Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
RANGSIT JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES (RJAS)
Using the Subtitled English Cartoon Movies to Enhance Reading Comprehension
of Chinese Elementary School Students
Chen Gao Yang1 Assoc.Prof.Dr.Ruja Pholsward2
Faculty of Education, Rangsit University, Pathumthani 12000, Thailand
1E-mail: wan_penny@hotmail.com; 2E-mail: rujajinda@gmail.com
October 31, 2013
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
The following article provides details of how the popular Cartoon Movies Clips which were used as an aid to
enhance reading skills in an English reading classroom would benefit low motivation Chinese elementary school
students. The input was from both popular American Cartoon Movies and theme-related target reading texts selected by
predetermined criteria. Intervention activities in the reading classes were designed to intrigue students’ intrinsic
motivation, while students’ reading comprehension achievement was diagnosed by a total of 9 specially constructed
tests (1 platform test and 8 Subtests) using the same specifications. The findings show that the students’ positive
attitudes towards the teaching and the prior knowledge or schema gained from the movie watching raised students’
interests in reading activities and facilitated their reading comprehension performance. The significance of this research
offers empirical evidence and practical examples for other teachers who are developing their own future lesson plans.
This program was implemented over an 8 weeks period spanning 4 months. There were 2 classes per month,
with a total of 30 students between the ages of 11 and 12 years of age taking part. All students represented in the study
are currently attending the Yang Guan English Training Center in Chengdu, China. All subjects were either in the 5th
or 6th grade, and have had at least 4 years of English training prior to this programme.
Keywords: Reading and Reading Comprehension, Prior Knowledge, Schema and Motivation.
______________________________________________________________________________
บทคัดย่อ
ก า ร วิ จั ย ค รั้ ง นี้ มี วั ต ถุ ป ร ะ ส ง ค์ เพื่ อ ศึ ก ษ า ป ร ะ สิ ท ธิ ผ ล ข อ ง รู ป แ บ บ ก า ร เรี ย น ก า ร ส อ น อ่ า น
โดยใช้ภาพยนตร์ การ์ ตูนที่มีคาบรรยายใต้ภาพเพื่อเสริ มสร้างความเข้าใจในการอ่านภาษาอังกฤษของนักเรี ยนชั้นประถมศึกษาในประเทศจี
น ก ลุ่ ม ตั ว อ ย่ า ง เป็ น นั ก เรี ย น ช า ว จี น ชั้ น ป ร ะ ถ ม ปี ที่ 5 แ ล ะ 6 จ า น ว น 3 0 ค น อ า ยุ 1 1 – 1 2 ปี
มี ป ระส บ ก ารณ์ ใน ก ารเรี ยน ภ าษ าอั ง ก ฤ ษ ขั้ น ต่ า 4 ปี ก่ อ น เข้ า ร่ วม ใน ก ารท ด ล อ งซึ่ งใช้ ร ะ ยะ เวล ารวม 4 เดื อ น
เ ค รื่ อ ง มื อ ที่ ใ ช้ ใ น ก า ร ท ด ล อ ง ป ร ะ ก อ บ ด้ ว ย แ ผ น ก า ร ส อ น แ ล ะ กิ จ ก ร ร ม ก า ร อ่ า น
โ ด ย ก าร ใ ช้ ก า ร อ ภิ ป ร า ย ก ลุ่ ม ย่ อ ย แ ล ะ บ ท บ า ท ส ม ม ติ เป็ น ห ลั ก เพื่ อ ก ร ะ ตุ้ น แ ร ง จู ง ใ จ ภ า ย ใ น ข อ ง นั ก เรี ย น
เครื่ องมื อ ที่ ใ ช้ใ นการเก็ บ รวบรวมข้อมู ล คื อ แบบทดสอบมาตรฐาน 1 ชุ ด และแบบทดสอบย่อย 8 ชุ ด หลังการสอนแต่ ล ะคาบ
ผลการวิ จ ัย พบว่ า การใช้ ภ าพยนตร์ ก าร์ ตู น และกิ จ กรรมการอ่ า นที่ เกี่ ย วเนื่ อ งกั น สามารถเพิ่ ม คะแนนความเข้ า ใจในการอ่ า น
รวมถึงแรงจูงใจ ภายในของนักเรี ยนอย่างมีนยั สาคัญทางสถิติ
ก า ร วิ จั ย ค รั้ ง นี้ ชี้ ใ ห้ เห็ น ห ลั ก ฐ า น เชิ ง ป ร ะ จั ก ษ์ ว่ า ก า ร ใ ช้ ภ า พ ย น ต ร์ ก า ร์ ตู น ส า ม า ร ถ ช่ ว ย
เพิ่ ม พู น ความเข้าใจในการอ่ านของนั ก เรี ย นชั้น ประถมปี ที่ 5 และ 6 ไม่ เพี ยงแต่ ใ นประเทศจี น เท่ า นั้น แต่ ร วมถึ ง ประเทศอื่ น ๆ
ในทวีปเอเชียด้วย ถือเป็ นแนวทางสาหรับผูส้ อนที่ควรนาสื่ อการเรี ยน การสอนอื่นๆ เช่น ภาพยนตร์การ์ตูน (และบทอ่านที่เกี่ยวเนื่ องกัน)
มาเป็ นกิจกรรมเสริ มในชั้นเรี ยน ทั้งนี้ อาจมี การบูรณาการกับการอภิ ปรายกลุ่ มย่อยและบทบาทสมมติ เพื่อช่ วยให้นักเรี ยนมีผลสัมฤทธิ์
ในการเรี ยนสู งขึ้น
คำสำคัญ: การอ่ านและความเข้ าใจในการอ่ าน, ความรู้ ที่มีอยู่, โครงสร้ างความรู้ เดิมและแรงจูงใจ
______________________________________________________________________________
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
1. Introduction
Crystal (2003) highlighted the significance of English literacy in the world community by saying
that English seemed to be apparently in the right place at the right time and that it has undoubtedly become
a global language. Since joining the World Trade Organization, the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC)
government has been preparing its citizens to keep up with the world’s economic pace. The government
realized that citizens’ educational qualities would be enhanced by promoting English literacy. As a result
the Ministry of Education department has made English a compulsory subject in the school curriculum
starting from the elementary school level. Such a move in the PRC educational system in prioritizing
English literacy has been reported by Yun (2010). Chinese citizens have felt the acute need for functionality
of their higher level English literacy in order to have better opportunities for highly-paid jobs and further
overseas English training. More and more young people grasp the chance to go abroad to study and upgrade
their professional development of English. The current actual situation is that the traditional teaching of
reading comprehension in Chinese was always emphasized on language knowledge like vocabulary or
grammar rather than the reader or other factors (as quoted in Zhang, 2010, p.457).
