Post on 26-Apr-2018
ESL Reading Comprehension Amongst Second Cycle High School Students,
Students’ requests
Karl Huot
In partial fulfillment of requirements for
the degree of
Master of Arts, Second Language Education
McGill University
Faculty of Education
Department of Integrated Studies in Education
Submitted February 2013
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Contents
List of Tables and Figures ....................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................... 4
Remerciements ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Purpose ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2: Literature Review on Reading Comprehension Research ........................................................ 9
Chapter 3: Methodology, Survey and Sample ........................................................................................ 13
Chapter 4: Results and Findings of Questionnaire .................................................................................. 20
Activating Prior Knowledge ........................................................................................................... 21
Reading in the Classroom .............................................................................................................. 21
Students’ Reaction To Not Understanding a Word While Reading in ESL ...................................... 26
Post-Reading Activities ................................................................................................................. 28
Correcting Post-reading Classroom Exercises ................................................................................ 31
Post-Reading Exercises Format ...................................................................................................... 34
ESL Reading Comprehension Versus Other ESL Competencies ..................................................... 36
Reading Comprehension Level of Difficulty .................................................................................. 39
Chapter 5: Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 40
Chapter 6: Limitations and Considerations ............................................................................................. 47
Survey Design and Sample ............................................................................................................ 47
Limitations of Results .................................................................................................................... 48
Chapter 7: Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 49
References............................................................................................................................................. 51
Appendices............................................................................................................................................ 54
Appendix A: Various Authorisation Letters ........................................................................................... 55
Appendix B : Student Questionnaire ...................................................................................................... 60
Questionnaire français ........................................................................................................... 60
English Questionnaire ............................................................................................................ 64
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List of Tables and Figures
Figure 1: Grandes-Seigneuries School Board ......................................................................................... 15
Figure 2: “I like when the teacher randomly assigns students to read some part of the text.” ................... 23
Figure 3: “I like when an audio device reads the text and I can follow along.” ........................................ 24
Figure 4: “If I do not understand a word in the text, I will simply keep on reading and ... ....................... 26
Figure 5: “I think correcting reading exercises is important.” ................................................................. 31
Figure 6: “I would rather have a reading comprehension class than a written production task.” ............ 37
Table 1: Survey Sample by Gender, Grade, Program and Age ................................................................ 20
Table 2: “I like when the teacher discusses the subject before the reading.”............................................ 21
Table 3: “I like when the teacher reads to the class out loud and I can follow the text.” .......................... 22
Table 4: “I feel shy when I am asked to read out loud to the class.” ........................................................ 24
Table 5: “I like to do the reading of a text individually and in silence.” .................................................. 25
Table 6: Comparative table of reading in the classroom teaching methods in percentage ........................ 25
Table 7: “If I do not understand a word in the text, I will ask a classmate.” ............................................ 27
Table 8: “If I do not understand a word in the text, I will look in the dictionary.” ................................... 27
Table 9: Comparative table when students are faced with an unknown word (%) ................................... 28
Table 10: “I think it is important to do reading exercises to see if I understood the text.” ........................ 28
Table 11: “I feel I am learning more when I am doing reading exercises in teams.” by program ............. 29
Table 12: “Discussing reading exercises with teammates helps me understand the reading ..................... 30
Table 13: “I like when the teacher corrects in front of the class and asks students for answers.” ............. 32
Table 14: “I like when the teacher corrects out loud alone on the board.” ............................................... 32
Table 15: “I like when the teacher collects my work, corrects it at home and hands me my corr ............. 33
Table 16: Comparative table of in class post-exercises correcting methods ............................................. 34
Table 17: “I like to answer multiple choice questions with a short ESL text.” ......................................... 34
Table 18: “I like to answer short answer (1 sentence) questions with a short ESL text.” ......................... 35
Table 19: “I like to write an essay with a long ESL text or a book.” ....................................................... 35
Table 20: “I like to write an opinion text with a long ESL text or a book.” ............................................. 36
Table 21: “I would rather have a reading comprehension class than a grammar class.” ........................... 36
Table 22: “I would rather have a reading comprehension class than do an oral project.” ......................... 38
Table 23: “Reading exercises are easy for me.” ...................................................................................... 38
Table 24: “I like reading more challenging material.” by program .......................................................... 39
Table 25: “I like reading easy and simple material.”............................................................................... 40
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Lise Winer for her help throughout this inquiry. I
would also like to express my appreciation to the 2011-2012 secondary four and five students of
La Magdeleine secondary school for their participation in this study. Without their involvement,
this study would not have been possible. I would like to thank all the ESL teachers from this
same institution for the time they allowed me to come into their classrooms to explain and hand
out my questionnaire, as well as for their patience and organisation in collecting the students’
filled-in questionnaires. I would like to thank Principal Nathalie Bérubé of La Magdeleine High
school for allowing me to do this study. I would also like to thank the Grandes-Seigneuries
School Board, which gave me the necessary authorisation to do this project, as well as Lynda
McNeil, representing the McGill ethical review board. Finally, I would like to thank my family,
my friends and my girlfriend, Catherine, who were extremely helpful and supportive throughout
this process.
Remerciements
J’aimerais tout d’abord remercier Dr. Lise Winer, ma superviseure de thèse pour son aide
tout au long de ce projet. J’aimerais également démontrer mon appréciation envers tous les
élèves de la quatrième et cinquième secondaire de la promotion 2011-2012 de l’école secondaire
de la Magdeleine qui ont participé a cette étude. Je tiens également à remercier tout les
professeurs d’anglais langue seconde de l’école de la Magdeleine pour leur précieux temps qu’ils
m’ont accordé dans leurs heures de cours durant lesquelles ils m’ont autorisé à expliquer et
distribuer les questionnaires ainsi que de leur patience et organisation pour m’avoir aidé à
collecter les réponses des étudiants. Je tiens aussi à souligner l’appuie de la directrice de l’école,
Mme. Nathalie Bérubé, qui m’a autorisée à faire ces recherches à l’intérieur de l’institution. Je
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voudrais aussi remercier la Commission scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries, qui m’a fourni les
autorisations nécessaires afin de faire cette étude. Je voudrais également remercier Mme. Lynda
McNeil, représentante du comité de révision éthique de l’université McGill. Finalement, je
voudrais remercier mes parents et amis, ainsi que ma conjointe, Catherine, qui ont tous été
extrêmement serviable et qui m’ont soutenu tout au long de ce processus.
Abstract
The intention of this study was to investigate what are second cycle secondary students’
favorite teaching techniques regarding learning reading comprehension in a second language
inside the classroom. Another aim was to find out what was their favorite competency to practice
during class hours. The best available method to pursue this study was a quantitative survey
method. The questionnaire focused on different reading comprehension teaching techniques that
are often used inside classrooms. Students had to position themselves in terms or enjoyment of
certain teaching techniques used inside the classroom. Out of the 600 questionnaires sent out to
the second cycle students of La Magdeleine High School, 227 responses were received. The
results of the study indicated that students understand the values of doing the majority of reading
exercises proposed inside the classroom, but were sometimes experiencing some form of anxiety,
laziness and resistance with some of those activities. The principal conclusion is that teachers
need to combine some of the students’ favorite teaching ESL reading comprehension techniques
and also use some techniques that aren’t enjoyed as much by students and attempt to adapt them
in a manner that would keep students motivated throughout those classes.
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Purpose
There are three main components in learning a second language, according to the Québec
high school program: oral production, reinvesting understanding of texts and writing
development1. This study focuses on the second competency: reinvesting understanding of texts.
Reading fluency, which cannot be achieved by simple transfer of oral skills, is much
more important in the long run for most adult students in technical and academic programs
(Norris, 1970). In an English second language learning classroom in the Québec high school
system, a great amount of time is spent on developing this particular competency. Unfortunately,
as a high school second language teacher working in the Québec school system, I witness
unmotivated students when it comes to working on this specific ability.
It has been shown numerous times that motivation generally enhances the quality of
learning of a second language (e.g., Dornyei, 2001b; Hashimoto, 2002; MacIntyre, Clément &
Noels, 2007; Ortega, 2009). Thus, I ask: Which classroom reading comprehension teaching
methods and strategies are most preferred and motivating in the views of second cycle high
school second language students?
More specifically, I want to know what high school students wish to do during their own
classroom time to enhance their reading comprehension skills. Few studies have directly asked
high school students what types of classroom activities they want to carry out when they are in a
second language reading comprehension period of the class. I would hope to clarify this matter
with the findings of this survey-based study.
1 Programme de formation de l’école québécoise, p.177, retrieved from
http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/dgfj/dp/programme_de_formation/secondaire/pdf/prform2004/chapitre053v2.pdf
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Chapter 1: Introduction
As some studies have already focused on determining which methods of teaching second
language reading comprehension are most efficient (e.g. Al-Homoud & Schmitt, 2009; Alyousef,
2005; Carrell, 1984; Kailani, 1998; Klingner, Vaughn, Arguelles, Hughes & Leftwich, 2004;
Lyster, & Ranta, 1997), this study will try to establish which of these methods are usually
preferred by a particular group of students. Hopefully, the findings of this research will help
teachers choose efficient classroom activity methods that are also liked and enjoyed by the
students. I believe that if students can be motivated by a classroom second language reading
comprehension activity that they enjoy, it could greatly help their focus during class time. I
cannot envision how choosing their favourite types of reading comprehension classroom activity
could not enhance their motivation. This way students could be more motivated and thus
increase their application and general effort in reading comprehension activities, which could
lead to a more efficient and general enhancement of learning a second language in terms of speed
and quality.
Educators must always ensure that students are motivated and actually want to increase
their levels of reading (e.g., Sanacore & Palumbo, 2010; Thompson, Madhuri, & Taylor, 2008).
