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ZARMINA DAUD Education 2021 Lcwu LHR

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DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL TO

ENHANCE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS AND


VOCABULARY OF PRIMARY LEVEL STUDENTS

ZARMINA DAUD

DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION


INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
LAHORE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN UNIVERSITY,
LAHORE
2020
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL TO
ENHANCE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS AND
VOCABULARY OF PRIMARY LEVEL STUDENTS

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO LAHORE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN


UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION

ZARMINA DAUD
Registration No: 15-Ph.D/LCWU-1904

Supervisor
Dr. Asma Shahid Kazi

Co-supervisor
Dr.Mofiah Nader

Session 2015-18

DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION


INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONLAHORE COLLEGE FOR
WOMEN UNIVERSITY, LAHORE
2020
Dedicated to

I would like to dedicate this research to my husband and

my daughters

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I would thank Almighty Allah the most beneficent and the most

merciful for giving me courage and strength to complete this research work.

I would like to thank and express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor

without whom I would not have been able to accomplish such a research. My

supervisor Dr Asma Shahid Kazi helped me and guided me at every stage towards the

completion of this research. Her knowledge, patience and motivation helped me to

compile my thesis. I could not have imagined having a better supervisor than her for

my Ph.D. study.

I would also like to further acknowledge Dr.Afifa Khanum for the moral

support and assistance throughout my research and the efforts of my university,

department and associated members.

I am also grateful to the school administration and teachers who facilitated me

during my research.

Zarmina Daud

vi
ABSTRACT

The study attempted to determine the effect of utilizing read aloud teaching

technique on development of reading comprehension skills and vocabulary. Benefits

of read aloud are well documented previously in the existing literature and it is stated

that reading texts aloud is one of the most important activity in building literacy skills

in young children and especially in ESL context. To probe into the effectiveness of

read aloud teaching strategy in our context Quasi- experimental research design was

adopted for this study where two intact groups of primary level were allocated as

experimental group and control group respectively. The study was conducted in a

private school of Lahore city in Pakistan where two sections of Grade 2 were

recruited. The study also attempted to determine the effect of read aloud teaching

strategy on other variables such as students reading motivation and speaking fluency

as it is evident from the previous studies that read aloud also has a positive impact on

students‘ motivation and speaking fluency. Lady Bird Graded Readers were used for

read aloud which are specially designed for ESL context. Data was collected using the

reading motivation questionnaire, fiction story retelling form, oral fluency form along

with comprehension worksheets and vocabulary tests. Pre-test and post-test were

conducted and data was statistically analysed by applying paired sample t-test. Effect

size was calculated to measure the magnitude of the effect on reading comprehension

skills, vocabulary, speaking fluency and reading motivation of students in the

experimental group. The data analysis of the two groups revealed that there was no

significant difference in pre-test scores of experimental and control group. However, a

significant difference was found in the post-test scores of experimental group and

control group and the experimental group performed better as compared to the control

group. The results of the study revealed that read aloud teaching strategy was more

vii
effective teaching method as compared to the traditional teaching method in an ESL

context. The outcomes of the study are also significant to the classroom practise of

primary level teachers because the findings offer direct research based input to

classroom practise by building teacher knowledge on how to capitalize on the

flexibility of the read aloud instructional approach in order to enhance reading

motivation and literacy skills of primary level students.

Keywords: Read-Aloud, Oral Fluency, Speaking Skills, Reading Motivation, Reading

Comprehension Skills

viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Title Page No

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

1.1 Study Background 1

1.1.1 Educational System in Pakistan and English in Pre-School 3

1.1.2 Evaluation of English Teaching in Pakistan 4

1.2 Statement of Problem 5

1.3 Objectives of the Study 6

1.4 Research Questions 6

1.5 Hypothesis 7

1.6 Significance of the Study 7

1.7 Theoretical Framework 7

1.8 Operational Definitions 10

1.9 Delimitations 12

1.10 limitations 12

Chapter 2: Review of Literature 13

2.1 Introduction 13

2.2 English as Second Language (ESL) Learners at Primary Level 16

2.3 Read Aloud Technique and Young ESL Learners (Children in Primary

School) 23

2.4 Concept of Read Aloud Technique in Classroom 30

2.5 Significance of Read Aloud Technique 33

2.5.1 The literary corpus 36

2.5.2 The languages used by the reader / mediator 36

2.5.3 Storytelling 37

ix
2.6 Aspects of Read Aloud Techniques Used in Classrooms 40

2.6.1 The voice 40

2.6.2 The Tonality 41

2.6.3 The Accent 42

2.6.4 Punctuation Marks 43

2.6.5 The Gestures 44

2.6.6 Guidelines for Read Aloud Sessions 45

2.7 Research Related to Read Aloud Technique as a Tool to

Enhance Student‘s Reading 46

2.8 Effect of Read Aloud Technique on Comprehension Skills

of Students 55

2.9 Effect of Read Aloud on Vocabulary Development of Students 62

2.10 Effect of Read Aloud on Speaking Skills of Students 69

2.11 Chapter Summary 73

Chapter 3: Methodology 75

3.1 Paradigm 75

3.2 Pre-test Post-test Quasi- Experimental Design 76

3.3 Population 79

3.4 Sample of the Study 80

3.5 Instruments of the Study 81

3.6 Instruments Validity and Reliability 83

3.7 Variables 85

3.8 Research Procedure for the Intervention 86

3.9 Read Aloud Procedural Stages for each 2 Weeks Session 89

3.10 Data Analysis 92

x
3.11 Reliability and Validity 93

3.12 Ethical Considerations 94

Chapter 4: Results 95

4.1 Introduction 95

4.2 Reading Comprehension Test Analysis 97

4.3 Story Re-Telling and Comprehension Analysis 107

4.4 Vocabulary Test Analysis 115

4.5 Speaking Fluency Test analysis 125

4.6 Analysis of Reading Motivation 131

4.7 Chapter Summary 135

Chapter 5: Summary, Findings, Discussion, Conclusion and

Recommendations 137

5.1 Summary 137

5.2 Impact of Reading Aloud on Reading Comprehension 139

5.3The Impact of Read Aloud Practice on Student‘s Vocabulary 141

5.4 Impact of Read Aloud on the Oral Fluency of the Primary Level

Students 144

5.5 Reading Aloud Strategy and Increase in Students‘ Desire to Read 146

5.6 Findings and Suggestions 149

5.7 Limitations 153

5.8 Conclusion 156

5.9 Recommendations 160

REFERENCES 164

APPENDICES 185

Appendix A: Reading Motivation Questionnaire 185

xi
Appendix B: Fictional Story Retelling Form 187

Appendix C: Vocabulary Pre- Tests and Post-Test 188

Appendix D: Speaking Fluency Form 190

Appendix E: Lesson Plan 191

xii
LIST OF TABLES

Tables No. Titles Page No.


Table 3.1 Sample of the Study 81
Table 3.2 Strategies of Intervention 88
Table 3.3 Name of Story and Vocabulary Words of Each Book 92
Covered in Each Month
Table 3.4 Data Sources and Analysis Procedure 93
Table 4.1 Puss in Boot Story Comprehension Results of EG and 98
CG
Table 4.2 Rapunzel Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG 99
Table 4.3 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Story Comprehension 100
Results of EG and CG
Table 4.4 The Jungle Book Story Comprehension Results of EG 101
and CG
Table 4.5 Jack and the Beanstalk Story Comprehension Results of 102
EG and CG
Table 4 6 Hansel and Gretel Story Comprehension Results of EG 103
and CG
Table 4.7 The Pony School News Story Comprehension Results of 104
EG and CG
Table 4.8 Elves and the Shoemaker Story Comprehension Results 105
of EG and CG
Table 4.9 The Red Knight Story Comprehension Results of EG and 106
CG
Table 4.10 Retelling Scores of Five Stories and Calculation of 108
Effect size, Mean and Standard Deviation
Table 4.11 Story Retelling Scores of Four Stories and Calculation of 111
Effect Size, Mean and Standard Deviation
Table 4.12 In Depth Comparison between EG and CG in Story 113
Retelling Percentage Wise
Table 4.13 EG and CG Gain Scores, Mean and Standard Deviation 116
of Four Stories in Vocabulary Pre-test and Post-test

xiii
Tables No. Titles Page No.
Table 4.14 EG and CG Gain Scores, Mean and Standard Deviation 119
of Three Stories in Vocabulary Pre-test and Post-test
Table 4.15 EG and CG Gain Scores, Mean and Standard Deviation 121
of Two Stories in Vocabulary Pre-test and Post-test
Table 4.16 Vocabulary Mean, Standard Deviation and T- Test 122
Scores for overall Nine Stories of EG and CG
Table 4.17 Speaking Fluency Mean, Standard Deviation and effect 126
size calculation of EG and CG in five Stories
Table 4.18 Speaking Fluency Mean, Standard Deviation and Effect 129
Size Calculation of EG and CG in Four Stories
Table 4.19 Gain Scores and Effect Size Calculation of EG and CG 132
on Reading Motivation
Table 4.20 Mean, Standard Deviations, and T- Test Scores on 134
Reading Motivation of EG and CG

xiv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figures No. Titles Page No.
Figure 3.1 Design of the Study 79
Figure 3.2 Data Collection Instrument 85

xv
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Background

Language is the tool through which we connect with the world. For effective

communication it is important to not just be able to articulate your thoughts and ideas

clearly, but also to understand what we hear. In formal learning, reading and writing

become even more important. The basis of formal learning begins through oral

language. Thus its importance in school settings cannot be undermined. This study is

an attempt to improve the reading comprehension skills and vocabulary of primary

level students in Pakistan utilizing read aloud teaching technique.

Most parents in Pakistan are aware of the importance of English for their

children, but few really know what the advantages are of starting English learning at

an early age instead of waiting for school age (Khan, 2011). When parents consider

enrolling their child in a bilingual nursery school, they should know the benefits that

learning this language and bilingualism in general have on children of early ages.

The most important benefit is the ease of learning English skills is in the

school. The younger the child is when he begins to study English, the easier and more

beneficial it is for him/her, than if the language learning is after 3 years of age or older

(Shamim, 2011). This is because during childhood language is learnt in an innate way.

Children do not have to make effort to learn it, but they acquire it as their brain

structure develops (Coleman, 2010).

Research also shows that learning a second language, be it English or another

for that matter, has a positive impact on mental health of children. Children who begin

to learn English at an early age develop their brain in such a way that they have a
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 2

greater capacity for concentration. They have greater agility and ability to solve

problems. They develop competency to performing several tasks at the same time

effectively (multitasking) (Nawab, 2012). They can make more connections between

different concepts. There is improvement in focusing attention and memory.

Furthermore, within social context of Pakistan, like any other developing country,

children learning English at an early age have benefits in terms of access to a

globalized world. The child will have access to two different cultures, which will

enrich their education and intellectual development and have a more open mind to the

world and in regard to their relationship with others (Khan, 2011). This can help make

the child accept and be interested in other cultures and ways of life different from

their own. They will be able to communicate with people of other nationalities, and

gain knowledge about other cultures which in turn will help in personal development

and have access to a globalized world (Shamim, 2011).

Furthermore, children when they are very young are not shy of anything, so

they throw themselves to speak and practice English without fear of being wrong or

what others think, acquiring confidence in the language and also confidence in

themselves for the future. Therefore, it is good that children begin to learn English

before the feeling of shame develops in them and slows down the learning process

(Shamim, 2011). Finally it is important to mention the impact of learning English on

future employability. If the child begins to learn English at a young age, they will

increase their chances of getting the job they want as an adult. The facts of being

bilingual or having a very good command on English are skills that companies seek

and value greatly (Khan, 2011).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 3

1.1.1 Educational System in Pakistan and English in Pre-School

To understand the environment in which the objective of the study is

developed, it is important to analyse the perspective of Pakistan‘s education system in

the context of the preschool and learning English language at this level. Ahmad &

Rao, (2013) point out that pre-school education has not been a priority of the nation

and its importance has been overlooked. Agreeing with this statement, the researcher

believes that it is an unfortunate fact, since it is at this age that children develop

intelligence and shape their personality. In addition, Shamim, (2011) points out that

health, nutrition, social interaction and opportunities to enhance the development of

the brain intervene in this development.

In the search for quality education in preschool, it seems that the teaching of

languages is not relevant in our local context. The closest reference to the subject was

found in The World Bank document ―Learning for All: Investing in People's

Knowledge and Skills to Promote Development Education Strategy 2020‘. This report

refers to the importance of language learning in the early grades, considering that it is

a "critical period to learn the grammar of second or third languages" (p.14). However,

the age they allude to is between six and twelve years (the level of elementary

education in Pakistan) elaborates De Siqueira (2012).

Manan, David, & Dumanig, (2016) mention the European context and present

a synthesis of studies on the effects of early childhood education. He concludes that

member states of the European Union should invest in early childhood education as

an effective way to lay the foundations for later learning. The recommendations are

based on the notion that childhood is the most important evolutionary stage of the

human being and refers to the basis for maturation and neuronal development.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 4

Bughio, (2013) points out that in terms of pre-school education, majority of

the children in school do not get proper education to learn English in Pakistan. The

authors refer as examples Cuba, Mexico and Ecuador which have 100% coverage

rates. As a conclusion to the global vision, it can be affirmed that the preschool level

is considered as a crucial stage for human development. This vision allows to

understand that the teaching of languages, although it does not figure in the

fundamental points to deal with the international agenda, by offering quality initial

education is being fulfilled with the education. Shamim, (2011) refers to the

improvement of quality in early childhood, with emphasis on the age of three to five

years recommends considering the initial level as a critical period for the development

of skills, particularly the learning of second languages such as English.

1.1.2 Evaluation of English Teaching in Pakistan

Considering the public school sector in Pakistan, there is lack of a coherent

policy regarding the implementation of language teaching, particularly English, and

an adequate interpretation of these policies has led to the implementation of regional

initiatives, which in some cases differ from the guidelines of national policies. These

experiences, which are mostly examples of good practices, emerge from group

initiatives of teachers and have not had enough support or supervision from regional

and / or national authorities (Mahboob, 2009).

There are also other factors mentioned different research studies that impede

the development of English language skills of children in Pakistan. Gulzar & Qadir,

(2010) conducted a survey and reported that one of the factors of low English

language skills is the low level of teachers' linguistic competence. The survey results

showed that majority of the respondents showed dissatisfaction about the abilities and

linguistic competence of those responsible for teaching English in public elementary


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 5

schools. Furthermore, the study concluded that teachers are not suitably trained for

this task.

Furthermore, Farooq, Uzair-Ul-Hassan, & Wahid, (2012) indicated that there

is lack of adequate tools for teacher training in private sector. It was concluded that

there was high level of willingness among teachers to continue developing

professionally, such as willingness to take training courses to teach English in their

classroom. However, majority of the teachers did not receive training and / or

refresher courses. The study concluded that a permanent policy to provide training

would greatly contribute to improving their performance in teaching English in their

schools. Another important hurdle was lack of adequate material and resources for

teachers to develop effective lessons for children.

Another factor identified in literature that impedes effective teaching of

English in Pakistan is the types of English teaching program and its contents.

Mustafa, (2012) that English teaching programs, methods, and technique being used

in private sector are rather obsolete. Modern technologies such as ICTs are absent and

modern teaching curriculum is not integrated into teaching methods. Therefore, it was

concluded that current teaching methods are ineffective for teaching English at

primary level.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Due to the weaknesses in the education system and shortcomings mentioned in

previous section, it can be affirmed that there is a negative impact on English

language skills of children in Pakistan. According to Hassan (2009) and Warsi (2004)

Pakistani students face problems in English reading comprehension which has a

negative impact on the students‘ academic achievement. They have also pointed out

the reasons for lack of literacy development which are inexperienced and inefficient
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 6

teachers and use of defective teaching methods and techniques. The main goal is to

have each child reading at his or her own grade level or above it. Reading is important

to help students gain access to many different kinds of knowledge, information, and

ideas. Also, reading has many benefits for students because it can enhance students‘

social skills and open up new worlds for them. The students must see reading as an

enjoyable activity in order to truly benefit from it not only related to school. The

students need to use reading to learn about all subjects; therefore, if they do not have

strong reading skills, they might struggle in their academic lives (Bolos, 2012).

1.3 Objectives of the Study

Objectives of the study were the following:

1. To investigate the effect of read aloud on the reading comprehension skills of students

(predicting, inference, sequencing) of students of grade 2.

2. To find out the effect of read aloud on vocabulary development of students of grade 2.

3. To find out the effect of read aloud on the oral fluency of students of grade 2.

4. To improve students‘ desire to read through effective read aloud.

1.4 Research Questions

1. To what extent does read aloud improve the reading comprehension skills of students

of grade 2? (Prediction, inference and sequencing the text)

2. To what extent does read aloud improve the vocabulary of students‘ of grade 2?

3. Does read aloud improve the oral fluency of students of grade 2?

4. To what extent does read aloud affect the students‘ motivation to read?
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 7

1.5 Hypothesis

1. There is no difference in the reading comprehension skills of students after the

intervention.

2. There is no difference in the vocabulary of the students after the intervention.

3. There is no difference in the oral fluency of students after the intervention.

4. There is no difference in the students‘ motivation to read after the intervention.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study is significant for general literature as it contributes experimental

design based empirical evidence to existing literature. Furthermore, this study has

implications for primary school administrations and teachers. The outcome of the

study are significant to the classroom practice of primary teachers because the

findings offer direct research based input to classroom practice by building teacher

knowledge of how to capitalize on the flexibility of the read aloud instructional

approach in order to enhance reading motivation and literacy skills of primary level

students. Finally, this study has presented significant evidence for education policy

makers to exploit the strengths and potential of read aloud technique at primary level

and enhance learning and language skills of primary school children in Pakistan.

1.7 Theoretical Framework

Effective classrooms are the ones that have optimal communication between

the teacher and the students. This effectiveness bases itself within the tenets of

constructivist strategies, which include both the cognitive or individual constructivism

explained in Piaget's theory, and the social constructivism of Vygotsky's theory. The

core differences between both are the relative focus on language development theory
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 8

where thinking precedes language for cognitive constructivism and language precedes

thinking for the theory of social constructivism (Powell & Kalina, 2009).

A theory was proposed by Albert Bandura related to the social learning theory

that describes the observation, modelling and imitation of learning. This theory is

sometimes also known as a bridge between the behaviourist and cognitive learning

theories. Moreover, the learning process of people is a process that includes

observations of the behaviour of other people. The same idea is being explained in the

Bandura theory that behaviour attitude of the people and the outcomes are proved as

the learning for the people (Ellis, 2017). Social learning theory explains the behaviour

of the human with respect to the interaction between cognitive, behavioural and also

the influence of the environmental. Bandura theory works on the 4 principles that are:

attention and focus matter, retention depends on context, reproduction is done on the

demand and the last one is motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic.

In the field of linguistics, Stephen Krashen has presented a theory that is

related to language acquisition and development. This theory is well known in the

respective field and accepted worldwide it has a large impact in all the areas of the

second language. This theory works on the basis of 5 main hypotheses which are

related to the acquisition learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural

order hypothesis, the input hypothesis and the last one is an effective-filter hypothesis

(Krashen, 1987). The structural study of the language has many advantages where

high schools and colleges can plan to improve their language programs. Formulating

rules and irregularities and being sorted out in this respect as this is not the language

of teaching. In this way, language acquisition and appropriateness of grammar hold a

significant role in building a comprehensive understanding of the underlying

phenomenon.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 9

The focus of Piaget‘s theory has been on cognition and thinking pre-empting

language development. This indicates a certain focus on the development of abstract

concepts and the gradual usage of assimilation and accommodation in order to

develop sound reasoning. This, however, indicates a generalized focus on learning

while not accounting for the influences of the social environment. For Piaget learning

presented a limited case of situational provocation by an experimenter and focused on

some didactic point or external situation (Piaget, 1964). In this light the theoretical

focus of Piaget‘s theory for the present scenario can be utilized in limited focal areas

which include an understanding on how the children within this study develop their

thinking skills. This is essential in order to develop social constructs that in turn form

the basis of comprehension and vocabulary. Piaget‘s theory allows for the creation of

a baseline theoretical understanding on how children develop reasoning. This

resultantly is applicable for the present study as it allows for the gradual growth for

knowledge and intellectual skills.

Interactive read alouds relate to Vygotsky‘s learning theory of social

constructivism, the belief that ―children learn as a result of social interactions with

others‖ (Tracy & Morrow, 2006, p.108). Read aloud embody Vygotsky‘s theory of

social constructivism through the interactive conversations that may take place during

the read aloud. Read aloud also relate to a group of theories that follow an interactive

model of reading. This group of theories explain the reading process as involving the

writer, the text, and the reading, comprehension emerges as the reader actively brings

his or her prior knowledge to the reading of a text and ―interacts‖ with the text (Beard,

1988; Samuels, 1984/2002; Rumelhart, 2004;). The nature of learning as an inherent

social activity indicates that language development requires interactive focus. Read

aloud focuses on this core interactive aspect through developing allowances for
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 10

learning in accordance with mediation. The pupil-instructor interaction through the

initial stages is the basis for said mediation. This allows accessibility to develop for

children as its it focus on the availability of a more capable or competent person

thereby indicating a lack of initial competence for the group under study i-e the

children.

In the past few years there have been various successful teaching aplications

of the Vygotskian concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) to the area of

literacy development (e.g., Burkhalter, 1995; Combs, 1996; Steward, 1996). These

applications were helpful to the learners in providing support within their ZPD and

delineate different ways to increase their level of achievement beyond what they

could attain on their own or with instruction which is above their capability. Most of

the programmes incorporated assistance of some other more capable person, like

peers or teachers to support the learning of children.

Proponents of Vygotsky‘s theory, such as Daniel Elkonin and Pyotr Galperin,

highlighted in their work that children ZPD can be further enhanced not only by

providing social interaction but also when special instructional techniques are

employed (Elkonin, 1963, 1969, 1974; Galperin, 1969, 1985, 1992).In this study the

special instructional technique applied was read aloud teaching strategy which

provides social interaction between the researcher and the students and the process of

development of understanding through participation in various activities create the

link between read aloud strategy and Vygotsky‘s ‗zone of proximal development‘

(Chaiklin, 2003).