About “encompassing” (Richardson, 2010, p.5) literacy, the ability to read is essential to ensuring
that students are able to engage in many subject areas successfully. Reading ability has always been viewed
as critical to academic success (as cited in Alshumaimeri, 2011, p.185) and everyone’s reading habits
should be developed from an early start, especially before entering middle school. In order to be a good
reader four roles need to be assumed: code breaker, text participant, text user, and text analyst; and
Closs(2006) asserted that a good reader should be good at using prior knowledge, making connections,
visualize, infer, ask questions, determine importance, and synthesizing the materials that they read. Previous
studies gave the explicit explanation about reading and reading comprehension and schema. Reading is not
only the product of a complex but also the decomposable information processing system(Urquhart &
Weir,1998) and reading comprehension is, as cited in Ozuru et al., (2008, p.1001), a complex and multicomponent process; a process of readers interacting and constructing meaning from text, implementing the
use of prior knowledge, and the information found in the text. Schema, explained by Zhang (2010), is a
mental structure in semantic memory that specifies the general or expected arrangement of a body of
information and is acquired through many experiences with an event or in routine by setting up their
expectations for what usually will happen and helping them interpret what does happen and remember what
in fact did happen on particular occasions.
Quite a few studies explain the relationships among reading, reading comprehension, and schema
or prior knowledge. Understanding the role of schema in the reading process provides teachers insights into
why students fail to comprehend text material even though students sometimes feel that they could
recognize all words in the text. In the earliest times, like the year of 1781, Kant had already claimed that
background knowledge plays a role in reading comprehension, so that new information, new concepts, and
new ideas only have meaning when they can be related to something the individual already knows(as cited
in Zhang,2010, p.457). Currently, the schema theory based on Goodmans’ psycholinguistics reading model
is the dominant reading theory. In the schema theory, the process of comprehension is guided by the
principle that every input is mapped against some existing schema and that all aspects of schema must be
compatible with the input information. Zhang (2006, as cited in Zhang, 2010, p.458) emphasized that the
schemata can improve reading comprehension, and reading, in turn, can help readers build new and correct
schemata; as cited in Gilakjani & Ahmadi (2011, p.142), reading is an interactive process in which readers
construct a meaningful representation of text using their schemata, and schemata were accepted as
interlocking mental structures representing readers’ knowledge of ordinary events. In addition, activation of
schema is vital to the reading comprehension process. Teachers should realize that the extent to which their
students are familiar with the content of the text has a large impact on their reading comprehension,
H j e r t s t e d t ( 2 0 1 3 ) identified that when students were provided with culturally relevant texts, their
comprehension improves. Gilakjani & Ahmadi (2011) recommended that teachers should try to minimize
their students’ reading difficulties by providing them with familiar contents that include relevant cultural
information; similarly, the familiarity with culture would facilitate comprehension and allows students deep
involvement and reduces misinterpretations of target reading texts (Al-Mahrooqi, 2013). In addition,
teachers should made sure that students are familiar with activating schema to comprehend the target
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
reading text through well-designed activities in the class and using their schema and integrating their known
information with their new information through a series of connections (Pardo, 2004).
According to some scholars studies (Geng, 2007; Hu, 2013; Yang, 2013; Zhang, 2008, Zhang,
2010) currently there are some factors have put a limit on students’ language skills development: the lack of
exposure to real-life communication in English; the traditional Confucius-influenced teacher-centered
teaching methods; big size class and conventional materials. In local English training centers, most of the
students who attend are of low language proficiency or “resistant” English learners, who are called
“struggling learners” (M elekoglu 2013, p.79) as their negative attitudes toward reading tasks or low
m o tivatio n to read . They are sent or forced to attend by their parents. In addition, most parents have the
desire to engage students in gaining high scores in exams. These kinds of motivation are called extrinsic
motivation. According to Wigfield & Guthrie (1997), with extrinsic motivation, external factors motivate
the individual to do a specific task (such as, getting good grades, or better employment opportunities in the
future), while intrinsic motivation has to do with pleasurable internal feelings or thoughts and supports
long-term learning. In this study, many students struggle with reading and reading comprehension, called
“Reading Phobia”. These students often feel less confident when they encounter reading passages, not to
mention the implementation of reading comprehension tests. Therefore, to help students to be successful
readers is the pursuit of all teachers, and teachers need to work hard to find the most appropriate way to
maintain student’s reading interest, overcome their phobia of reading and comprehension tests and, at the
same time, teachers or tutors should try to identify appropriate motivators for cultivating students’ intrinsic
motivation to engage their extended and long-terms reading activities.
Previous traditional teaching methods which were emphasized in the syntax and grammar teaching
in reading class seem to have been inefficient. Quite a few scholars emphasized that it was imperative to
tailor the instruction to meet the needs of students’ learning, which could support the comprehension
strategies, domain knowledge, word recognition, fluency and motivation to read (as cited in Richardson,
2010). Today we are all in the digital era, new pedagogies that accommodate digital literacy by using
authentic learning experiences, observation, intrinsic motivation and collaboration are emerging in
education (Parkhill et al., 2011). The majority of educators try to incorporate various technologies into their
teaching to create the optimal learning environment for students. AVAILLL, Audio Visual Achievement in
Literacy Language and Learning is the typical multimedia programme widely implemented in New Zealand
classrooms. According to Parkhill et al.,(2011), AVAILLL is an inexpensive, innovative, multimedia,
intensive reading programme to supplement classroom practice for engaging students in reading.
It was observed that the students in this study immersed themselves in watching cartoon movies
and were fond of lively characters in the shown movies. Instead of resisting or criticizing this kind of
“addiction”, it is important to regard movies as a way of gaining new knowledge and hopefully help
students to improve their reading comprehension, and try to find an acceptable central place (Parkhill et al.,
2011) for communication and entertainment in their leisure lives. Because there have been no empirical
studies on the effects of the use of cartoon movies on reading comprehension of Chinese students,
particularly at the elementary school level reported in academic media and journals, this study investigated
such effects at the elementary school level. Incorporating effective instruction with the popular cartoon
movies in the reading class was the focus of this study. DVD as a popular digital source defined as
“harmonious inputs” (as cited in Parkhill et al., 2011, para.2) enables simultaneous reading, viewing and
listening; and currently is one of the most direct sources for exposing Chinese students to English.
2. Literature review
To support the rationale of this proposed study, literature had been reviewed in four areas: (1)
English reading literacy in the People’s Republic of China, (2) Motivation in reading, (3) Reading
materials, and (4) Reading Comprehension.