Gardner, (as cited in Ortega, 2009, p.171) believes the highest and most facilitative form of
motivation is what he calls integrative motivation. Integrative motivation is a form of motivation
that resides in the student’s true desire to know more about the subject. For example, if he is not
truly interested in a subject, a student who studies hard in order to get good grades could not be
categorized as having an integrative type of motivation. Smith (2007) acknowledges that the
students themselves need to appreciate the importance of using these skills. Norton (1995) argues
that motivation must be understood with reference to social relations of power that create the
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possibilities for language learners to speak. She also suggests that it is their investment in the
target language that will lead them to learning. Nonetheless, we cannot minimize the positive
effects of instrumental motivation, which can also be very effective with high school students
when learning a second language.
In order to achieve integrative motivation, three crucial conditions need to be respected.
First, the precursor of integrativeness itself must be high. By this, I mean that the student can be
truly interested in some subject that he is fond off. This is an attainable objective in a language
classroom as some reading material subjects can be chosen by the teacher. Second, the attitude
towards the learning situation, which includes the teacher’s performance and the curriculum, is
also crucial. As Stinnett (2009) states, ‘‘there is a direct link between a teacher`s approach
toward his or her students and the level of participation” (p. 75). Concerning this matter, I
suggest reading Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom, by Dornyei (2001a), which
is a fascinating book concerning the teacher’s general attitude and proposed guidelines to
maximise the teacher’s performance in order to enhance student’s motivation. Third, enhancing
the three general components of motivation is the final step towards integrative motivation.
According to Gardner (as cited in Ortega, 2009, p. 171), those three components are effort,
investment and enjoyment.
I believe that increasing levels of student enjoyment should lead to an increased amount
of effort and investment by the students, as those three components are closely linked.
Furthermore, Teale (1991) notes “literacy is not something you can teach apart from literate
behaviour. You don’t learn to read; you learn to read something, and you read something
because you want to know something, enjoy a text, or participate in a group” (p. 542). Course
material should reflect the backgrounds, skills, and interests of all students in the class (Vance &
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Fitzpatrick, 2007). According to Lau and Chan (2007), many successful reading intervention
programs adopt a more comprehensive approach, integrating cognitive, metacognitive, and
motivational components in the reading comprehension activities and instructions.
This research study aims to find ways to increase student enjoyment of second language
reading comprehension class activities, while following current research findings concerning
reading comprehension methods and classroom teaching techniques, but first let’s take a look at
previous studies and their findings concerning reading comprehension in a second language.
Chapter 2: Literature Review on Reading Comprehension Research
Many studies have tried to establish the effectiveness of different second language
reading comprehension teaching techniques; some of those studies have found more efficient
second language reading comprehension methods.
For example, Carrell (1984) established the positive effect of building and learning to
activate appropriate background knowledge of text content (content schema) and text rhetorical
organization (formal schema) in order to produce better reading comprehension during pre-
reading activities. Carell emphasizes the importance of schema theory, which is an interactive
process between the text and the reader's prior background knowledge that might be different
from what is used in the ESL reading text. According to Miller and Perkins (1990), this
technique is a manifestation of one of the principles of reading comprehension development
which allows the reader to make the connection between his background knowledge and the text,
and also to establish the difference of his prior knowledge from the content of the text.
Obviously, the choice of items for pre-reading preparation must depend on the text (Norris,
1970).
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Haller (2000) modeled a number of school-based post-reading activities which enhance
learning comprehension through the use of matching exercises, cloze exercises, cut-up sentences,
and comprehension questions. Alyousef (2005) expanded on this matter and suggested that
contemporary reading tasks, unlike traditional materials, involve three-phase procedures: pre-,
while-, and post-reading stages.
While reading, a reader engages in processing at the phonological, morphological,
syntactic, semantic and discourse levels, as well as in goal setting, text summary building,
interpretive elaborating from knowledge resources, monitoring and assessment of goal
achievement, making various adjustments to enhance comprehension, and making repairs to
comprehension processing as needed (Carrell and Grabe, 2002). An ESL class focusing on
reading comprehension in which the student has to read a text, discuss it before and after the
reading, do post-reading team or individual exercises and correct those exercises would be a
class that can correspond to the process described by Carell and Grabe.
As a high school teacher, I observe teachers being confused about how they should do the
reading part of the reading activity itself. Should teachers assign reading aloud to random
students? Should they do the reading themselves in front of the class as students follow along?
Teachers are faced with many options when it is time to proceed to this segment of the
class. A traditional form of reading in a classroom is silent reading in which each student reads
individually the assigned text. Collaborative reading is another reading comprehension technique
that has been closely examined (e.g. Vaughn, Hughes, Schumm & Klingner, 1998; Klingner,
Vaughn, Dimino, Schumm, & Bryant, 2001; Adesope, Lavin, Thompson, Ungerleider, 2011).
Collaborative reading is a classroom technique developed to take advantage of the potentials of
mutual assistance for language development in content classrooms. During collaborative reading,
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students of various reading levels work in small groups to one another assisting each other to
facilitate their comprehension of content area text. Klingner and Vaughn (2000) demonstrated
that teachers interested in collaborative learning in their classrooms provide a structure and
format conductive to high levels of student engagement, which is directly linked to the
investment of the students. Investment is one of the three components of motivation previously
mentioned in this paper. Therefore, we also asked students their opinion on their enjoyment,
investment and general liking for collaborative reading activities and post-reading group
activities in their ESL classroom.
In a related study, Klingner, Vaughn, Arguelles, Hughes and Leftwich (2004) proved that
students in collaborative reading classrooms showed greater improvement in reading
comprehension than students in classrooms where collaborative reading was not implemented.
Some authors, such as Young (1993), have mentioned the importance of scaffolding during
reading comprehension activities. Scaffolding is an instructional strategy that involves
supporting novice learners by limiting the complexities of the context and gradually removing
those limits as learners gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to cope with the full
complexity of the context. In the survey proposed in this paper, we asked students questions
regarding this process.
Kailani (1998) concludes that students are not given enough time in reading aloud in
classrooms and that, moreover, many students struggle with this particular skill in terms of
articulations of words, flexibility in rate, volume and tone, adequate phrasing and effective use of
pauses. In this study, we asked students which were their preferred manners of proceeding to the
core reading part of the activity.
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Comprehension questions in one form or another are one of the language teaching
techniques most frequently used to train learners in reading. Reading comprehension questions
are useful ways of practicing reading, motivating learners to read and verifying comprehension
of the actual text. They can take many forms, such as short answers, multiple questions, true or
false statements, yes/no questions or longer forms of responses such as essays or opinion texts.
Nonetheless, teachers must remember to make sure their post-reading activities are developing
the learners’ ability to comprehend texts, to test the learners’ performance on their general
comprehension of the text, to have exercises that can lead to constructive feedback and to choose
appropriate text for the students (Nation and Newton, 2009). Those activities should also be
task-based form instead of simple exercises. A task-based form activity does not usually have a
restrictive focus on a single component, while an exercise usually does. This study questioned
the students about which of these reading comprehension types of questions were most enjoyable
for them to answer during a regular ESL class.
Teachers are also faced with many different correcting options when it is time to correct
reading comprehension classroom activities. Lyster and Ranta (1997) demonstrated that
recasting was the least effective method of correcting students when compared to other forms of
feedback such as elicitation and metalinguistic feedback. During the classroom correction
process of post-reading comprehension exercises, I have witnessed some teachers who simply
correct all of their students’ work on their own and then hand back their corrections to each
student individually. I have seen teachers hand out answer keys to students who have completed
the activity. A common correcting ESL reading comprehension method is for teachers to correct
with the entire group in front of the class. When the group participates actively in the correction
process, we could consider this feedback method as more of an elicitation type of method as
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teachers challenge students to answer correctly and do not provide answers immediately. In some
other cases, the teacher is the only one speaking throughout correcting in front of the class, while
other teachers prefer to ask random or volunteer students their answers. We could relate this
method to a form of recasting where students simply listen to the correct answers and correct
themselves. The use of different types of correcting reading comprehension methods inside the
classroom is an issue that was also addressed in the survey that students completed for this
research project.
As fascinating and useful to ESL teachers as these studies are, most of them do not take
the student enjoyment factor into account and it is possible that some of those methods are not
enhancing student motivation as a result of these research studies not taking student preferences
into consideration. In this study, 600 second-cycle high school students were asked about their
preferences amongst a selection of often-used reading comprehension classroom activities in
second language classrooms. This next chapter details the methodology, the survey and the
sample that was used to conduct this study.
Chapter 3: Methodology, Survey and Sample
This study was conducted at École Secondaire La Magdeleine. La Magdeleine High
School is located in the town of La Prairie on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, across
from Montreal. This high school is part of the Commission Scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries
school board. This high school has approximately 2,300 students, most of them in their second
cycle (secondary grades 4 and 5) and having English as a second language in their weekly
schedule. Most students attending this school are aged 15 to 17 with the exception of the students
taking part in the International program (around 600) who are 12 to 17 years old.
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We could consider La Magdeleine to be a slightly above average quality public high
school for the province of Quebec. For instance, in 2009, the proportion of students coming out
of La Magdeleine High School without any diploma or qualifications was 4%, which is lower
than the 4.3% average of Quebec overall. Furthermore, in 2009 graduating students in secondary
five managed to pass their French as a first language at a 94.8% rate at La Magdeleine while this
number decreased to 90% for the average of Quebec province.
Although the school is located in La Prairie, students come from a vast territory including
other towns such as Candiac, Delson, Hemmingford, Saint-Bernard, Saint-Constant and Sainte-
Catherine, which are all small suburban towns located on the south shore of Montreal. Figure 1
on the next page shows the school board territory. The orange territory represents where La
Magdeleine regular ESL and Enriched ESL students come from. Students taking part in the
international program come from all yellow, orange and red territories.