1.8 Operational Definitions

Primary Level Students: Primary level education in Pakistan is from grade 1

to 5 but .For the research students of grade 2 were taken as a sample.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 11

Read Aloud: “reading aloud to children—sometimes also referred to as

shared storybook reading—is a productive means for giving students opportunities to

develop new-meaning vocabulary‖ (Blackowicz & Fisher, 2011, p. 227). In this

research interactive read aloud teaching strategy was used to enhance reading

comprehension skills and vocabulary of the students.

Retelling: Explaining what happened in a story in chronological order using

setting, characters, beginning, problem and resolution in the story (Dunst, Simkus &

Hamby, 2012.) In the current research oral retelling session was conducted after each

read aloud session to gauge how well the students were able to comprehend the story.

Reading Comprehension: Comprehension is the essence of reading and the

active process of constructing meaning from text (Durkin, 1993). Reading

comprehension is a complex interaction among automatic and strategic cognitive

processes that enables the reader to create a mental representation of the text (van den

Broek & Espin, 2012). For the purpose of enhancing the reading comprehension

skills of the students of the study reading comprehension strategies during each read

aloud sessionwere employed.

Vocabulary: Schmitt (2014) defined vocabulary knowledge as the

knowledge of vocabulary components, lexical organisation, receptive and productive

mastery and fluency. In this research enhancing students‘ receptive vocabulary was

emphasized and during read aloud sessions vocabulary words were focused with the

purpose that students should be able to grasp the meaning of the words in context and

comprehend the story well.

Oral Fluency: According to Faerch, Haastrup and Philipson oral fluency is

the ability of speaker to make use its linguistic and pragmatic competence which they

have. During retelling sessions students were assessed for their speaking fluency in
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 12

terms of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and overall interaction with the

audience in order to see the effect of read aloud on them.

Picture Books: ―Tell stories using both words and pictures‖ (O‘Neal, 2011, p.

214). In the current study picture books were used keeping the objectives of the study

in mind as pictures in the books aid and provide clues to comprehend the story well

and explain the meanings of the unknown words. Picture books were also used to

enhance students‘ critical thinking and visual thinking skills which in return helps to

build reading comprehension and vocabulary.

1.9 Delimitations

 Delimitations refer to the factors that affect the methodological choices of the

researcher and in turn the methodological design which affect the reliability and

validity of the results and conclusions drawn in the study.

 The primary delimitation in this study is the limited access of the researcher to target

population as the study was conducted in one private primary school of Lahore where

as there are many other primary public/private schools in Lahore.

 Furthermore, there is a wide variety of read aloud techniques that can be used as

intervention in the study but the researcher implemented only one technique for

intervention.

1.10 Limitations

 The research was conducted only in one private school in Lahore city therefore results

cannot be generalized to public school students.

 Other limitation of the study is that due to limited resources the study was conducted

in the main Lahore city therefore the results cannot be generalized to the schools

located in outskirts of Lahore city.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 13

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction

This chapter is specifically focused on conducting a review of past studies that

are related to the read aloud techniques and its use and impact on ESL learners at

primary level. The chapter begins with discussing the concept of read aloud technique

followed by its relevance in ESL learning and development within the context of

young learners. Furthermore, the chapter also analyses how the concept has been

addressed in literature and its key features such as storytelling, voice, accent, tonality,

etc. Moreover, the chapter continues to presents review of studies that assess how

read aloud technique can contribute towards language development of young children

and how teachers and other adults can play a positive role in promoting and enhancing

English language Skills. The chapter also presents discussion of impact of read aloud

on reading skills, comprehension skills, vocabulary and speaking/oral skills. A

conceptual framework has been developed in this chapter to summarise entire

discussion. The chapter ends with a brief summary of entire review.

The acquisition of language for young children and the learning of reading and

writing for school children are part of the process of knowledge of language that, as

Rose & Martin (2012) argue, is a process of knowledge. Knowledge is not a unitary

process, because there is a variety of knowledge: factual or perceptive, motor skills or

feelings, etc. With their acquisition children begin to have access to a symbolic

system of meanings, to a resource through which experience can be converted into

knowledge. The relationship between language and learning is based on the


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 14

interaction between the acquisition and use of language in the construction of

knowledge through speaking and thinking (Rose & Martin, 2012).

The above statements correspond to a perspective in which language structures

emerge from their use. With this use of language, children are also learning through

language, and new modes of language are therefore new forms of knowledge. From

this perspective, language is the basis of learning and mature linguistic competence is

conceived as a structured inventory of significant linguistic constructions. As in any

other process of learning complex cognitive activities, linguistic learners learn from

the verbal material that is offered to them, the input; and with it they construct the

abstract categories and the schemes imitating the concrete things they hear (Calderon

& Slakk, 2018). Therefore, the contribution of the adult who interacts and

communicates with the child is considered not as an external variable but as a very

important internal component in the process of language deconstruction. In what

sense does the adult contribute to the development of language? It is a part of the

process because through the communicative behaviour the adult offers models for the

imitation, corrections, repetitions, reformulations and expansions of the statements of

the children (Avivi, 2018).

These models of the initial dialogic interaction in an informed adult are then

prolonged in reading models through the reading aloud of stories and dedicated poems

of infants and comments on what was read (Johnston, 2016). It has been identified

that this kind of oral and written language classes in knowledgeable adults enables

their language development. This knowledge development facilitates at a general

level as well as at other aspects such as vocabulary learning which ultimately results

in providing assistance in phonological, morphological, syntactic and discursive

development (Yang, 2017).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 15

Reading storybooks aloud is recommended in order to build oral language

skills in the early stages of children worldwide due to the reason of the development

of the vocabulary in the early ages. Extensive reading is widely accepted in the world

and it is highly recommended by the readers in order to increase the vocabulary

acquisition (Newton et al., 2008). Moreover, the selection of storybooks for the

children has also influenced the motivation and attention in the behaviours of the

children. By doing so teachers also try to draw the attention of the students, in order to

create conducive learning environments for the students.

Comprehension is also very important for proficiency in any language. There

are different techniques which are used for the development of comprehension, with

one of the most recommended being reading aloud. Read aloud is one of the

techniques that are famous for improving vocabulary, and the pronunciation of

words. Whenever there is a difficult word comes then students will pronounce it

slowly which later provides assistance in comprehension (Santoso, 2015). In other

words whenever the reader will break the complex words into smaller segments then

ultimately it will become an easier job for reader.

Oral proficiency in any language can be described as a good grasp of the

vocabulary of a language and grammar as well in other words fluency in the language

means that one can have a good grasp on the foreign language just like the grasp on

its native language. It is usually measured by concerning certain aspects. Read aloud

develops the skills of listening attentively in the class and provides a quick assessment

of the oral proficiency of the students in a class. It also facilitates the reader to

develop a flow in which the reader forgets the surrounding in order to engage his self

in the visual environment.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 16

2.2 English as Second Language (ESL) Learners at Primary Level

Spaull, (2015) mentions that the need for a global language is particularly

appreciated by international academia and business communities, and it is here that

the adoption of a single lingua franca is required in lecture halls and classrooms. It is

then, more than a tool, it is a need of the human being to be able to communicate,

since beyond the existing technology a language in which everyone can relate is of

vital importance, being emphatic that its importance lies not only in the

communication process but in the skill and abilities that it gives to those who study it.

Kremin, et al. (2019) mentions, the importance of learning a second language is not

merely limited to the ability to communicate with people who speak different

languages, but also the ability of students to have divergent thoughts, greater

creativity, and higher cognitive development as compared to children who are

monolingual.

This is how English is transformed into the lingua franca, which is necessary

worldwide and is not limited to commercial transactions, but much more so today

when teachers are directly confronted with its teaching, which obviously provides

greater skills and abilities to students. One of the main skills of the English language

is the auditory one. According to Pretorius & Spaull, (2016) the word hearing is

defined as making an effort to hear something: pay attention or listen to what is heard.

It is different from simply listening, which becomes the psychological process of the

ear absorbing waves of hearing sound and transferring them between neural pathways

to different parts of the brain Listening is necessary for hearing, but hearing is much

more than just processing the sound, someone can hear very well, but is not a very

good listener. Auditory comprehension involves a series of complex processes that

range from the perception and processing of a variable acoustic signal to the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 17

construction and application of this integrated mental representation of the described

events. That is to say, understanding requires connections between events and the

existing representation in memory.

Hearing and listening skills are also critical for young ESL to develop English

language skills. According to Gleeson & Davison, (2016) Hearing and listening

comprehension can be defined as an invisible mental process which makes it difficult

to describe. The people, who listen must discriminate between the different sounds,

understand the vocabulary and the grammatical structures. Interpret the emphasis and

intention and retain and interpret everything that is within the immediate context, as a

broader socio-cultural context. Khairuddin, (2017) explains that auditory

comprehension is the most effective way of learning, at least until the sixth grade of

primary education and that around 60% of a student's time is spent listening. On the

other hand it is necessary to take into account the attention span that students have

when listening to an auditory text. In that sense, Stracke, (2016) define the concept of

attention as the ability of the subject to attend to specific stimuli without being

distracted by internal or environmental stimuli.

Furthermore, young ESL learners also need to develop reading

comprehension. Within the skills of the English language is reading which, according

to Oliver & Azkarai, (2017), is defined and characterized as a concept that has two

possible approaches. One definition emphasizes the mental processes involved in

decoding, while another definition defines the values that can be derived from the

process. Despite variations in the definitions of the act of reading, it involves the use

of a code that has to be interpreted for meaning. Reading definitions can be classified

into 2 categories. First there are the [theoreticians] who see reading mainly as a

process of decoding, a decoding of the visual code. In a second glance, the reading for
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 18

the meaning is emphasized from the first stages of the instruction. In this vision,

reading as a process of understanding is highlighted.

For the comprehension of specific information of written texts, several aspects

must be taken into account, such as the morphological, syntactic and semantic

grammatical level achieved by the students; and through the union of these aspects of

language and communication, comprehension is achieved. That is why, according to

Stracke, (2016), language and reality are linked dynamically. The comprehension of

the text to be reached by its critical reading implies the perception of relations

between the text and the context. A student of a foreign language who says, 'I can read

the words but I do not understand what they mean'. In this sense, it is not necessarily

read. He or she is merely decoding-translating written symbols into their

corresponding sound. It is through these factors that educational establishments seek

to achieve and advance understanding and obtaining specific information from written

texts.

Writing skills are also important for young ESL learners. In relation to the

writing skills of the English language, in the writing the rhetorical and linguistic form

of the text itself is highlighted. According to de Oliveira & Silva, (2016), written

language is considered more complex than oral language. This complexity is

determined by lexical density, that is, by the number of lexical or content words used

in written language. That is why it is important from the basis of learning a new

language, to be able to lay the foundations of writing, since through this, as in oral

production, children can specify the knowledge acquired from the new language, and

begin a process that not only involves who produces the written text, but also that of

being able to communicate with other individuals. Writing is an important part of the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 19

communication process not only as a means of communication but also as a source of

power, as a social need and as a way to obtain knowledge and solve problems.

The ability to elaborate written texts through specific information is also

considered to be a desirable skill. For the elaboration of a written text, it is considered

that the students must handle an adequate vocabulary, spelling, structure of the text in

general of sentences and simple sentences; that are considered in their level of English

language. That is why according to the study on the relationship between competition

in L2 and written production, conducted by Nair, Krishnasamy, & De Mello, (2017),

it is concluded that the time factor used in learning L2 is a determining factor in the

acquired competence. That is why schools look for students to internalize these

aspects for the preparation of a text, together with his presentation and practice of the

language in written form at an early age.

At this stage of research, it is important to understand factors that affect young

ESL while gaining English language skills. These factors can be broadly categorised

into cognitive and affective factors. Cognitive factors include intelligence, aptitude,

and the use of learning strategies. It has been pointed out, for example, that those who

demonstrate higher than average intelligence tend to learn a second language better,

especially if this learning takes place within the formal context of a classroom.

Although it is difficult to distinguish the aptitude for a language from intelligence in

general, some studies for example, Kim, et al. (2015), show that some specific skills

are correlated with the ease of learning a language. . These are: ability for phonetic

coding, grammatical sensitivity, memory, inductive learning. These skills have proven

to be the best predictors of success in learning a second language.

Some studies-for example, Chan, (2018) have shown that students with an ability

to analyse language tend to be more successful in learning, including those who study
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 20

in programs without a grammatical focus. Likewise, successful apprentices show, in

addition to aptitude, a willingness to work hard to achieve their goals. The use of

learning strategies is another of the cognitive factors. Although it has been shown that

the most capable learners tend to use more learning strategies, it is not clear if they are

better learners because they use the strategies, or if they use strategies because they

are good learners. The strategies that have the greatest impact on learning the second

language are metacognitive.

The affective field includes a variety of factors: empathy, self-esteem,

extraversion, inhibition, imitation, anxiety, attitudes, among others. The attitudes

towards the language are of particular importance since, the greater the interest of the

learner in the language and its culture, the easier it will be to learn. The attitude is

very linked to motivation. Nikolov, (2016) understand motivation as the desire to

achieve a goal, the effort made to achieve that goal, and the satisfaction obtained to

achieve the goal. Several studies have shown a significant correlation between the

motivation to learn a language and its subsequent achievement.

A final decisive affective factor is the anxiety about languages, a phenomenon

that has been studied and documented. This negatively impacts performance. Its

counterpart, self-confidence, or willingness to communicate, contributes to achieving

mastery of the second language. This is due to the important role played by the

output- the possibility of putting into practice what has been learned, either in a

formal environment, such as the classroom, or in an informal environment, such as

daily life (Maarof, 2017).

The importance of input, access to the example of spoken and written

language, is widely recognized. However, little has been written about the importance

of output - the structured use of language. Leung, (2016) emphasize that it is not
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 21

needed to know the grammar of a language to understand it, but it is necessary for the

creation of messages. Therefore, the output can be even more effective than the input

for achieving language proficiency. It is also necessary to consider the sociocultural

context in learning the second language. Learning is not only within a social

environment, but the raison d'etre of learning is social: one learns a second language

in order to communicate with others.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, the age at which one begins to study

does not seem to be a determining factor in learning a second language. A study by

Gagné & Parks, (2016), showed that age is not as important as the number of hours of

instruction received. Genesee, (2016) mentions a study in which he compared the

performance of Spanish learners who had begun to study English at 8, 11, or 14 years,

or after 18. In each measurement, late learners performed well than who started their

studies at 8 years old.

On the other hand, Alemi, (2016) points out that children of seven years or

less have no greater advantage in learning a second language than children of 11 or

12. There is strong evidence that there is a critical period for acquiring the accent but

only about that. The smaller the child begins his studies, the better his accent will be;

those who delay learning until after adolescence will always have a foreign accent. In

Mexico, and in some other countries as well, there is a strong tendency to want to

implement the study of English from pre-school. It will be important to question this

tendency if the only advantage is to achieve a better accent. As governments consider

implementing English language teaching, studies that seek to investigate the

effectiveness of official programs increase. Below are some recent studies that can

contribute to the present investigation.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 22

Saito & Shintani, (2016) conducted a study among 840 non-native English

students who studied from third to tenth grade in 37 schools in the United States. The

linear hierarchical model for research was used, showing that four variables - oral

language proficiency, metacognitive strategies, the ability to read in the native

language, and the quality of teaching at school - contribute significantly to the

understanding reader in the second language A study conducted in Chile Gonzalez &

Parra, (2018) using bivariate inferential analysis sought to know the differentiated

achievement levels between the graduates of public schools and those of private

schools. National databases were used for this purpose, including information on

more than 65 thousand students. The study showed that achievement levels in English

are very low, both in reading and listening comprehension in both educational

situations, with a slight advantage for private schools. The best use achieved by these

is basically explained by the socioeconomic characteristics of the students. Once this

variable is controlled, the best capacity in communicative competences is found in

public schools.

August & Shanahan, (2017) studied 102 English speakers who participated in

exchange programs in several countries: Mexico, Spain, France, Russia, Egypt and

China to understand the factors that come into play to take advantage of or not stay

abroad to learn the local language. The variables studied were: time abroad,

opportunities to use the language, cultural sensitivity, sex and age of the participants,

personality, and social networks of the participant (the size, dispersion and density of

the networks). They found that the variables that best predict the increase in

competition were cultural sensitivity and social networks.

A Spanish study Kremin, et al. (2019) examined the possible existence of a

specific difficulty to learn a second language. Teachers and specialized tutors were
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 23

interviewed to detect underperforming students, and to understand if the difficulty

was only in the field of learning English, or if it could be generalized to other areas.

The study showed that 79% of students who do not pass the subject show generalized

problems. Only 21% have a specific difficulty in learning English as a second

language. On the other hand, in a Colombian study Correa & González, (2016), it was

sought to explain the reason for the gap in the level of English between public and

private schools, and if this has been reduced as a result of the implementation of

government policies aimed at achieving bilingualism in that country. The results of

the national English tests applied in 2008 and in 2013 were compared. No significant

changes were found in terms of performance, but an increase in the motivation to

study the language was found.

2.3 Read Aloud Technique and Young ESL Learners (Children in

Primary School)

Children learn to speak from the language they hear, that is, from the words,

expressions and forms of communication they hear from the adults who raise them,

and particularly those forms that are used to address them directly. In this sense,

adults are part of the human process of language learning. Through the language he

uses, the adult becomes a model that children imitate; but children do not learn only

by listening, they need to participate in communicative situations and also have

frequent opportunities to use (produce) that language (Ba & Huan, 2017). Current

positions on language learning explain that structures (sound, lexical, combination of

words, and formulation of discourses) emerge from its use. Dialogue is the main

context in which language learning occurs (Downs, 2017). Research on the type of

linguistic interactions between adults and young children show that, in this context,

both the quality and quantity of linguistic exchanges are important for learning. These
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 24

arguments are related to the role of input and linguistic information available to young

children and are also related to cultural learning, in general (August, et al., 2018).

Within this approach to language learning, studies show that young children

extract, store and process constructions based on the lexicon of the language of the

environment and use these constructions to structure their linguistic representations

(August, 2018). But, in order to know what children extract and process, it is

important to analyse the adult discourse addressed to them: in those analyses their

characteristics of exaggerated intonation, restricted lexical diversity, and simple

sentence structure (Alsamadani, 2017).

Regarding the cultural aspect of the learning process, Smith & Kennedy, (2016)

propose that it is not only about social learning, characterized by learning things by or

from other individuals, but cultural learning, typical of human beings, which it

consists of learning things through other individuals. In this cultural learning of each

other, Young, et al., (2018) includes imitative learning (learning to do what the other

does), instructive learning (learning what the other wants to teach me) and

collaborative learning (learning from sharing). In particular, instructive learning is

what characterizes the situation of reading aloud, which differs from simply speaking.

According to Arnold & Malcolm, (2016), the contribution of instructive learning is

that when they are instructing, adults transmit generic, non-episodic information. For

example, in everyday situations when a chestnut has fallen to the ground, the adult

says "you give me that chestnut"; in an instructional situation the adult explains,

informs, describes that the chestnuts are fruits of the trees that are called "chestnut

trees" that grow in certain temperate zones, etc. That is, they communicate generic

information in training contexts, the type of information found in the books.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 25

In general, reading books shared between adults and children is an activity that

is studied in educational research on school learning, specifically in literacy work.

However, beyond and prior to school learning, in recent years it has been argued that

reading aloud not only helps children in school processes, but also the general

development of the language (Islam & Park, 2016). The empirical evidences that

support this affirmation come from numerous studies on the influence of adult reading

on different aspects of development (Košak-Babuder, et al., 2019).

For example, in a study that compares the corpus of daily oral speech directed

to children with another corpus of reading 20 illustrated books, in terms of syntactic

and lexical constructions. These are two studies that share the same research

perspective on language learning. In the case of everyday language, empirical

evidence is presented in the English language that parents use expressions with "item-

based frames", that is, they use phrases whose syntactic structure is marked by the

order between the words or by the morphology of the words that indicate the roles of

the participants in scenes (Zhou, 2017). For example, they use frames of the type:

"look, it's an X" (like "look, it's a cat", "look, it's dad who calls"). Or constructions

with questions with what, who, where ("who has arrived?", "What has the cat?",

"Where is the cat?"). Also frames with "more + name" (of the type "more water?",

"More milk?"), as well as constructions with imperatives (like "do not run!", "Give

me that I'm wearing!"). Or imperative constructions with modal verbs (like "you

cannot touch that!"). And constructions with high frequency lexical verbs, ("eat what I

give you", "let's see, let's draw a doll" or "let's go to the super") (Omar, 2016).

In the analysis of that daily oral corpus, Košak-Babuder, et al., (2019)

identified that more than half of the input in the sample consisted of item-based

frameworks. Omar, (2016) present similar results with a high degree of lexical
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 26

specificity, also in other languages such as German and Russian, as well as English.

The results of the study conducted by Boyer, (2017) on seven ELL learners pointed

out that the number of complete canonical constructions, with subject-predicate with a

lexical verb (unlike a copula verb, for example) is relatively low. These authors saw

that: (i) in general, only about 15% of all expressions had the form of Subject-Word-

Object (most of the expressions were questions, imperatives, copulas and fragments);

(ii) 51% of all maternal expressions started with a phrase based on items, most with

two words and (iii) after the production phase of the holofrase type or the combination

of two words, the children used many of them. These same sentences based on items,

in correlation with the frequency of use of their own mother.

Now, beyond the everyday language of mother expressions, the authors

suggest that other potential sources of linguistic contributions available for young

children can be identified. These studies point to the shared reading of books between

an adult and children as another source of language development, especially in terms

of lexicon, complex grammatical constructions and narrative structures (Alsamadani,

2017). The results of the comparison between the two studies by Arnold & Malcolm,

(2016) demonstrate the prevalence of canonical statements (with order of subject-

verb-object) and complex constructions in the reading of books, constructions that

occur with very low frequency in the adult's daily speech in interaction with the child.

