The purpose of this research is to find out the effects of picture book-based critical reading on elementary school students' English writing ability and critical thinking. This research is especially focused on critical reading based on critical read...
The purpose of this research is to find out the effects of picture book-based critical reading on elementary school students' English writing ability and critical thinking. This research is especially focused on critical reading based on critical reading strategies followed by writing activities. In order to accomplish the purpose, the following research questions were proposed:
First, in which aspect would elementary students' writing abilities change when reading picture books critically?
Second, in which aspect would elementary students' critical thinking abilities change when reading picture books critically?
Third, which changes would appear in affective domain when reading picture books critically?
In order to find the answers to the research questions mentioned above, the experiment was carried out in a 4th grade classroom in Seoul, Korea. The number of participants were 32. The experiment was carried out using three picture books, which were selected considering the three following conditions: linguistic level, familiarity of the topic and simplicity of the story structure. Each picture book was presented during six class sessions, therefore the experiment was conducted throughout 18 class sessions. The critical reading was done in the order of a five-step procedure: pre-reading, reading, responding, exploring and applying. The specific activities of the lessons were learning key words, activating background information relating to the story, reading the story, analyzing the story's literary components, answering problem-posing questions, writing alternative opinions, discussing characters, finding methods to solve the problem in the story and writing alternative text by applying the problem solving methods. During the experiment, various data including questionnaires, reading and writing worksheets and interview videos were collected. These were processed according to mixed method research design: being qualitatively analyzed and supported by extra quantitative analysis in order to gain more reliability.
The data analysis drew the following results:
First, the research verified the value of using picture books in learning how to write in English. After the experiment, students’ writing ability was enhanced quantitatively as well as qualitatively. They seemed to be capable of using various vocabularies as they went through the experiment. Furthermore, they could practice the linguistic patterns including the sentence structure. Another verified value of critical reading based on picture books is the enhanced possibility of integrating students with different English levels in one class. In this research, participants were grouped according to their English levels. The outcome of the research showed that all groups developed positively in their English writing ability. For higher level students, they preferred the free writing activity which requires critical thinking rather than rote learning activity which they often do in their school's English class. For middle level students, they paid attention to the illustrations and repetitive sentence structure in the picture books. As they read the repetitive sentence structure, they could understand the notion of the rules needed when writing sentences in English. On the other hand, the lower level students reacted sensitively to the affective pressure of learning English. As a result, they showed signs of cognitive pressure during the experiment.
Second, it was possible to raise students' critical thinking ability through picture book based critical reading. After reading the chosen texts, students completed writing activities on worksheets which were created using critical reading strategies. The enhancement of critical thinking ability can be stated in three ways, which are 'analysing problems', 'observing different points of view' and 'making inferences or drawing conclusions'. Furthermore, the development of higher critical thinking ability ended up enhancing problem solving capacity. This enhancement can be described in two ways: solving problems by consensus and solving problems by choosing a new solution.
Third, a shift in the affective domain during the experiment was observed. The most noticeable change was the students' increased interest towards learning English. Furthermore, critical reading based on picture books raised students' self-efficacy in writing English. Thus students were confident in thinking critically and solving problems independently.
Based on the results of this study, there were some positive significances:
First, it was possible to cover sufficient amount of written languages through the picture book based critical reading lessons. As they completed writing activities combined with reading lessons, their reading and writing were done efficiently.
Second, not only was there improvement in learning English but also enhancing higher-order thinking (critical thinking and problem solving) were found achievable. During the experiment, developing various thinking skills was observed besides successful English learning.
Third, this research has proved that it is possible to teach students with different English levels in a picture book-based critical reading lesson. It was possible because the lesson met students' various learning needs.
Even though this study is significant in Primary English education, however, it has a few limitations. First, this study lacks generalizability in that it does not have a comparison group. Second, the degree of enhancement in English writing ability upon different English level groups wasn't equivalent. All three groups (higher, middle, lower) improved in their English writing. Nevertheless, this study couldn't find specific way which leads to equivalent degree of enhancement in all groups.
Based on the conclusions above, some of the following suggestions are given for follow-up studies:
First, picture book-based critical reading lessons need to be integrated into the regular English curriculum. Therefore, the settings for observing its long term educational effects can be set. Moreover, this combination would facilitate picture book-based teaching that meets each grade's achievement standard.
Second, students should be accustomed to expressing their own opinions in English. When dealing with critical thinking, they need to grasp their own points precisely about the given topic and deliver them in linguistic means to others. In order to make this possible, they should practice describing their opinions using their own words in common English lessons.
Lastly, systematic lesson plans should be prepared for high quality critical reading lessons. In this research, three sets of the same activities were done while reading three different picture books. If activities that are designed for a specific topic are given for each different picture books, then various types of higher-order thinking will be enhanced and available. Furthermore, if different writing activities are given to each different English level students, not only will the lower level students improve but also the middle and higher level students will be able to show growth in their English writing abilities.