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Figure 1: Grandes-Seigneuries School Board2
The ESL classes at the La Magdeleine secondary school are divided into several different
programs. Most students attending regular classes are in the regular ESL program. Some students
attend school in the general regular program with the exception of ESL, where strong ESL
speakers are clustered into enriched ESL classes. Each ESL teacher for secondary three has to
2 Retrieved from http://www.csdgs.qc.ca/public/11f5b828-67f1-486f-8427-
f44638959e4d/mes_documents/sgi/carte_territoire_csdgs_juin_2012.pdf
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determine whether a student should be in the regular ESL program or the enriched ESL program.
Finally, the “Projet d’Étude International” (PEI) students are always together in their ESL
classes. Students in grade 6 must pass an admission test to be admitted to the program during the
month of October. These students are generally stronger overall than the regular students, but are
usually considered in between regular and enriched in ESL classes. In this study, we asked
questions of students in all programs.
Considering the research purpose, to establish students’ preferred teaching techniques
during ESL reading comprehension classes, a survey type of study was determined to be the
most appropriate tool of inquiry.
The questionnaire (Appendix B) was built upon already existing approved surveys such
as the C.I.T.E. Learning Style Instrument (Babich, Burdine, Albright, and Randol, 1976). The
survey in this current study contained 26 questions following a five-point Likert scale asking
students about the most and least enjoyable teaching techniques in the classroom, 1 being a
statement they really disagree with and 5 being a statement they strongly agree with. Statements
in the questionnaire all concerned ESL reading comprehension classroom activities that students
had to express an opinion on (e.g.: I like when the teacher reads to the class out loud and I can
follow the text.)
The list of activities used for addressing a selection of methods followed the steps of a
“typical” ESL reading comprehension class in a second cycle high school in the province of
Quebec school system and included, according to teachers from La Magdeleine High School and
my own teaching experience as a regular and substitute teacher, frequently used methods in
classrooms for developing this particular competency. For example, students were asked to
express their degree of liking of different methods of correcting post-reading exercises, such as
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the teacher correcting in front of the class, the teacher correcting at home, the students being
provided with the answer key, and others.
Throughout the survey, students were asked to express their enjoyment level of a number
of different teaching methods used on a regular basis by ESL teachers during developing reading
comprehension activities in the classroom. Students were told before they received the survey
that they should keep in mind an ESL class where they would work during a full period on
reading comprehension activities. This frequently experienced real-classroom scenario meant
reading a short text in the classroom and doing some comprehension exercises that would then
be corrected.
First, the questionnaire asked students if they generally find ESL reading comprehension
classes easy. Second, a question was asked concerning the students’ enjoyment of having pre-
reading discussions. This question was enquiring if the students appreciate activating prior
knowledge, as this is an effective ESL method regularly used in classrooms. Then, a series of
questions was asked concerning student reactions towards a situation where they would not
understand one or more words in the assigned reading. The questionnaire mentioned different
options that are usually available for students, such as asking the teacher or a fellow classmate
for the appropriate meaning, looking in a dictionary or simply keeping on reading without
worrying about this new word.
Another series of questions was asked concerning students’ liking for teaching methods
used in class for reading material. The questionnaire would ask students their enjoyment level of
the most common methods, such as reading individually, teacher reading aloud to the classroom
as students follow along their text or textbook, teacher assigning students to read aloud
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randomly, and teacher using an audio-device that would read the text as students follow along. A
question concerning what should happen when students were shy about reading aloud to the class
was also asked.
Another sequence of questions was asked about how students enjoy different methods
throughout the ESL reading comprehension post-reading portion of the class in which students
have to answer comprehension questions on paper following the reading they just completed.
These methods included doing post-reading activities individually, having discussion groups
concerning the readings, and doing the post-reading comprehension activities in teams. Another
question asked if students felt like they were learning more when they were working in teams
than individually.
Two questions concerned the general significance students awarded reading
comprehension exercises and correction of these exercises. Correcting reading comprehension
exercises was the topic of the next series of questions, in which students stated their level of
enjoyment concerning different ESL reading comprehension correction methods used in the
classroom, such as being provided individually with a paper version of the answer key, teacher
correcting aloud in front of the class without the participation of the students, teacher correcting
aloud in front of the classroom with students’ input, and teacher collecting completed post-
reading exercises from the students at the end of the class to hand back the corrected work with
feedback the following class.
The survey then asked which types of competency students enjoy developing. A series
of questions comparing enjoyment of ESL reading comprehension with grammatical
development, writing production and oral development was asked. To conclude the first section
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of the survey, students were asked to state if they enjoyed doing more complex and challenging
reading or if they liked doing easier and less elaborate types of reading.
In the second part of the survey, students were asked to rate their favorite manner of
answering ESL reading comprehension post-reading exercises on a shorter type of reading
including multiple choice questions, short development answers, writing an essay on the short
reading or producing an opinion text. The same question was asked for the reading being a
longer format novel type of reading. Finally, a series of questions about information concerning
age, gender, level of high school and English ESL program (regular, enriched or PEI) was asked.
The survey was conducted in February and March of Winter 2012. I personally went
into 19 different ESL classrooms and distributed around 600 questionnaires to students. This also
involved 5 different ESL teachers in La Magdeleine High School. The survey was explained in
French and distributed in class along with the parental and student consent forms (App. A). Each
student then filled out the survey and parental consent form at home and handed everything in
during their following ESL class to their teachers, who were instructed to place the two forms in
two different envelopes to make sure the survey remained anonymous. Either the students gave
back both the survey and parental consent form or they gave back nothing. Teachers were not
allowed to accept any questionnaires without a consent form. When a student brought back both
forms, the teacher would first make sure that the consent form was filled out appropriately and
would then put the filled-out questionnaire in a separate envelope from the consent form.
A total of 227 filled-out surveys were brought back by students with the appropriate
consent forms filled out, which represents 37.8% of questionnaires returned. As shown in Table
1, a total of 88 questionnaires was answered by boys (38.8%), while 139 (61.2%) were answered
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by girls. A total of 62 questionnaires was filled in by secondary 4 students (27.3%) while 165
were answered by secondary five students (72.7%). A total of 85 questionnaires was filled in by
students in the International program (37.4%), 101 were regular ESL classes (44.5%) and 41
(18.1%) were enriched classes. Of the 227 questionnaires answered, two were answered by 14-
year-old students (0.9%), 37 by 15-year-olds (16.3%), 116 by 16-year-olds (51.1%), 63 by 17-
year-olds (27.8%), and 9 by 18-year-olds (4%).
Table 1: Survey Sample by Gender, Grade, Program and Age
Characteristic Cluster Frequencies (n) Percentage (%) (of
total)
Total
Gender Boys 88 38.8% 227 (100%)
Girls 139 61.2%
Grade Secondary 4 62 27.3% 227 (100%)
Secondary 5 165 72.7%
Program PEI 85 37.4 % 227 (100%)
Regular 101 45.5%
Enriched 41 18.1 %
Age 14 years old 2 0.9 % 227 (100%)
15 years old 37 16.3 %
16 years old 116 51.1 %
17 years old 63 27.8 %
18 years old 9 4.0 %
In this chapter, we acknowledged that the quantitative survey method was used to carry
out this study. The questions asked in the survey were also described and explained. The 227
questionnaires received were analysed to establish different results that you can read in the next
chapter of this study.
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Chapter 4: Results and Findings of Questionnaire
Activating Prior Knowledge
A vast majority of students enjoy activating prior knowledge as a form of introduction to
a reading comprehension type of classroom activity. In fact, Table 2 shows that only 7 students
(3.1%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement of enjoyment of activating prior
knowledge before proceeding to reading comprehension activities.
Table 2: “I like when the teacher discusses the subject before the reading.”
Frequency (n) Percent(%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 1 0.4 3.0
Disagree 6 2.6
Neutral 29 12.8 12.8
Agree 60 26.4 84.1
Strongly agree 131 57.7
Total 227 100.0 100.0
Reading in the Classroom
There are many different teaching methods used in the classroom to proceed to the
reading portion of an ESL reading comprehension class. Teachers use different methods such as
reading aloud themselves to the classroom, assigning random students to read aloud to the
classroom, using an audio device reading the material to the students and simply giving some
classroom time for students to read individually. As shown in Table 3, results concerning the
22
enjoyment of the teacher reading aloud in front of the class are very distributed: 33.9% of the
students dislike this classroom activity, while 27.8% are neutral and 37.4% agree or strongly
agree with this classroom method. However, if we take a closer look at PEI students, only 18.8%
of them do not agree with this method, which suggests PEI students are fonder of this method
than regular ESL and Enriched ESL students.
Table 3: “I like when the teacher reads to the class out loud and I can follow the text.”
English
Program
Strongly
disagree
(n)
Disagree
(n)
Neutral
(n)
Agree
(n)
Strongly
agree
(n)
Total
(n)
PEI n 8 8 20 19 28 83
% 9.6 9.6 24.1 22.9 33.7 36.9
Regular n 21 28 30 15 7 101
% 20.8 27.7 29.7 14.9 6.9 44.9
Enrich n 3 9 13 11 5 41
% 7.3 22.0 31.7 26.8 12.2 18.2
Total n 32 45 63 45 40 225
% 14.1 19.8 27.8 19.8 17.6 100
It is also interesting to notice how much students in general dislike having students
chosen to read aloud in the classroom. Figure 2 shows that only a total of 38 students (16.8%)
agreed or strongly agreed with the teaching method of assigning random students inside the
classroom to read aloud to the class.
23
This statistic could be related to the fact that many students are shy about reading aloud in the
classroom. Guiora and his colleagues (1972) found support for the claim that inhibition is a
negative force, at least for second language pronunciation performance. As shown in Table 4, a
large percentage of students are shy about reading aloud in the classroom; only 37% disagreed or
strongly disagreed with being shy about performing such a task in the classroom.
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
100
80
60
40
20
0
7.1% 9.7%
22.1% 24.8%
36.3%
Frequencies (n)
Figure 2: “I like when the teacher randomly assigns students to read some part of the text.”
