The effect of literature circles on
university EFL learners’ reading
comprehension performances
Presented by Fanny Chang
G99120009
Contents
1
Introduction
2
Review of the literature
3
Methodology
Introduction

Peer interaction

Peer interaction has been investigated to promote students’
learning successfully.

The relations of interaction and learning are highly related
(Palincsar, Brown, & Martin, 1987).

Furthermore, it has been proved that the progress made by
peer interaction was actually comparable to those made by
teacher-student interaction (Palincsar, Brown, & Martin,
1987).
Introduction

Literature circles

Literature circles are reading activities involving peer
interaction among readers in which learners can read with
the help of their group members (Palincsar, Brown, & Martin,
1987).

The practice of literature circles has led to the hope that
reading becomes more interesting for learners who
originally encounter reading difficulties.

Such cases as gaining reading motivation, literacy skills,
or reading comprehension can be seen in many studies
(Stringer, Reynolds, & Simpson, 2003; Brown, 2002).
Statement of the problem

The initial idea of literature circles were created to facilitate
learners in reading story-based fictions.

Blum et al. (2002) adopted fiction like The Forty-third War as
their material to implement literature circles.

However, there has been growing interest in applying literature
circles to nonfiction recently, such as science textbook
(Wilfong, 2009).

However, there were few other studies conducted to examine
the effect of literature circles on expository text.
Research questions

1. Is there a significant difference in university EFL
freshmen’ English reading comprehension performance
on expository text between those who engage in
literature circles and those who do not?

2. Is there a significant difference in university EFL
learners’ learning attitudes on the effectiveness of
literature circles between pre-test and post-test?
Review of the literature

Literature circles and reading comprehension

Literature circles were proved to facilitate students’ reading
comprehension in the study of Wilfong.

Wilfong incorporated literature circles into a science class
in which he utilized the science textbook to be the
reading material.
Review of the literature (cont.)

Literature circles and self-perceptions

Self-perception refers to learners’ own awareness toward
their learning abilities.

If students have high self-perception, they are more likely
to achieve successful learning (Blum, Lipsett, & Yocom,
2001).

Blum et al. (2002) found that students who engaged in
literature circles had positive opinions toward this reading
activity.
Method

Participants

Two classes of non-English major freshmen in certain
university in central Taiwan
Method
Treatment
Finally,
Secondly,
Firstly,
1. The instructor
assign roles
to the
students.
2. The students
read aloud
the text.
1. The students
are expected
to perform
the job of
their roles.
2. The students
are expected
to do group
discussions.
1. The students
are asked to
share their
works with the
class.
Data collection procedures (experimental group)
Treatment
First session
Second
session
Third~…
Final session
1. Pre-test
2.Questionnair
e
Introduction of
the
literature
circles
Practice of the
literature
circles
(treatment)
1. post-test
2. Questionnai
re
Data collection procedures (control group)
No treatment
First session
Second
session
Third~…
Final session
1. Pre-test
1.
Read aloud
the text
1.
Read aloud
the text
1. post-test
2.
Read the
text silently
2.
Read the
text silently
3.
Answer
open
questions
3.
Answer
open
questions
Data analysis procedures

The scores of the reading comprehension pre-test will be
analyzed by independent sample t-test to investigate if the
participants all start off at the equivalent level.

The scores of the reading comprehension post-test will also be
analyzed by independent sample t-test to investigate if there is
a significant difference in the participants’ English reading
comprehension performances between those who engage in
literature circles and those who do not.

The scores of the learning attitude questionnaire will then be
analyzed by pair sample t-test to explore if the participants’
learning attitudes change after the treatment.
Reminder


Attendance rate: 100%
Late attendance rate: 0%