This linguistic content of books for young children has a potential value that

can play an important role in their grammatical development. The greater frequency

of types of canonical and complex construction offers two benefits (August, 2018).

First, according to Roessingh, (2019), exposure to books facilitates the extraction,

storage and subsequent use of the constructions in question. For example, the greater

frequency of complex constructions provides young children with information related


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 27

to the arrangement of multiple clauses within their language. Second, the highest

levels of exposure to canonical constructions can contribute to the underlying

knowledge of their language. These canonical constructions with subject, verb and

object have the potential to provide the child with important information related to the

linguistic understanding of who does what to whom within their language. Therefore,

these results suggest that reading shared books can be a contributing factor in the

development of complex constructions for children who are frequently read (Shin,

2015).

Regarding the subsequent school stages, Downs, (2017) believe that reading

aloud brings a lot of knowledge to schoolchildren: they contribute pronunciation and

prosody forms, as well as emphasis and comments, and continue the shared learning.

The research finds a positive effect of reading aloud on many of the learning that

takes place in the school, for example, on the statements with structure of open

questions, on the development of the vocabulary (Downs, 2017), on the dialogues

because they improve and extend the conversational skills, on the understanding, on

the narrative development, on pragmatic skills, how to understand that questions are

clues to start a communication process and, fundamentally, about emerging literacy

(Alsamadani, 2017). In addition, several scholars indicate that image books contribute

decisively to the acquisition of metalinguistic and meta-literary skills (Zhou, 2017).

Adult reading aloud to children can create important opportunities for learning

and developing language, reading and writing. It is a privileged way to enrich the

language to which children are exposed, because unlike the conversational interaction

of everyday life, the language of books contains a diversity of examples of forms and

uses of language to express meanings (Alsamadani, 2017). However, these learnings

depend on the quality and frequency of the reading events. In terms of quality, Islam
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 28

& Park, (2016) have considered aspects related to the oralization of texts and aspects

related to the selection of books. The frequency also influences the development of

the language, as it has been shown in the emerging literacy from the use in interaction

with adults (Islam & Park, 2016).

It is frequent that the reading aloud of the adult is related to the small children,

because when the children begin to be autonomous readers the adults (parents and

teachers) stop reading them. Young, et al., (2018) argued that our idea of reading a

book is related to a solitary, individual and autonomous practice of a silent reader.

Reading is treated as a cognitive activity that takes place in a mental setting, such as

dreams, thoughts or memories. However, there may be an oral performance of the

texts, with verbalizations, because silent reading is just a type of reading. Reading

with a voice, the oral performance of a text, continues to be important throughout

school.

Smith & Kennedy, (2016) compares reading aloud to a play, where the

audience participates and enters imaginatively into the fictitious and narrative spaces

of the staging. Although reading audiences have different conditions (the lights are

not dimmed, the audience is aware of their co-presence, people know each other) they

have something in common with theater audiences, with the shared expression of

emotions such as the laughter, the shock or the sadness. This position is consistent

with several studies that were designed to investigate the role of adult performances

during reading, for example, specifically in the case of gestures, some studies show

their role in children's narrative understanding.

On the other hand, it also coincides with the history of reading that shows that

the way of reading aloud in an expressive and acted way has left traces in the graphic

representation of the texts, traces in graphic and typographical marks (August, et al.,
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 29

2018). Current books present those marks that guide the adult in the prosodic aspects

of reading: how to indicate the beginning of the narration, how to differentiate

between narration and dialogues, with what emphasis to indicate the citations, the

title, aspects of the content, etc. The indications obviously influence not only the way

of oralizing the text, but also the use of intonation, voices and gestures (August,

2018). It is also possible that the performance indicators of oralized reading, when

they coincide with the visualization of the text, can serve as a basis for the use of

visual resources in children's production. If the child has been exposed to hear read

and look at the text in a multimodal reading, with a visualization of the texts and the

presence of voice, intonation, looks, gestures, etc., surely he will have been able to

follow how that reading coincides with shapes, colour, typography, size of the

graphics and even images in movement and with gestures, tones, and voices of

reading (Downs, 2017).

Thus, Alsamadani, (2017) emphasize expressive and responsive ways of

reading, with visualization of the texts, that intentionally favour the understanding and

participation of children. Regarding the selection of books, the authors proposed to

consider evolutionary aspects and in the case of preschool children opt for books on

descriptive aspects of basic conceptual domains (vocabulary, for example), books

with recurring structures, with truncated end, language games and dialogues

(Alsamadani, 2017); and for children during primary education, opt for books on

descriptive aspects of specific / encyclopedic domains, deception stories books, with

morals, with characters that exhibit emotional aspects, books that require considering

various points of view, with enigmatic aspects, with unexpected or open end. In short,

books that can be read, commented and interpreted recurrently and that stimulate
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 30

different types of responses and oral and written productions by children (Ba & Huan,

2017).

2.4 Concept of Read Aloud Technique in Classrooms

The concept and technique of reading the text aloud is the foundation for the

development of literacy. This technique helps the children in providing a real-life

demonstration of fluent and phrased reading. Moreover, reading aloud displays the

advantages of reading along with developing the interest of listener to read books.

Listening to the reading of others helps in enhancing the reading comprehension skills

of children and makes it easy for them to integrate the meaning of the texts with their

existing knowledge. Practising this technique in the classroom aids in improving the

vocabulary of children or listeners since it provides exposure to various new words.

Similarly, it also helps in enhancing the level of understanding of children and helps

them focus within the classroom. Reading aloud in the classroom reduces the

complexity of the ideas and makes the text more comprehensive for a student to

understand. Along with that, this technique helps in improving the language pattern of

a student which is absent in every day speeches a student gets exposed to. Currently,

reading aloud has been relegated to a marginal place in classroom work, or has been

completely eliminated, and more importance has been given to silent reading, on the

one hand, and to dramatization on the other (Worthy et al. 2012).

Regarding the didactic orientations, first of all, it must be clear that reading

aloud is not working the oral language, but the written language, and that does not

enable to speak, but to read. From a communicative perspective, read aloud should be

treated as a micro ability of reading comprehension, prior to the rest of the reception

strategies (Marashi & Rahmati, 2017). The first objective, then, to read aloud in

Secondary will be, therefore, the formation of what has been called phonic mediator,
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 31

which is nothing else than the authoritative and versatile inner voice that the silent

reader hears imperceptibly while read (Avivi, 2018). Hearing to read means that the

reader must learn to hear the text he reads to understand it. The following

considerations aspire to be mere didactic orientations of a very general nature that the

teacher can fill with content and concreteness, and put into practice in very different

ways, depending on their context and their work style (Barnes & Oliveira, 2018):

1. Reading aloud must be an intelligent operation, not a mechanical work. It is not

enough to read in any way, but reading should favour the comprehension of the

text: and in the first place, the comprehension of the text by the listener. In the

class exercises, therefore, only the student who reads it out loud will have before

it the written text (Calderon & Slakk, 2018). The other students should only know

it through reading. All work of understanding the text, thus, requires a careful and

effective reading aloud, and the students themselves will be responsible for

regulating that this is so, for their own interest (Calderon & Slakk, 2018).

2. According to Avivi,(2018) in a study conducted on five ESL learners stated that

reading aloud must be a personal exercise, not a group exercise. Reading all at

the same time the same text does not allow to create a personal voice with an

identity of its own, nor does it allow the intelligent interpretation of the text, nor

does it facilitate the understanding of others.

3. Reading aloud, however, is a collective exercise, in the sense that other students

must understand what the student reader reads: the reader-listener collaboration is

an essential part of the exercise (Marashi & Rahmati, 2017).

4. The purpose of reading aloud is to (re) construct the intonation of the text, assign

the appropriate tonal inflections to the sentence accents and group the words into

recognizable and relevant phonics groups, provides them the differences of


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 32

meaning each of them, and learns to discard inappropriate readings. Again, it is a

collective exercise (Smith & Kennedy, 2016).

5. The selection of texts must be appropriate to the level of understanding of the

students, obviously, but it must go a point ahead. To begin with is the idea that

the acquisition of the phonic mediator facilitates understanding, so the text that in

a silent reading it may not be understood by the students it should be able to be

read aloud (Johnston, 2016).

6. The texts must be meaningful and / or functional: texts that serve something,

texts that mean something concrete. That is, reading isolated or decontextualized

phrases can make the exercise fail. It is convenient to read complete texts of

suitable length to the nature of the activity that is programed (Shinozuka, Shibata,

& Mizusawa, 2017).

7. The specific work of the punctuation of the text allows to enter the secrets of the

arbitrariness of the written language, and in the differences between the oral and

the written: to learn when a comma is a logical separation and when it is a

separation of phonic groups; learn the correct intonation of the parenthesis, the

period and followed, the semicolon and the two points; rehearse the different

intonations of the same signs of admiration etc. (Murtaza & Zhanuzakova, 2018).

8. In Secondary, what is best to work on reading aloud is the versatility of the

phonic mediator: changing genres, registers and codes: rehearse or train to read

certain different things. Not far from this type of exercises is the dramatization of

theatrical texts (Barnes & Oliveira, 2018). Attention: it is convenient to

dramatize, in fact, all kinds of texts, including, of course, the merely informative

and strictly objective-dramatize in the sense of interpreting, leaving corporal

expression aside (Yang, 2017).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 33

9. Reading activities that are particularly effective are those of changing a text

without changing a single word-with an alternative reading aloud, with another

intonation (such as with another voice or with another style), change the genre of

the text by changing its reading (such as reading a poem as if it were a report, a

report as if it were a narrative, an instruction as if it were a poem, etc.) read

ambiguous texts to disambiguate them in different ways, etc. (Hoyos & David,

2018).

10. Reading aloud worked systematically in the classroom allows sequencing well

the texts being worked, always knowing in detail the level of reading of each

student, put first the understanding of the text, work with different texts and with

different genres , and introduce the literary texts in the classroom with obvious

functionality (Hussain, Javed, & Munshi, 2015).

2.5 Significance of Read Aloud Technique

The importance of read aloud technique can be highlighted not only by its

contribution towards reading comprehension, and vocabulary of young children. But

there is significant research indicating its role in developing social and emotional or

socio-emotional competence of children in schools (Van der Pol, 2012). During the

last fifteen or twenty years, Lawson, (2012) reported a growing interest in research,

especially from the field of psychology and education, to favour an adequate social

and emotional development of children during the preschool and school years. Today

it is quite clear that it is no longer possible to think about school without also thinking

about the emotional education of children, within the framework of an integral

development where feeling is as important as thinking (Lawson, 2012).

With this, a great step has been taken in the social recognition of the affective

processes and their importance in the educational field. However, most of the efforts
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 34

in the daily tasks of the classrooms are still oriented towards cognitive processes or

the transmission of information. In this logic, with deep historical roots, the cognitive

displaces the emotional dimension, which is still far from having a central place in

formal educational processes (Cain, Oakhill, & Elbro, 2014). On the one hand, the

enormous evidence in areas such as the development of social skills, the reduction of

behavioural problems or the improvement of the climate in the classroom, invites

researchers to integrate the emotional dimension in formal education. But, at the same

time, there is an urgent need to respond to the academic preparation of children,

strongly influenced by the tensions imposed by existing standardized assessments at

the national and international levels (Brouzos, Misailidi, & Hadjimattheou, 2014).

Various intervention programs have been implemented that could, in general,

be included in what has been called socio-emotional learning (programs to improve

coexistence or prevention of maltreatment among peers would be among the most

widespread examples). However, the rise of this type of intervention brings with it

problems of a different order: some have difficulties for their evaluation or are far

from school budgets, and others quickly become a prolongation of traditional

exclusion processes (Riquelme & Montero, 2013). Hibbin, (2016) believe that there

are daily procedures that can respond to these difficulties. They are actions that

harbour a complexity and a power that, perhaps due to its apparent simplicity, remains

unseen by majority. Reading aloud procedure, such as the reading of children's

literature mediated by dialogue, have potential as a tool for the development of

emotional competences (Hibbin, 2016).

Many children grow up with little (or no) contact with the literary language in

early childhood, a stage in which one of the strongest links of an individual with

literature is forged, as it has been demonstrating the investigation in this field. In this
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 35

scenario, what the school can do to facilitate the entry of children into the world of the

story and the literary use of language takes on special importance (Tobia, et al., 2016).

Cardona, et al., (2012) said that reading mediators can do that, in the school and

preschool contexts, reading mediator can encourage love between children and books

and the adult bridges the gap between the two.

Well, when talking about the first approaches to literature, it is necessary to

refer also to the mediation processes of reading. In light of the Vygotskian concept of

mediation, the mediator of reading as an adult who facilitates the child's first

approaches to the book, generating instances of shared reading and exploration of the

texts, in a process in which affectivity prevails and the creation of a cozy and

rewarding reading moment (McBride, 2015). When, the mediator shows his own joy

of reading to sow that desire in the other, in this case, the child and his still reduced

reading experiences. In this process, the reading mediator facilitates the journey

through the words that build the world of fiction, maintaining the connection between

the meaning of those words and the real world in which reading takes place (Bosacki,

Rose-Krasnor, & Coplan, 2014).

One of the mediation strategies most used to motivate children to read is that

of storytelling, which has been understood in the most diverse ways by the multiple

programs of animation to reading emerged in recent decades. An adult who reads

aloud a story for one or more children is a great mediation procedure (Cardona, et al.,

2012). Ding, et al., (2014) posited that one of the most interesting and happy

experiences that a child can have is to listen to stories narrated or read by an adult.

The mediator produces a shared experience, in which the affective component and the

pleasure of reading is fundamental, both in children and in oneself. By being

enthusiastic about the stories he narrates, the adult mediator (be it a teacher or parent)
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 36

is already an active reader model for his listeners. And what at first sight may seem

secondary (the attitude of the adult towards the book), is often transformed into the

key to good mediation.

2.5.1 The Literary Corpus

Selecting the titles that will be used for reading sessions have never been an

easy task for the mediator because there is an enormous and uneven editorial

production of children's literature. This, in the first place, is due to the relational and

contextualized nature of the emotional processes, difficult to dissociate from each

other in the daily interaction. Secondly, by the connotative and polysemic character of

literary discourse, whose relation to the poetic function and divergent thinking

distances it from those texts that direct a specific message for the receiver (Hibbin,

2016). McBride, (2015) believe, rather, that in the mediated reading of children's

literature, sets of narrations crossed by a series of emotionally charged interactions are

explored. From this perspective, the development of emotional competence would go

through a broad contact with stories whose plots make these emotional atmospheres

flourish as natural ingredients of history.

2.5.2 The Languages Used by the Reader / Mediator

In this joint exploration of the literary and emotional universe of books, so

important are the stories that are read as the form adopted to do so. Although it could

be thought that reading a book aloud is a simple task, it is not so much when it is done

for a group of children and the aim is to teach emotions, vocabulary, and social and

moral values that nest between its pages (Brouzos, Misailidi, & Hadjimattheou,

2014). This, far from a flat or choppy reading, needs a fluent reading and a mediator

capable of being, also, a vehicle between the book and the young listeners. In the

reading sessions, the mediator operates in the zone of proximal development of the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 37

child reader/auditor, building together with him a series of scaffolds in the language,

facilitating the recognition of emotions, both in the fictional world and in the adult

itself reader (Guhn, et al., 2016).

For this, the narrator must complement his reading of the text with other

components of nonverbal and para verbal language. In this last one, the intonation, the

appropriate tone and rhythm will be decisive to channel in a plausible and attractive

way the plot of the narration. This involves making decisions about the moments in

which the story wins with a pause or with a certain accent, or about the sentences that

are going to accelerate or slow down, according to the communicative intentionality

of one or another passage (Lawson, 2012). Well, as if it were a score, the mediators

are true interpreters of a text that is strengthened and expanded to the extent that how

to give the appropriate intentionality in each reading session (Tobia, et al., 2016).

In short, in the processes of mediated reading converge various languages that,

channelled through the mediation of an adult, favour the affective approach of the

child to the book and, by extension, introduce it into the various emotional states that

the characters experience throughout the history. Literary language, visual narration,

pauses, tone and rhythm of reading, facial expression and mediator movements are all

components of the same scaffolding that helps children to enter the emotional

universes of the text.

2.5.3 Storytelling

Storytelling (reading aloud with a book) as a way of exploring and expanding

the emotional and language development of both children and adults have a long

history. Listening to and telling stories, dialoguing to explore emotions, preparing

mediators to speak and listen while legitimizing the other, and learning from them in

conversation, are fundamental attitudes from which, unfortunately, schools have


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 38

distanced, and for which there is a need for reconsideration (Tobia, et al., 2016).

Reading aloud thus helps teachers and parents to contribute towards language

development in terms of vocabulary and reading comprehension while also creating a

strong bond between children and adults, as well as children with each other (Van der

Pol, 2012).

In this context, an interesting line of development of the mediated reading

program is found in the family environment. This implies that before basic schooling

children can have extensive contact with literary discourse through their own parents,

mothers or guardians. Here, the challenge is presented in the training workshops on

reading mediated for those parents and other social actors that favour shared reading

environments with their children or pupils in early childhood (especially up to four or

five years) (Lawson, 2012). Another line of development aims at the school

environment, to give continuity to those first experiences with literary discourse in the

family, or to build them when they have not been given (Hibbin, 2016). Here, the

challenge is to generate the spaces and instances that allow the development of

continuous programs of reading mediated, imbricated in the formative process of the

students. In this framework, both the school library and the classroom are ideal

scenarios: teachers and coordinators can become that mediator who, intentionally, will

build bridges between the world of fiction and the emotional universe of children for

those who read (Riquelme & Montero, 2013).

The results show a very fertile ground for the realization of this type of

readings by school mediators. They show, in the first place, that a meaningful activity

of reading aloud does not need pyrotechnics that are beyond the reach because the

preparation of a good book and a predisposition to dialogue already do a lot (Ding, et

al., 2014). Second, that behind the simplicity of reading a story to a group of children
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 39

there is an art that has to do with the ability to attend to the many details that

distinguish a good reading and that make of the mediator a vehicle of the emotional

atmospheres of the story. Finally, that this same simple procedure has great potential,

not only in the literary education of children, but also in their affective education and

their integral development (Krashen, 2013).

Cain, Oakhill, & Elbro, (2014) believe that future experiences along these

lines should explore the possibilities of reading mediated as a long-term program,

rather than as an isolated activity in school programming (similarly, research should

advance in the evaluation of the effect of such programs) (Cain, Oakhill, & Elbro,

2014). The prolongation in time of the reading mediated would allow to address

different dimensions of emotional competences, as well as to observe their influence

on the academic development of children because, if socio-affective education and

academic education are considered as an integrated process, reading aloud can help as

a "Communicating vessels" between one and the other. That is, the advances

produced in the emotional field of the child accrue in a strengthening of their

academic work, as the recent research has proposed. Without a doubt, this requires

time (Riquelme & Montero, 2013).

That is, perhaps, the greatest conviction that this study is based on is the fact

that there is a need to stop thinking about the classroom and the school as the

exclusively ‗academic‘ redoubt, which until now has prevailed in educational

establishments, leaving out of this orbit the development of educational processes

socio-affective, like the one suggested in this document. Therefore there is a need to

include in formal education, through contact with literary art mediated by significant

adults, instances that act in pursuit of an integral formative process that enhances the

adequate social and individual development of our children (Isaki & Harmon, 2015).
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 40

2.6 Aspects of Read Aloud Techniques Used in Classrooms

Reading aloud has certain requirements to follow, which allow to maintain the

interest of the recipients, this being the function of the reader. According to Trelease,

(2013) who considers that it is not enough to read aloud, but also have the

competency to read well. It is understood to read well to have a good voice

management, which involves working the phonetic part trying to represent the sounds

with greater accuracy, which are also linked to the situation and writing, as also make

use of various gestures, in which hands, eyes and mouth come into play, in addition to

alternating the look between the listener and the writing while reading, which allows a

greater affinity, however it is important to note that it is essential to adopt a proper

position of the body in order to achieve a good emission (Justice & Sofka, 2013).

2.6.1 The Voice

The voice is the sounds that the teacher emits when speaking, allowing him to

express and communicate feelings and thoughts. This is a faculty of the human being,

for this reason it can be said that to some extent it is the voice that makes socialization

possible, leading to the cultural, political, economic and social environment among

others (Bolanos, et al., 2013). The voice is a wonderful tool that makes it possible to

bring to the outside world an infinity of ideas that each individual possesses in its

interior, besides being one of the fastest means that allows to manifest them, because

the oral language flows more easily than another channel, such as the written medium,

signs, etc. It is clear that everything depends on the complexity and extension of the

message, because a picture says more than a thousand words. In this case a simple

gesture can represent an idea that was possibly more complicated to explain orally

(Chomsky, 2012).
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 41

Now, focusing on the reading aloud, adequate command of the voice is

paramount, and much more if it is done in public. Lawson, (2012) make reference to

it, mentioning that the voice must be easily understood, have adequate intensity and

scope. It should come clearly to the ears of the audience. The articulation must be

clear: no syllable should be dark or confused. When reading, it is the text that offers

meanings and the voice is one of the instruments through which these are discovered,

reflecting moods, such as emotions, drama, grief, pain, sadness, disgust, irony,

amazement, joy and other conditions that are part of man. Therefore, to understand it

and to make the receiver achieve it, it is necessary to be careful when reading, so that

it is clearly pronounced and the expressivity can be identified (French, 2012).

The handling and the form of the broadcasts, is reflected in the voice, making

modulation or what is the same a variation, a modification, according to what teachers

want to express, therefore teachers can identify a series of requirements that make it

possible. Following are important aspects of read aloud exercises.

2.6.2 The Tonality

It is the character, the particular mode of expression and style taking into

account the intention of the speaker or what is intended to reflect the theme read,

melodic or slightly harmonious guide that accompanies the oral language, tonality is

part of the sounds and is determined by the frequency allowing them to be classified

in (Hutton, et al., 2015):

 Strong - soft

 Fast - slow

 High - low

The key helps the reader and the listener by differentiating meanings, place the

words in the various phonic groups, and identify the intention of the issuer is to say if
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 42

a particular expression is indicated as a quality, affirmation or on the contrary is

loaded with irony. The tone is paramount in reading aloud, as it is said in the text. The

art of public speaking when speaking with monotony of sounds, the effect of ideas

diminishes and the audience ceases to be impressed (Sim & Berthelsen, 2014). The

intensification of the tone helps to awaken the attention and awaken new emotions

and sensations. The variation of the tone is one of the secrets when speaking,

therefore when reading would be more valuable still, if the way of pronouncing the

writing is varied, if the word is given greater emphasis and emphasis when required

(Mason, 2017).

