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

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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