24
Table 4: “I feel shy when I am asked to read out loud to the class.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined
percent (%)
Strongly disagree 53 23.3
37.0 Disagree 31 13.7
Neutral 49 21.6 21.6
Agree 34 15.0
41.0 Strongly agree 59 26.0
Total 226 99.6 99.6
It seems that doing a listening activity with an audio device reading the text to the
students as they follow along is the method least appreciated by the students amongst in-class
reading methods proposed in this study. Results in Figure 3 show that 54.5% of students strongly
disliked this reading activity. Furthermore, only 8.8% of the students agreed or strongly agreed
with this method.
Figure 3: “I like when an audio device reads the text and I can follow along.”
Strongly AgreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly disagree
Per
cen
t
60
50
40
30
20
10
01.8%
7.0%
18.1%17.6%
54.6%
25
Finally, reading individually and in silence is a method that is far from being disliked by
students. Table 5 shows us that only 18.6% of students either strongly disagreed or disagreed
with this teaching method in ESL reading comprehension classes.
Table 5: “I like to do the reading of a text individually and in silence.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 21 9.3 18.6
Disagree 21 9.3
Neutral 58 25.6 25.6
Agree 46 20.3 55.2
Strongly agree 80 35.2
Total 226 99.7 99.7
As a final point, Table 6 compares each in-class reading methods proposed in the survey
which students had to express their level of enjoyment.
Table 6: Comparative table of reading in the classroom teaching methods in percentage
In class
reading
methods
Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
agree
Total
Reading
individually
9.3% 9.3%
25.6%
20.3%
35.2%
100%
Teacher reads
aloud
17.6% 19.8%
27.8%
19.8%
14.1%
100%
Teacher asks
random
students
35.3%
24.8%
22.1%
9.7%
7.1%
100%
Audio device
reads
54.6%
17.6%
18.1%
7.1%
1.7%
100%
26
Students’ Reaction To Not Understanding a Word While Reading in ESL
We also asked students their opinion concerning what they usually do in a situation
where they are reading an ESL text in the classroom and are faced with a situation in which there
is a word in the text that they do not understand. The survey proposed different options such as
asking another student, asking the teacher for the meaning of the word, looking up the word in a
dictionary or simply keeping on reading without worrying about this new word. As shown in
Figure 4, nearly half (44.6%) of the students agreed or strongly agreed that they usually simply
keep on reading without any concern about this unknown word.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
30
20
10
0
16.7%
26.9% 26.9%
21.2%
7.9%
Percent
Figure 4: “If I do not understand a word in the text, I will simply keep on reading and not worry
about it.”
27
Asking a classmate and looking in a dictionary were the most popular methods in the
classroom for students to understand an unknown word in an ESL reading text. Table 7 shows
that 47.6% of the students agreed or strongly agreed with asking a classmate the meaning of an
unknown word. Table 8 shows that 47.5% had the same opinion regarding looking up the
unfamiliar word in the dictionary.
Table 7: “If I do not understand a word in the text, I will ask a classmate.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%) Combined Percent
Strongly disagree 25 11.0
27.3 Disagree 37 16.3
Neutral 57 25.1 52.4
Agree 81 35.7 47.6
Strongly agree 27 11.9
Total 227 100.0 100.0
Table 8: “If I do not understand a word in the text, I will look in the dictionary.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 31 13.7 27.4
Disagree 31 13.7
Neutral 56 24.7 24.7
Agree 60 26.4 47.5
Strongly agree 48 21.1
Total 226 99.7 99.7
Apparently, the least popular method for the student to extend their own ESL vocabulary
lexicon is to ask their teacher. As shown in Table 9, only 37.9% of the students either agreed or
strongly agreed with this method.
28
Table 9: Comparative table when students are faced with an unknown word (%)
Students’
reaction to an
unknown word
Strongly
Agree Agree Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Total
Look in the
dictionary 21.1 26.4 24.7
13.7 13.7 100%
Keep on reading 16.7 26.9 26.9
21.1 7.9 100%
Ask a classmate 11.9 35.7 25.1
16.3 11.0 100%
Ask the teacher 10.6 27.3 24.2
23.3 14.5 100%
Post-Reading Activities
Teachers have many options concerning the activities and evaluation portion of a reading
comprehension activity. Teachers have a variety of teaching methods, such as simply making
each student work individually on a questionnaire concerning the reading that just took place.
Teachers can also form student teams to work on such a questionnaire and discussing the
reading. As seen in table 10, it is interesting to know that only 11.9% of students rejected the
usefulness of doing post-reading activities in ESL reading comprehension classes.
Table 10: “I think it is important to do reading exercises to see if I understood the text.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 7 3.1 11.9
Disagree 20 8.8
Neutral 56 24.7 24.7
Agree 98 43.2 63
Strongly agree 45 19.8
Total 226 99.7 99.7
29
Girls seem to realize even more than boys the importance of reading exercises, as only
10.1 % did not agree in any manner with this statement. This number goes up to 14.8% when we
only look at boys. The grade level also seems to have an impact on this matter. In fact, 67.3% of
secondary five students agreed or strongly agreed with the importance of doing reading exercises
in the classroom while this number goes down to 51.6% when we only consider secondary four
results, a difference of 15.7%. Concerning the teaching method for post-reading exercises inside
the classroom, it might not be a surprise from my own high school teaching experience to look at
the result and find that only 26.5 % of the students agreed or strongly agreed that they were in
favor of doing individual reading exercises. As seen in Table 11, It seems that students do not
only want to work in teams for the enjoyment of it, but also because they feel they learn more
working in teams.
Table 11: “I feel I am learning more when I am doing reading exercises in teams.” by
program
English
Program
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
Total
PEI 3.5% 8.2% 25.9% 27.1% 35.3% 100.0%
Regular
6.9% 13.9% 24.8% 34.7% 18.8% 99.1% (1 student
missing)
Enrich
4.9% 14.6% 39.0% 17.1% 22.0% 97.6% (1 student
missing)
Total
(all
students)
5.3% 11.9%
27.8%
28.6% 25.6% 100.0%
17.2% 54.2%
30
Even if 27.8% of students were neutral about this statement, a majority of 54.2% of
students believed they learned more and understood more from reading comprehension activities
when they were working in teams. However, only 39.1 % of students in the enriched level of
English agreed or strongly agreed that they learn better when they are working in teams
compared to 62.4% in the PEI level and 53.5% within the regular ESL program.
Discussion groups prior to reading comprehension post-exercises are another teaching
method frequently used in classrooms. Results show that 70% of the students agreed or strongly
agreed with this method. As we can see in Table 12, more girls than boys agreed with the
classroom method of discussing readings in teams after readings are completed. As a matter of
fact, 77.7% of girls agreed and strongly agreed with this method while this number went down to
59.1% for boys, a difference of 18.6%.
Table 12: “Discussing reading exercises with teammates helps me understand the reading
more than if I work alone.” by gender
Gender Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
Total
Boys 2.3% 14.8% 23.9% 29.5% 29.5% 100%
Girls 1.4% 6.5% 14.4% 36.0% 41.4% 100%
Total
(all
students)
1.8% 9.7%
18.1%
33.5% 37.0% 100%
11.5% 70.5%
31
Correcting Post-reading Classroom Exercises
Many different teaching methods are available when it is time for teachers to proceed to
the correction of ESL reading comprehension exercises in the classroom. Although a number of
students (23.4%) was neutral regarding this statement, Figure 5 shows that only 5.3% of students
disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that taking time to correct reading
comprehension exercises is important, regardless of the way this is done.
According to this survey, the least favorite correction method in the classroom for
correcting post-reading comprehension ESL exercises is for teachers to provide each student
29.9%
41.4%
23.4%
3.9% 1 . 3 % Strongly Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Figure 5: “I think correcting reading exercises is important.”
32
individually with the answer key and have students correct themselves on their own in the
classroom. In fact, no more than 17.2 % of students agreed or strongly agreed with this teaching
method.
The second least favorite teaching method is for teachers to correct reading
comprehension post-reading exercises in front of the class involving students in the correction
process. Table 13 shows that only 38.8% of students either agreed or strongly agreed with this
teaching method.
Table 13: “I like when the teacher corrects in front of the class and asks students for
answers.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%) Combined Percent
Strongly disagree 32 14.1 30.8
Disagree 38 16.7
Neutral 69 30.4 30.4
Agree 61 26.9 38.8
Strongly agree 27 11.9
Total 227 100.0 100
It seems students enjoy it more when teachers correct post-reading exercises in front of
the classroom on their own without involving students in the correction process. As shown in
Table 14, a 54.6% majority of students agreed or strongly agreed with this teaching method.
Table 14: “I like when the teacher corrects out loud alone on the board.”
Frequency(n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 13 5.7
16.7 Disagree 25 11.0
Neutral 65 28.6 28.6
Agree 65 28.6 54.6
Strongly agree 59 26.0
Total 227 100.0 100.00
33
The most enjoyable teaching method according to students was for ESL teachers to
simply collect all post-reading comprehension exercises that were completed during class time,
correct those at home and hand in the results and correction the following class as 63% of
students were in favor for teachers to take correcting matters into their own hands and take the
time to correct at home or outside classroom time.
A difference was observed concerning this matter between secondary four and secondary
five students; only 9.7% of secondary four students are not in favor of their teachers correcting
ESL exercises at home on their own, and handing in the corrected paper to the students the next
class while this number goes up to 22.4% with secondary five students as Table 15 shows.
Table 15: “I like when the teacher collects my work, corrects it at home and hands me my
corrected work the following class.”
Grade Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
Total
Secondary 4 0% 9.7% 21.0% 30.6% 38.7% 100%
Secondary 5 12.7% 9.7% 17% 27.9% 32.7% 100%
Total
(all students)
9.3% 9.7% 18.1% 28.6% 34.4% 100%
19% 63.0%
Finally, Table 16 compares each in-class post-reading correction method proposed in the
survey for which students had to express their level of enjoyment.
