Method Edit2(eunnyeong Seong)

Seong 1

Eun Nyeong Seong Janet McNellis PSE 6691 Mon 5:30-8:30pm 23 Oct 2008

Methodology Research problem What kinds of reading activities are most effective in improving writing skills of international ESL students? 1. Participants For this research, the researcher selected 70( I am not sure exactly number. It is depends on returning rate of questionnaire, but I settle less number.) ESL learners at the before college level. All of them are studying English in ESL classes at Troy University in Troy, Alabama, in the United State. The participants are international students who came from countries such as Nepal, China, India, Korea. Some students learned English as first language in their countries. Other students learned English as second language in their countries. Their levels are diverse, ranging from American English Group(AEG) 3 to AEG 6.They are intimidated or advanced level. The purpose of studying in ESL classes is to qualify to apply to academic courses in undergraduate or graduate school in Troy University. The classes are face to face lectures and include listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar. The students attend 4 or 5 classes a day from Monday to Friday. The instructors teach the courses with textbooks and other supplementary materials. 2. Measures The participants are asked to answer the questionnaire designed by the researcher. The questionnaire is just written in English. The questions are about reading activities for access

Seong 2

writing skills. They answer the questions based on their learning experiences and opinions of reading and writing skills of both studying English in their countries and the ESL class in USA. The questions are divided into two dimensions: relation between reading and writing, and reading activities for writing. Part of reading activities for writing is divided further into three dimensions: reading levels, post-reading activities and reading genre. The questions consist of multiple choice and 4 level Likert scales. 3. Data Collection

I will add this part more with how to get the data actually . After data collection, the researcher will present descriptive statistics describing the results.

Seong 3

Survey Questionnaire

The Effective Reading Activities for Writing Skills Consent Form You are invited to be in a research study of the effective reading activities to improve writing skills in ESL college students. I ask that you read this document and ask any questions you may have before agreeing to be in the study. The purpose of this study is to find out effective reading activities to improve writing skills and help ESL learners' writing tasks. If you agree to be in this study, I will ask you to do the following things: answering the questions in the questionnaire designed by the researcher about your opinions about relationship reading and writing skills, and your experiences about reading and writing activities in ESL learning. It will take about 20 minutes for you to complete the survey. I never share your answers about your personal information, opinions and experiences of reading and writing skills with anyone else. After you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw at any time without any problems. Your decision of whether or not to participate will not affect your standing with Troy University. There is no risk in participating in this study. This study will benefit teachers of students who do not know English well. The researcher conducting this study is the student whose major is post secondary education in graduate school in Troy University. You may ask any questions you have now. If you have questions later, you may contact the researcher at 334-482-9449 or Dr. McNellis ([email protected]). Please keep a copy of this statement for your records. Thank you. Nov 2008 Eunnyeong Seong

Seong 4

Personal Information Answer the questions 1 through 3 by writing answers and question 4 through 6 by marking with a Ⅴ in the appropriate items or write an open-ended answer 1. AEG level : ____________

2. AEG experience : ________ months 3. Nationality : ___________________ 4. English is my _____ first(official) language or ______ second(foreign) language. 5. Age: ___19-24 ___ 25-29 ___ over29 6. I am taking ESL course to …

____ improve my general English skills. ____ meet an academic course in undergraduate or graduate school ____ other (

)

Seong 5

Relation between reading and writing Answer the questions 1 through 5 by your responses with aⅤin the appropriate box, questions 6 and 7 by choosing only one and question 8 by checking one or more. strongl y agree

1.

agree

disagre e

strongly disagree

1 2. Writing is more difficult to learn than other skills 2 Reading and writing are related to each other. 3 3. Reading is good for improving writing skills. 4 Writing is developed through writing activities. To integrate reading and writing course is better 5 than to separate learning reading and writing.

6. What makes writing hard for you?

____ Grammar

____ Coming up with the main idea

____ Sentence structure

____ Limited vocabulary

____ Format of essay 7. What kind of English materials have you read besides your English text book? Check

all that apply. ____ Story book ____ Newspaper

____ Magazine

____ Web site

____ Subtitle on Movie or TV

____ Others (

____ Comic book )

8. Why do you think reading is good for improving writing skills? Check all that apply.

____ Because I attain ideas for writing content. ____ Because I attain good model writings. ____ Because I attain grammar skills for writing. ____ Because I attain writing format and style. ____ Reading does not improve writing skills ____ Other (

)

Reading activities to improve writing skill

Seong 6

Answer the questions by marking your responses with aⅤin the appropriate box.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

What kinds of reading activities have helped improve your writing skills? Reading vocabulary words Reading sentences Reading paragraphs with several sentences Reading essays with a topic sentence and a couple of paragraphs Reading short stories with a couple of pages Reading long stories with a book Reading and finding the main topic Reading and learning key words Reading and answering the comprehension questions Reading and summarizing the content Reading and ordering correctly Reading and discussing the topic Reading and writing down the whole passage Reading and writing book reports Reading other writers’ model writing Reading literature works Reading passages in text books Reading magazine or news papers Reading subtitle in movie or on TV Reading academic journals or articles

Very helpful

More helpful

Less helpful

Never helpful

What other activities improve your writing skills? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________