2.1 English reading literacy in the People’s Republic of China
There are many researchers focus on the development of the English reading literacy of Chinese
ESL students and currently there are several problems impair the English literacy development of Chinese
students: Traditional teacher-centered and historical Confucian-heritage culture influenced teaching (Geng,
2007, p.42; Yang; 2013, p.17); big size of the class(OECE, 2012, p.1); Insufficient multimedia-aided
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
facilities (Liming, 2010, p322); Extrinsic motivation “to pass the exams” (Cui & Wang, 2008, p.74) is the
common attitudes for English Learning.
2.2 Motivation in reading
There are many interpretations of the Motivation concept in previous studies. Wigfield & Guthrie
(1997) claimed that motivation determines why individuals do (or do not) choose to do different activities
(p.420). According to Deci & Ryan (1985), intrinsic motivation refers to being motivated, curious, and
interested in an activity for its own sake, rather than for extrinsic reasons such as working for a reward or
grade (as cited in Baker & Wigfield, 1999, p.2). Guthrie (2001, para 1.) referred to those students who are
intrinsically motivated to read for knowledge and enjoyment, as “engaged” readers. Those engaged students
could overcome obstacles to achievement, and they become agents of their own reading growth (Guthrie &
Wigfield, 2000, as cited in Williams, 2013, p.2). Several scholars (Old father, 1992; McKenna et al., 1995;
Sainsbury, 2004; Croston, 2005) had the similar statements about students’ attitudes: the negative attitudes
towards reading would increase and the reading enjoyment would decline as they get older. Therefore, the
intrinsic motivation of students to read is definitely the pursuit of teachers in their teaching career. To keep
learners well-motivated in reading throughout school years is imperative and should be started from earlier
time, even though it is not an easy task.
2.3 Reading Materials
Worthy et al. (1999, as cited in Croston, 2005, p. 1) asserted that one reason for a decline in
motivation was the lack of the engaging reading material in school libraries and school reading lists, and
what students wanted to read was not available in the school setting. In modern society, no one could deny
that it is a world surrounded by print materials such as e-mails, newspapers, documents, magazines or
novels for fun. A few scholars (Allan, 1985; Sainsbury, 2004; Han, 2010) found that children were less
likely to enjoy going to the library, and more likely to prefer watching television to reading, because of the
combination of variety, interest and entertainment from the viewing of video films could really help
develop motivation in learners.
In order to sustain the reading motivation in students, students should be taught what they are
interested in and should read authentic materials that support their learning. Teachers need to “finely honed
the reading program based upon students’ needs and ideas” (Williams 2013, p.7) and identified appropriate
instructional approaches or materials that are relevant and interesting for students.
In the current digital era, educators are able to incorporate appropriate technology to help keep
students engaged, “they show generally positive emotions during ongoing action, including enthusiasm,
optimism, curiosity, and interest” Chapman (2003) quoted (as cited in Metzler, 2010, p.5). Melekoglu
(2013) also quoted that technology could become a motivating factor for struggling adolescent readers who
received instructions for improving their reading skills (p.86). In his early study of 76 second graders who
were slow or had difficulty in transferring comprehension skills from spoken to written language,
Linebarger (2001, as cited in Parkhill et al., 2011, para. 12) argued that the use of onscreen print in the form
of captions was a meaningful and engaging context to extend word knowledge and comprehension, and the
report showed that beginning readers recognized more words, read faster and allowed for a strong focus on
central story elements when they viewed television with captions.
2.4 Reading Comprehension
No matter how good our reading skills were in L1, we knew it was difficult for especially difficult
for those readers without prior knowledge, schema and cultural knowledge (Urquhart & Weir, 1998). As for
the relations between the schema theory and reading comprehension, Eskey (1986, as cited in Lin, 2002,
p.172) referred the reader’s prior knowledge as knowledge crucial to reading; Li & Lai(2012) emphasized
that : “The reading comprehension process is viewed in current models of reading as an active process in
which the reader constructs propositional meaning by supplying relevant background knowledge in the
comprehension process rather than by simply matching the word to its meaning(p.106)”; Rumerlhart (1977,
as cited in Zhang 2008, p.198 ) viewed reading comprehension as the process of choosing and verifying
conceptual schemata for the text; and the process of comprehension was guided by the principle that every
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
input was mapped against some existing schema and that all aspects of the schema must be compatible with
the input information (Zhang, 2010, p.457 ).
As the amount of background knowledge concerning a text increases, the ability to comprehend the
text correlated (Pardo, 2004, p.273). The skillful readers would use their schema, connecting their prior
knowledge to help decoding the second language texts. In the teaching of reading comprehension, Tavakoli
et al., (2013) recommended EFL teachers should consider whether the cultural schemata in the reading
contexts were familiar to the learners (p.1594). Zhang (2010) also advised teachers to strengthen the
teaching of cultural background knowledge, rather than the teaching of language itself; as a consequence,
students could form new schemata about different cultures and improve their reading comprehension
effectively (p.458).
3.
Problem Statement
Currently the traditional teacher-centered teaching method with the hierarchical relations between
teachers and students and the teachers’ authority in the classroom is being challenged by the new studentcentered, teacher-facilitated teaching methods (Hu, 2013, p.2). Memorization which is seen as the
prerequisite factor for learning success in China by both Chinese students and teachers (Yang, 2013, p.15),
needs to be changed. This present research attempts to gather empirical data about whether English cartoon
movies, shown in an English reading class, can actually motivate students to enjoy reading more and read
better.
4. Objective
3.1 To find out whether the use of English cartoon movies with specific teaching methods and
learning activities can help to build up the reading motivation of the Chinese elementary school students.
3.2 To investigate whether the use of subtitled English cartoon movies with specific teaching
methods and learning activities can help increase reading comprehension in Chinese elementary school
students.(see details as in Figure 1.)
Figure 1 The graph of the progress of the objective 3.2
5. Materials and methods
5.1 Subjects
Prior to the study, 38 Chinese Elementary School Students (Age 11-12 years old, Grade 5thth
6 ) took the platform test(the reading comprehension multiple-choice test, 30 question items): 5 students
who gained scores higher than 80% and 3 students who had scores lower than 20% were excluded from the
study; therefore there were 30 students who finally took part in the study.
 Participants Profile:
Age
11 years old
12 years old
Gender
21/30
9/30
70%
30%
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
Male
Female
20/30
10/30
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
67%
33%
History of Subjects: Hours of English Learning per week
135minutes/ (Government Elementary School)
23/30
225 minutes (Private Elementary School)
7/30
77%
23%
All 30 students in this study have 5-6 years of English. Seventy seven per cent (77%) of them have
their English classes in the Government Elementary School system; each class takes 2.25 hours (45minutes
x 3 classes=135 minutes) per week per person. Twenty three per cent (23%) of students have their English
classes in the Private Elementary School system, which is 3.75hours (45minutes x 5 classes= 225 minutes)
per week per person.
