An investigation into the effects of graphic organizers on reading comprehension of senior high school students in Taiwan

本研究旨在探討使用閱讀網絡圖對於臺灣高中生閱讀理解能力的影響，並分析學習者對於使用閱讀網絡圖後的態度觀感。 根據研究目的，所採用的實驗工具為閱讀理解測驗以及態度問卷。實驗對象為台中市某私立高中的92名學生。實驗進行前，實驗組與對照組的學生們接受閱讀理解前測。在為期六週的教學期間，實驗組接受閱讀網絡圖教學訓練，而對照組則接受傳統的教師講述閱讀教學方式。實驗後，兩組學生接受閱讀理解後測；實驗組另在後測結束後填寫問卷。資料分析透過描述性統計、T檢定、與ANOVA檢視閱讀網絡圖教學的效益；問卷旨在瞭解學生對於閱讀網絡圖輔助閱讀理解的態度和看法。 研究主要結果如下： 1.閱讀網絡圖有助於學生閱讀理解。此外，閱讀網絡圖對於學生在回答克漏字網絡圖題型有助益，但其顯著差異並未反映在選擇題的作答表現上。 2.學生對於閱讀網絡圖抱持正面的態度。第一，他們給予網絡圖正面回饋；第二，他們肯定網絡圖對於閱讀理解及文章架構的助益；第三，他們表示有意願在未來應用閱讀網絡圖於英語文章或其他學科的學習上。 綜合研究結果，本研究透過瞭解閱讀網絡圖在閱讀教學上的效益，期能提供教師對於閱讀網絡圖的使用有更一步的瞭解，以充分幫助學生的英語閱讀學習。The present study aimed to investigate the effects of graphic organizer instruction on Taiwanese senior high school students’ reading comprehension. Also, it explored students’ attitudes toward the use of graphic organizers. Based on the purpose of this study, instruments included reading comprehension tests and an attitude questionnaire. Two intact classes of 92 private senior high school second-grade female students in Taichung City participated in the study. The classes were first divided into the experimental group and the control group. Before the treatment, the reading comprehension pre-test was administrated. During the six-week instruction, the experimental group received graphic organizer instruction, while the control group received the traditional reading instruction. After that, the effects of graphic organizer instruction were evaluated through measures of reading comprehension post-test. The attitude questionnaire was distributed to the experimental group right after the post-test. The quantitative analysis of the mean scores on comprehension tests was conducted through descriptive statistics, t-Tests, and two-way ANOVA to indicate the effects of graphic organizers. In addition, the data of the questionnaire were analyzed for students’ attitudes toward and perceptions of graphic organizers. The major findings of the study were listed below: 1. The results of comprehension tests showed a significant effect of graphic organizer instruction on reading comprehension of senior high school students. Besides, the graphic organizer instruction positively affected students’ performance on answering cloze graphic organizer questions, while its effect on students’ answering multiple-choice questions was not salient. 2. Information gathered from the questionnaire indicated students’ positive attitudes toward the facilitation of graphic organizers. First, the students expressed positive feedbacks toward the use of graphic organizers. Second, they confirmed the benefits of graphic organizer instruction like increasing their reading comprehension and familiarizing themselves with text structure. Third, they generally showed their willingness to apply the use of graphic organizers to future learning while reading English articles or studying other subjects. To conclude, this study may be of importance in understanding the effectiveness of graphic organizers in its application of reading instruction, as well as in providing English teachers with a better understanding of how to use graphic organizers so as to offer learners with best help