2.6.3 The Accent

This delimits the pronunciation and is marked in one of the syllables of the

words identifying it by the greater force, intensity or by an elevation of the tone with

which it is pronounced, this means that when a word is composed of several syllables,

one stands out ( tonic) over the others (atonas) through the accent (Dollins, 2014).

This becomes a group of phonetic, rhythmic and melodic particularities that

characterize the speech, this also demonstrates the energy, rhythm and intonation with

which the speaker or the reader expresses himself according to his mood and purpose,

giving special importance to certain ideas, words, facts, purposes, etc. (Mart, 2012).

About the intonation Sipe, (2015) points out that it is almost always redundant

with respect to the statement to which it corresponds. It never contradicts or denies,

but corroborates, the meaning or sense of its respective utterance. The accent, like

tonality, serves to differentiate the meaning of some words, in addition, the accent

helps the sender-reader to highlight something before his interlocutor, lengthening

and elevating the tone of the tonic syllable of some word.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 43

2.6.4 Punctuation Marks

They help to understand the value and meaning of words and sentences, they

also demand the variation of the voice and in the same way it facilitates a greater

understanding of what was read. Each of them is a sign of how to read, making short,

extensive, moderate pauses (i.e. those that are between these two) (Sipe, 2015). In

relation to punctuation marks Dollins, (2014) highlight the importance for both

reading and writing and stated that they:

 introduce breaks in speech (but do not rest on each sign, and teachers can rest

where there are no signs),

 to undo ambiguities (but not all can be eliminated by punctuation, nor is this the

only way to do it),

 make clear the syntactic structure of the sentence (but this is done also by other

means),

 to mark the rhythm and melody of the phrase (although not all signs have these

effects),

 to distinguish senses or special uses of certain words ( but for that teachers can

also use typefaces, such as italics),

 to quote the words of another separating them from your own (but that is also

achieved with letter sizes and bleeds),

 to transmit moods or postures to what is says or writes (but not all have a

correlation in the score, nor is it unique),

 to indicate the architecture of the text (but so do the whites, and capital letters)

Mason, (2017) mentions the functions of the punctuation marks, as well as

clarifies that they are not the only ones that can fulfil a certain task, and in spite of

manifesting who could replace them, it seems indispensable that teachers must have
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 44

knowledge of how to manage them. They must start from what they already have and

at any moment they have texts whose form is given by the punctuation marks and are

not yet replaced by the other options that it gives. They are little rules that favour the

understanding between the book and the reader, between the reader and the listener

(Hutton, et al., 2015). These signs are indications of what can happen in reading, and

are delimited by punctuation marks, for example they can refer to (Lawson, 2012):

 The closing of an idea.

 Attention calls about what comes next.

 The expression of doubt, fear or uncertainty.

 To imply a word or evil expression, without naming it.

 The possible continuation of a topic.

 Astonishment, surprise.

2.6.5 The Gestures

The gestures are a fundamental part when making a reading aloud, the reader

must not only read but must also reflect and transmit the scenes written by means of

facial expressiveness, be able to manifest with great vividness and animation what is

found, so that the listener can identify the face of amazement, sadness doubt and each

of those feelings and emotions that have been talked about, since mixing them with

tonality would recreate the activity and give more taste (Chomsky, 2012). As Sim &

Berthelsen, (2014) says there is no need to point out that good voice management

should be accompanied by appropriate gestures, without falling into exaggeration.

Even, pauses and silences must be dosed with creative criteria so that they also have

expressiveness. Gestures are of vital importance but, as the author says, it is not

necessary to exaggerate, since this would lead to ridicule, detracting from interest in

reading.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 45

Read aloud taking into account the above aspects would be ideal, this would

keep the attention of listeners, motivate them to provide input, make comments, in

itself to be part of the reading, remember that it is a situation that can please from the

smallest to the adult, there is nothing more demotivating than listening to someone

when he ignores the aspects that should be taken into account when performing a

reading aloud (French, 2012).

2.6.6 Guidelines for Read Aloud Sessions

It may seem a little complicated to apply everything, it's just a matter of

practice, it's about paying attention, keeping in mind what the punctuation marks

indicate, maintaining a dialogue with the text, obeying what it is saying, so It is

necessary to consider a series of important aspects that must be taken into account in

this process, following are some guidelines to put into practice (Bolanos, et al., 2013):

There are some points that can be taken, to practice reading aloud in a more

effective way:

In this technique should not import the speed as in silent reading, much less

the amount, only the pleasure of reading, contact with the text and understanding

matters (Trelease, 2013).

 As it was raised in silent reading there are many fears that surround the reader

when reading aloud, for this reason when it does for others it would be ideal to

forget those present, act relaxed and immerse yourself in reading without

competing with others companions (Isaki & Harmon, 2015).

 When reading is necessary to observe and heed the punctuation marks, they are

indicating that teachers must change the tone of voice, pause, silence, etc. It will

be more fun and enjoyable. · When reading, one should be aware of the body's

posture (Bolanos, et al., 2013).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 46

 Acquire the habit of breathing correctly, i.e. making use of diaphragmatic

breathing (French, 2012).

 Take into account the expression of the eyes and eye contact (Hutton, et al., 2015).

 Vary facial gestures according to needs (Chomsky, 2012).

 Remember that the highs and lows of the voice, pauses and points of emphasis

are, literally, music to the listeners' ears. · Exercise with the tongue and lips that

allow a good pronunciation (Isaki & Harmon, 2015).

The guidelines for a public reading that draws attention depend on the same

voice and text, so Justice & Sofka, (2013) says that teachers should use a slow reading

rhythm for the darker passages of a book and, a fast pace for the faster fragments of

the text or for any other section overflowing with emotion and drama.

2.7 Research Related to Read Aloud Technique as a Tool to Enhance

Student’s Reading

The reading is quite broad, it implies diverse aspects like: type of text, the

selection of text, the surroundings, the reading competence, the techniques to use, the

objectives, the understanding and the sense that can be given to the text. This issue

has been important throughout history, Trelease, (2013) concluded that reading has

varied its significance, objectives, how to perform and some generalities. In ancient

times, orality played an extremely important role, since it allowed speakers to

demonstrate their skills, share their lived experiences and narrate them in a

dramatized way, they were moments when they did not use written material because

they used improvisation (Trelease, 2013). When the manuscripts appeared many did

not take them into account at the time of their presentations, since they started from

memorization as Homer did reciting his verses from city to city, reciting poems at
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 47

solemn parties which were taught to children and at the same time These actions

influenced philosophers, writers and education, these characters put on stage themes

of great thinkers of the time (Lai, et al., 2014).

Despite the importance given to orality and reading aloud, it was surprising to

find people who worked on reading differently, that is, in silent reading. This way of

reading generated admiration in its context, since the presence of an absorbed reader

was not noticed, it did not arouse the curiosity of passers-by because it remained

isolated and Attentive only to what was being read (Lennox, 2013).

At that time, a silent reading was used to achieve greater learning, since it was

believed that listening to his own voice generated a distraction and the other aloud to

share with friends, family and society in general, however, in the text a history of

reading states that although it is possible to find previous examples of silent reading,

people had to wait until the tenth century for that way of reading to become habitual

in the West (Alshumaimeri, 2017). This population had the habit of listening and

practice reading aloud, they received this example from their ancestors therefore this

same one was the one that transmitted to the new generations, the orality towards part

of their lives, to the point of seeing it as the only technique to read, due to this For

them, it was very difficult to adopt silent reading, going from the collective to the

individual meant a complex change to assume, which demanded a long time to be

able to get it (Mason, 2017).

Dougherty Stahl, (2012) give other reasons why silent reading was not

normally possible until a few centuries later because there was no known separation

or empty space between words. Only a few monumental inscriptions spoke to the eye,

separating one word from another. On the wax tablets, the papyri and the scrolls, each

line was an uninterrupted succession of letters. There was almost no other way of
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 48

reading other than to try sentences out loud and listen to them to determine if they

made sense (Dougherty Stahl, 2012).

To put aside the technique of reading aloud and imposing silent reading not

only influenced the custom that was had but it became a requirement to achieve well

written texts, since it was necessary to read, listen and judge in order to identify

Failures and mistakes made in it, finally silent reading became something new and

with it the advantages of reading more quickly and intelligibility which made this

technique had greater acceptance (Swain, et al., 2017). In relation to the written

presentation of the old contents Bryant & Goswami, (2016) state that the manuscripts

of the High Middle Ages appear with continuous writing as in antiquity when a slave-

reader gave voice to the writing in front of his audience. It indicates that one went

from improvisation to reading, due to the presence of writing, which became a

technique used more frequently in society at that time. To facilitate the reading, the

blank spaces were created and applied and later, as the authors mention in the same

text, another type of aid was used, such as some punctuation marks, the period and the

semicolon. These signs are still vital in visual reading, leading to a better clarity in

their performance, since they indicate the type of pause that should be used at a

certain time (Bryant & Goswami, 2016).

In the Middle Ages more exactly in the twelfth century there is a mediator

between the student and the text, that is, the figure of the intellectual cleric, reader-

writer, teacher-researcher, who after making the readings was responsible for making

summaries, compilations and synthesis that were then exposed to their students in

order to facilitate the understanding of the text read (Hulme, et al., 2012). According

to the cultural practices of the Old Regime, they started from the presence of the

writing which allowed to establish a percentage of literacy thanks to the signing of


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 49

documents and lists. There are variations in reading capacity according to the time,

places, sexes, the conditions created by notaries and booksellers, (the most cultured)

who tended to measure the circulation of the book and the traditions of reading, the

representations of these were carried out through literary, pictorial or autobiographical

scenes (Mims, et al., 2012).

The significance of reading has varied over time, in the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries continued the presence of silent reading to a lesser degree since

it is still practiced only by some educated readers, Damber, (2015) in this regard states

that the reading becomes for literate elites, in the act par excellence of intimate,

secret, private leisure. There are abundant witnesses who describe that pleasure of

retiring from the world, of departing from the affairs of the city, embracing in the

silence of solitude. It can be observed here that how these people enjoyed the joy of

reading, of direct contact with books, solitary and isolated spaces leaving aside their

daily tasks, the urban, worries and sociability, activities that are also important in the

life of any human being, which influence their individual and collective development

(Damber, 2015).

It is known that thetwo reading techniques were still being continued

simultaneously, however in the societies of the old regime they gave more importance

to reading aloud (listening to reading), a practice that they performed frequently, as a

form of intellectual sociability around the text leafed and discussed (Rieben &

Perfetti, 2013). The reading is not a gesture of intimacy, confinement or silence,

otherwise the reading aloud had the purpose of sharing, entertaining and creating

relationships of coexistence. The way of carrying out the reading is undoubtedly what

captivated the attention of the listeners, as it happened with reading texts (Kraemer,

McCabe, & Sinatra, 2012).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 50

According to Allington, (2014) reading is not only an abstract operation of

intellection. It is the beginning of the body, the inscription in a space, the relationship

with oneself and others. That is why the reading in voice high to be a technique of

public nature was used to reach the texts having a double function, to communicate

the written to those people with little literacy and strengthen family and social ties

(Allington, 2014). This type of reading, whether ordered or spontaneous, is one of the

duties and pleasures related and applied in different areas, in the case of the family is

put into practice through biblical texts, for example in Protestant societies the Bible

was read through the intensive reading carried out in community, in order to share and

share the word of God (Johnston, 2016).

The historical studies allow to identify some constants and variations that

appear in the reading practices in different societies or epochs. Reading is an activity

that has gone through several stages and all have been handled from different angles

according to the culture, customs, needs and situations that determine the moment,

each stage implies a change or modification that can be positive or negative, for the

generations (Baker, et al., 2013). In relation to its evolution Morgan, (2013) say that

at the end of the eighteenth century along with traditional intensive reading (religious,

slow, repetitive, collective, serious), an extensive reading appears (profane, fast, eager

for novelties, individual, hedonist) to the point that contemporaries speak of a

revolution in reading that some people are more concerned about than the French

Revolution (Morgan, 2013).

According to this appointment a change in the way of reading was generated,

for a long time it was seen as an activity in which few texts were read but in a very

intense, deep and repeated way, which generated learning, discussions and

relationships. These readings could also be carried out regardless of gender, age and
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 51

cultural level, which indicates that everyone could participate in it, without any

discrimination (Justice, et al., 2015). Later there was another way to put into practice

reading, which covered a variety of texts developed in privacy, worked more

individually and free, giving priority to personal interests, the latter could generate

dangers and false promises, due to the use and interpretation that gave each reader, on

the other hand the practice of extensive reading involved reading quickly, overlooking

relevant aspects and causing the lack of understanding of the subject, this may be

related to a higher rate of readings made but with a ‗Not so satisfactory‘ result (Van

den Boer, van Bergen, & de Jong, 2014).

Reviewing the research on reading, Price, Bradley, & Smith, (2012)

recommended to stop focusing on functions as global as intelligence or perception to

focus on more analytical studies on instrumental skills or cognitive processes. Price,

Bradley, & Smith, (2012) reported that the reading takes into account a number of

aspects such as auditory memory, spatio-temporal structure, visual discrimination and

some alterations that affect the reading and writing process that lead to reading

disability (dyslexia, dyscalculia, disorders of voice and speech) (Price, Bradley, &

Smith, 2012). At the beginning of the nineteenth century reading became part of daily

life or at least this was what pretended cult readers of the time, who considered that

this cultural practice had been ignored for a long time. This is how the idea arose that

all the people should read to be informed, which required a training, making it a goal

for them through an accompaniment for new readers (Van den Boer, van Bergen, &

de Jong, 2014).

The idea proposed at the beginning of the appointment has been affected,

because many of the information and activities coming from reading are transferred to

sound and image, through television, which in some cases becomes a prototype of the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 52

lack of culture and passive consumption, thus becoming an enemy of reading, which

means that the role of the teacher in the institutions is not managing to awaken

interest in it, added to the lack of reading practice on the part of adults , is where the

need to inculcate the reading habit, to motivate and generate interest in this process

(Morgan, 2013). On the other hand, it can be observed that the book has been

displaced by "the computer" and with it the habit of reading since some children,

adolescents and a large part of adults occupy their free time in activities related to the

network, the variety of entertainment and information that it offers such as chatting,

watching and listening to videos. These practices distract and make the student lose

interest in reading and even electronic books (Justice, et al., 2015).

There are some disadvantages in terms of excessive use of the computer as is

the fatigue it generates by poor posture, due to the very small spaces, with little

ventilation, lighting, and that the time forces the student to read in a quick and

summarized way, making this activity in an individual reading, technique that was

used in other times by educated readers when the extensive reading mentioned above

arose (Allington, 2014). It can be said that reading could be more pleasant and

convenient if it is done in a paper book than on the screen due to the contact and the

comfort it offers (Baker, et al., 2013).

It is for many people more pleasant to read directly from the book for the ease

of taking it anywhere, adopting the desired position, and not depend on a

technological element that requires the use of electric power or be properly charged.

Also, in case of collective reading, it would be more difficult to do it, because if all

are watching the screen they could not be aware of the requirements of it (Kraemer,

McCabe, & Sinatra, 2012). On the other hand, the communication of some of the new

readers it could be less structured than that of the one who has had more experience in
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 53

reading through books and everyday experiences, since they use more superficial

strategies that are not the same as the traditional reader, for example the same

underline is not possible in the lines or write a note or observation next to the

paragraph (Johnston, 2016).

Several researches have been made about the reading in front of the computer

screen and in front of the book, in which some authors defend this last idea, such as

Rieben & Perfetti, (2013) argues that the continuous interface (roll type) of the

computers disorganizes the sense of the physical structure of the user's text and,

consequently, its ability to form a global perspective of it. Reading in front of the

screen prevents that the reader remembers and identifies in a quick and easy way the

location of the main ideas of the text, because the presentation of the same, can

generate confusions (Rieben & Perfetti, 2013).

In ancient times, reading was generally practiced aloud, which created social

ties, increased relations of coexistence, which showed the importance it had in the

meeting of people around a book. Hulme, et al., (2012) thinks that it was read in this

way in order to enjoy, instruct and grant sounds greater value than content, which

could enrich or impoverish the act of reading. In the individual reading the interest of

the person who performs it prevails and it can be a good strategy for those who prefer

to read alone and do not look ridiculous making it a bit strong, in such a way that the

voice can be heard through their external ears (Hulme, et al., 2012). When practicing

it happens the opposite of silent reading, because it is both visual and vocalic-

auditory, this requires the senses of sight and hearing, which have a very important

function since they allow to unravel main ideas, reaffirm concepts and internalize

them more effectively it is the eyes and the mouth that give life to the text, to the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 54

moment and to the situation, becoming these the entrance door to the content

(Damber, 2015).

Swain, et al., (2017) considered the sense of sight as the most acute of human

senses, even pointing out that a text is better remembered when it has been seen than

when it has been heard. Therefore it can be supposed that much can be obtained by

seeing and hearing a text, that is, by reading aloud. Functionality is doubled for those

who do it for themselves.

It is important to note that the researchers gave the first place to the sense of

sight and made the world visual, and thus it can be observed that reality reaches man

through sight and with it structures its field of action-reception. The ear, on the other

hand, is only a companion to the eye and is at your service. Thus, when making use of

reading aloud, these two senses have equal importance and complement one another.

The ear puts the view in a position to understand, since it receives messages and

information obtained through them (Mims, et al., 2012). About the collective read out,

Alshumaimeri, (2017) explain what happens when the receiver does not have direct

contact with the writing. The sight and hearing are means that allow the entry of

information and do not forget that in all reading always remains a phonetic translation

and even when a person reads silently the words are pronounced.

In the collective reading the readers and the listeners gathered from a text

participate, but Duke & Block, (2012) affirmed that they will ask themselves then

what happens when the reading is done aloud collectively? It could be thought that the

receivers will not obtain the same results as the reader, which is negative since the

important thing in this action is to attract the attention of the listener and this is

achieved thanks to the ability of the listener to do it, it is about an excellent

performance, that contributes to the development of the imagination, this would be the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 55

main link after making a good selection of reading, being sure that it is interesting,

stimulating and appropriate for the age both in regard to the subject and the extension,

hence the positive or negative attitude that the receiver assumes will determine the

achievements related to understanding (Duke & Block, 2012).

A well-read reading aloud occurs when the listener listens to the writer, sees

what counts, listens to himself and transmits it to others as he makes the story his

own. He affirmed that one of the simplest ways to try to achieve excellence when

reading aloud is to see, with the mind's eye, the things that are being read (Bryant &

Goswami, 2016). By not having direct contact with the content it makes use of the

internal vision allowing to see a global idea and activate the imagination to recreate

each scene as it was said in the previous paragraph, which is achieved thanks to the

cognitive schemes (Lai, et al., 2014).

2.8 Effect of Read Aloud Technique on Comprehension Skills of

Students

The literature on these potential effects of reading aloud in comprehension or

understanding of students is limited. In their research, Santoro, et al., (2016) have

distributed subjects of fourth grade by three different conditions. In the first, students

received training in reading techniques using reading aloud as a basis for learning.

They read and tried to understand narrative texts reading aloud in certain moments of

the text (Santoro, et al., 2016). The group in the second condition read the same texts,

but the emphasis was placed on activities to promote predictions and verification of

comprehension (Reading Activities-Directed Thought) and the third group was

subjected to a more directive program in the reading of these texts, with the

introduction of new vocabulary, activation of previous knowledge and questions

about the text (Chapleau, et al., 2017).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 56

For the authors, the results of both quantitative and qualitative evaluations

conclude that the first two groups have had better performances. In addition, the

Directed Activities group demonstrated some positive impact in monitoring student

comprehension, instruction in reading aloud has been highly effective in helping

students acquire a wide range of strategies to improve their comprehension of the text

and to face their comprehension difficulties (Chapleau, et al., 2017). The potential of

reading aloud seems to be, according to the authors, in its particularity to make visible

the cognitive processes associated with understanding that are normally hidden from

readers. Stopping, having access to those processes and being able to think about

them, can make a difference when it comes to teaching monitoring skills (Dyson, et

al., 2017).

In addition, Santoro, et al., (2016) suggest the possibility of developing this

field more specifically from variations in the method. An example they offer is to

promote the social construction of thoughts aloud in the classroom, with the aim of

facilitating internalization processes. For this, they invite teachers to create

collaborative situations, in which students produce thoughts aloud in groups,

developing situations of social meaning construction. It seems important to emphasize

that the perspective of these authors is to use reading aloud as a means to guarantee

and facilitate the use of comprehension strategies such as self-questions, making

predictions, verifications, etc. (Santoro, et al., 2016). Although Swain, et al., (2017)

see a clear commitment to the potential of reading aloud as an instrument to improve

understanding, this effect is mediated by the use of strategies, taught during training

sessions. It cannot be affirmed, from these studies, that the read aloud, in a clear and

independent way, has had effects in the improvement of the comprehension of the

students.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 57

Another study within the same field and published the same year is that of

Harris & Butaud, (2016). These authors have developed a strategy teaching program

based on the van Dijk and Kintsch‘s model that was taught to readers by a teacher

who modelled the use of these strategies. The study sought to understand the effects

of both the quality of reading aloud of the teacher who trained the students and the

way in which the students were guided in their thoughts aloud. Students have

improved in five of the seven strategies used. Later, a work emerges that gives

another step in the knowledge of the virtualities of reading aloud in the promotion of

understanding. In the work referred to above (Harris & Butaud, 2016). Ledger &

Merga, (2018) affirm that, to date, the effect that understanding has on the simple fact

of being invited to reflect on their own processes has not been explored. For this

reason, they have proposed to carry out an investigation in which the effects of the

revision of texts are crossed with that of an invitation to readers to think about aloud.