In order to implement this kind of special teaching method, which utilizes the watching of popular
cartoon movies, 2 classes were designated out of a total of 4 classes per month over the period of 4 months,
8 classes in total to study. During the study, there were a total of eight popular and funny American cartoon
series viewed. Square-pant SpongeBob and Charlie Brown were selected for showing in the theme-related
reading class along with the implementation of well-designed lesson plans.
5.2 Criteria for Input Selection
5.2.1 Movie clips Selection
(8 cartoon movie clips should be selected by following this specification)
Context
--- western culture/western holiday activities/ western daily life
Content of movies --- suitable for children 6-13 years old, no violence, nudity,
sexuality
Language
--- authentic daily used English
Student ages
--- 10-13 years old
Grade level
--- 5th - 6th
Gender
--- suitable for either male or female
Length of movie --- 20 minutes (approximately)
Characters
--- popular, not too many,
Accessible
--- easy to buy
Visuals
--- colorful
Pronunciation
--- articulate
Subtitle
--- both English and Chinese
Soundtrack
--- both English and Chinese
SpongeBob Square Pants Series
(Created by Stephen Hillenburg, published in 1999)
Episode selected:
Texas
Charlie Brown Series
(Created by Charles M. Schluz, published in 1983)
Episode selected:
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Life is a circus, Charlie Brown
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! [Part 1]
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! [Part 2]
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
What a nightmare, Charlie Brown!
The Great Inventors
5.2.2 Material/Text Selection
The interaction between the text and the reader is very important. The content of a text should be
sufficiently familiar to subjects so that students have sufficient existing schemata to enable them to deploy
appropriate skills and strategies to understand the text. Therefore, students should not be faced with texts
which are too far outside their academic culture Grabe (1991).
For facilitating the teaching in the reading class, students were given a list of the topics of the
movies; then they were interviewed about selecting the topic of the text; according to their reading level,
appropriate reading passages from Website of the Reading a-z were selected. (www.readinga-z.com).
5.3 Research Instruments
To meet the study objectives, 6 instruments were designed to collect data:
Instrument 1: Reading Comprehension Test (Study Objective 2)
Instrument 2: The teaching method, procedure, self-reflection, and peer teacher’s feedback
(Study Objective 1& 2)
Instrument 3: Presentation of selected English cartoon movies (Study Objective 1& 2)
Instrument 4: Reading activities (Study Objective 1 & 2)
Instrument 5: Students’ weekly reading comprehension assessments (Study Objective 2)
Instrument 6: Students’ motivation assessment (Study Objectives 1 & 2)
6. Data Collection and Procedure
Data collection was in the second semester of academic year 2010, which started from September
1, 2010 until December 28, 2010 in the Yang Guang English Training Center in Chengdu, one of the
western cities of China. Prior to the study, finding the subjects was time-consuming. At first, because the
study was an experimental study, it had not been approved to be a formal teaching method, most of the
English training center was afraid the study would influence their students’ performance scores in exams,
which then would affect their enrollment rates. Secondly, because parents were sending their children to the
training center to gain high scores, few of them wanted their children to be the subjects of the study.
Thirdly, some centers wanted to earn money from the subjects, and this conflicted with the intention of the
study, in which children were to be taught without charge. The Yang Guang English Training Centre was
founded in 2006, and is located in Chengdu, a western city in China. It has 4 permanent English teachers
and other part-time teachers, around 90-120 students are enrolled each year. It provides a special one-to-one
tutor in a normal English class. Contact with the Centre was by way of email, and the owner of the Centre
supported this research. Permission was granted and parents were informed. The study eventually was
implemented on September 1, 2010.
Six instruments were used to collect data. The data collection procedures are shown in Figure 2.
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
Instrument 1
Students
took the
Platform
Test
Instrument 2
Teaching
Procedures
(Six phases);
Observation
and Feedback
Instrument 3
Presentation
of English
cartoon
movies
Instrument
4 Reading
Activites
Insrument 5
Weekly Test
Insrument 6
Students'
motivation
survey
• 5 Students
took the
pilot study
• 38 Students
took the
platform
study
• 30 out of
38students
were
selected as
the subjects
of the study
• The
platform
scores of
students
were kept
into the
individual
profile.
• Warm up
(5 minutes)
• Presented
cartoon
movie clip
(20 minutes)
Instruction
(10 minutes)
• Small group
discussion
or role
play(30
minutes)
• Weekly test
(20minutes)
• Teacher'
feedback
(5minutes)
• Presentation
of English
cartoon
movies
• Students
were
arranged
into 5
groups to
do the
reading
activities
(Small
group
discussion
or Role
play)
• Students
took the
weekly test
and their
scores were
kept into
the
individual
profile
• Students
completed
their after
class 100
words
homework
• Students
took part
in the final
group
discussion
and
completed
the
motivation
survey
Figure 2. Data collection procedures
7. Data Analysis
Data obtained based on Instruments 1& 5 are quantitative data, presented in frequency, percentage
tables. Data obtained based on Instruments 2, 3, 4 and 6 are qualitative data, presented in brief descriptions
and reports.
All reading comprehension tests (1 platform test and 8 weekly tests) were constructed strictly by
following the Test Specifications which were based on the proficiency of the students (see details in
Appendix II), Chinese elementary school curriculum, the feedback from either the 5 students’ pilot study or
the peer teacher and most important, all tests were reviewed by specialists and one native specialist.
Students were guaranteed that the tests they would deal with would not too easy nor too hard. The revised
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
version of the platform test had 30 four-multiple-choice items and the students were required to complete
the test within 40minutes; while the weekly tests had 15 four-multiple-choice items per each test and the
students were required to complete each test within 20 minutes. All tests were marked in percentage levels
(10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100%) and all scores of the tests were kept into the students’ profile
as records.
Instrument 1 Reading Comprehension Test (Platform test) (Study Objective 2)
Quantitative data on the test scores of 38 subjects was obtained and tabulated. Those students that
scored more than 80% were excluded on the grounds that the treatment in the study may not affect them in
terms of gain in reading comprehension. Those students who scored less than 20% were also excluded on
the grounds that the study may be of too short a time frame to affect them in terms of gain in reading
comprehension. In other words, the subjects classified by the platform test as belonging to the high-or lowend groups were excluded from the study.
The remaining subjects were 30 students with scores ranging from 30-70%. The scores in
percentage of each student were kept as the individual profile for preparing the later observation of their
upward performance in reading comprehension.