34
Table 16: Comparative table of in class post-exercises correcting methods
Correcting
methods
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
agree
Total
Teacher corrects
at home 9.3% 9.7%
18.1%
28.6%
34.4% 100%
Teacher corrects
in class with no
students input
5.7% 11%
28.6%
28.6%
26.0%
100%
Teacher corrects
in class with
students
14.1% 16.7%
30.4%
26.9%
11.9%
100%
Students correct
on their own with
answer key
33.5% 24.2%
25.1%
9.3%
7.9%
100%
Post-Reading Exercises Format
Table 17 shows that a good majority of students’ favorite type of reading comprehension
post-reading activities would be a multiple choice question type of activity; 56.4% of students
strongly agreed with answering reading comprehension questions in the form of multiple choice
answers with a short text classroom activity.
Table 17: “I like to answer multiple choice questions with a short ESL text.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly Disagree 27 11.9
18.5 Disagree 15 6.6
Agree 32 14.1 70.5
Strongly agree 128 56.4
Erroneous answers 3 25 11.0 11.0
Total 227 100.0 100
3 Approximately 11% of the students answered this section of the survey erroneously.
35
However, this number decreases to 42.3% for students who strongly agreed with
answering reading comprehension questions in the form of multiple choice answers with a long
text or a novel. As seen in table 18, the second favorite type of comprehension activities was
post-reading activities in the form of short answer: 50.2% of the students agreed and 18.1%
strongly agreed with this type of post-reading activity.
Table 18: “I like to answer short answer (1 sentence) questions with a short ESL text.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly Disagree 16 7.0 20.7
Disagree 31 13.7
Agree 114 50.2 68.3
Strongly agree 41 18.1
Erroneous answers 25 11.0 11.0
Total 227 100.0 100.00
Table 19 shows that if students have to write a longer form of text response, they would
rather write an opinion text than an essay, as 60.4 % of students disagreed or strongly disagreed
with writing an essay as a reading comprehension exercise or evaluation method while Table 20
shows this number went down to 53.3% for writing an opinion text.
Table 19: “I like to write an essay with a long ESL text or a book.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly Disagree 71 31.3 60.4
Disagree 66 29.1
Agree 36 15.9 28.2
Strongly agree 28 12.3
Erroneous answers 26 11.5 11.5
Total 227 100.0 100.0
36
Table 20: “I like to write an opinion text with a long ESL text or a book.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined
Percent (%)
Strongly Disagree 70 30.8 53.3
Disagree 51 22.5
Agree 40 17.6 35.2
Strongly agree 40 17.6
Erroneous answers 26 11.5 11.5
Total 227 100.0 100.0
ESL Reading Comprehension Versus Other ESL Competencies
Even though this study mainly focused on reading comprehension when learning ESL, a
few questions in the questionnaires were asked concerning students’ enjoyment of developing
reading comprehension in the classroom over other ESL competencies such as oral and writing
production. According to the results of the survey, Table 21 shows that grammar exercises are
the least popular ESL classes as only 7% of students would rather do grammar exercises over
reading comprehension exercises.
Table 21: “I would rather have a reading comprehension class than a grammar class.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined
Percent (%)
Strongly Disagree 7 3.1 7.1
Disagree 9 4.0
Neutral 65 28.6 28.6
Agree 61 26.9 64.3
Strongly agree 85 37.4
Total 227 100 100
Figure 6 shows results concerning the students’ enjoyment of doing a writing
development focus activity: more than one out of five students (22.9%) would rather have a
classroom activity focused on writing development in which they are encouraged in writing
37
production rather than focusing on an ESL reading comprehension activity. Conversely, 48% of
students would rather work on reading comprehension than on writing, while 28.6% were
neutral.
Results concerning the preference of students for having oral-based classroom activities
in which the main focus of the class would be to develop and organize a form of oral production
were similar to the previous results of enjoyment of doing reading over writing development
exercises. The results in Table 22 show that approximately 1 out of 4 students (24.7%) would
rather have some form of oral classroom activity than an ESL class focusing on reading
comprehension, while 48% of students would rather focus on reading than working on oral skills.
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
30
20
10
0
22.9% 25.1%
28.6%
16.7%
6.2%
Figure 6: “I would rather have a reading comprehension class than a written production
task.”
Percent
38
Table 22: “I would rather have a reading comprehension class than do an oral project.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 23 10.1 24.7
Disagree 33 14.5
Neutral 62 27.3 27.3
Agree 42 18.5 48.0
Strongly agree 67 29.5
Total 227 100.0 100
One of the reasons that could possibly explain the fact that reading comprehension ESL
exercises are the students’ favorite type of competency to develop in the classroom could be
explained by the fact that in general, ESL students who answered the survey find ESL reading
comprehension to be a generally easy task to do in the classroom. In fact, Table 23 shows that
only 5.7% of the students disagreed or strongly disagreed that doing a typical reading
comprehension activity in class was easy.
Table 23: “Reading exercises are easy for me.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 1 0.4 5.7
Disagree 12 5.3
Neutral 58 25.6 25.6
Agree 111 48.9 68.7
Strongly agree 45 19.8
Total 227 100.0 100
39
Reading Comprehension Level of Difficulty
The last topic of the survey concerned the students’ enjoyment of being challenged by
more difficult types of reading material in their ESL classes. As seen in Table 24, students are
much divided on that topic, as 31.3% of the students disagreed or strongly disagreed with that
statement, while 35.2% were neutral and the remaining 33.5% either agreed or strongly agreed
with this statement. If we take a closer look at the results according to the ESL programs, we
notice that PEI students have a slightly different opinion on the matter, as 47.1% of PEI students
disagreed or strongly disagreed with enjoying these types of reading compared to 21.2% for
enriched ESL students and 21.8% for the regular ESL students.
Table 24: “I like reading more challenging material.” by program
Enrich level PEI level Regular level Total
(n) % (n) % (n) % (n) %
Strongly disagree 5 12.2 26 30.6 11 10.9 42 18.5
Disagree 4 9.8 14 16.5 11 10.9 29 12.8
Neutral 15 36.6 25 29.4 40 39.6 80 35.2
Agree 14 34.1 13 15.3 31 30.7 58 25.6
Strongly agree 3 7.3 7 8.2 8 7.9 18 7.9
Total 41 100 85 100 101 100 227 100
Table 25 shows that in general, students are a little more in favor of doing some relatively
easy and unelaborated ESL reading comprehension reading and post-reading exercises than more
challenging and difficult ones. However, the results are divided, as 33% of students were neutral
40
on this statement, 23.8% either disagreed or strongly disagreed, while 43.1% were in favor of
having easier types of ESL reading comprehension classes.
Table 25: “I like reading easy and simple material.”
Frequency (n) Percent (%)
Combined Percent
(%)
Strongly disagree 17 7.5 23.8
Disagree 37 16.3
Neutral 75 33.0 33.0
Agree 60 26.4 43.1
Strongly agree 38 16.7
Total 227 100.0 100
This chapter detailed the results from the survey study conducted at La Magdeleine High
School. Tables, figures and comparative charts established student preferences amongst different
teaching techniques focusing on reading comprehension frequently used inside second language
classrooms. The following chapter discusses those results and also makes some
recommendations regarding how teachers should interpret and use some of these outcomes.
Chapter 5: Discussion
The first conclusion from this survey is that teachers should definitely activate prior
knowledge by having some form of introduction or class discussion in order to discuss and
introduce the subject which the class reading will touch upon. Not only do students enjoy having
teachers doing this part of the class during ESL reading comprehension classes, but as we have
already seen, this is a teaching method that is beneficial when learning a second language. In the
end, activating prior knowledge and doing proper pre-reading activities are effective teaching
techniques, and are also very motivating for a great majority of students as they enjoy proceeding
to such activities during ESL reading comprehension classes. ESL teachers should not start a
41
reading comprehension class without taking the time to do such an activity. Furthermore, if the
pre-reading activity is original, interesting and intriguing to students, this could increase
motivation amongst learners.
Students also realize the importance of doing reading activities and favour doing all pre-
reading and post-reading activities during reading comprehension classes. The fact that a
majority of 88.1% of students do not disagree with this statement shows some form of
engagement in the student’s willingness to learn ESL in the school format. Furthermore, even if
students would rather have the teacher doing it for them, they also realize the importance of
correcting post-reading exercises when they are completed, which shows a certain degree of
dedication from students in their learning. Teachers should always have some appropriate form
of post-reading exercises and take the time to correct them. A teacher deciding to skip those
steps might decrease student motivation for doing the core reading segment of the class if there is
no form of post-reading activity or exercise connected to the reading.
Concerning the reading part itself of a reading comprehension ESL class in second cycle
student level, using an audio-device (CD, Podcast, etc.) to read a text aloud to the students is a
teaching method that teachers should not use. Other types of listening comprehension activities
might be more liked by students, but this particular method should not be used to read a text to
students, as students clearly dislike and aren’t motivated by this type of ESL teaching format.
Instead of using this method I would suggest that teachers change methods from time to time,
going from giving time in the classroom for students to read individually and sometimes for the
teacher to read aloud to the students.
Concerning assigning random students in the classroom to read aloud to the entire class,
it is clear that a great percentage of students dislike this particular method. Furthermore, an even
42
greater percentage of students admit to being shy and uncomfortable while being this student
who must read aloud to the entire class. As we know that being shy can affect negatively at times
the production of language in the classroom, teachers assigning random students to read aloud
can make things difficult for the learning process of some students. Teachers are also faced with
the decision of either always picking volunteers who are willing to read aloud in class or forcing
some very uncomfortable students to read aloud, which can be very difficult for them
emotionally, or at least not help them increase their motivation and some aspect of their ESL
proficiency. Kailani (1998) established that more time should be given to students to read aloud
inside the classroom. It is important that students practice reading aloud in order to develop their
general oral skills and pronunciation as well as their reading development. ESL teachers might
want to alter the method of assigning random students to read aloud to the entire classroom as
this is a teaching activity that is often conducted in ESL classrooms and one which a large
percentage of students clearly dislike.
