The use of text structure among EFL Thai students and its effects on their reading comprehension
Tirawanchai, Ketvalee
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/19829
Description
Title
The use of text structure among EFL Thai students and its effects on their reading comprehension
Author(s)
Tirawanchai, Ketvalee
Issue Date
1996
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Walker, Jerry L.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Language and Literature
Education, Reading
Education, Higher
Language
eng
Abstract
Within the framework of the interactive theoretical model of comprehension and learning, this study investigated the use of text structure among EFL Thai students and its effects on their reading comprehension. It was designed with an underlying assumption that readers who possess the previously acquired knowledge of the organizational patterns of text will be aware of text structure and will utilize it as their strategic approach to text processing. This use of text structure, or the structure strategy, will therefore enhance their comprehension and learning from text. In addition, this study also examined if proficiency in English and intelligence mediated the effects of text structure use on EFL Thai students' text comprehension.
One hundred and forty-five first-year undergraduate students participated in this study. They read short and long expository texts. After reading each short text, they attempted a written summary and after reading each long text, they attempted a written summary and responded to main-idea questions. Study results revealed that students with more English proficiency were able to use the structure strategy more effectively and efficiently than those with less English proficiency. In addition, students who employed text structure had significantly higher performances on all of the comprehension measures than those who did not, indicating that the use of text structure may have facilitated their comprehension and learning from text. Moreover, proficiency in English and intelligence did not mediate the effects of the use of text structure on students' discourse comprehension.
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