Instrument 2
Presentation of selected English cartoon movies (Study Objectives 1 and 2)
The data on the researcher’s self - reflection notes and peer teacher’s feedback on the presentation
of movie clips were obtained in the form of brief descriptions or observation notes.
Instrument 3
Teacher method, procedure, self-reflection, and peer teacher’s feedback
(Study Objectives 1 and 2)
The qualitative data about the researcher’s self - reflection notes and peer teacher’s feedback on the
teaching method and procedure were obtained in the form of brief descriptions or observation notes.
Instrument 4 Reading activities (Study Objectives 1 and 2)
The qualitative data on the researcher conducting the designed reading activities were reported
obtained in the form of brief descriptions or observation notes.
Instrument 5 Students’ weekly reading comprehension assessments (Study Objective 2)
The obtained quantitative data of the students’ scores in individual reading assessment profiles
were tabulated by frequency, percentage, and individual assessment score profiles to reflect observable
gains in reading comprehension.
Instrument 6 Students’ motivation assessment (Study Objectives 1 and 2)
The data on the students’ motivation assessment was collected from 100-word-reflections on what
the subjects liked or disliked about the selected character and what they might to do if they were to assume
the role of that character. Qualitative data derived from content analysis was used to yield reasoning for
their like or dislike of the selected character, which in turn should reflect the intensity of their interest and
motivation in reading. The use of group discussions with guided prompting questions was to generate the
subjects’ responses that also reflect the intensity of their interest and motivation in reading. Results of
content analyses from the subjects’ reflection as well as their responses to guided questions in the group
discussion tasks were reported in observed frequency and brief exemplified descriptions.
8. Findings
Through the data collected from instruments 1 and 5, the results of the reading comprehension were
shown, followed by discussion; and through the data collected from instruments 2,3,4 and 6, the findings of
the motivation were shown in students’ motivation survey form and teachers’ evaluation form and further
descriptions in the teachers’ reflection notes.
8.1. Students’ reading comprehension scores increased.
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
The difference between reading comprehension scores from the platform test to the weekly
tests indicates the changes in reading comprehension of the participating students. Two kinds of scores were
focused: one is the whole class mean score increased (14%); the other is the individual score increased
respectively. The individual progression is the focus of this study, no matter his/her score higher than or
lower than the mean score of the whole class. Through monitoring their own performance each week
through the individual profile, students gained self-efficacy and built up their confidence gradually which in
turn motivated better performance in the target reading tasks. (See details in Table 1.)
As seen in Table 1, the platform scores of students range from 30% to 70% with a mean
score of 51%. The mean scores of the weekly tests ranged from 56% to 72% with a mean score of 65%. The
mean score increases 14%.
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
Table 1. Scores and Mean Scores for All Tests
Platform
Score
Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Mean
SD
(+)/(-)
Liao
70%
70%
70%
80%
90%
90%
90%
90%
80%
83%
0.09
13%
Du
70%
90%
70%
90%
90%
90%
80%
80%
80%
84%
0.07
14%
Liu
70%
90%
80%
90%
90%
90%
90%
80%
90%
88%
0.05
18%
Ma
60%
80%
60%
70%
60%
60%
80%
60%
50%
65%
0.11
5%
Zeng
70%
80%
60%
80%
80%
70%
80%
70%
70%
74%
0.07
4%
LiNi
60%
70%
70%
80%
80%
80%
80%
80%
70%
76%
0.05
16%
Zhou
50%
60%
70%
70%
70%
60%
70%
70%
60%
66%
0.05
16%
Jia
30%
50%
30%
40%
70%
50%
60%
50%
50%
50%
0.12
20%
Li
50%
60%
50%
50%
60%
60%
70%
70%
70%
61%
0.08
11%
Qian
70%
80%
70%
80%
90%
80%
90%
70%
80%
80%
0.08
10%
Zhon
70%
90%
80%
70%
80%
90%
90%
80%
80%
83%
0.07
13%
Ning
50%
60%
70%
60%
70%
70%
80%
60%
60%
66%
0.07
16%
Qiu
60%
70%
60%
70%
80%
80%
70%
70%
60%
70%
0.08
10%
LYW
70%
80%
70%
80%
100%
80%
80%
80%
90%
83%
0.09
13%
HE
50%
70%
50%
80%
80%
70%
80%
60%
70%
70%
0.11
20%
Yang
40%
60%
50%
60%
60%
60%
50%
50%
40%
54%
0.07
14%
Lmy
50%
70%
60%
60%
70%
60%
70%
70%
60%
65%
0.05
15%
Fang
50%
60%
60%
60%
70%
70%
70%
70%
50%
64%
0.07
14%
Yu
40%
60%
40%
50%
60%
50%
60%
50%
40%
51%
0.08
11%
Liu
30%
50%
30%
60%
60%
50%
50%
50%
40%
49%
0.1
19%
Xion
50%
60%
50%
70%
60%
70%
70%
60%
50%
61%
0.08
11%
Xing
50%
60%
50%
70%
70%
60%
70%
70%
60%
64%
0.07
14%
ZHUO
70%
80%
90%
90%
90%
80%
90%
80%
70%
84%
0.07
14%
Zhen
60%
70%
60%
70%
80%
80%
80%
70%
60%
71%
0.08
11%
Gao
30%
50%
40%
50%
60%
60%
50%
40%
40%
49%
0.08
19%
Fang
30%
50%
30%
60%
50%
60%
60%
50%
40%
50%
0.11
20%
Lin
30%
50%
40%
60%
50%
50%
60%
40%
40%
49%
0.08
19%
En
50%
70%
60%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
50%
66%
0.07
16%
Luo
30%
50%
30%
40%
60%
50%
40%
50%
40%
45%
0.09
15%
Ran
30%
40%
30%
40%
50%
50%
60%
40%
40%
44%
0.09
14%
Mean
51%
66%
56%
67%
72%
68%
71%
64%
59%
65%
0.05
14%
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
8.2 The positive effect of using cartoon movie in teaching was proved by the high
satisfactory of teachers and students toward the cartoon movie combined teaching method of this study.
8.2.1 The majority of students (Mean 79%, S.D. =0.21) showed that they were fond
of the presented cartoon movie characters in their final group discussion and survey form (See details in
Table 2.). A motivation survey showed a better picture of students’ perception about reading classes. The
motivation survey consists of 10 questions focusing on students’ attitudes about utilizing the cartoon movie
teaching method in the class.
Table 2. Students' motivation survey form (Final group discussion)
Strongly
Disagree
1
Disagree
2
Neutral
3
Agree
4
Strongly
Agree 5
% (n)
% (n)
% (n)
% (n)
% (n)
1. I felt that it was a good idea
using the cartoon movies in
teaching English.