A good alternative could be to form collaborative reading groups in which small teams of
students take turns reading to each other aloud. This method could encourage shy students to
take risks as reading to 2 or 3 peers could be less intimidating than reading to an entire class.
This would also accord with the majority of students in favor of working in teams during post-
reading exercises as a form of motivation. This would also be in line with the positive findings
from Klingner, Vaughn, Arguelles, Hughes and Leftwich (2004) and Lucas (2005) concerning
collaborative reading.
In light of this study, teachers should favor team work during ESL post-reading
comprehension exercises in the classroom as 54.2% of students feel they learn more when they
are working in teams. This does not mean teachers should always form teams to do these types of
43
exercises as students will probably have to do reading comprehension evaluations individually
throughout the school year, but should use a team format type of activity on a fairly regular
basis, as a majority of students enjoy team work and find this post-reading exercise format to be
a useful manner of developing ESL reading comprehension competencies. Of course, an
appropriate class structure and adequate class management need to be in place in order to keep
students on task during such group activities as it is possible that the 54.2% majority of students
feeling they learned more in teams answered this statement positively in order to be with friends
in a lighter atmosphere during classroom hours. Teachers must make sure that students are doing
their team tasks and not procrastinating. Teacher might want to use disciplinary measures if
necessary to establish a class philosophy where team task means being productive and working
proficiently.
When we look at the results concerning post-reading discussion groups, we realize that
girls are even fonder of this method than boys. In fact, they are distinct preferences for males and
females depending on the learning contexts in which specific reading strategies are being utilised
(Liyanage and Bartlett, 2012). This is particularly interesting for some teachers who sometimes
have classes with only one gender or a strong majority of either boys or girls in some specific
high school programs. For example, a teacher could employ more often group discussion in a
classroom of girl students. Teachers teaching classrooms of boy students might not want to
avoid group discussions, but should include an activity in which boys have to self-monitor
themselves in such a task as Liyanage and Bartlett (2012) also concluded that males reported
greater self-monitoring aptitudes than females. A simple self-evaluation document to fill out
after a specific reading comprehension task could be a good example.
44
According to the results of this study, students also realize the importance of correcting
post-reading comprehension exercises, as 94.7% of students participating in the survey did not
disagree or strongly disagree with the importance of this segment of the class. Results show that
the worst correcting method according to the students is providing each student with a paper
version of the answer key as they correct themselves individually. Most students agreed or were
neutral with the teacher correcting the reading exercises in front of the class following the
exercises.
What we could consider as disappointing results in the study is that when teachers are
correcting in front of the class, a larger majority of students would rather not be involved in the
correction of post-reading comprehension exercises. This goes against the findings of Lyster and
Ranta (1997), as students involved in the corrective feedback have more chances of responding
positively and learning some new words than if they are simply being given the correct answers
out loud and on the board in front of the class. Teachers correcting in front of the class by
themselves is a form of group correction that is closer to recast than it is to other more useful
feedback methods. The most popular method in the students’ opinion is for teachers to collect
students’ post-reading exercises and correct them outside of the classroom time with students.
This could be considered a disappointing result as students seem to understand the importance of
correcting post-reading exercises, but prefer it when someone else does the work for them.
However secondary five teachers should be aware that approximately one out of five students
does not agree with this method which could be explained by they’re having more mature
students than secondary four.
Even if involving students in the correction process goes against some of the findings of
this study, as students prefer not to be involved, I would still suggest that teachers attempt to
45
engage students in the correction process of post-reading comprehension exercises. I would
recommend at times, in order to keep students motivated and attempt to diversify class content
and rhythm throughout reading comprehension class, that teachers do collect students’ work and
correct some of it outside classroom regular hours. However, I would also suggest that teachers
take the time to correct post-reading exercises in class on a regular basis, and try to involve and
engage students in participating in the correction process as this can only be beneficial for them
in developing their general ESL reading comprehension skills. Maybe teachers should try to be
enthusiastic about their classroom correcting method and attempt to differentiate it. Having a
form of Power Point presentation including some tiny animation to correct with student instead
of correcting monotonously on the blackboard could be an interesting alternative.
When we look at all the competencies ESL classes are working on developing (oral,
reading comprehension and writing production), it seems that reading comprehension is the
favorite competency for students to work on.
First, reading comprehension seems to be much more appreciated than grammar
exercises. This suggests that students would rather have an ESL lesson where the main focus is
reading instead of working on developing grammatical knowledge. This of course does not mean
teachers should always favor reading comprehension over grammar, as obviously teaching
grammar is necessary when learning a second language. On the other hand, teachers should keep
this in mind and possibly have some reading involved with grammar exercises or balance their
activity in a way that can slightly advantage reading exercises. In addition, students appear to
favour reading comprehension over oral production in the classroom. This could be explained by
the fact that many students are shy to speak in a language in which they are not comfortable,
especially in an atmosphere where they can feel judged by their peers. As teachers absolutely
46
need to have some form of oral exercises in the classroom, teachers could at least make sure
students are not pressured to speak to the entire class, but perhaps have small discussion groups
that could also be a form of evaluation without the attention of the entire classroom.
The majority of students enjoy short types of answer when they are doing reading
comprehension exercises and most of them dislike writing essays or opinion texts on something
they read as a type of exercise or evaluation. I suppose it is no surprise to find that students
dislike producing writing material as a form of reading comprehension task, but it is interesting
to see that students do not dislike answering multiple choice questions possibly because it is the
form of activity that requires the least effort.
Even if writing longer forms of text during reading comprehension tasks does not seem
motivating to the students, it is interesting to learn that they would rather write an opinion text
than an essay about their general comprehension of a text. This might be because there are fewer
analytical skills required, and students have no way of being wrong when they write an opinion
text. Teachers should keep that in mind, and perhaps favor opinion writing for reinvesting
reading of a text when this is possible. Students’ writing about their opinions seems a little more
motivating as they will have no choice at some point about proceeding to a longer writing task
even if, in general, this is one of the least favorite tasks for students. Choosing a text that has
content which is easier for students to have a strong opinion about, such as raising or lowering
the legal driving age, could be a good way for students to execute such a task.
In this discussion, the outcomes of this study were analyzed and some recommendations
on how to interpret them and use these results for building course outlines that would favor some
of the findings of this study were proposed. Nevertheless, like any studies, they are some
research limitations and elements to consider that are detailed in the next chapter.
47
Chapter 6: Limitations and Considerations
Survey Design and Sample
The first limitation to this study is the population who answered the survey in terms of
their ESL program. The fact that 37.4% of students who returned the questionnaire are taking
part in the International program does not represent this program population within the school as
in reality PEI represents about 25% of the school population in terms of ESL classes in La
Magdeleine 2nd
cycle high school students and not all high schools in Quebec have this particular
program, which is usually reserved for elite students. Furthermore, although the total number of
questionnaire answered and analyzed for this study is statistically satisfactory, with a total of 227
students, it is difficult to analyze more clustered data such as the students enrolled in the
enriched ESL program, from which we only received a total of 41 questionnaires. The same
limitation applies to secondary four results, in which we collected a total of only 62
questionnaires.
Another problem which is likely to happen when using a five-point Likert scale is the
high percentage of students who responded as neutral (i.e. 3) regarding many affirmations of
degree of enjoyment of a specific teaching method or classroom activity. Moreover, regardless of
the explanations that were provided to students, some of them (11%) did not fill in the second
section of the questionnaire correctly as many of them did not respect the instructions that asked
them to classify in order of enjoyment post-reading ESL reading comprehension exercises. In
fact, many of them simply answered this section as if this was still section 1 of the questionnaire.
Finally, the population of students studied in this survey only covers a small geographical
part of Quebec Province. This school is comprised almost completely of French-speaking
48
Quebec students and therefore not really well representative of immigrants and other cultures.
The results of this study would probably have been different in a school located on the Montreal
Island with a higher multicultural diversity.
Limitations of Results
Teachers using these results to influence their classroom curriculum should know that it
is fundamental that an important number of pre-requisites have to be respected with all of the
teaching methods mentioned in this study. For instance, group discussion following a class
reading should be structured and organized. Students should also be supervised and have clear
discussion topics in order to focus on tasks and not switch to a subject other than the reading
itself or even worse, code switching to their L1. Careful class organization and discipline are
essential for this type of activity to function.
If a teacher wants to follow some of the trends found in this study, some of them could be
difficult to implement. For example, this study shows how much a majority of students
appreciate and enjoy when teachers take the time to correct students’ work outside the classroom
on their own time and distribute results and appropriate corrective feedback the following class.
With this particular example, it would be extremely difficult for a regular ESL secondary five
ESL teacher to take 180 copies or so of work and correct every ESL reading comprehension
exercises throughout the year as this is an extremely heavy workload to commit to outside of the
classroom. Furthermore, a certain percentage of students do enjoy other correction methods.
We also concluded that collaborative reading in small teams was a good alternative to
avoid one student reading aloud to the entire class. If teachers decide to do this, they should be
extremely careful in the manner they build the class teams. For example, a teacher might not
want groups of rowdy friends to team up as this could disturb the class working atmosphere.
49
Teachers reading this study need to consider those limitations of design and results if they
want to apply some of the concepts proposed in this study.
Chapter 7: Conclusion
I believe the overall results from this study show some very positive signs concerning the
students’ level of commitment when learning a second language. The fact that a high percentage
of students values the importance of reading comprehension classes and the necessity of
activating prior knowledge, and having some form of reading comprehension exercises and
correcting them, does demonstrate that students are somehow committed to their ESL learning.