One of the logical foundations present in this research is that understanding is

facilitated whenever the reader has an active role in the search for meaning. No matter

how good the texts are, and no matter how many aids the educational context offers,

only an active participation on the part of the reader can successfully carry out the

task of understanding a text. One of the inspirations of the authors in identifying the

strategic importance that reading aloud can have comes from the area of

metacognition (Alharbi, 2015). Thus, they affirm that the objective of the teaching of

metacognition is to return the students aware of the mental processes involved in

reading and to equip them with the processing strategies that will help them to

become more active readers. Akyol, Çakıroğlu, & Kuruyer, (2017) conducted a study

on three grade five students and as a result it was hypothesized that asking readers to
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 58

read aloud at certain points in the text would involve them in a process of actively

searching for the meaning of what they read.

Mason, (2017) focused on sixth graders and developed four experimental

conditions. One of the groups read a text (expositive, taken from a school manual) in

a habitual situation (that is, in silence), another read the same text, but with the slogan

of reading aloud at the end of certain units of the text, the third group silently read a

revised version of the text and the fourth read that revised version with thought aloud.

At the end of the reading, the students were asked to recount what they remembered

from the text and to answer some questions about it

The results have shown, for both dependent variables (summary and answers)

a progressive improvement of the results starting from the control group (silent

reading, original version), going through the group of the condition original text with

read out loud, followed by the group that silently read the modified text, until

reaching the group that received both treatments (reading aloud and revised version)

(McKee & Carr, 2016). However, the only difference with statistical significance has

been between this last group and the control group. In this same work, the authors

have made a qualitative analysis of the subjects' summaries, an analysis that allowed

to construct a typical summary of each condition. Comparing these products, the

researchers suggest that the representation of the text revealed by each typical

summary is improving (Jackson, 2016). Thus, in the summaries of the condition

original text in silence no explanations are present, while, in the typical model of the

condition original text with thought aloud there is an explanation and in the

summaries of the other Two conditions increase the number of explanations (Paige &

Magpuri-Lavell, 2017).
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 59

In a further study, referred to in the same article, the authors investigated the

effect of these treatments on students of different levels of comprehension and on the

retention of the material over time (with a second data collection after one week). The

data, in consistence with the previous studies, have shown better results in the

memory spent a week in the students who read the revised text and also that the

students of medium level of comprehension who read the revised version of the text

had performances as good or better than the upper level students who read the original

version (Wang, 2016). This study will not bring here the discussion regarding the

effects of the revision of texts. This study is interested, at this moment, to emphasize

the aspects that they say regarding the intervention associated with reading aloud. The

authors of the study point to the fact that the effect of reading aloud (in general,

weaker than that of the review) has been dependent on the version of the text read,

revealing much more marked in the case of the revised text (Sudiati, Hanapi, & Bugis,

2018).

According to the researchers, it may be that, in order to get the best out of the

intervention with read aloud, students must work with a text that explicitly connects

the information and offers adequate explanations. In addition, they call attention to the

fact that the version of the thought aloud used has been quite "soft", that is, with a

simple suggestion for the reader to think freely (Sudiati, Hanapi, & Bugis, 2018). The

effect could hypothetically be greatly enhanced with more directive interventions.

Another research team did important work using the read-aloud protocols to study the

processing during the reading of a text and simultaneously trying to measure the

impact of that type of task on comprehension. Wang, (2016) have carried out an

investigation in which the following questions have been placed:


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 60

1) How do students build 4th and 6th mental representations based on expository

texts relatively to which they have scarce prior information? The authors

expected students to use a variety of strategies, such as paraphrasing, elaborating

through connection inferences and using previous knowledge, as well as

monitoring their understanding (Paige & Magpuri-Lavell, 2017).

2) How are the processing activities during the reading related to what the students

understand and remember? It was expected that those who elaborated on the

presented information, creating connections between sentences and using

previous information to construct self-explanations, as well as those others that

solved their problems of comprehension, would create more coherent

representations and would use better the information of the text (Mason, 2017).

3) Will the use of thinking protocols aloud modify the nature of the processing and

representation of the text? There are two possibilities: the use of this task may

harm the processing or may benefit the same (Akyol, Çakıroğlu, & Kuruyer,

2017).

Relatively to the first question, the investigations carried out allow talking

about a flexible and adaptive processing of the students, reasoning about what they

read and using their previous knowledge, frequently resorting to self-explanations and

supervising the process. His main focus has been on local coherence. Regarding the

question of the relationships between the processing measures and the memory of the

text, the authors have not found direct relationships between the two (Ledger &

Merga, 2018). Some observed cases allow to talk about quite complex relationships

between some types of processing - for example, self-explanations - and the memory

of the text. In one of the cases studied, despite a significant number of explanations

made during the reading aloud, that has not had any reflection in the memory of the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 61

text. Another case presented by the authors allows observing how in some

circumstances the elaborations and explanations made by the reader contribute to the

construction of wrong ideas on the subject (Jackson, 2016).

But the most pertinent results in the context of the present investigation are

those that say about the study of the impact of reading aloud in the processing and

construction of the representation of the text. In this regard, the authors have

compared the results of four groups of students. One of the groups consisted of twelve

roommates and read the texts silently, another (also fourth) read them with thought

aloud. The other two groups were formed by twelve sixth graders each, also reading

in the same two conditions (Swain, et al., 2017). The youngest students (fourth) have

presented worse performances in the memory of the text when their reading was

accompanied by thinking aloud. On the contrary, sixth graders remembered the text

better when they had to think aloud at the end of the sentences. In the opinion of the

authors, this last result can be explained by the fact that thinking aloud makes it more

likely that the student will resort to active processing strategies (Dyson, et al., 2017).

In this, "thinking aloud has much in common with other strategies of active

processing that involve the reader with the text, such as reciprocal teaching, the

elaborative interrogation and the questioning of the author. Each of these techniques

provides readers with a strategy to think about what they have read, the meaning

relationships incorporated into the text and possible connections to what they already

know about the world (McKee & Carr, 2016).

Relatively to the question associated with the fact that fourth graders have

been harmed by their attempt to read aloud, this may be due to the cognitive demands

of the procedure, which can push the capacity of young readers to the limit (Chapleau,

et al., 2017). A study, more recent, regarding the effects of thinking aloud in reading
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 62

comprehension is that of Alharbi, (2015), who wanted to know those effects in the

specific field of learning English as a second language. For that, he has divided 32

eighth-grade English students into two groups. The control group has had a teaching

of reading in English considered a standard. The experimental group used, in the same

materials, reading aloud strategies.

Dependent variables have assessed reading comprehension in four distinct

components: literal comprehension, interpretative comprehension, critical and

creative comprehension. In addition, the effectiveness of the use of reading aloud by

the subjects of the control group after training has been evaluated. The results have

shown a significant correlation between the level of effective use of reading aloud by

experimental subjects and reading comprehension in general (Jackson, 2016). In the

differentiated analysis of the correlations between reading aloud and the different

levels of understanding, only those referring to the domains of critical comprehension

and interpretative comprehension have had significant results. Relatively to the

comparisons between the groups, significant results have been found for the training

in read aloud. The control group has had significantly superior results in the literal

comprehension measures and the experimental group has been superior in the critical

comprehension (Harris & Butaud, 2016).

2.9 Effect of Read Aloud on Vocabulary Development of Students

According to a study conducted on four ESL learners of second grade by

Baker, et al. (2016) the lexical-based aspect of language has led cognitive linguistics

to propose grammar as emerging from the lexicon and use in experience, in the way

of complex systems that have been identified, for example, in biology. Similarly, in

the acquisition of language the lexicon is one of the bases of learning. The factors

related to the lexicon are frequency in the input, frequency of copies and diversity of
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 63

type of constructions. In this sense, a greater frequency and diversity is found in the

written modality and all its forms of literate language. Now, what is the form of

dissemination of written language for children of 4 and 5 years who are not yet

autonomous readers? The best dissemination procedure is reading aloud, as it was

throughout the cultural history of mankind for centuries for the non-schooled

population (Boyer, 2017).

Reading aloud affects positively on vocabulary development through various

aspects of the interactive process between lexicon and phonology, morphology,

syntax, and discourse and then face the continuity between oral and written modalities

(August, et al., 2018).

Most investigations place the closing of a first phase of the acquisition of the

phonological system around the 4-5 years. Subsequently, a period of improvement

continues that can extend up to 6-7 years, and even with respect to some phonetic

aspects, such as the sonority or place of articulation of the stops, the learners do not

develop skills similar to the adult until adolescence. Research on language acquisition

has shown a direct relationship between lexical development and phonological

development according to Hunt & Feng( 2016) suggested in a study conducted on

eight ESL learners studying in second grade . In this sense, Correa, et al., (2015) were

one of the first to emphasize that a phonic nucleus of lexical items in memory and the

joints that produce them is the basis for phonology in the speaker. That is to say, the

apprentices have to have a "critical mass" of lexicon sufficient to be able to abstract

the segments and the phonological constructions from the words that make up their

lexicon.

In the process of language development researchers observe different

phenomena that reveal the interaction that takes place between phonology and
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 64

lexicon. In particular, the investigations compiled in Swanson, et al. (2016) have

shown effects of the lexical frequency, the density of the neighbourhood and the

phonetic probability. On the one hand, lexical knowledge influences phonological

acquisition. Different studies indicate that children who have a strong lexical

background tend to produce a greater variety of sounds, as well as combinations of

sounds, while children with poor lexical knowledge tend to produce a smaller variety

of sounds, as well as limited combinations of these. On the other hand, the lexical

frequency has been observed in relation to the processes of production and perception.

Words with a higher frequency tend to be produced more correctly than those with a

low frequency (Vadasy & Sanders, 2016).

As for the effects related to the neighbourhood type, these are linked to the

organization of the words. The lexicon, both of the adult and of the apprentice, is

organized through connections between words of different types (semantic,

phonological, use, etc.) (Jozwik & Douglas,2017). The structures resulting from the

phonetic similarity are called neighbourhoods. Mason & Krashen,(2018) in a study

conducted on a sample of twenty-one American students‘ vocabulary acquisition rate

in Japanese as a foreign language from listening a story stated that the number of

neighbourhoods in which a particular word participates varies depending on whether

the speaker knows many or few formally similar words, resulting in dense

neighbourhoods and small neighbourhoods.

But the interactive process does not end with the "critical mass" of the lexicon,

there is a relationship between sentence constructions and phonological aspects,

particularly with prosody. Prosodic units are an essential component of syntactic and

discursive constructions. Thus, for example, differences in the sentence modality

(declarative, interrogative or imperative) are expressed in some languages only by a


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 65

change in the intonational contour, such as in English or Portuguese or by a

combination of an intonational contour and other linguistic mechanisms, such as

change of order of the constituents, interrogative pronouns, etc. (Neuman & Kaefer,

2018). On the other hand, prosody is also relevant in the resolution of syntactic

ambiguities, such as for the assignment of thematic papers in languages where the

order of the constituents may vary and there is no case marking or it is ambiguous.

Prosodic marking is also essential for locating constituent boundaries. After 4 years

the intonation system becomes more complex and the acquisition of different aspects

related to the understanding and production of intonation continues (August, Artzi, &

Barr, 2016).

The learning process continues to be interactive, between the frequency of use

of the lexicon and semantic development. It has been described that around 2 years

old an explosion of vocabulary occurs: children learn many new words per day, until

they reach a production vocabulary of between 700 and 1000 words at the age of 3

years. Between the ages of 3 and 4 vocabulary continues to increase in words with

lexical content and in functional words, but the quantity is not the only change

(Downs, 2017). By 3 years there is a first reorganization of the vocabulary in relation

to the meanings of the lexical items that are grouped sharing common aspects. The

meanings shared by groups are related to the conceptual domains. That is, the

meanings are interrelated with a modelling of knowledge, linked in turn to the

experience of speakers (encyclopaedic knowledge), as well as to the conventional

forms of the language that children hear (Cole, Dunston, & Butler, 2017).

When children acquire expressions, they acquire the knowledge associated

with them. By naming and commenting on the experience, children are learning

concepts and categorizing that knowledge. The rapid growth of children's vocabulary
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 66

increases the relationships of significance and has a parallel development of

categorization. The relationships of meaning of the words concur in the designation of

the same referent, with different characteristics or from different perspectives

(Silverman, et al., 2017). This is the case of the semantic relations between the terms,

relations of hiperonimia, synonymy, antonimia or meronimia. Several authors show

that between 2 and 3 years old children accept that different words designate the same

reference, although in a different way. For example, proper names and basic names

can be used to name a pet, the same image can be called cat and animal, a new word

can refer to a part of the object, to a different aspect, to a new information from a

different perspective , etc. (Cole, Dunston, & Butler, 2017). Therefore, the network

hypothesis is particularly relevant when applied to vocabulary. A word is the core of a

network of homonyms, synonyms, word classes and placements, each of which is, in

turn, the center of another small network (Silverman, et al., 2017).

From 4 and 5 years and with schooling and learning of the writing there is

another explosion of vocabulary, which has between 20 thousand and 50 thousand

words in production, the understanding being even greater. The reading of texts helps

to expand the network of relationships between words, relationships not only

syntagmatic but also paradigmatic (Mason & Krashen, 2018). When a child learns a

new vocabulary item, a small network is added with links to other nodes, which

include pronunciation, meaning, etc. A word (or any other concept) that only has a

pair of links is barely integrated and easily forgotten by children, but a rich collection

of links guarantee a long and useful retention of the word (Downs, 2017).

The lexicon also interacts with the morphological development, in this case

the frequency factors are related to the frequency of more or less fixed specimens.

The words that make up the lexicon have different degrees of fixation. This is mainly
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 67

due to the frequency of use of each word or frequency of the sample. Words with a

high degree of fixation are easier to access, serve as a basis for morphological

relationships and have an autonomy that makes them more resistant to change, lose

their semantic and syntactic transparency and create a strong representation

(Swanson, et al. 2016). Words are related to other connections between identical or

similar phonological and semantic features. For example, in Spanish, in French and in

other romances the verbs are distributed through several classes of conjugations,

being that the greater number of types belongs to the first conjugation. The other

conjugations have to have few verbs that are typically high in sample frequency. The

exemplary frequency, and not the type, is learned from memory if there is a sufficient

amount of input (Neuman & Kaefer, 2018).

If the lexicon interacts with morphological development, it also does so with

morphosyntax. One of the implications of the fact that the use of language is lexically

determined; is that certain words tend to be used in certain placements or

constructions. If all the verbal periphrastic constructions are considered, the verb-

based constructions with preposition (being interested in, thinking about), the total of

prefabricated constructions are very high. These conventional placements are repeated

in the discourse Correa, et al., (2015) stated in a study conducted on four Latino pre-

schoolers. Jozwik & Douglas, (2017) found that they constitute about 55% of the

productions, both in the spoken and written modality. The speakers recognize the

prefabricated constructions as family, which indicates that these sequences of words

are stored in memory, despite being largely predictable in form and meaning.

The lexicon is also fundamental for the textual functions of coherence and

cohesion. The lexicon has several functions in discourse: to specify the reference and

to orient all relationships between the referential elements of the discourse: anaphoric,
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 68

specification or description relationships. For example, the relationships between

names, noun phrases, personal and possessive pronouns that refer to the person, or the

relations of designation of defined or indefinite articles, or the semantic relationships

of the lexicon of hyperonymy, antonymy, or synonymy (August, et al., 2018). It is

these elements that bear the weight of reference in discourse: it is through words,

morphological marks, the order of words, the relations between them, in addition to

prosody, that the speaker can identify what is being talked about (Vadasy & Sanders,

2016).

In face-to-face interaction, the reference is learned with words that have been

called "basic vocabulary", that is, words that designate specific entities and relational

words, such as verbs or prepositions. On the other hand, "non-basic vocabulary" and

words with anaphoric functions do not have extralinguistic support, nor do they

designate directly observable entities (Boyer, 2017). They are constructed in the

discursive use, when one learns to use common or proper names, noun phrases, names

and determinants, pronouns or null reference depending on the context. These are

semantic and coherent relationships that will then adopt textual functions, as well as

the connectors and expressions that fix and structure the text (Hunt & Feng, 2016).

In conclusion, what is the interaction between the children's knowledge of the

spoken language and the learning of the written language? Many words and

constructions are used in both modalities, oral and written, although with differences

because speech occurs in real time, while in the written mode there is a careful review

and editing (Cole, Dunston, & Butler, 2017). For example, Baker, et al. (2016)

analyze the frequency and complexity of words in different contexts and point out that

older students are exposed to new words mainly in written texts: in books that contain

50% more words than television or conversation among educated adults. If the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 69

lexicon and the constructions around it are so important in the development of

language, it can be inferred that oral language learning occurs in contexts of reading

aloud, of interaction with books and readers, that is to say, literate contexts, including

the forms written and with them their frequency, fixation, contexts and forms of

language structuring.

2.10 Effect of Read Aloud on Speaking Skills of Students

Reading aloud has been considered, too often, as another mechanical exercise

among school tasks related to language, stripping it often of its main meaning: the

understanding and transmission of ideas, sensations and emotions. The Reading aloud

should consist of giving full meaning to the written signs. Without understanding

there is no reading act and without such understanding it is not possible to read

correctly aloud. The assessment of the aspects of pronunciation and intonation does

not mean diverting attention from the understanding of the text that is the primary

objective of reading and the conditioner of a felt, lived and interpreted realization of

reading aloud. The child will not be able to do it well if he has not understood what he

is reading before as it would be a mere putting out loud, but not a communicative

reading between the reader and the listener (Warner, 2016).

As in oral communication, the understanding between speaker and listener is

not possible without a decoding by both, here it is the same, but the circuit is

extended: the reader interprets the text and, in turn, the listener deciphers the message

that orally receives from the reader. In this way, reading favours the assessment of the

written text and its understanding, which must be prepared in advance, creating a

propitious climate through the motivation of the listeners, which will be achieved by

informing them about what they are going to hear. Also the vocalization and the

correct realization of the pauses help the comprehension. Similarly, intonation and
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 70

modulation not only have aesthetic importance, sometimes they are essential for the

message to be understood correctly (Muslem & Abbas, 2017).

Considering reading aloud and its impacts on aspects and values that are

proper, it is important to note that the correct oral transmission of a text can only be

done when it has already been understood. Since the reader has to provide a series of

interpretative elements that are not deductible from the mere sounding, elements such

as the phonetic resolution according to the context of polyvalent letters, the intonation

of sentences, the prosodic pauses, etc. It is equally easy to verify how in a reading

aloud the reader looks away from the paper as he says the text and how a sudden

interruption never occurs in the middle of a unity of meaning, but the reader always

ends up issuing the last word he had understood (Rivers, 2018).

Thus, a student concerned about correctly oralizing what he reads cannot, at

the same time, be aware of the comprehension of that text. Hence, it is essential that

the preparation of any text that is going to be read aloud is the result, because if a

student does not understand what he reads, even if he respects the signs and pauses, it

will hardly give him an adequate and accessible intonation. On the other hand,

reading aloud, children strive to vocalize and intone, which will improve their oral

expression. For this reading comprehension is important the oral ability of the learner,

language and vocabulary, whose development teachers can promote by making

continuous readings aloud to their students and offering them the possibility of

analysing and discussing what is read to them. Therefore, teachers will ensure that

students prepare in advance the comprehensible aspects of the text that they will later

read expressively, since when they "read aloud to others, less attention is paid to

understanding (Krieber, et al., 2017).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 71

An expert reader will never read aloud a text for which he or she does not have

an understanding, that is, a text that she or he has not read previously, or for which

he/she does not have knowledge effective reading requires understanding the text, as

with rapid reading, which is a product, and not a requirement of understanding (Snow,

Sun, & Li, 2017).

In oral communication, and also in reading aloud, students need models not

for their imitation mechanically and unconsciously, but to serve as a guide in the

process of their learning. Sometimes students pretend that they, alone, perhaps

waiting for everything from the miracle of infused science, improve their

communication skills. As mentioned earlier, it is convenient, in my opinion, for the

teacher to read aloud to his students and become the model that opens the way. This

exercise, perhaps too neglected now in our classrooms, serves as a reference

(intonation, diction, but without affectation or artificiality) for the subsequent reading

of the students (Sharma, 2018).

A teacher can use reading aloud and communicate its experience to the

students, will provoke in them the interest and will constitute a motivation since they

will be influenced and will be impregnated with this experience that is transmitted in

this way is better than with theoretical explanations, speeches and advice. It will be

difficult to transfer the taste for this type of reading if the teacher does not have it.

Mason, (2017) recommended that teachers should read aloud a lot in class, tongue

twisters, songs, songs, word games, poetry, stories, are basic to form this type of

expressive reading.

According to Sajid & Kassim, (2019) teachers play a critical role in

influencing students' attitudes toward reading and speaking. Students adopt a positive

attitude toward these two processes, they are models that children observe and learn
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 72

from. When teachers read books aloud to the whole class, they are modeling the

interest in some of the best moments of class are those in which the experience of

discovering is shared, for example, how sad a story ends or how funny are the

vicissitudes of the protagonist of another. The message implicit in these experiences

shared with the listening to the reading of the story is that "the teacher also thinks that

the book is interesting.

Ray, (2017) assume that it is necessary to teach a series of strategies that can

contribute to reading comprehension and speaking skills through progressive teaching

along three phases: a) modeling, b) student participation and c) silent reading. In

modeling, the teacher serves as a model to his students through his own reading: he

reads aloud, he stops systematically to verbalize and comment on the processes that

allow him to understand the text, etc.

In this aspect, as in others in the field of education, and in the words of

LervAag, Hulme, & Melby‐Lervåg, (2018), the reader model offered by the teacher,

and the activities he proposes for the teaching and learning of reading are not a

luxury, but a need. Since, it is simply to do with reading what is done with other

content of teaching: show how an expert handles them, design situations in which the

apprentice can approach progressively to that management and help him so that,

starting from where he is, he can go a little further, in the sense of the autonomous

domain.

