Open Collections

The effects of reading-while-listening and the cloze procedure on the reading ability and grammatical proficiency of ESL students

University of British Columbia

This study investigated the effects of repeated reading-while-listening in conjunction with cloze exercises on the reading ability and grammatical proficiency of 14 secondary level English as a Second Language students. The experimental group completed 17 cloze exercises at the rate of one per week. The method of presentation had three steps: the viewing of a film strip while listening to the accompanying commercially-produced tape, an attempt to complete a short written cloze exercise (every 10th word deleted) on a passage transcribed from the tape, and four attempts to complete the cloze exercise while simultaneously listening to the taped, unmutilated version. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Level E, and the Structure Test—English Language, Advanced Level were administered both before and after the treatment period. A teacher-constructed reading/listening cloze posttest and an attitude questionnaire were administered after the treatment. Separate analyses of covariance indicated a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, F (1,26) = 6.997, P <.014, but no significant difference between the groups on the Structure Test-English Language, F (1,26) = 1.306, P < .265. An independent samples t-test indicated a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group on the teacher-constructed reading/listening cloze, t(25) = 3.67, P <. Student responses to the attitude questionnaire indicated that they regarded the cloze exercises as helpful. It is recommended that the type of cloze exercises investigated in the present study be used as supplementary exercises for ESL students. It is noted that further research should be done on the effects of choosing passages for the grammatical points which they contain and the effects of repeating vocabulary and/or content in the passages.

Text

2010-09-17

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28549

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

Graduate