Unfortunately, other results in this study illustrate some forms of “laziness” in this
dedication in learning a second language. A majority of students pointed out how they like short
and easy readings, how they prefer answering multiple choice forms of post-reading exercises,
and how their favorite manner of correcting exercises is when the teacher corrects outside class
hours, and how they prefer in-class correction when the teacher does not involve students in
participating in the correction process.
I do think that using students’ favorite teaching methods when working on reading
comprehension in the classroom can be very helpful at times in order to increase students’
motivation, but in the end, should a teacher always favor teaching methods that are more enjoyed
by students? Clearly, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have reading classes where most of the
time, students read rather easy material and answer multiple choice questions that would be
corrected by the teacher without the involvement of students. Teachers need to find ways to get
around students’ laziness, resistance and anxiety. I believe the key is to attempt to find ways to
increase students’ interest levels. For each teaching method that students are not in accord with,
50
teachers should attempt to find an alternative activity that could help students develop certain
skills with a teaching approach they don’t dislike as much.
For example, we’ve already mentioned collaborative reading as an alternative form to
assigning reading aloud to the classroom. Another option could be reader’s theater in the ESL
classroom. This method involves more than one student at a time and gives time for each student
to practice reading before performing for either the entire class or a small group of peers. Of
course, more studies would be necessary to observe if such a method compared to “normal”
reading aloud to the classroom would be liked by students.
As for post-reading exercises, teachers need to find interesting ways to ask at times for
more elaborate answers than multiple choice forms of questions. For example, another approach
would be for teachers to assign students to build their own multiple answer questionnaires in
groups and then give their questionnaires to other teams. This way, students would work in
teams to build a reading comprehension questionnaire on their own, and still answer a multiple
choice form of questionnaire related to their readings. Obviously, more details and structure
would be necessary for such a type of exercise, but this should be an improvement as a post-
reading exercise that takes student preferences into consideration. Clearly some further
classroom investigation would be necessary to analyze the effectiveness of such a method in
relation to students’ enjoyment and motivation.
Concerning the correction of post-reading exercises, teachers need to find ways to
increase students’ involvement in such activities. A teacher cannot take the entire correction load
on his shoulder and correct outside the classroom at all times as this is simply too much
correction and is not beneficial for students. Teachers should try different, out of the ordinary,
correction methods with students, which the teacher could possibly make into a game, or have
51
some reward point system with students participating in the correction of post-reading exercises.
Here again, further studies would be necessary to assess the effectiveness of such a method.
In the end, teachers should acknowledge the results of this study and use students’ most
preferred teaching methods when it is appropriate and efficient for ESL learners. Teachers
should also acknowledge the less preferred teaching methods in order to attempt to slightly
modify and adapt these methods in a manner that would be just as efficient, but also more
motivating for students, because ultimately, motivated ESL learners will increase their learning
and enjoy them as well.
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54
Appendices
55
Appendix A: Various Authorisation Letters
Octobre 2011
Objet: Maîtrise sur l’apprentissage de la langue anglaise.
Chère Madame Richard,
Je suis présentement à préparer mon mémoire de maîtrise dans le cadre de mes études en
apprentissage de langue seconde à l’université McGill. Cette recherche a pour thème la deuxième
compétence du cours d’anglais au deuxième cycle du secondaire, soit le réinvestissement de
compréhension de textes. Plus particulièrement cette recherche vise à étudier parmi les méthodes
déjà efficaces celles dont les élèves préfèrent. Le but de cette recherche est de connaître ces
tendances afin d’accentuer la motivation des élèves dans l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde.
Aussi, par la présente, je souhaiterais obtenir votre autorisation afin de procéder à ces recherches
dans votre commission scolaire. Ses résultats me serviront de base de donnés dans le cadre de
mes travaux.
Afin d’obtenir les résultats les plus authentiques possibles, je désirerais sonder la
majeure partie des élèves de l’école secondaire la Magdeleine et possiblement d’autres étudiants
du deuxième cycle d’école de la commission scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries. Pour ce faire,
j’aurais besoin d’une vingtaine de minutes par groupe sélectionné afin de distribuer et de
recueillir les données. Je suis conscient que le temps des professeurs est précieux, c’est pourquoi
j’obtiendrais au préalable l’accord de chacun ainsi que l’accord officiel de la direction des
établissements concernés.
Je vous remercie grandement pour votre précieuse collaboration.
Veuillez agréer, Madame Richard, de mes salutations le plus distinguées.
Karl-André Huot
En apposant votre signature sur ce document, vous m’autorisez officiellement4 à faire ces
recherches dans les écoles secondaires de la commission scolaire des grandes seigneuries.
Date :__________________________________
Signature: ______________________________
4 Pour avoir l’autorisation officielle, j’obtiendrai également l’accord des directeurs d’établissements ainsi que des
enseignants concernés qui auront également préalablement une copie du questionnaire que je dois distribuer.
56
Letter to the high school principal « La Magdeleine »
Octobre 2011
Objet : Maîtrise sur l’apprentissage de la langue anglaise.
Chère Madame Bérubé,
Je suis présentement à préparer mon mémoire de maîtrise dans le cadre de mes études en
apprentissage de langue seconde à l’université McGill. Cette recherche a pour thème la deuxième
compétence du cours d’anglais au deuxième cycle du secondaire, soit le réinvestissement de
compréhension de texte. Plus particulièrement cette recherche vise à étudier parmi les méthodes
déjà efficaces celles dont les élèves préfèrent. Le but de cette recherche est de connaître ces
tendances afin d’accentuer la motivation des élèves dans l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde.
Aussi, par la présente, je souhaiterais obtenir votre autorisation afin de distribuer un
questionnaire5 à vos élèves. Ses résultats me serviront de base de données dans le cadre de mes
travaux.
Afin d’obtenir les résultats les plus authentiques possibles, je désirerais sonder la majeure
partie des élèves de votre établissement. Pour ce faire, j’aurais besoin d’une vingtaine de minutes
avec chaque groupe afin d’expliquer le questionnaire, de le distribuer et de recueillir les données.
Bien évidemment, je suis conscient que le temps des professeurs est précieux, c’est pourquoi
j’obtiendrais au préalable l’accord de chacun et conviendrais du moment le plus opportun pour
eux.
Je vous remercie grandement pour votre précieuse collaboration.
Veuillez agréer, Madame Bérubé, de mes salutations le plus distinguées.
Karl-André Huot
En apposant votre signature sur ce document, vous m’autorisez officiellement à distribuer mon
questionnaire dans votre établissement.
Date : _________________________________
Signature: ______________________________
5 Vous trouverez ci-joint le questionnaire dont je désire faire l’utilisation dans votre établissement
57
Letter to high school teachers
Octobre 2011
Objet : Maîtrise sur l’apprentissage de la langue anglaise.
Cher ______________,
Je suis présentement à préparer mon mémoire de maîtrise dans le cadre de mes études en
apprentissage de langue seconde à l’université McGill. Cette recherche a pour thème la deuxième
compétence du cours d’anglais au deuxième cycle du secondaire, soit le réinvestissement de
compréhension de textes. Plus particulièrement cette recherche vise à étudier parmi les méthodes
déjà efficaces celles dont les élèves préfèrent. Le but de cette recherche est de connaitre ces
tendances afin d’accentuer la motivation des élèves dans l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde.
Aussi, par la présente, je souhaiterais obtenir votre autorisation afin de distribuer un
questionnaire6 à vos élèves. Ces résultats me serviront de base de données dans le cadre de mes
travaux.
Afin d’obtenir les résultats les plus authentiques possibles, je désirerais sonder les élèves
de votre cours. Pour ce faire, j’aurais besoin d’une vingtaine de minutes avec chaque groupe afin
d’expliquer le questionnaire, le distribuer et de recueillir les données. Bien évidemment, nous
pouvons fixer ensemble le moment le plus opportun.
Je vous remercie grandement pour votre précieuse collaboration.
Karl-André Huot
En apposant votre signature sur ce document, vous m’autorisez officiellement à distribuer mon
questionnaire a vos groupes d’élèves.
Date :__________________________________
Signature: ______________________________
6 Vous trouverez ci-joint le questionnaire dont je désire faire l’utilisation dans votre établissement
58
Objet: Lettre de consentement parentale
Le 28 Janvier 2012
Chers Parents ou Gardiens,
Je me nomme Karl Huot et je suis professeur d’anglais à l’école secondaire de la Magdeleine. Je
travaille présentement à la rédaction d’une thèse dans le cadre d’une maîtrise en enseignement de
langue seconde à l’université McGill. Mes recherches porteront sur la compréhension de textes lus
dans le cadre d’un cours d’anglais au deuxième cycle du secondaire. Cette étude souhaite mettre en
lumière les méthodes d’enseignement préférées par les élèves parmi les méthodes couramment
utilisées par les professeurs. Les résultats permettront d’identifier les techniques à encourager afin
d’accentuer la motivation dans le cadre de l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde.
Pour ce faire, un court sondage anonyme sera distribué aux élèves afin de recueillir les données.
Avant de commencer le questionnaire, un document de consentement sera remis [voir verso] à votre
enfant expliquant le contexte et le processus de cette recherche de même que le choix d’y participer
ou non. La participation à cette recherche demeure sur une base volontaire et aucun élève n’y sera
contraint. De plus, l’autorisation parentale est également obligatoire à la cueillette d’information.
Bien entendu, j’ai reçu les autorisations nécessaires de la part du comité éthique de l’université
McGill, de la commission scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries, de la direction de l’école de la
Magdeleine de même que celle du professeur d’anglais de votre enfant. Il est important de noter que
si vous refusez que votre enfant participe à cette étude, celui-ci ne sera aucunement pénalisé ou
ralenti dans ses apprentissages.
Je vous remercie grandement pour votre précieuse collaboration.
