Seong(prop Method)

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

Methods Research problem What kinds of reading activities are most effective in improving writing skill of international ESL students? 1. Participants For this research, the researcher selects about 100 ESL learners at the college level. All of them are studying English in ESL class at Troy University, Alabama, in USA. The participants are international students who came from different countries, such as Nepal, China, India, Korea, etc.. Some students learned English as second official language in their countries. Other students learned English as foreign language in their countries. Their levels are diverse, ranging from AEG level 2 to AEG level 6. The purpose of studying in ESL class may be to get a qualification for applying to an academic course in undergraduate or graduate school in Troy University. They have 4 or 5 classes a day: listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar. The instructors teach the courses with textbooks and other supplementary materials. 2. Data Collection

The participants are asked to answer the questionnaire designed by the researcher. The questions are consisted of reading activities for improving writing skills. They answer the questions based on their learning experiences of reading and writing 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. Types of answering are multiple choice or 5 level Likert scales. After data collecting, the researcher deals the data with statistic process using Excel program.

Survey questionnaire

The purpose of this survey is to figure out what kind of reading activities are good for improving writing skills in ESL learners and suggest useful information for reading and writing activities in ESL class. These questions are not limited in ESL class in which you are now studying in Troy University. Remember your whole experience learning writing skills and answer the questions based on your real experiences. I promise that I will only use your answers in my research. Thank you for helping me.

Nov 2008 Eunnyeong Seong

Personal information 1. AEG level : ____________

2. AEG experience : ________ months 3. Nationality : ___________________ 4. English is my _____ second official or ______ foreign language. 5. The purpose of taking ESL course is to

____ For improving general English skill. ____ For meeting qualifications for applying for an academic course. ____ For other (

)

Relation between reading and writing strongly agree

1.

agree

Neither agree nor disagree

disagree

2. Writing is more difficult to learn than other

skills 3. Reading and writing are related to each other. 4. Reading is good for improving writing skills.

Writing is developed through writing activities. To integrate reading and writing course is better than to separate learning reading and writing. 6. When you are writing, what make writing hard for you?

____ Grammar to write ____ Sentence structure

____ main idea of writing ____ Power of vocabulary

____ Format of essay

____ Others (

)

7. What English materials are you reading in AEG class besides your textbook?

____ Story book

____ Newspaper

____ Web page ____ Comic book

____ Magazine

____ Others (

)

8. Why do you think reading is good for improving writing skills?

____ Because we attain ideas for writing content. ____ Because we attain writing models. ____ Because we attain grammar skills for writing ____ Because we attain writing format and style

____ Other (

)

strongly disagree

Reading activities to improve writing skill What kinds of reading activities helped Very good improving your writing skills? Reading vocabulary words Reading sentences Reading paragraphs with several sentences Reading essay level with the topic and a couple

good

So so

Less

Never

related

related

of paragraphs Reading short story level with a couple of pages Reading long story level with a book Reading and finding main topic Reading and learning key words Reading and answering the comprehension questions Reading and summarizing the content Reading and ordering correctly Reading and make new story continually Reading and discuss on the topic Reading and writing down the whole passage Reading other writer’s model writing Reading literature works Reading passage in reading text book Reading and writing book reports Reading academic journals or articles Is there any good activity for improving your writing skill? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________