included under the higher proficiency group, and 88 freshmen non-majors in English (64%) were categorized under the lower proficiency group. Use of descriptive statistics was limited to the mean and the standard deviation to show central tendency and dispersion, respectively. Data were analyzed using inferential measures, namely: (1) independent samples t-test, to test the first and second hypotheses; and (2) multiple regression analysis, to assess the effects of using language learning strategies on language proficiency as tested in the third hypothesis. Data from the two research instruments were summarized and analyzed with the aid of the statistical package SAS for Window. Table 1 presents the results of the independent samples t-tests. The foregoing discussion highlight the results of the data analysis: As indicated by data in Table 1 (please refer to the last row named TOTAL), with a t-value 3.50 and a p-value of 0.006 (< 0.05 and < 0.01), the null hypothesis is rejected. There is a significant difference in the use of language learning strategy between higher and lower proficiency EFL students in terms of their mean total scores (3.3618 vs. 3.0706). Also, from the values of the standard deviation(SD), mean total scores of higher proficiency students are less dispersed than those on the lower proficiency group (0.4110 vs. 0.4959. From the same table, results also revealed significant differences in the use of language learning strategies between higher and lower proficiency groups except in memory strategies. With t-value 0.95 and a p-value of 0.3439 ( > 0.05 and > 0.01), the null hypothesis is accepted only for the use of memory strategies. Table 1. Results of the independent samples t-test For cognitive strategies, with a t-value 3.94 and a p-value of 0.0001 (< 0.05 and < 0.01), the null hypothesis is rejected. Likewise, for compensation strategies, with a t-value 2.44 and a p-value of 0.0161 (< 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected only at a 0.05 level of significance (α = 0.05). For meta-cognitive strategies, with a t-value 4.12 and a p-value of 0.0001 (< 0.05 and < 0.01), the null hypothesis is rejected. For affective strategies, with a t-value 1.99 and a p-value of 0.0481 (< 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected only at a 0.05 level of significance (α = 0.05). Lastly, for social strategies, with a t-value 3.43 and a p-value of 0.0006 (< 0.05 and < 0.01), the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, the second hypothesis is not totally rejected. Table 2 summarizes the highlights of the effect of language learning strategies on the English learning proficiencies of the student participants. The summary will show only the learning strategy categories which have an impact on English proficiency. Table 2. Effect of language learning strategy usage to English proficiency: Highlights GEPT Area Learning Strategy/ Intercept/ Coefficients Regression Coefficients Standard Error t-value p-value Overall Intercept 237.25174 39.48839 6.01 < 0.0001 Cognitive 28.11589 11.36801 2.47 0.0162 Listening Intercept 79.82353 17.25565 4.63 < 0.0001 Cognitive 9.89607 4.96760 1.99 0.0508 Reading Intercept 101.70173 16.54886 6.15 < 0.0001 Cognitive 12.76931 4.76412 2.68 0.0094 It may be gleaned from Table 2 that there is a significant relationship between the use of cognitive language learning strategies and the overall score in the GEPT. A significant relationship was also seen between the use of cognitive language learning strategies and the GEPT listening scores. Likewise, there is a significant relationship observed between the use of cognitive language learning strategies and the GEPT listening scores. There is no significant relationship between the use of any of the six language learning strategies and the GEPT writing scores, hence it is not anymore included in the tabulation. These findings indicate that cognitive learning strategies exert the strongest influence on the English proficiency of the student-participants. Based on the foregoing findings, recommendations forwarded include: the need for EFL teachers to understand which language learning strategies are being used by their students so that interventions can be designed to enhance proficiency in English. Knowledge of language learning strategies commonly used by EFL learners will also offer possibilities for the teacher to devise plans and techniques to encourage their students to pay serious attention to their reading assignments. Future research should be directed on ways by which training in the use of language learning strategies be integrated into the English course so that students can make optimal use of known language learning strategies and so that new ones may be discovered through future academic inquiries. Third Article Effect of Reduced Forms on ESL Learners’ Input-Intake Process The goals of this study is to re-examine the effect of reduced forms on the input-intake by modifying a similar study conduct by Henrichsen (1984), specifically the sentence complexity in the test and differences in the type of reduced form. The present study takes off from Henrichson’s own observations of two possible limitations of his study: (1) the complexity of the sentences in the test may have influenced the scores of the low-proficiency