Parents can also be a reference or model since they exert an important

influence on their children's point of view on language and on reading and writing in

particular. Parents who read and value the books, who read them to their children and

who take them to the library can effectively transfer their satisfaction and interest in

reading. In addition to this general idea, these authors suggest, a few lines later in the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 73

same work, the parents specific activities for expressive reading such as reading each

other out loud and advise to stimulate the appreciation of a wide variety of authors

and types of literature reading poetry, plays and selected short stories aloud, start

reading and sharing short selections or a chapter at night. Children can read the father,

mother or other family members. They can also do it by looking in the mirror to

improve their speaking skills (Hanington, 2017).

2.11 Chapter Summary

The discussion above clearly indicates that read aloud technique is widely

acknowledged teaching strategy for learners of foreign languages in general and for

young learners of English as a secondary language. The benefits of read aloud

techniques are diverse and multifaceted and are not limited to learners of secondary

languages but also provide same benefits for learning and development of mother

language also. The concept of read aloud technique can be briefly defined as having

an adult, teacher in school settings, who is able to read text and literature in loud

voice, in front of students, to help them develop English language skills. Within the

context of young learners in primary school, storytelling is the most commonly

researched method of read aloud technique. It is considered to be the oldest method of

teaching language to children. Storytelling is often conducted with a book so that the

learners are able to see the words and read them. The discussion also shows that main

aspects of read aloud technique that must be considered during any such exercise

include voice, tone, accent, punctuation, and gestures of the adult or story teller. There

is a wide range of guidelines that can be used by teachers to develop read aloud

lessons for young learners. The review of literature shows that read aloud has a

significant positive impact on reading and comprehension skills of students. The read

aloud technique enables young learners to hear and understand words and their
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 74

relevant meanings and use. Furthermore, the read aloud also helps teachers to increase

understanding of words and sentences as well as phrases to young learners who lack

vocabulary. The read aloud technique can also be conducted by learners themselves.

There is significant research evidence suggesting that performance and

learning attainment of students using read aloud technique is higher than their silent

reading counterparts. Furthermore, the research also shows that read aloud also helps

students to increase their vocabulary. Storytelling is particularly used to provide

comprehensive understanding of words to young learners, along with their proper

accent, variation and use. It has been reported that read aloud helps in developing

lexicon because it positively on vocabulary development through various aspects of

the interactive process between lexicon and phonology, morphology, syntax, and

discourse and then face the continuity between oral and written modalities. Read-

aloud helps in phonological development which in turn increases lexicon

development. Read aloud creates links in the perception of young learners which help

them to relate and relocate words with certain situations.

These links also helps in recalling words by creating links between words and

images. Furthermore, there is a relationship between sentence constructions and

phonological aspects, particularly with prosody. Finally, the review above indicates

that read aloud also helps in enhancing oral skills of young learners. The oral or

speaking skills depend upon the communication and interaction of young learners

with their environment and particularly with adults. Teacher can play a critical role in

enhancing ESL development of young children in primary schools by adopting a wide

range of read aloud methods and strategies.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 75

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains the research design, the sample and sampling technique,

research setting and data collection materials in detail. In this chapter data collection

procedure is also discussed in detail along with data analysis procedure. This chapter

also explains the focus of the study which is to gauge the impact of read aloud

teaching strategy on primary level ESL learners reading comprehension, vocabulary,

motivation towards reading and oral fluency.

3.1 Paradigm

The aspect of constructivism focuses on the core ability of individuals to

construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world. This is achieved

through experiencing things and reflections on those experiences. Constructivism in

the present case is achieved through the usage of techniques that are focused on

development of individual thought and creation of ideas that are more complex in

structure. Dual aspects that need to be considered are the development of the

complexity of the students‘ knowledge and the creation of a shared, reflexive kind of

understanding of the subject matter and the task at hand (Larochelle & Bednarz,

1998). This in combination with the instructor‘s assertions towards continuous and

evolving self-assessment and encouragement prompts the students‘ development on

their knowledge basis. The teacher‘s role in constructing information and generation

of an active participation within the classroom alludes to the core benefits that active

roles of the teacher and their expert knowledge bring to the settings as well as

prompting the students to question their existing knowledge in useful ways that allow

them to understand concepts better.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 76

3.2 Pre-test Post-test Quasi- Experimental Design

The subjects in the study belonged to a private school in Lahore, Pakistan

studying in primary level. The study followed pre-test post-test quasi experimental

design (Campbell & Stanley, 1963) in which the researcher used two intact groups out

of which one was randomly assigned as experimental group and one was control

group for the purpose of analysing the effectiveness of read aloud teaching technique

on similar intellectual level students. The researcher conducted assessment of both

groups in the beginning of the study on the basis of their lexile scores (Scholastic

Literacy Pro is a research based reading comprehension test which is taken online and

reading proficiency level assessment of kindergarten, primary, secondary and junior

college level students is done. Its measuring unit is lexile which measures the reading

proficiency and fluency in reading. It helps to inform the classroom teachers to

implement better teaching practices to help students improve their reading

comprehension during the course of their education). A lexile measure is a valuable

tool for teachers, parents and students to know how proficient readers the students are,

higher the score is higher their reading level is which helps to set achievement goals

and monitor progress level. The aim was to determine the level of reading

comprehension of students in both the groups.

A pre-test evaluation was conducted for both groups to measure their skills by

giving the vocabulary and motivation towards reading assessment as pre-test and then

post-test of vocabulary, comprehension worksheets, motivation towards reading

assessment, speaking fluency test and oral story retelling. After the pre-test

evaluation, the intervention was implemented on the experimental group only, after

which the post-test evaluation was conducted for both groups. The researcher then

analysed and compared the results of pre-test and post-test of experimental group with
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 77

control groups‘ pre-test and post-test. The purpose was to assess and evaluate the

potential impact of read aloud technique based intervention on the skills of

experimental group.

Storytelling for the experimental group was done using read aloud technique,

the read aloud technique selected for this research was interactive read aloud.

(Interactive read-aloud' specifically defined in the current study draws on the notion

of shared authority (Smolkin & Donovan, 2003) and inclusion of learner's active

participation (Wiseman, 2011). It refers to the context where the reader and listener

are co-contributors to story discussion and word meanings, and the listener is allowed

and encouraged to actively and spontaneously get involved throughout the reading

session.

The method for the control group was traditional teaching method which is

when a teacher guides students to understand through memorization, rote learning and

recitation techniques without paying attention towards developing reading

comprehension skills like critical thinking and problem solving skills (Sunal et al

1994). This method of teaching is commonly used in schools of Pakistan especially in

public schools where teacher translates the text, grammar and vocabulary is rote

learnt. In private schools a lot of emphasis is given on English language and medium

of instruction is also mainly English; the teacher simply reads the text from the story

book either herself or asks the students to read it. She then explains it in English and

Urdu Language as well which is the national/native language of the students and then

provides the meanings of the vocabulary words to enhance vocabulary. Students play

a passive role and teacher plays the active role and guides the students what to do

next. Most of the interaction in the class during the lesson is initiated by the teacher,

students seldom initiate the interaction. Student to student interaction is very less.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 78

Vocabulary building is emphasized simply by making students rote learn the

meanings of the vocabulary words. Grammar rules are reinforced where as other

language skills like speaking and writing are hardly catered. Correct pronunciation of

the words is not much emphasized in the classroom. In other words, the teaching

strategy used with the control group students was a combination of Grammar-

Translation method and Direct Method of teaching which both are traditional teaching

methods, no modern teaching strategies for vocabulary building, reading

comprehension skills and speaking skills were used while teaching the graded picture

story books by the teacher. Teacher who taught the control group was an experienced

primary level teacher who had been teaching for the past eleven years at this level.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 79

3.3 Population

The target population for this study is the primary school children in Pakistan;

however, the researcher does not have the means and resources to access entire target

population. For the sake of this study a quasi-experimental design has been chosen. In

this experiment, the researcher has recruited two groups from a school located in

Lahore city of Pakistan where the students were of same level (primary). Since the

research underpins primary level therefore, the population of this research was taken

to be primary level classes. The researcher opted for similar classes to avoid any

discrepancy in the analysis due to change in the level of students.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 80

3.4 Sample of the Study

The sampling technique applied in the study was the basic non- probability or

convenience sampling technique. It is considered as one of the commonly applied

techniques in educational setting as it is time saving as compared to other techniques

and specially in school setting where students already exist in groups and cannot be

randomly allocated to experimental and control group (McMillan,1996). The

researcher had limited resources and time therefore could not approach the entire

population. In this study convenience sampling was done due to the reason that the

nature of the study required two sections of primary level classes of one private

school in Lahore. The private school where study was conducted is situated in the

heart of Lahore city and has a purpose built building. School offers a vast curriculum

integrated with extra-curricular activities. The students in the school were existing in

intact groups and could not be randomly assigned to experimental and control group

so two intact groups of students having similar intellectual level, age which was

ranging between 7 to 8 and students in both the groups had attended the school for

the same number of years before being in grade 2 which was four years were

randomly chosen and were assigned as experimental group and control group as being

a private school attendance was full during the course of the study as special attention

was given on students for not being absent from school by the school administration.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 81

Table 3.1 shows sample of the study in each group.

Table 3.1
Sample of the Study

Groups Girls
Experimental Group 15
Control Group 15
3.5 Instruments of the Study

3.5.1 Pre-test and Post- test

The purpose of the pre-test was to assess the core reading capability of

students and their ability to apply knowledge and lessons learned during lectures and

storytelling sessions in terms of their vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension

level, motivation to read and oral fluency.

The aim of the post-test was to identify the fundamental associations of how

their motivation, oral fluency and vocabulary are enhanced through the various

methods applied within read aloud programs. It was made sure that the post-test

accounted for the relative grouping based on pre-testing results. Furthermore, the

researcher also focused on the effectiveness of the program and assessed how

students‘ comprehension and vocabulary improved during the experiment (August, et

al., 2018). The duration of the experiment was one academic year starting from

August till the end of the academic year in the month of May.

3.5.2 Students’ Self Perceived Motivation towards Reading

The researcher used one students‘ self-perceived motivation towards reading

questionnaire. It was used to gather empirical data about how students perceive their

reading abilities. The questionnaire was adapted from the research conducted by

Heathington (1975) with the title ‗The Development of Scales to Measure Attitudes
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 82

towards Reading‘ score from 1 to 5 was given to each response and then total score

was calculated for each student. 5 marks were given for a very positive response, 4

marks were given for a positive response, 3 marks were given for a neutral response,

and 2 marks were given for a negative response and 1 mark for very negative

response.

3.5.3 Comprehension and Vocabulary Worksheets

Furthermore, the researcher also gathered data using comprehension

worksheets. The worksheets were given at the end of each book and focused on

assessing critical thinking, reading skills, speaking skills, spellings and writing which

is preparation for Cambridge young learners‘ exam. Vocabulary worksheets based on

matching the word to its meaning were used to assess receptive vocabulary

acquisition by the participants. Receptive vocabulary includes familiar words

understood when they occur in reading material or heard in conversation (Morgan

&Oberdeck, 1930).

3.5.4 Speaking Fluency Form

Also, the researcher used speaking fluency form adopted from (TFU Foreign

Language Assessment Rubric) to measure the speaking fluency of students. The

purpose of this form was to assess the speaking ability of students in terms of

vocabulary, grammar, overall fluency, and interaction with audience .To assess the

impact of read aloud strategy on speaking fluency of the experimental group after the

intervention. Each skill in the assessment form was marked between (0-4), resulting in

an overall score between (0- 20).

3.5.5 Fiction Story Retelling Form

In addition, a fiction story retelling form was used. This form focused on

gathering data about the ability of students to tell story and how they sequenced
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 83

events, how they presented settings and characters. In addition, this form also focused

on analysing problems and their resolutions as well as level of prompting. The

researcher used the Fiction Scoring Form from the Reading A-Z website

(http://www.readinga-z.com) and asked students to retell the main story. Appendix B

is an example of the fiction retelling form. The retelling rubric consisted of six key

elements that were scored on a three point system. Three points were given for a

completely detailed retell, two points were given for a partial retell, one point was

given for a fragmentary or sketchy retell, and zero points were given for an inaccurate

retell. The researcher provided up to five to six prompts to help the student with the

retell. The students were also scored for amount of prompting they needed. The

students were given one point for high prompting, two points for medium prompting,

and three points for no prompting. The researcher added the total number of points

earned for all elements. The students were levelled as either skilled, developing, or

needs work. In order for the student to be skilled, the total must range between 15-21

points, developing is 8-14 points, and needs work fell within 0-7 points.

3.6 Instruments Validity and Reliability

 For the reliability and validity of the instruments used in the study the

researcher conducted a pilot study prior to the research for two weeks to

insure that all the tools which were used during the course of study were

reliable and valid and the researcher and the students did not face any issue

like the reading motivation questionnaire which was used as pre-test and

post-test to assess students‘ motivation towards reading which was adapted

from Heathington (1975) ) research with the title ‗The Development of Scales

to Measure Attitudes towards Reading was clear and the question were easily
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 84

readable by the students and they were able to understand the questions clearly

and were able to fill it without facing any problem.

 The vocabulary worksheets which were made by the researcher using

researcher selected vocabulary words and the comprehension worksheets

which were used after read aloud sessions are given at the back of each story

book, which are specially designed for ESL learners and are used by some

schools were validated by two expert English Language teachers of the same

level and one English language coordinator of another school, school principal

and subject specialist from two other universities. Then were administered to

the students as were approved by them for being suitable to be used for this

age group.

 Speaking Fluency assessment form which was used was adopted form (TFU

Foreign Language Assessment Rubric) which is specifically designed for the

EFL/ESL students was also verified by the expert linguists before use for

reliability and validity in the same manner as mentioned above.

 The fiction story retelling form which was adopted from

(http://www.readinga-z.com) and was used by other researchers in their

studies also mentioned previously therefore makes it a valid tool to measure

the retelling ability of the students after the intervention.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 85

3.7 Variables

3.7.1 Independent Variable

As per the aim of this study, the independent variable is the Read Aloud

method of instruction that is conducted with primary students. Therefore, it includes

overall instructions undertaken by the teacher, as well as the resources and content

being utilized, to enhance English language skills of the students.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 86

3.7.2 Dependent Variable

In case of the dependent variable, it is the impact of the read aloud on

students‘ comprehension, vocabulary development, oral fluency and motivation

towards reading.

3.8 Research Procedure for the Intervention

In order to deliver the intervention, the researcher requested the school

administration to allocate a special time during the term for the research process. The

subjects were encouraged to get involved in read aloud sessions and conduct group

discussions.

Interactive read aloud technique was used as an instrument in the study.

During interactive read aloud students were provided with contextual activities to

enhance their vocabulary and learn the meanings of unknown words. Vocabulary

enhancement also contributes in improving reading comprehension skills and oral

language skills language (Hickman, Pollard-Durodola, and Vaughn (2004). In this

study as mentioned in the research design, experimental group was taught with the

read aloud strategy and control group with the traditional method. The pre –test and

post-test data was collected in the form of vocabulary tests, comprehension

worksheets, oral retellings and motivation towards reading and was then compared for

both the groups‘ i-e experimental group and control group.

The researcher also used tonal variations in the voice while reading aloud the

story in order to emphasize on emotions. The aim was to develop connection between

words and emotions so that students can retain the meaning and intensity of words

with the emotions that are being displayed in the story through words and variations

in voice tone (Muslem & Abbas, 2017).


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 87

The aim of read aloud strategy is to improve the understanding for each stage

and also enable the researcher to elaborate partial and total impacts of read aloud

based intervention exercises conducted during the research process (Hemming, et al.,

2011). The total study period was one academic year of school. Total nine read aloud

sessions were carried out in the course of the academic year. A pre-test and post- test

was held for each session. Every read aloud session was conducted over eight periods

of 40 minutes each, spread over two weeks. Sometimes two periods were combined if

the activity required more time.

Furthermore, the researcher identified weekly goals that were assigned in

accordance with each target to make general assessment and evaluation of progress of

research project. Through division into procedural stages, the researcher created a

functional timeline which was segregated into measurable components. Overall it can

be inferred that by division of project into stages, the researcher was able to better

account the development and progress of subjects and the changes in their skills as

well as accomplishment of pre-determined goals and targets. These stages were

followed throughout the intervention in each of the nine sessions respectively. The

experimental group was introduced to the story through read aloud strategy and

control group was taught in a traditional way.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 88

Strategies Applied During Intervention for Each Session

Table 3.2

Strategies of Intervention

Read aloud Pre- Procedural Stages of Read Aloud Session for 2 Weeks Post-
sessions 1- 9 test test
Vocabulary Prediction Inference Critical Motivation
introduction Questions Questions thinking Questions
and Book skills
talk
RA1       
RA2       
RA3       
RA4       
RA5       
RA6       
RA7       
RA8       
RA9       

 Pre- Reading activities were done with the students. Book talk/Picture talk was done,

vocabulary words were discussed and meanings were given, title and front cover of

the book was discussed and prediction questions related to the book were done in

detail for the better understanding of the story book and to enhance predicting skills.

 While Reading The teacher read the story with fluency, expression, correct stress and

intonation and variation in tone to attract students and maintain their interest and to

give them a sample of fluent oral language to enhance their oral language. Teacher

made sure that students were able to see the pictures as the pictures acted as an aid for

the students to understand the story better and also paused and explained the

vocabulary words. During read aloud the teacher also asked the students questions
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 89

relating text-to –text, text –to –self and text –to –world to motivate students to read

and also to see their level of understanding. Questioning was also done to involve the

students in the text and to make the session interactive.

 After Read Aloud Session: After read aloud session vocabulary revisits were also

done for further reinforcement of the vocabulary words and students also read the

book for reinforcement. Vocabulary and comprehension related exercises; oral

fluency assessment along with oral retelling of the story was done as post- test.

Vocabulary post -test were same as the pre-test given to the students in both the

groups control and experimental.

3.9 Read Aloud Procedural Stages for Each 2 Weeks Session

Total nine Read Aloud sessions were conducted with the experimental group

over a course of the academic year. A detailed breakdown of these stages is given

below.

Day 1 /Week1

Students in both the groups i.e. control and experimental were given the

reading motivation form to complete as pre-test evaluation before the start of first

read aloud session.

Then the students were given a vocabulary pre-test of teacher selected

vocabulary words from the selected story.

Book talk was done by the teacher to introduce the selected vocabulary words

by discussing and showing the vocabulary words pictures and then wrote the words

on the board. Title and front cover of the book were discussed by asking to predict

what the story is about, what they think is going to happen in the story for better

understanding of the book.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 90

Picture talk for pre-viewing the story was also done in order to enhance

critical thinking, prediction and inference skills.

The teacher then introduced the story to both the groups, in which the

experimental group was introduced through a read aloud strategy and the control

group through traditional storytelling. The pre reading stage of book talk and picture

talk was initiated and the story was narrated with fluency and expression. Teacher

paused to build background knowledge and comprehension throughout the story.

Teacher also encouraged the students to ask questions where they didn‘t understand.

After the read aloud session was completed teacher asked the follow up questions for

comprehension and to keep the students involved in the story.

Then the students were asked to open their own story book and then had the

students listen and follow along as she read the story. Once again the researcher

encouraged students to stop and think about the story and ask any questions they had.

The researcher paused and asked comprehension questions to help build meaning of

the story. The researcher also paused on the vocabulary words and discussed the

meanings of the words in context for better understanding.

Day2/Week 1

Vocabulary re-visit was done by showing them the picture of each teacher

selected vocabulary word and then students were asked what the word was, they were

also asked to use the word in a sentence or give definition of the word after discussing

with their partner. Some pictures from the story book were also discussed for

reinforcement.

The teacher asked questions related to the story which helped students to

deepen their understanding about the characters‘ feelings, actions about the setting

and the problem and solution in the story to enhance critical thinking skills. Students
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 91

were encouraged to ask questions and give their views to show understanding and

level of interest. To elicit answers from the story teacher asked questions like

 Who was bad in the story?

 Who was clever?

 Why did the witch give Hansel and Gretel lots of food?

Day 3/Week 2

Teacher broke the class into two teams and played a story review game.

Teacher asked one student from each team to come in front of the class and asked the

comprehension questions based on inference and critical thinking. This activity

enhanced their oral language and motivation towards reading.

Day4/Week2

Students did teacher selected vocabulary worksheet and comprehension

worksheets related to the story book as post-test.

Day5/Week2

After the recap of the story and teacher selected vocabulary words teacher

conducted the story retelling session which was assessed through Fiction story

retelling form taken from (Reading A-Z website (http://www.readinga-z.com) to

know the comprehension level and to see which vocabulary words were used and how

well the students recalled the story according to the sequence of events during

retelling along with that also assessed them on their oral fluency as post-test.

After the last read aloud session students were given the reading motivation

form as post- test.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 92

Monthly Schedule of Nine Picture Story Books and Vocabulary Words

Table 3.3

Name of Story and Vocabulary Words of Each Book Covered in Each Month

Month Picture Story Book Vocabulary Words


September Puss in Boots Partridge carriage ogre mill
Idea lord master
October Rapunzel Prince witch lettuce tower
Thorn palace
November Snow White and Seven dwarf huntsman ribbons few
Dwarfs hurt
December The Jungle Book Kite panther python strong safe
January Jack and the Beanstalk Beanstalk magic harp wake up
Throw giant
February Hansel and Gretel Cage witch aunt oven elves
March The Pony School News Hug terrible funny tiara
Twilight
April The Elves and the Downstairs surprised elves
Shoemaker shoemaker leather
May The Red Knight Armour joust lance neck break

3.10 Data Analysis

The gathered data was being analysed by using inferential and descriptive

statistics. For the purpose of comparing the performance of the students before and

after the said intervention, the pre and post tests and its outcomes were assessed and

analysed by incorporating paired sample t-test. Hence, data was generated on excel

sheet where mean, standard deviation, gain scores and effect size was calculated by

Hedges‘ method and represented by Hedges‘ g. .


