Date of Graduation

8-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Advisor/Mentor

Felicia Lincoln

Committee Member

Michael K. Daugherty

Second Committee Member

Michael J. Wavering

Third Committee Member

George S. Denny

Keywords

Education, Adult learners, English as a foreign language, English as a second language, English language learners, Oral fluency, Speaking skills

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to study the effect of oral reading-to-self on adult English Language Learners' oral fluency and their perception toward oral reading-to-self. This experimental study used a pretest-posttest design. The participants (N = 63) were recruited and randomly assigned to a control group (n = 30) and an experimental group (n = 33). The speaking test: Klomjit Lincoln Measure of Spoken English (KLMSE), developed by the researcher, was administered as both pre and posttest. The treatment was an assignment to read out loud-to-self. The Evaluation of Using Oral Reading to Improve Oral Fluency, a quantitative scale questionnaire survey instrument, was used to measure the participants' perception toward using oral reading-to-self in three categories; difficulty, effectiveness, and language input. Data included demographic information, pre and posttest scores, and questionnaire responses. ANCOVA, t test, and descriptive statistics were conducted to analyze the data. The ANCOVA determined that oral fluency of the participants was improved significantly after reading out loud-to-self, F(1, 60) = 4.78, p = .03. The participants perceived oral reading-to-self as easy, effective, language input. There was no statistical significant difference between male and female participants on perception toward oral reading-to-self in the three categories; difficult, male (M = 2.50, SD = .81), female (M = 2.26, SD = .87), t(31) = .97, p = .34, effective, male (M = 3.63, SD = .87), female (M = 4.84, SD = .29), t(31) = -.94, p = .36, and language input, male (M = 3.88, SD = .91), female (M = 4.02, SD = .55), t(31) = .52, p = .60. The difference between male and female participants on posttest scores was not significant, F(1, 30) = 1.76, p = .19.

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