3%(1)
97%(29)
2. I was satisfied at the movies that
teacher presented.
13%(4)
87%(26)
7%(2)
17%(5)
76%(23)
4. I felt more confident doing the
reading tests after viewing the
movies.
1%(3)
23%(7)
66%(20)
5. I learned how to activate what I
knew to help my comprehending
tasks.
3%(1)
27%(8)
70%(21)
6. I was happy to take part in the
group discussions.
3%(1)
13%(4)
83%(25)
7. I was happy to take part in the
role plays.
7%(2)
20%(6)
27%(22)
Items
3. I agree that the movies gave me
ideas for my homework.
8. I enjoyed discussing the stories
with my teacher.
100%(30)
9. I enjoyed discussing the stories
with my group members.
7%(2)
93%(28)
10. I always looked forward to the
next reading class.
13%(4)
87%(26)
Mean
4%
15%
79%
SD
0.03
0.07
0.21
As described in Table 2, students’ answers were in a large proportion to put in the high scale(5)
“Strongly agree”, details as below: 97% students liked the class; 87% students were satisfied with the
selected cartoon movie clips; 76% students agreed that the cartoon movies help them generate the ideas in
homework; 66% students felt their confidence increased when completing the tests; 70% students
acknowledged that they learned from the class on the activation of schema; 78% students actively took part
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
in the small-group discussion and role play; 93% students consent they were encouraged to communicate in
English with teacher and peers in the class; 87% students always anticipated the cartoon movie aided class.
8.2.2 The majority of students (Mean87%, S.D.=0.07) indicated that they liked the
characters of presented cartoon movies in their 100 words homework. The students were encouraged to
write their opinions in their homework.
8.2.3 The positive effect of using cartoon movies in the teaching of English on the
motivation of students was revealed in analyzing the evaluation form (see details in Table 3.) and further
descriptions in the teachers’ reflection notes (see two examples listed below):
Note 1st (Self- reflection):
The instruction of this class cost a lot of time, it seemed like unreasonable, it would conflict with
the next phase. I wanted to adjust the instruction time to see the response of students.
Note 2nd (Peer teacher’s note):
The speed of speaking of the teacher was quite fast, some of the students couldn’t catch up with it.
.
The instruction phase used quite a long time, the researcher should redesign the time again
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
Table 3. Teachers' feedback: teachers' evaluation toward the teaching method
S stands for Satisfactory; N stands for Neutral; U stands for Unsatisfactory
Lesson Plan
Design
S
Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
N
U
Selected
Material
S
N
Participation
in Smallgroup
Discussion
Students'
Attention
U
S
N
U
S
N
U
Participation
in role play
S
N
U
Schema
Activation
Practices
S
N
Selfreflection
N
S
S
N
N
N
Peer
teacher
feedback
N
S
S
N
N
N
N
S
S
S
N
N
S
S
S
S
S
Selfreflection
S
S
S
S
Peer
teacher
feedback
S
S
S
S
S
Selfreflection
S
S
S
Peer
teacher
feedback
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Selfreflection
Peer
teacher
feedback
Selfreflection
Peer
teacher
feedback
Selfreflection
Peer
teacher
feedback
Selfreflection
Peer
teacher
feedback
Selfreflection
Peer
teacher
feedback
MEAN
N
N
N
S
N
S
N
N
N
N
N
S
N
S
N
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
N
N
S
S
S
S
S
N
S
S
S
S
S
N
S
37%
75%
75%
25%
81%
19%
75%
25%
68%
32%
63%
U
25%
9. Discussion of Major Findings
9.1 Several aspects were concluded to explain how the students gained upward progression in their
reading comprehension performance during the study.
9.1.1 The students’ needs and interests were respected by teachers, which the movie clip
selection criteria were based on the preferences of the students.
The findings of this study are in line with the statement of Snow (2002): “High interest,
derived from choice, leads to high comprehension (p.42).
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
Second, the findings support the statement of Rumelhart (1977), who viewed reading
comprehension as the process of choosing and verifying conceptual schemata for the text (as cited in Zhang
2008, p.198); and the statement of Zhang (2010), who emphasized that the process of comprehension was
guided by the principle that every input was mapped against some existing schema and that all aspects of
the schema must be compatible with the input information (p.457).
9.1.2 All reading comprehension tests were constructed strictly and students were
guaranteed that the tests they would deal with would not too easy nor too hard, thus students started to
break their “phobia” of reading comprehension tests and approached the reading comprehension tests
gradually.
This finding supports the statement of Borelli et al. (2010): “The test specifications must
be developed deliberately and thoughtfully with input from numerous stakeholders before developing any
assessment items or tests, and a clearly articulated set of test specifications contributes to improved
reliability and validity of the assessment instruments (p.11).”
9.1.3 The formalized topic and content of the target reading texts the students gained from
the cartoon movie clips helped them comprehend better.
The schemata or prior knowledge the students learned from the movie were assimilated
into the existing schema, and were stored in the students’ memory, which was in line with the statement of
Anderson & Pearson (1984, as cited in Alshumaimeri, 2011, p.187); then later the schemata were naturally
activated when needed.
9.1.4 The colorful and visual images of the cartoon movies created a more relaxed
learning environment, and the popular cartoon characters supported their imagination and helped create
fanciful activities. The statement of Potzsch (2013, p.126), “the images or sounds of movies make students
react affectively”, was verified by this study. The students were attracted by the characters and showed their
positive emotions like enthusiasm, optimism, curiosity, and interest while they actively took part in the
reading activities, and in turn, their active performance in activities helped their reading comprehension
(Metzler, 2010, p.5).
The findings are in line with the quotation of Vygotsky(1 978 ), “T he learner and the
learning environment were active… 21 st century learning environments are using today’s tools (i.e.
information technologies) which are believed to guide the learner and lead development ”(as cited in
Lippman, 2010, p.2). Also the finding supports the statement of Jia-Jen Luo (2004), the “lower level of
anxiety” learning environment of using DVD films promoted the students’ language development (as cited
in Hsieh et al., 2010, p.4).
9.1.5 The subtitled movies connected the visual images and verbal to help students’
improve their reading performance.
The findings of the study support the statement of Sternberg (1987), who said that
subtitled movies could be seen as contexts (as cited in Yuksel & Tanriverdi, 2009, p.5), and the statement of
Hamidon et al.,(2012, p.184), who claimed that visual effects in the movies could enhance the audience
understanding on each scene displayed on the screen due to its ability to bring it to life. The findings of the
study are also in line with the investigation of Sharif & Ebrahimian (2013, p.185), they claimed that movies
with subtitles would help the connection between words and images while children were watching the
movies; the subtitles were seen as an educational tool to maximize the effectiveness of language learning by
helping students visualized what they hear and provided students a mo re stress-free learning context
(Krajka, 2013, p.4).