learner; and (2) the results were not analyzed according to the type of reduced form. In view of the foregoing, Ito embarked on a research investigation to address the following questions: (1) Does the presence of reduced forms affect the listening comprehension of second language learners? (2) Does the effect of reduced forms on second language learners’ listening comprehension vary according to their language proficiency? and (3) Is the listening comprehension of learners affected by the type of reduced form? The following hypotheses, stated in the null form, were tested at a 0.05 level of significance (α=0.05): (1) There is no significant difference in the listening comprehension of second language learners whether reduced forms are present or absent; (2) There is no significant relationship between the effect of reduced forms on the listening comprehension of second language learners and their proficiency in the language; and (3) There is no significant relationship between the learners’ listening comprehension and the type of reduced form. The descriptive method of research was utilized in this study. A total of 18 non-native English speakers voluntarily participated as respondents of the study. The respondents belong to two different levels of listening/speaking classes in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program in a university in Hawaii. Nine respondents were enrolled in advanced listening/speaking classes during the time of the study, while the other nine are from intermediate listening/speaking classes. Nine native speakers participated in the study to help establish benchmark information regarding the variables being measured. Adopting Henrichsen’s method of measurement, a dictation test consisting of sentences with reduced forms was administered to the participants to measure listening comprehension. As a modification of the Henrichsen study, 20 sentences with lower syntactic complexity were prepared, with two types of reduced form (lexical forms and phonological forms) included into the 20 sentences. The combined validity of the test which came in two versions using Cronbach’s alpha is 0.78. Data analysis was carried out using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) 2 x 2 design for the three research questions and the corresponding hypotheses. The level of significance adopted for all three analyses is 0.25 based on the Bonferonni adjustment for multiple comparisons. Correlation analysis was also used in analyzing data, particularly the Pearson product-moment coefficients between all possible pairs of absence scores, presence scores, lexical scores, phonological scores and learners’ proficiency scores. The foregoing narrative provides the highlights of the results of the study: Presented in Tables 1 and 2 are the results of the repeated measures ANOVA for the first two hypotheses. Table 1. Repeated measures ANOVA on dictation test scores for proficiency groups and absence vs. presence of reduced forms Based on the results shown in Table 1, the first hypothesis is accepted. However, the power of the test is less than 0.80, hence the evidence is weak perhaps due to a small sample size. Table 2. Repeated measures ANOVA on test scores for proficiency groups and phonological vs. lexical forms As indicated in Table 2, results revealed that the learner’s performance on the dictation test was significantly affected by the type of reduced forms. In this regard, hypothesis 2 is rejected. Meanwhile, Tables 3-5 display the results of the correlation analyses. Table 3. Correlations between each test score of the non native speakers – upper participants Table 4. Correlations between each test score of the non native speakers – lower participants Table 5. Correlations between each test score of the non native participants and their proficiency level Tables 3, 4 and 5 show that the scores for presence of reduced forms and phonological forms are highly correlated across the higher and lower proficiency levels, with respective values of 94.09%, 67.24% and 94.09%. In the light of the findings, there should be synergized efforts between the learners and the mentor so that the input-intake process results in gains towards better English proficiency by the second language learners. An extra input may, therefore, be helpful in translating authentic or original inputs into intake. In this regard, a written input may be used. Moreover, as findings indicate that the listening comprehension of the non-native speakers is affected by the different types of reduced forms, future investigations should be anchored to shed more light in this phenomenon in order to facilitate instruction and enhance the learners’ proficiency. References Huang, S. C. (2006). Reading English for academic purposes – what situational factors may motivate learners to read. System, 34, 371-383. Ito, Y. (2001). Effect of reduced forms on ESL learner’ input-intake process. Second Language Studies, 20(1), 99-194. McDonald, Roderick P. (1985). Factor analysis and related methods. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Picciano, A. G. (2004). Educational research primer. New York: Continuum. Wu, Y. (2006). Language learning strategies used by students at different proficiency levels. Asian EFL Journal, 10(4), 75-95. Read More