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 93

Research Questions, Data Sources and Analysis

Table 3.4

Data Sources and Analysis Procedure

Questions Data sources Analysis

What is the impact of read Teacher created vocabulary Paired Sample T- test, Gain
aloud using picture books pre-test and post-test Score and Effect Size
on the vocabulary of
primary level students‘ in
order to understand
stories?
Does the reading aloud
strategy increase students‘ Students Self Perceived Paired sample T- test, Gain Score
desire to read? Motivation towards and Effect Size
Does read aloud improve Reading Questionnaire
students‘ fluency in Speaking fluency Mean Standard Deviation Effect
speaking and building their assessment rubric Size
confidence?
To what extent does read
aloud strategy help Reading comprehension Numerically
Pakistani students in worksheets
improving their reading Mean Standard Deviation Effect
Fiction story retelling form Size
comprehension at primary
level?
3.11 Reliability and Validity

Reliability refers to degree to which the methods and techniques applied in a

study are replicable by other researchers, while validity refers to the degree of

similarity in results and conclusions produced by the methods, provided that they are

repeated by the other researchers. In case of this study, it can be assumed that there is

high level of reliability as the methods and techniques applied in designing and

conducting the research process have been explained in detail. Data collection

methods, sampling techniques, and data analysis techniques are fully described so that

other researchers can replicate them without any significant hurdle. However, the

validity of the study is limited. This is based on the rationale that the intervention used

in this study and the results produced by the intervention are highly dependent upon
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 94

the sample members (i.e. students) and the teachers involved. Therefore it is highly

likely that the degree of success of the intervention will vary if students and teachers

are changed. If other researchers conduct the same study with different sample, the

impact of the read aloud based teaching intervention and the outcomes produced by it

are most likely to vary. However, it can be fairly assumed that the overall general

results and conclusions will remain the same. It is assumed that the intervention will

produce positive impact on reading, comprehension, and vocabulary of students in

primary school even if the students and teachers involved are changed. Therefore, the

validity of the results and conclusions produced in this study is assumed to be

reasonably high.

3.12 Ethical Considerations

It is important to note that this study involved young children which are

considered as a vulnerable segment of the population. In social research community,

special considerations are developed and implemented to protect vulnerable groups

particularly children from all sorts of mental, emotional, and physical harm.

Furthermore, the researcher also gained consent from school administration as well as

from parents of subjects prior to sampling process. In addition, the researcher also

used APA referencing style to prevent plagiarism and to provide proper credit to all

the works that have been used in developing this study. In addition, the name of the

school, and details of students are kept anonymous and confidential which is a critical

aspect in social research ethical principles.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 95

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

4.1 Introduction

The results of the study which is based on the development of read aloud

focused model to enhance reading comprehension skills and vocabulary of primary

level students are incorporated in this chapter. The results of this study are in

accordance with the objectives of the study which are discussed in the prior parts of

this study. Moreover, these results answer the research questions that were provided

in the first chapter of this study. This chapter includes data analysis results of

experimental group and control group that are obtained before and after the

intervention. These results play a significant role in achieving the aim of this study as

they answer all the questions that were developed in order to obtain the purpose of

this study.

 The comprehension test analysis has been discussed in this chapter in terms of

percentage. The results of comprehension test analysis helps in order to

identify the role of comprehension in the enhancement of literacy skills and

vocabulary among the primary level students.

 The fictional story re-telling analysis is also included in this chapter which

helps in order to identify the impact of fictional story re-telling on the

enhancement of reading comprehension skills and vocabulary of primary level

students. It is necessary in order to identify the role of fictional story re-telling

because it can enhance the reading comprehension skills and vocabulary of

primary level students. For this purpose, the results that are related to fictional

story re-telling are discussed in detail and included in this chapter.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 96

Comparison between experimental group and control group is given on post-

test in terms of effect size and mean difference.

 This chapter also includes the vocabulary test analysis which was conducted

on students before and after the intervention and then were analysed

statistically. This was done in order to identify the impact of read aloud on

experimental group in the learning of vocabulary. For this purpose

experimental group and control group were compared on the pre-test and post-

test scores and on the gain scores by using paired sample t-test. Effect size was

also calculated and reported with 95% confidence interval.

 Furthermore, the speaking fluency analysis has also been discussed in this

chapter. This speaking fluency analysis identifies its role on the enhancement

of oral fluency and vocabulary of the primary level students. The results of

speaking fluency analysis are provided later in this chapter which includes

comprehensive discussion of the findings. Speaking fluency post- test results

of experimental group and control group were compared and effect size was

calculated.

 This chapter includes analysis and comparison of experimental group and

control group pre-test and post-test of reading motivation questionnaire which

identify the reading behaviour of the primary level students before and after

the application of the read aloud teaching strategy. Effect size was calculated

for both the groups and reported with 95% confidence interval. This helps in

order to identify what makes the students motivated and encouraged to read

the books for enhancing their comprehension skills and vocabulary.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 97

4.2 Effect of Intervention on Reading Comprehension

The students from the control group and experimental group were given

comprehension worksheets based on each of the story book as post-test. Experimental

group was taught with read aloud strategy and control group in a traditional way and

later students in both the groups were made to read on their own. The comprehension

worksheets that were provided to the children were targeting their critical thinking,

inference and prediction skills along with spellings, meanings of the words in context

and specific text based questions. Story wise analysis is given in each table.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 98

Table 4.1
Puss in Boot Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 1: Puss in Boots Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20 % 21-40 % 41-60 % 61-80 % 81-100 %
Experimental Group N=15 (6.7%) (20%) (6.7%) (40%) (26.7%)
Control Group (40.0%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (6.7%)
N=15
Text based questions
Experimental Group N=15 (13.3%) (33.3%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%)
Control Group (40.0%) (33.3%) (20%) (0%) (6.7%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group N=15 (0%) (0%) (6.7%) (53.3%) (40%)
Control Group (53.3%) (13.3%) (20%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group N=15 (6.7%) (20%) (26.7%) (0%) (46.7%)
Control Group (73.3%) (6.7%) (13.3%) (0%) (6.7%)
N=15
Prediction questions
Experimental Group N=15 (6.7%) (20%) (6.7%) (26.7%) (40%)
Control Group (80%) (6.7%) (0%) (6.7%) (6.7%)
N=15
Table 4.1 shows the comprehension results of the story Puss in Boots in which

majority of the experimental group students had performed 61% to 80% in word

meaning in context while majority of the students in control group percentages were

0% to 20%. Similarly, in text based question and answers majority of the

experimental group students percentages were 41% to 60%. While in control group

students‘ percentages were between 0% - 20%. In critical thinking section majority of

the experimental group student and control group percentage were 61%-80% and 0%

to20 respectively. In drawing inference from the text section majority of the

experimental group students‘ percentages were between 41%-60% and majority of the

control group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20%. In prediction section

majority of the experimental group students‘ percentages were between 61%-80%

while control group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20%.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 99

Table 4.2
Rapunzel Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 2: Rapunzel Word Meaning in context

0-20% 21-40 % 41-60 % 61-80 % 81-100 %


Group
Experimental Group N=15 (6.7%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (33.3%) (33.3%)
Control Group (20%) (46.7%) (6.7%) (6.7%) (20%)
N=15
Text based questions
Experimental Group N=15 (0%) (20%) (26.7%) (40%) (6.7%)
Control Group (6.7%) (33.3%) (33.3%) (20%) (6.7%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group N=15 (0%) (0%) (6.7%) (46.7%) (46.7%)
Control Group (40.0%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group N=15 (6.7%) (20%) (20%) (6.7%) (46.7%)
Control Group (73.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (0%) (6.7%)
N=15
Prediction questions
Experimental Group N=15 (6.7%) (13.3%) (0%) (33.3%) (46.7%)
Control Group (66.6%) (6.7%) (0%) (6.7%) (20%)
N=15

Table 4.2 shows results of Rapunzel story in which majority of the

experimental group students had performed between 80% to 100% .Word meanings in

context section 46.7% of the control group students lie between 21% to 40%.

Similarly, in text based question and answers majority of the experimental group

students performed 61% to 80% while control group students performed

between41%to 60%. In critical thinking section majority of the experimental group

students and control group students percentages were between 81%-100% and 0%-

20%. In inferring from the text section majority of the experimental group students

percentages were 81%-100% and in control group majority of the students scored

between 0%-20%. In prediction section majority of the experimental group students

scored between 81%-100 % while control group students scored between 0%-20%.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 100

Table 4.3
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 3: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Word Meaning in
context

Group 0-20 % 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100%


Experimental Group (6.7%) (13.3%) (20%) (40%) (20%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (33.3%) (46.7%) (13.3%) (0%) (6.7%)
Text based questions
Experimental Group (13.3%) (33.3%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (40.0%) (33.3%) (20%) (0%) (6.7%)
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group (0%) (0%) (6.7%) (46.7%) (46.7%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (33.3%) (33.3%) (26.7%) (0%) (6.7%)
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group (13.3%) (20%) (20%) (0%) (46.7%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (53.3%) (13.3%) (20%) (0%) (13.3%)
Prediction questions
Experimental Group (20%) (13.3%) (0%) (26.7%) (40%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (66.6%) (6.7%) (6.7%) (6.7%) (13.3%)

Table 4.3 shows story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs comprehension

results in which majority of the experimental group students had performed between

61% to 80 % in word meaning in context section while control group students scored

between 21% to 40%. Similarly, in answers to text based questions majority of the

experimental group students performed 41% to 60% while control group students

scored between 0% to 20%. In critical thinking section majority of the experimental

group students and control group students percentages were between 81%-100% and

0%-20%respectively. In inference from the context section majority of the

experimental group students‘ percentages were between 81%-100% and in control

group majority of the students scored between 0%-20%. In prediction section majority

of the experimental group percentages were between 81%-100% while control group

students percentages were between 0%-20%.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 101

Table 4.4
The Jungle Book Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 4: The Jungle Book Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20 % 21-40% 41-60 % 61-80 % 81-100 %
Experimental Group N=15 (13.3%) (26.7%) (26.7%) (0%) (33.3%)
Control Group N=15 (40%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (6.7%)
Text based questions
Experimental Group N=15 (26.7%) (26.7%) (26.7%) (0%) (20%)
Control Group N=15 (26.7%) (53.3%) (6.7%) (0%) (13.3%)
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group N=15 (20%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (0%) (33.3%)
Control Group N=15 (46.7%) (26.7%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group N=15 (26.7%) (26.7%) (33.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
Control Group N=15 (46.7%) (40%) (6.7%) (0%) (6.7%)
Prediction questions
Experimental Group N=15 (20%) (26.7%) (20%) (0%) (33.3%)
Control Group N=15 (46.7%) (26.7%) (20%) (0%) (6.7%)

Table 4.4 shows The Jungle Book story comprehension worksheet results in

which majority of the experimental group students had performed between 81% -

100% in the word meaning in context section while control group students lie

between 21%- 40%. Similarly, in answers to text based questions majority of the

experimental group students performed between 41% - 60% while control group

students performed between 21% - 40%. In critical thinking questions section

majority of the experimental group students and control group students percentages

were between 81% -100% and 0%-20%respectively. In drawing inference from the

text section majority of the experimental group students percentages were between

41%-60% and majority of the control group students ‗percentages were between 0%-

20%. In prediction questions section majority of the experimental group students‘

percentages were between 81%-100% while control group students percentages were

between 0%-20%.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 102

Table 4.5
Jack and the Beanstalk Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 5: Jack and the Beanstalk Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20 % 21-40 % 41-60 % 61-80 % 81-100 %
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (20%) (20%) (0%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (40%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (6.7%)
Text based questions
Experimental Group
(20%) (20%) (20%) (0%) (40%)
N=15
Control Group
(46.7%) (26.7%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group
(13.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (0%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(53.3%) (33.3%) (6.7%) (0%) (6.7%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group
(26.7%) (20%) (26.7%) (0%) (26.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(46.7%) (40%) (6.7%) (0%) (6.7%)
N=15
Prediction questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (20%) (20%) (0%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(46.7%) (13.3%) (26.7%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15

Table 4.5 shows story Jack and the Beanstalk comprehension worksheet

results in which the majority of the experimental group students had performed

between 81%-100 % in the word meaning in context section while control group

students were between 0% - 20%. Similarly, in text specific question and answers

majority of the experimental group students performed between 81% - 100% while

control group students performed between 0% - 20%. In critical thinking section

majority of experimental group students and control group students ‗percentages were

81%-100% and 0%-20%. In drawing inference from the text section majority of the

experimental group students‘ percentages were between 81%-100% and in control

group majority of the students ‗percentages were between 0%-20%. In prediction

section majority of the experimental group students‘ percentages were between 81%-

100% while control group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20%.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 103

Table 4 6
Hansel and Gretel Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 6: Hansel and Gretel Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20% 21-40 % 41-60% 61-80 % 81-100%
Experimental Group
(0%) (6.7%) (40%) (0%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(20%) (26.7%) (33.3%) (6.7%) (13.3%)
N=15
Text based questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (46.7%) (20%)
N=15
Control Group
(20%) (26.7%) (40%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (20%) (0%) (60%)
N=15
Control Group
(53.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group
(26.7%) (20%) (13.3%) (0%) (40%)
N=15
Control Group N=15 (60%) (6.7%) (13.3%) (0%) (20%)
Prediction questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (0%) (66.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(40%) (20%) (20%) (0%) (20%)
N=15

Table 4.6 shows story Hansel and Gretel comprehension results in which

majority of the experimental group students had performed between 81% to 100% in

word meaning in context while control group students performed between 41% to 60%.

Similarly, in text specific question and answers majority of the experimental group

students performed between 61% to 80% while control group students performed

between 41% to 60% . In critical thinking section majority of the experimental group

students and control group students percentages were between 81%-100% and 0%-20%

respectively. In drawing inference from the text section majority of the experimental

group students‘ percentages were between 81%-100% and in control group majority of

the students‘ percentages were between 0%-20%. In prediction section majority of the

experimental group students percentages were between 81%-100% while in control

group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20% .


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 104

Table 4.7
The Pony School News Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 7: The Pony School News Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80 % 81-100%
Experimental Group
(0%) (6.7%) (40%) (0%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(33.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (13.3%)
N=15
Text based questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (60%) (13.30%)
N=15
Control Group
(40%) (20%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (13.3%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (46.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(60%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group
(26.7%) (20%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (26.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(53.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15
Prediction questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(53.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (0%) (13.3%)
N=15

Table 4.7 shows story The Pony School News comprehension results in which

majority of the experimental group students had performed between 81% to 100% in

word meaning in context while control group students performed between 5% to 20%.

Similarly, in text specific question and answers majority of the experimental group

students performed between 61% to 80% while control group students performed

between 0% to 20%. In critical thinking section majority of the experimental group

students and control group students percentages were between 81%-100% and 0%-

20% respectively. In drawing inference from the text section majority of the

experimental group students‘ percentages were between 81%-100% and majority of

the control group students performed between 0%-20% . In prediction section

majority of the experimental group students‘ percentage were between 81%-100%

while control group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20% .


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 105

Table 4.8
Elves and the Shoemaker Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 8: Elves and the Shoemaker Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20% 21-40 % 41-60% 61-80 % 81-100 %
Experimental Group
(0%) (0%) (26.7%) (6.7%) (66.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(26.7%) (13.3%) (26.7%) (13.3%) (20%)
N=15
Text based questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (6.7%) (6.7%) (26.7%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(33.3%) (13.3%) (20%) (13.3%) (20%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (0%) 0(0%) 12(80%)
N=15
Control Group
(46.7%) (13.3%) (20%) (6.7%) (13.3%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group
(13.3%) (0%) (6.7%) (0%) (80%)
N=15
Control Group
(60%) (20%) (0%) (6.7%) (13.3%)
N=15
Prediction questions
Experimental Group
(0%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (0%) (80%)
N=15
Control Group
(46.7%) (26.7%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (6.7%)
N=15
Table: 8 shows story Elves and the Shoemaker comprehension results in

which majority of the experimental group students had performed between 81% to

100% in word meaning in context section while control group students scored

between 0% to 20% . Similarly, in text specific question and answers majority of the

experimental group students performed between 81% to 100 % while control group

students performed between 0% to 20% . In critical thinking section majority of the

experimental group students‘ and control group students‘ percentages were between

81%-100% and 0%-20% respectively . In drawing inference from the text section

majority of the experimental group students percentages were between 81%-100%

and majority of the control group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20%. In

prediction majority of the experimental group students‘ percentages were between

81%-100% while control group students‘ percentages were between were 0%-20%.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 106

Table 4.9
The Red Knight Story Comprehension Results of EG and CG
Story 9: Red Knight Word Meaning in Context
Group 0-20 % 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100 %
Experimental Group
(0%) (0%) (26.7%) (20%) (53.3%)
N=15
Control Group
(20%) (20%) (26.7%) (13.3%) (20%)
N=15
Text based questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (6.7%) (6.7%) (40%) (40%)
N=15
Control Group
(13.3%) (46.7%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (13.3%)
N=15
Critical thinking questions
Experimental Group
(6.7%) (13.3%) (13.3%) (20%) (46.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(33.3%) (26.7%) (20%) (6.7%) (13.3%)
N=15
Inferential questions from the text
Experimental Group
(13.3%) (0%) (20%) (0%) (66.7%)
N=15
Control Group
(40%) (40%) (0%) (6.7%) (13.3%)
N=15
Prediction questions
Experimental Group
(0%) (13.3%) (26.7%) (0%) (60%)
N=15
Control Group
(40%) (33.3%) (13.3%) (6.7%) (6.7%)
N=15

Table: 9 shows story the Red Knight comprehension results in which majority

of the experimental group students had performed between 81% to 100% in word

meaning in context while control group students performed between 41% to 60% .

Similarly, in text specific question and answers majority of the experimental group

students performed between 81% to 100% while control group students performed

between 21% to 40% . In critical thinking section majority of the experimental group

students‘ and control group students‘ percentages were 81%-100% and 0%-20%

respectively. In drawing inference from the text section majority of the experimental

group students percentages were between 81%-100% and majority of the control

group students were between 21%-40%. In prediction section majority of the

experimental group students‘ percentages were between 81%-100% while control

group students‘ percentages were between 0%-20% .


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 107

4.3 Effect of Intervention on Story Re-Telling and Comprehension

Fiction is considered to be one of the effective techniques that provoke the

minds of students‘ to think beyond and out of the box. In this regard, fiction helps the

minds to stimulate the limbic centre of the brain to alter the way of thinking. The form

on which students have been assessed has been obtained from Lauren Ratliff (2015)

after taking due permission. According to the research of Ratliff (2015), fiction story

re-telling improves with the passage of time as the skills were assessed week by week.

Therefore, the tutors in their classes use fiction as a supportive material to help the

students comprehend the concepts of the world in a better manner. It further helps

them analyse the real life situations from different perspectives and dimensions to

explore new outlook to the solution of a specific problem. Pertaining to these aspects,

the researcher of the study attempted to improve the skills of the student related to

store re-telling in the case of fictional stories. The technique that has been employed

to enhance these skills is read aloud in this study. The research of Ratliff (2015) also

used the same technique which proved to be significant in this aspect of fiction story

re-telling, however, the process was gradual. The researcher utilised the technique in

the class on the primary level students. Moreover, the researcher used different story

books along with pictures to enhance the memory and retention power of the students

on the experimental group. The scale that the researcher has undertaken ranges from 0

to 4 where a total score between 0 to 6 asserts that the student needs work, the total

score between 7 to 11 asserts that the student is developing his or her skills while

scores above 12 indicates that the student has developed the skills completely.

Concerning the aspects mentioned, the results of the post tests are shown story wise in

tabular form.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 108

Table 4.10
Retelling Scores of Five Stories and Calculation of Effect size, Mean and Standard Deviation
Total
Stories Groups Beginning Setting Character Problem Sequence Resolution
Score

Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.133 2.2 2.067 2.067 1.867 1.933 12.267
SD 0.834 0.862 0.884 0.961 0.834 0.961 2.086
Control
Puss in
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Boots
M 1.067 1.133 1.133 1.133 1.067 1.133 6.667
SD 1.1 0.99 1.06 1.125 0.799 1.06 2.582
Me-Mc 1.067 1.067 0.933 0.933 0.8 0.8 5.6
T 2.993 3.147 2.619 2.442 2.683 2.165 6.534
p-value 0.006 0.004 0.014 0.021 0.012 0.039 0.000
ES 1.09 1.15 0.95 0.89 0.97 0.79 2.38
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 1.667 2.2 2 2 1.733 1.8 11.4
SD 0.976 0.862 0.845 0.926 0.799 0.941 1.882
Control
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Rapunzel
M 1.067 1 0.933 0.933 0.933 0.733 5.6
SD 0.884 1.069 1.1 1.1 0.458 0.799 1.92
Me-Mc 0.6 1.2 1.067 1.067 0.8 1.067 5.8
T 1.765 3.384 2.978 2.874 3.365 3.347 8.355
p-value 0.088 0.002 0.006 0.008 0.002 0.002 0
ES 0.65 1.24 1.09 1.05 1.24 1.23 3.06
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.067 2.267 1.933 2.067 1.933 2.267 12.533
SD 0.799 0.799 0.799 0.961 0.884 0.799 2.264
Snow Control
White and N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
the Seven M 1.2 1.133 1 1.067 1.067 0.867 6.333
Dwarfs SD 0.862 1.06 1.134 1.1 0.458 0.834 2.127
Me-Mc 0.867 1.133 0.933 1 0.867 1.4 6.2
T 2.856 3.307 2.606 2.652 3.373 4.696 7.731
p-value 0.008 0.003 0.015 0.013 0.002 0 0
ES 1.04 1.2 0.95 0.96 1.24 1.72 2.63
Experimental
The Jungle
Book N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2 2.0667 1.8 2 1.8667 2 11.7333
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 109

SD 0.75593 0.7988 0.7746 1 0.83381 0.84515 2.18654


Control
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 1.3333 1.2667 1 1.2 1.2 1 7
SD 0.8165 1.0328 1.13389 1.0823 0.56061 0.84515 2.20389
Me-Mc 0.667 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.667 1 4.733
T 2.32 2.373 2.256 2.103 2.57 3.24 5.905
p-value 0.028 0.025 0.032 0.045 0.016 0.003 0
ES 0.701 0.739 0.718 0.635 0.722 0.966 1.763
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.267 2.267 1.8 2.067 2 2.133 12.533
SD 0.799 0.799 0.775 1.033 0.926 0.99 2.416
Jack and Control
the N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Beanstalk M 1.6 1.467 1.2 1.267 1.333 1.2 8.067
SD 0.828 1.06 1.207 1.163 0.724 0.941 3.15
Me-Mc 0.667 0.8 0.6 0.8 0.667 0.933 4.467
T 2.244 2.334 1.62 1.992 2.197 2.646 4.357
p-value 0.033 0.027 0.116 0.056 0.036 0.013 0
ES 0.673 0.730 0.520 0.606 0.630 0.782 1.359

Table 4.10 shows retelling scores of five stories after the intervention of both

the groups. Post-test scores of experimental group in story Puss in Boots were

significantly higher than those of control group (p=<0.000) and effect size on gain

score of experimental group was also significant as compared to control group

Hedges‘ g=2.38. In second story Rapunzel post-test scores of experimental group

were significantly higher than those of control group (p=<0.000) and effect size on

gain score on story elements considered for scoring rubric Hedges‘= 3.06

In the third story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs scores of experimental

group were higher than control group with statistically significant (p=<0.000). The

difference between experimental and control group mean scores was (M=1.4).