Karl-André Huot
Coupon à retourner
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J’autorise mon enfant à participer à l’étude.
Je n’autorise pas mon enfant à participer à l’étude.
Nom de l’enfant : __________________________________
Groupe : __________________________________
Signature du parent: __________________________________
59
Consentement de participation de l’élève
Vous êtes invités à participer à une étude dans le cadre du cours d’anglais langue seconde. Cette
étude est conduite par un professeur de la commission scolaire, Karl Huot, également de l’université
McGill. L’objectif de cette recherche est de déterminer parmi plusieurs méthodes utilisées en classe
d’anglais lorsqu’il est question de la deuxième compétence, soit le réinvestissement d’un texte lu. Le
sondage ci-joint a pour but d’établir quelles sont vos méthodes favorites lors du processus en classe
pour la deuxième compétence déjà mentionnée.
Il est important de savoir qu’il n’y a aucun risque à répondre à ce questionnaire puisque vous avez
le droit d’y renoncer. Par contre ce questionnaire a pour but de connaître ce dont vous préférez faire
en tant qu’élève afin que ces méthodes soient plus utilisées pendant les cours d’anglais de langue
seconde. Les données recueillies seront bénéfiques pour les futurs étudiants du secondaire.
Il est également important de savoir que tous les questionnaires sont anonymes donc nous ne
pourrons pas retracer les résultats de chacun. Il est important de ne pas marquer son nom sur le
questionnaire. Aucune réponse que vous donnez dans ce questionnaire n’aura d’impact sur vos notes
ou sur votre cheminement dans le cours d’anglais dont vous faites partie.
Si vous choisissez de participer, une fois le questionnaire complété, tout simplement remettre le tout
a votre enseignant. Si vous avez des questions concernant le questionnaire vous pouvez me contacter
à karl.huot@mail.mcgill.ca.
Merci de votre collaboration!
Karl-André Huot
60
Appendix B : Student Questionnaire
Questionnaire français IMPORTANT
Toutes les questions du questionnaire concernent le cours d'anglais langue seconde.
Toutes les questions du questionnaire concernent la partie lecture du cours.
Par exercices de lecture nous supposons qu'il s'agit d'un cours d'une durée de 75 minutes
dans lequel nous répondons à des questions sur un texte suite a une période de lecture.
Partie 1
Encercler un chiffre de 1 à 5 pour chaque affirmation.
Légende :
1 : Fortement en désaccord
2 : En désaccord
3 : Neutre
4 : En Accord
5 : Fortement en accord
1 Je trouve facile les exercices de lectures en classes. 1 2 3 4 5
2 J'aime que le professeur discute du sujet avant de débuter la lecture. 1 2 3 4 5
3 Si je ne comprends pas un mot dans la lecture, je vais tout simplement
continuer à lire sans m'en soucier.
1 2 3 4 5
4 Si je ne comprends pas un mot dans la lecture, je vais demander à un autre
élève.
1 2 3 4 5
5 Si je ne comprends pas un mot dans la lecture, je vais demander au
professeur la signification du mot.
1 2 3 4 5
61
6 Si je ne comprends pas un mot dans le texte, je vais regarder dans le
dictionnaire.
1 2 3 4 5
7 J'aime lire le texte individuellement et en silence. 1 2 3 4 5
8 Je préfère lorsque le professeur lis à haute voix et que je puisse suivre le
texte.
1 2 3 4 5
9 Je préfère lorsque le professeur assigne au hasard des élèves pour lire des
passages du texte. 1 2 3 4 5
10 Je me sens gêné de faire la lecture seul à voix haute dans la classe. 1 2 3 4 5
11 Je préfère lorsqu'un appareil audio me lis le texte. 1 2 3 4 5
12 Je préfère faire les exercices de lecture seule. 1 2 3 4 5
13 J'aime faire les exercices de lecture en équipe. 1 2 3 4 5
14 J'ai le sentiment d'apprendre plus en travaillant en équipe. 1 2 3 4 5
15 Discuter avec des coéquipiers sur l’exercice de lecture m'aide à mieux
comprendre le texte.
1 2 3 4 5
16 Je pense qu'il est important de faire des exercices pour voir si j'ai compris le
texte.
1 2 3 4 5
17 Je pense que la correction des exercices de lectures est importante. 1 2 3 4 5
18 Lors de la correction des exercices de lecture, j'aime lorsque le professeur
corrige à l'avant seul.
1 2 3 4 5
19 J'aime quand le professeur corrige à l'avant et demande les réponses aux
élèves.
1 2 3 4 5
20 Lors de la correction des exercices de lecture, je préfère que le professeur
me donne les réponses à part sur une feuille et que je puisse me corriger
seul.
1 2 3 4 5
21 Lors de la correction des exercices de lecture, j'aime quand le professeur
ramasse les travaux et me remet le tout corrigé au cours suivant.
1 2 3 4 5
22 Je préfère un cours de lecture (texte à lire et exercices sur ce texte) plutôt
qu'un cours sur la grammaire.
1 2 3 4 5
23 Je préfère un cours de lecture (texte à lire et exercices sur ce texte) plutôt
qu'un cours de production écrite.
1 2 3 4 5
24 Je préfère un cours de lecture (texte à lire et exercices sur ce texte) plutôt
qu'un cours ou l'on doit faire des projets oraux.
1 2 3 4 5
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25 J'aime lire des textes complexes et avancés. 1 2 3 4 5
26 J'aime lire des textes faciles et peu élaborés. 1 2 3 4 5
Partie 2
Classer les affirmations suivantes de 1 à 4 selon votre opinion (1 étant l’énonce avec lequel vous
êtes le moins en accord et 4 étant l’énonce avec lequel vous êtes le plus en accord)
Affirmation 1 :
Quand je dois répondre à des questions de compréhension sur un court texte, j'aime
Répondre à une multitude de questions a choix multiples.
Répondre a plusieurs questions à court développement.
Faire un texte de compréhension sur le texte.
Écrire un texte d'opinion sur le texte.
Affirmation 2 :
Quand je dois répondre à des questions de compréhension de lecture sur un long texte ou un
roman, j'aime
Répondre à une multitude de questions a choix multiples.
Répondre a plusieurs questions à court développement.
Écrire un texte de compréhension sur le texte.
Écrire un texte d'opinion sur le texte.
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Partie 3 : Informations statistiques
Instruction : Encercler votre statut
Anglais :
Enrichi
Régulier
Sexe :
Masculin
Féminin
Présentement en secondaire :
3 4 5
Répondre aux questions suivantes :
Âge : ____________ans
École: ____________________ .
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English Questionnaire IMPORTANT
All questions on this questionnaire concern the English as a Second Language course.
All questions concern the reading comprehension part of the course.
By “reading exercises” we mean questions you are answering, in a 75-minute class, about
a text you have just read in this same class.
Part 1
Circle a number between 1 and 5 for each statement.
Legend:
1: Strongly disagree
2: Disagree
3: Neutral
4: Agree
5: Strongly agree
1 Reading exercises are easy for me. 1 2 3 4 5
2 I like when the teacher discusses the subject before the reading. 1 2 3 4 5
3 If I do not understand a word in the text, I will simply keep on reading and
not worry about it.
1 2 3 4 5
4 If I do not understand a word in the text, I will ask a classmate. 1 2 3 4 5
5 If I do not understand a word in the text, I will ask the teacher. 1 2 3 4 5
6 If I do not understand a word in the text, I will look in the dictionary. 1 2 3 4 5
7 I like to do the reading of a text individually and in silence. 1 2 3 4 5
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8 I like when the teacher reads to the class out loud and I can follow the text. 1 2 3 4 5
9 I like when the teacher randomly assigns students to read some part of the
text.
1 2 3 4 5
10 I feel shy when I am asked to read out loud to the class. 1 2 3 4 5
11 I like when an audio device reads the text and I can follow along. 1 2 3 4 5
12 I like doing reading exercises on my own. 1 2 3 4 5
13 I like to do reading exercises in teams. 1 2 3 4 5
14 I feel I am learning more when I am doing reading exercises in teams. 1 2 3 4 5
15 Discussing reading exercises with teammates helps me understand the
reading more than if I work alone.
1 2 3 4 5
16 I think it is important to do reading exercises to see if I understood the text. 1 2 3 4 5
17 I think correcting reading exercises is important. 1 2 3 4 5
18 I like when the teacher corrects out loud alone on the board. 1 2 3 4 5
19 I like when the teacher corrects in front of the class and asks students for
answers.
1 2 3 4 5
20 I like when the teacher provides us the answer key on a separate sheet of
paper and I can correct myself.
1 2 3 4 5
21 I like when the teacher collects my work, corrects it at home and hands me
my corrected work the following class.
1 2 3 4 5
22 I would rather have a reading class (reading a text and exercises) than a
grammar class.
1 2 3 4 5
23 I would rather have a reading class (reading a text and exercises) than a
written production task.
1 2 3 4 5
24 I would rather have a reading class (reading a text and exercises) than do
an oral project.
1 2 3 4 5
25 I like reading more challenging material. 1 2 3 4 5
26 I like reading easy and simple material. 1 2 3 4 5
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Part 2
Classify each statement from 1 to 4 in order of preference (1 being the statement you like the
least, 4 being the statement you like the most)
Statement 1:
When I have to answer questions regarding a short text I read, I like to…
answer some multiple choice questions.
answer some short answer (1 sentence) questions.
write an essay.
write an opinion text about the reading.
Statement 2:
When I have to answer questions on a long text (or a book), I like to…
answer some multiple choice questions.
answer some short answer (1 sentence) questions.
write an essay.
write an opinion text about the reading.
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Part 3: Statistical information
Instruction: Circle your status
English class
Regular
Enriched
Sex:
Male
Female
Currently in secondary
3 4 5
Answer the following questions:
Age: ____________years old
Name of my school: ____________________ .