9.2 The cartoon movies utilized in the reading class of this study secured the students’ positive
attitude toward reading, and their recognition of the reading value. The students were motivated to read
better and the consequent reading competence or confidence in turn motivated students to read more and
thus form their long-life reading habit. This finding supports the statement of Melekoglu (2013, p.85), who
emphasized that if readers appreciate the value of reading, then readers would develop a higher motivation
to read and thus make even more improvements in reading.
10. Significance of the Study
10.1 Significance of using cartoon movie clips in the class.
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
The cartoon movies the students selected by the newly developed specifications could be used in a
reading class to motivate students to read more and increase students’ reading comprehension of the target
reading text. These cartoon movies can be used with a specific teaching method and activities in the
classroom. The selected popular cartoon movies could be used by teachers in English teaching in Chinese
schools to help motivate students, especially “resistant” students, to read better and consequently help to
build up students’ confidence, self-efficacy (intrinsic motivation) to form their long-life reading habits. The
subtitles of cartoon movies enhanced the understanding of the movies by enabling students to visualize and
confirm what they hear in the movies.
10.2 Significance of the schematic connection between the movie clip and the reading text
The presented cartoon movies in the classroom help readers become more familiar with the topic
and content of the selected text; the schematic connection between the movie clips and the reading text can
help motivate students to read better.
The schematic connection between the movie clip and the reading text is a very important point in
which teachers should remind themselves while they select the materials, and try to match the movie clip
with the reading text efficiently. Otherwise, the movie clips might only be an entertainment program rather
than teaching aids.
10.3 Significance of students’ feedback
All student feedback in the study, including the students’ attention and participation in the
classroom, students’ 100 word-homework, and students’ motivation responses, point to the students’
positive attitudes toward the subtitled English cartoon movies used in reading lessons for Chinese
elementary school students. The subtitled English cartoon movies with specific teaching methods and
learning activities can help support reading comprehension skills of students.
The students’ feedback is very precious to teachers. It can be valuable in helping teachers improve
their teaching. Through the feedback, teachers have the chance to know which part of the teaching are
strength worth continuing and which part are a weakness requiring more development. Without students’
honest feedback, the teaching would be directed to the teacher-centered teaching, which should be avoided
in effective teaching.
10.4 Significance of classroom observation and peer teacher.
All reflections of the classroom observed by the peer teacher reveal that cartoon movies can help
motivate students to read better and the use of cartoon movies with specific teaching methods and learning
activities can support the reading comprehension skills of students.
Classroom observation by the peer teacher provides a reflective overview of the teaching
procedure that could be further adopted and adapted by teachers who are interested in using visual media in
their reading class.
11. Conclusion
This study was designed to find out whether subtitled cartoon movies can motivate Chinese
students to read better and the use of subtitled English cartoon movies with specific teaching methods and
learning activities can help increase reading comprehension of students. The upward individual progression
and increased rate of students’ reading comprehension scores, as well as the positive attitudes of teachers
and students all revealed that the objectives of the study were met. The significance of using the subtitled
cartoon movies in the reading class, reflections of teachers and students’ feedback are verified to be
valuable for teachers developing their future teaching method.
Teaching reading comprehension is a complex work and a dynamic process. There is not any one
teaching method that is most optimal one for everyone. The teacher himself/herself is the right person to
design the most appropriate teaching method for students, no one would be more perfect because they
understand what students really need. Fully taking the students’ needs and interests into consideration,
selecting the most suitable teaching materials, developing the most appropriate technology combined
teaching method, adjusting the teaching procedures by following the students’ and peer teachers’ feedback,
the teaching goal will be met finally and the student-centered class will be realized. Except for allowing
students’ voices to lead the class, for facilitating the reading comprehension, the prior knowledge or schema
should be emphasized during teaching. Utilizing cartoon movies in the cultural background instruction
could help students become familiar with the target reading tasks; the accumulating schemata would
Rangsit Journal of Arts and Sciences, January-June 2013
Copyright © 2011, Rangsit University
RJAS Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. C-1-C-5
facilitate students to complete the reading comprehension successfully; and the consequent confidence, selfefficacy and intrinsic motivation would motivate students forming their life-long reading. In addition,
preparing the cooperating learning activities like group discussion or role play are also important in
teachers’ lesson plans, with the cartoon movie as the rich resource or “catalyst”, to engage students
immersing in a relaxed, and lively learning environment, intrigue their vary and fancy thoughts, generate
countless critical thinking, motivate them to reach the higher level of reading comprehension. These are the
optimal teaching methods of teachers.
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Appendix I
Teaching method and lesson plan
The researcher used the teaching method which procedure focused on the subjects’ attention, participation
and two kinds of interactions: teacher-student and student-student.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students have positive improvements in their reading comprehension and language learning;
students have positive motivation for reading.
LEARNING TASK 1
LEARNING TASK 2
LEARNING TASK 3
LEARNING TASK 4
LEARNING TAST 5
LEARNING TASK 6
Final group discussion
Reading comprehension test 1
Reading comprehension test 2
Small group discussion
Role plays
Homework (writing)
LEARING OUTCOME
1.
Language achievement
1.1
Students can actively communicate with peer students and their teacher in
1.2
Students performed better in the reading comprehension test;
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
Motivation of students
Students actively take part in the activities of the class;
Students actively complete the homework;
Students understand how to establish schemata in four stages:
Prior knowledge and cultural background;
Domain and topic knowledge;
Discourse and genre knowledge;
Vocabulary knowledge;
Lesson Time Allocated
90 minutes allocated
5 minutes+20minutes+5minutes+35minutes+20minutes+5minutes
5 minutes: Warm up. Prepare the subjects for this particular class: teaching method
explanation; target learning outcome, objectives, learning tasks, performance
assessment, students’ feedback, teacher’s feedback. Present the selected English
cartoon movie.
20 minutes: Give the specific direction for reminding students what they should be paying
attention to or look for in viewing each assigned movie clip; present the selected
English cartoon movie.
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5 minutes: Instructions for the target reading text
35 minutes: Reading activities: small-group discussion or role play, only one activity per class.
