Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publisher
Edith Cowan University, Western Australia in association with Khon Kaen University, Thailand and Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University, Thailand.
Abstract
This study compared a genre-based method of teaching English to Prathom (grade) 7 secondary students in Thailand and a traditional method. Rasch-generated linear scales were created to measure reading comprehension (based on 18 items with 300 students) and attitude and behaviour to learning EFL (based on 36 items with 296 students). The data for both scales had a good fit to a Rasch measurement model, good separation of measures compared to the errors, good targeting, and the response categories were answered consistently and logically, so that valid inferences could be drawn. Ninety students from three secondary schools in Ratchaburi, Thailand, were assigned randomly to an experimental group (N=45) taught using genre-based rhetorical structures (narrative, journalistic, expository) and a control group (N=45) taught by a Thai traditional method. Pretest and posttest measures were administered and mean differences were tested for significance using ANOVA (SPSS). It was found that: (1) students improved their English reading comprehension under the genre-based learning method significantly more than under the Thai traditional method; (2) Students improved their attitude and behaviour towards learning EFL significantly more under the genre-based learning method than under the Thai traditional method of teaching.
Comments
EDU-COM 2006 International Conference. Engagement and Empowerment: New Opportunities for Growth in Higher Education, Edith Cowan University, Perth Western Australia, 22-24 November 2006.