20 minutes: Reading comprehension assessment
5 minutes: Teacher’s feedback
Appendix II Test specification
Test Specification of Platform Test
The Number of Reading Texts: 1 Text
Topic of Text: Pumpkins
Examinees: Grade 5th and Grade 6th students
Types of Test Items: 4-Item-Multiple-choice Test
The total number of Test Items: 30 items
Testing Time: 40 minutes
Length of Text: 245-255 words
Vocabulary based on PRC Primary Curriculum
Level of Text: Elementary PRC Primary Curriculum
Theme: Appealing to 5th and 6th graders: Pumpkins
The number of Words in Reading Text: 245-255 words
New Words per paragraph: Not more than 3 new words per paragraph with reference to the
Glossary of The English Text Book of the Elementary School in China
Generate 30 test items: 6 for vocabulary and 24 for factual information.
The question types of test items
• Items 1-6 Vocabulary Testing items on literary meaning; 6 items for Vocabulary.
• Items 7-30 for Comprehension Testing items on factual information; 24 items for
Comprehension. There are 12 items under WHAT questions including Who, When and Where,
8 items under HOW questions, and 4 items under WHY questions.
• Category 1 WHAT questions in 12 Items
• Category 2 HOW questions in 8 Items
• Category 3 WHY questions in 4 Items
Test Specification of End-of Week Test
The Number of Reading Texts: 1 Text
Topic of Text: depend
Examinees: Grade 5th and Grade 6th students
Types of Test Items: 4-Item-Multiple-choice Test
The total number of Test Items: 15 items
Testing Time: 20 minutes
Length of Text: 245-255 words
Vocabulary based on PRC Primary Curriculum
Level of Text: Elementary PRC Primary Curriculum
Theme: Appealing to 5th and 6th graders: Pumpkins
The number of Words in Reading Text: 245-255 words
New Words per paragraph: Not more than 3 new words per paragraph with reference to the
Glossary of The English Text Book of the Elementary School in China
Generate 15 test items: 3 for vocabulary and 12 for factual information.
The question types of test items

Items 1-3 vocabulary testing items on literary meaning; 6 items Vocabulary

Items 4-15 for comprehension testing items on factual information; 12 items for
Comprehension. There are 6 items under WHAT questions including Who, When
and Where; 4 items under HOW questions; and 2 items under WHY questions.

Category 1
WHAT questions in 6 Items

Category 2
HOW questions in 4 Items
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
Category 3
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WHY questions in 2 Items
Appendix III Teaching procedures
The teaching procedure covered 90 minutes and was divided into six phases:
Class 1
Theme: Thanksgiving
Movie clip: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Reading Text: Turkey in the tree
Phase 1 Warm-up (5 minutes);
The researcher and the peer teacher arranged the seats of students and settled them down;
told students what was new in today’s class:
“Today, I’m going to give you a different reading class. I’m going to show you a popular
movie clip and I want you to try to understand what you hear and see from the movie; then later, I will pass
you the reading text to finish the testing. The purpose of this reading testing is to know whether you
understood the reading text or not.”
The researcher should tell the students that will be 6 phases in this class, and all phases
will serve to finish the reading comprehension assessment, therefore, students should pay attention and
accomplish each phase within the time limits.
For example:
1. Name of episode: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving;
2. Plot: “Charlie Brown has dinner with his friends on Thanksgiving day. His friend
Linus will explain the history of the Thanksgiving Holiday to everyone”;
3. The teacher will ask students some questions and remind them to pay attention to
some points: 1: Please listen to the explanation of Linus and try to remember what Linus talked about when
he described the origin of Thanksgiving; 2: Please pay attention to what are the symbols of Thanksgiving
day, and write them down.
Phase 2 Display cartoon movie clip; (20 minutes)
The episode was presented. While playing the clip it was paused at important times to
remind students to focus on the key points;
Phase 3 Session after the movie showing (5 minutes):
1. The students were given 5 minutes to recall the main points of the movie, and
about what they learned from watching the movie within the discussion group.
2. Words the students heard or learned from the movie were written on the
whiteboard.
3. In order to enhance understanding, important words along with images were
displayed over the OHP (over-head-projector). These images were downloaded from the Internet or
Screenshot from the movie clip. Each word was carefully pronounced, while at the same time, students
were requested to read the words and repeat them.
Phase 4 Instructions for target reading text (5 minutes);
Strategy-based instruction was adopted in preparing students for the target reading text.
The reading text was passed to students and they were asked to follow the steps as below:
Brainstorm, activate prior knowledge
The students were asked to look at the topic first, “Maria’s First Thanksgiving”.
They were then asked to brainstorm as follows:
What is Thanksgiving? Have you ever celebrated Thanksgiving Day with anyone?
Can you please tell everyone about ‘Thanksgiving Day’?
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Make a prediction
Students were repeatedly asked the following questions:
“When you look at the topic of the text, can you tell what and who it is about? Who
is Maria? Can you make a guess about what will happen in this story? Do you remember Charlie Brown’s
Thanksgiving?”
Activate Schema
Students were lead to activate their schema on Thanksgiving.
“Do you remember the Thanksgiving Day of Charlie Brown and his friends in the
movie clip? Please read the text to see the common factors and differences of Thanksgiving Day between
Charlie Brown and Maria.”
Make a conclusion
Students were asked to make a conclusion about the text and recheck their
predictions.
“After you finish reading, please check whether the text has the same ending as your
prediction prior to the reading? Do you understand the purpose of the author, or the true meaning of
Thanksgiving? Please summarize and X
retell the whole story. I hope you do well in your next reading activities: group
discussion and role play sessions.”
Phase 5 Reading Activities (35 minutes)
Students were instructed to do one of the reading activities alternately: small-group
discussion and role play. The detailed requirements of these two activities and the Schedule of Reading
Discussion questions for Class 1:
1. Who is the main character of this reading text?
2. What are the different experiences of the characters between the cartoon movie and
the reading text?
3. What are the common experiences of the characters between the cartoon movie and
the reading text?
Phase 6 Assessment of reading comprehension (20 minutes)
The reading comprehension test was given to the students, and the directions were read
again. Students were reminded to finish the test within the allotted time. Students’ scores were recorded in
percentages as part of their individual reading comprehension performance files. For eight classes, the
students were given an objective type of test consisting of 15 four-multiple-choice items, each carrying a
score of 1. The students in the study were asked to perform this test and their scores were placed in
percentage levels: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 %. These scores in percentages were kept as
records 1-8, in comparison with their platform performance (as assessed by Instrument 1). It should be
noted that these eight subtests were constructed with clear-cut test specifications as used in Instrument 1.
Students had all nine reading comprehension assessment records to reflect whether there was any change in
upward or downward in their reading comprehension performance.
Phase 7 Teachers’ feedback (5 minutes).
After the assessment, students were asked some questions in order to check their
comprehension of the text, such as, the main idea of the text, recall the main details, and comment on the
characters in the text. Through this 5-minutes checking, a general overview about the teaching result of this
class could be assessed, and also help to improve the teaching method of next class.