Moreover, in the story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the effect size on the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 110

elements of the story which were taken into consideration while scoring the retelling

Hedges‘ g= 2.63 was also significant as compared to the control group.

In the fourth story The Jungle Book experimental group results were

significantly higher (p=<0.000) and the overall effect size on gain scores on the

elements of the story which were taken into consideration while scoring the retelling

which were beginning, setting, character, problem, sequence, resolution Hedges‘

g=1.76 was also significantly higher for experimental group.

In the fifth story Jack and the Beanstalk the retelling scores of experimental

group were statistically significant (p=<0.000) and (M=8.067, SD=3.15). The effect

size on gain scores on overall story retelling Hedges‘ g = 1.35 scores.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 111

Table 4.11
Story Retelling Scores of Four Stories and Calculation of Effect Size, Mean and
Standard Deviation
Stories Groups Beginning Setting Character Problem Sequence Resolution Total score
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.267 2.467 1.867 2.133 2.133 2.4 13.267
SD 0.799 0.743 0.834 1.06 0.834 0.632 2.374
Control
Hansel N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
and M 1.467 1.467 1 1.133 1.2 1.2 7.467
Gretel SD 0.915 1.06 1.134 1.187 0.775 0.941 2.232
Me-Mc 0.8 1 0.867 1 0.933 1.2 5.8
T 2.55 2.991 2.385 2.433 3.176 4.099 6.893
p-value 0.017 0.006 0.024 0.022 0.004 0 0
ES 0.778 0.948 0.749 0.740 0.935 1.308 2.035
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.2 2.467 2 2.267 2.2 2.467 13.6
SD 0.941 0.743 0.845 1.033 0.862 0.64 2.23
Control
The Pony N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
School M 1.733 1.667 0.933 1.067 1.067 1.2 7.667
News SD 0.884 1.047 0.961 1.033 0.594 0.941 2.024
Me-Mc 0.467 0.8 1.067 1.2 1.133 1.267 5.933
T 1.4 2.414 3.228 3.182 4.194 4.311 7.632
p-value 0.172 0.023 0.003 0.004 0 0 0
ES 0.413 0.763 0.984 0.948 1.182 1.372 2.239
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.133 2.333 2 2.267 2.2 2.467 13.4
SD 0.743 0.724 0.845 1.033 0.862 0.64 2.293
Elves and Control
the N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Shoemak M 1.467 1.333 0.8 0.867 1 1 6.467
er SD 1.06 1.113 1.014 0.915 0.655 0.845 2.588
Me-Mc 0.667 1 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.467 6.933
T 1.994 2.918 3.52 3.929 4.294 5.358 7.767
p-value 0.056 0.007 0.001 0.001 0 0 0
ES 0.632 0.935 1.083 1.149 1.226 1.675 2.363
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 2.267 2.4 1.8 2 2 2.267 12.733
SD 0.704 0.737 0.941 1.134 1 0.884 3.327
Control
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
The Red M 0.87 1.4 0.8 0.933 1.067 1 6.067
Knight SD 0.915 1.056 1.014 0.884 0.704 0.756 2.492
Me-Mc 1.4 1 1 1.067 0.933 1.267 6.667
T 4.696 3.009 2.799 2.874 2.956 4.219 6.212
p-value 0 0.005 0.009 0.008 0.006 0 0
ES 1.464 0.953 0.845 0.824 0.835 1.226 1.771
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 112

The above table 4.11 shows the retelling scores of sixth, seventh, eighth and

ninth story after the intervention. The post test results reveal that experimental group

scores were significantly higher than those of control group (p=<0.000). The effect

size on gain scores on the elements of the story which were taken into consideration

Hedges‘ g= 2.03 was higher than control group.

In the seventh story The Pony School News the retelling scores after

intervention were statistically significant (p=<0.000). The effect size on gain scores

on the elements of the story which were taken into consideration while scoring the

retelling hedges‘ g = 2.23 scores.

In the eight story The Elves and the Shoemaker experimental group

performance was statistically significant (p=<0.000) and (M=6.46,SD=2.58). The

effect size on gain scores on elements of story taken into consideration hedges‘ g=

2.36 was also higher for experimental group.

In the ninth story also which is The Red Knight experimental group scores

were statistically significant (p=<0.000). The effect size on gain scores on the

elements of the story which were taken into consideration while scoring Hedges‘

g=1.77. It is evident from the above scores of experimental group which were

significantly higher than control group in all the nine story retellings that read aloud

teaching strategy is effective in ESL context as compared to traditional method of

teaching.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 113

Table 4.12
In Depth Comparison between EG and CG in Story Retelling Percentage Wise
Stories Groups Needs work Developing Skilled
Experimental
(0%) (93.30%) (6.70%)
Puss in Boots group
Control group (60%) (40%) (0%)
Experimental
(0%) (100%) (0%)
Rapunzel group
Control group 1(86.70%) (13.3%) (0%)
Experimental
Snow White and 0 (0%) (80%) (20%)
group
the Seven Dwarfs
Control group (80%) (20%) (0%)
Experimental
(6.7%) (80%) (13.3%)
The Jungle Book group
Control group (73.3%) (26.7%) (0%)
Experimental
Jack and the (6.7%) (80%) (13.3%)
group
Beanstalk
Control group (60%) (33.3%) (6.7%)
Experimental
(0%) (80%) (20%)
Hansel and Gretel group
Control group (66.7%) (33.3%) (0%)
Experimental
The Pony School group (0%) (80%) (20%)
News
Control group (53.3%) (46.7%) (0%)
Experimental
Elves and the (0%) (73.3%) (26.7%)
group
Shoemaker
Control group (60%) (26.6%) (13.3%)
Experimental
(6.7%) (66.7%) (26.7%)
The Red Knight group
Control group (66.7%) (20.0%) (13.3%)
Table no.4.12 shows comparison between experimental and control group

story wise in percentage which shows how many students need improvement or are

on developing stage or are skilled in retelling and comprehended the story well in a

tabular form. In the story Puss in Boots majority of the students in experimental group

93% were in developing stage and in control group majority of the students 60% need

to work.

In the story Rapunzel, 100% students in the experimental group were in

developing stage and in control group 86.70% students need to work and 13.3%

students were in developing stage.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 114

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs majority of the students 80% in

experimental group were in developing stage and in control group 80% of the students

need to work and 20% students were in developing stage.

In the story the Jungle Book in the experimental group 6.7% students need to

work while 80% students were in developing stage and 13.3% students were skilled

while in control group 73.3% need to work and 26.7% students were in developing

stage.

In Jack and the Beanstalk story in the experimental group 6.7% students need

to work, 80% students were in developing stage and 13.3% students were skilled

while in control group 60% students need to work, 33.3% students were in developing

stage and 6.7% students were skilled.

In Hansel and Gretel story in the experimental group 80% students were in

developing stage and 20% students were skilled while in control group 66.7%

students need to work and 33.3% were in developing stage.

In The Pony School News story in the experimental group majority of students

80% were in developing stage and 20% students were skilled while in control group

53.3% students need to work while 46.7% students were in developing stage. In The

Elves and the Shoemaker story in the experimental group73.3% students were in

developing stage and 26.7% were skilled while in control group 60% students need to

work and 26.6% students were in developing stage and 13.3% students were skilled.

In the Red Knight story in the experimental group 6.7% students need to work,

66.7% students were in developing stage and 26.7% students were skilled while in

control group 66.7% students need to work and 20.0% students were in developing

stage and 13.3% were skilled.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 115

4.4 Effect of Intervention on Vocabulary

The clarity and understanding of different words is the main issue among the

primary level students as they are crucial part of the conversation. For this purpose, it

is difficult in order to deny the importance of vocabulary in the real world in order to

increase the understanding and clarity in the message. However, the vocabulary

understanding is incomplete without listening carefully. This is because if the student

does not listen properly, there are increased chances that he/she might get the word

wrong. Therefore, for this purpose, the researcher used read aloud teaching strategy to

enhance students ‗concentration span and raise their level of interest.

On the basis of vocabulary worksheets, students in the control group and

experimental group have been assessed. The impact was analysed on the basis of the

scores before and after the intervention. Before the intervention, the results of control

group and experimental group students were somehow similar to each other and there

was no or minimal difference in the scores of both the groups. The results that were

obtained after the intervention were totally different. The results of control group

more or less remained same and there was not a significant change in pre-test and

post-test scores as were taught with the traditional method of teaching. On the other

hand, the results of experimental group had a significant increase in the scores that

were obtained after the intervention as they were taught with read aloud teaching

method.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 116

Table 4.13

EG and CG Gain Scores, Mean and Standard Deviation of Four Stories in


Vocabulary Pre-test and Post-test
Puss in Boots Rapunzel Snow White The Jungle Book
Group Pre- Post- Gain Pre- Post- Gain- Pre- Post- Gain Pre- Post- Gain
test Test Scores test test Scores test test Scores test test Scores
Experimenta
l
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.66 5.93 2.27 4.2 5.3333 1.13 4.26 5.6 1.33 3.2667 4.8667 1.60
7
SD 1.63 0.961 1.94 0.77 0.6172 0.74 0.45 0.5071 0.72 0.7037 0.3519 0.73
77
Control
N 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.13 4 0.87 3.66 3.866 0.21 3.73 4.4667 0.74 2.86 3.4667 0.61
SD 1.50 1.64 1.68 0.975 0.639 0.86 1.16 0.7432 1.27 1.505 1.0601 1.35
2
Me-Mc 0.57 1.066 1.4 0.54 1.466 0.93 0.53 1.1333 0.60 0.406 1.4 0.99
7
T 0.93 2.17 2.108 1.658 6.389 3.17 1.65 4.879 3.17 0.932 4.854 2.515
3
p-value 0.36 0.039 0.04 0.109 0 0.004 0.11 0 0.125 0.359 0 0.018
ES 0.771 1.155 0.578 0.915
95% CI [0.03, [0.33, [-0.17, 1.37] [0.18,
2.76] 1.53] 1.81]

The table 4.13 shows the results of vocabulary pre-test and post-test of

experimental group and control group of four stories. In the first story Puss in Boots,

the pre-test mean scores of experimental group were (M= 3.67, SD=1.63) and control

group mean scores were (M= 3.13, SD=1.505). The mean difference is not

statistically significant (p= 0.360). However, in the post-test of experimental group

mean score was (M=5.933, SD=0.96) and mean score of control group was (M=

4.866, SD=1.64). The difference is statistically significant (p= 0.039). The mean

difference between pre-test of experimental group and control group was (M=0.573)

and mean difference between post-test of experimental group and control group was

(M=1.0660. Gain scores of experimental group on Puss in Boots story were also

significantly higher than those of control group (p= 0.04). Effect size on gain scores

on story Puss in the Boots with 95% confidence interval was 0.77[0.03, 2.76].

In the second story Rapunzel in the pre-test of experimental group mean score

(M= 4.2, SD=0.45) while control group pre-test mean score (M= 3.66, SD=0.975).
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 117

The difference is not significant (p= 0.109). However, in the post-test mean score of

experimental group (M= 5.33, SD=0.61) and post-test mean score of control group

(M= 3.86, SD=0.639). The difference is statistically significant (p= 0.000). The

results showed that there is clear difference in experimental group and control post

test score after intervention. The mean difference between pre-test of experimental

group and control group (M= 0.54) while post-test (M= 1.466). Gain scores of

experimental group on story Rapunzel were also significantly higher than those of

control group (p= 0.004). Effect size on gain scores on story Rapunzel with 95%

confidence interval was 1.15[0.33, 1.53].

In third story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in the pre-test experimental

group mean score was (M= 4.267, SD=0.45) control group mean score was (M=3.73,

SD=1.16). The difference is statistically not significant (p= 0.110). The difference in

mean between experimental group and control group pre-test scores was (M=0.537).

Whereas, in post-test of experimental group mean scores were (M= 5.6, SD=0.50) and

control group were (M=4.46,SD=0.74) . The difference is statistically significant

(p=<0.000). The experimental group mean score was higher in post-test on the story

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The difference in experimental group and control

group mean scores in post-test was (M= 1.13). Gain scores of experimental group on

Snow White story were not significantly higher than those of control group (p=

0.125). Effect size on gain scores on story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with

95% confidence interval was 0.57[-0.17, 1.37].

In the fourth story the Jungle Book pre-test mean scores of experimental were

(M= 3.267,SD=0.70) and control group mean scores were (M= 2.86,SD=1.50) with

statistically significant (p= 0.359). Similarly, the mean difference in pre-test of

experimental and control group was (M=0.406). Moreover, in the post-test


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 118

experimental group mean score was (M= 4.867, SD=0.351) and control group mean

scores were (M=3.467, SD=1.06) with statistically significant (p=<0.000). The mean

difference between experimental and control group was (M=1.4). Gain scores of

experimental group on Jungle Book story were also significantly higher than those of

control group (p= 0.01). Effect size on gain scores on the story the Jungle Book with

95% confidence interval was 0.91[0.18, 1.81].


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 119

Table 4.14
EG and CG Gain Scores, Mean and Standard Deviation of Three Stories in
Vocabulary Pre-test and Post-test
Jack and the Beanstalk Hansel and Gretel The Pony School News
Pre- Post- Gain Pre- Post- Gain Pre- Post- Gain
Groups
test test Scores test test Scores test test Scores
Experim
ental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.8667 5.6667 1.80 3.4667 4.733 1.27 3.7333 4.7333 1.00
0.7988 0.5936
SD 0.9155 0.488 0.86 0.5164 0.5936 0.59 0.75
1 2
Control
N 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.2 4.9333 1.73 3 3.467 0.47 3.53 3.7333 0.20
0.7988
SD 1.65 0.8837 1.38 1.55 1.0601 1.55 1.3 1.37
1
Me-Mc 0.667 0.7334 0.07 0.466 1.266 0.80 0.203 1 0.80
T 1.364 2.814 0.158 1.1 4.038 1.86 0.507 3.892 1.977
p-value 0.183 0.009 0.87 0.28 0 0.042 0.616 0.001 0.048
ES 0.58 0.682 0.721
[-0.79, [-0.07, [-0.02,
95% CI
0.93] 1.67] 1.62]

The above table 4.14 shows that in the fifth story Jack and the Beanstalk in the

pre-test experimental group mean scores were (M=3.867, SD=0.91) and control group

mean scores were (M= 3.20, SD=1.65) . The mean difference between pre-test of

experimental and control group was not statistically significant (p= 0.183). Whereas,

the post-test mean scores of experimental group in Jack and the Beanstalk were (M=

5.667, SD=0.488) and post-test mean scores of control group were (M=

4.93,SD=0.88) with statistically significant (p= 0.009). The post-test mean difference

between experimental and control group was (M= 0.7334). Gain scores of

experimental group on the story Jack and the Beanstalk were not statistically

significant than those of control group (p= 0.87). Effect size on gain scores on story

Jack and Beanstalk with 95% confidence interval was 0.58[-0.79, 0.93].
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 120

The sixth story which was Hansel and Gretel in the pre-test experimental

group mean scores were (M= 3.4667) and control group mean scores were (M=3.00)

with statistically not significant (p= 0.280).The difference in pre-test scores of

experimental and control group were(M= 0.466 ). In the post-test the experimental

mean scores were(M= 4.733 ) and control group were(M= 3.46) with statistically

significant( p= 0.000). The mean difference between post-test of experimental group

and control group was (M=1.266). Gain scores of experimental group on Hansel and

Gretel story were statistically significant than those of control group (p-value, 0.04).

Effect size on gain scores on story Hansel and Gretel with 95% confidence interval

was 0.68[-0.07, 1.67].

In the seventh story the Pony school News pre-test mean scores of

experimental group were (M=3.733) control group mean scores were (M=3.53) (p=

0.616). The mean difference between pre-test of experimental and control group was

not significant (p= 0.616). The post-test mean scores of experimental group were

(M=4.733) and control group mean scores (M= 3.733).The scores of experimental

group were statistically significant (p= 0.001). Gain scores of experimental group on

the story the Pony School News were statistically significant than those of control

group (p= 0.04). Effect size on gain scores on the story The Pony School News with

95% confidence interval was 0.71[-0.02, 1.62].


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 121

Table 4.15

EG and CG Gain Scores, Mean and Standard Deviation of Two Stories in


Vocabulary Pre-test and Post-test
The Elves and the Shoemaker The Red Knight
Group Pre-test Post-test Gain Scores Pre-test Post-test Gain Scores
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15
M 4.2 4.867 0.67 3.7333 4.8667 1.13
SD 0.67612 0.3519 0.61 0.88372 0.35187 0.83
Control
N 15 15 15 15
M 3.73 3.867 0.14 3.2 3.8667 0.67
SD 1.43 0.8338 1.05 1.52 0.83381 1.08
Me-Mc 0.47 1 0.53 0.533 1 0.47
T 1.13 4.279 1.38 1.174 4.279 1.007
p-value 0.265 0 0.01 0.25 0 0.03
ES 0.50 0.370
95% CI [-0.25, 1.32] [-0.48, 1.41]

The above table 4.15 shows results of the story The Elves and the Shoemaker. In

pre-test experimental group mean scores were (M=4.2,SD=0.67) and control group were

(M=3.73,SD=1.43 with no statistically significant (p= 0.265). In the post-test

experimental group mean scores were (M=4.867,SD=0.35) and control group were

(M=3.86,SD=0.833). The mean difference was statistically significant (p=<0.000). Gain

scores of experimental group on the story The Elves and the Shoemaker were statistically

significant than those of control group (p= 0.01). Effect size on gain scores of the story

The Elves and the Shoemaker with 95% confidence interval was 0.50[-0.25, 1.32].

In the ninth story, the Red Knight in the pre-test experimental group mean scores

were (M=3.733, 0.88372) and control group were (M=3.20,SD=1.52) with no statistical

significant (p= 0.250). Whereas in the post-test experimental group mean scores were

(M= 4.86,SD=0.35) and control group were (M=3.86,SD=0.833) with statistically

significant (p= 0.000). Gain scores of experimental group on the story the Red knight

were statistically significant than those of control group (p= 0.03). Effect size on gain

scores on the story Red knight with 95% confidence interval was 0.37[-0.48, 1.41].
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 122

Table 4.16

Vocabulary Mean, Standard Deviation and T- Test Scores for overall Nine Stories of
EG and CG
Experimental Group Control Group
Paired Sample T-test Paired Sample T-test
P- P-
Group N=30 M SD t value M SD T value
Pre 3.667 1.633 - 3.133 1.50
0.000 -1.93 .074
Puss in the Boots Post 5.933 0.961 4.515 4.067 1.16
Pre 4.200 0.775 - 3.66 0.97
0.000 -0.43 .670
Rapunzel Post 5.333 0.617 5.906 3.80 1.08
Pre 4.267 0.458 - 3.73 1.16 -
0.000 .869
Snow White Post 5.600 0.507 7.135 3.80 0.94 0.168
Pre 3.267 0.704 - 2.86 1.50
0.000 -1.71 .108
The Jungle Book Post 4.867 0.352 8.411 3.46 1.060
Pre 3.867 0.915 3.20 1.65
-8.08 0.000 -2.10 .054
Jack and Bean stalk Post 5.667 0.488 4.00 1.19
Pre 3.467 0.516 3.00 1.55
-8.26 0.000 -1.16 .264
Hansel and Gretel Post 4.733 0.594 3.46 1.06
Pre 3.733 0.799 - 3.53 1.30
0.000 -0.56 .582
The Pony School News Post 4.733 0.594 5.123 3.73 0.79
Pre 4.200 0.676 - 3.73 0.37
0.001 -0.38 .709
The Elves Post 4.867 0.352 4.183 3.86 0.83
Pre 3.733 0.884 - 3.20 1.52
0.000 -1.62 .126
The Red Knight Post 4.867 0.352 5.264 3.86 0.83

The above table 4.16 shows paired sample t- test of nine stories. In the first

story Puss in the Boots experimental group showed significant increase in the scores

in the post-test as compared to the pre-test; t=-4.51, p=<0.000. Moreover, the control

group pre-test and post-test mean scores in the Puss in the Boots were (M=3.133,

SD=1.50) and (M=4.067, SD=1.16) with no significant increase in the scores in post

-test; t=-1.93, p= 0.074. There is clear difference between pre-test and post-test mean

scores of vocabulary of experimental which shows that there was a positive effect of

read aloud on experimental group.

The second story was Rapunzel, the experimental group pre-test and post-test

mean scores were (M= 4.20, SD 0.775) and (M=5.33, SD=0.617) with statistically
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 123

significant increase in post–test scores=-5.906, p=<0.000. The control group pre and

post-test scores were (M= 3.66, SD=0.97) and (M= 3.80, SD=1.08) with no

significant increase in the performance in post-test=t -0.43,p= 0.670.

In the third story Snow White experimental group pre and post-test mean

scores were (M=4.267,SD=0.458) and (M=5.60,SD=0.507) with significant increase

in post-test scores; t=-7.135, p=<0.000. While the control group pre and post mean

scores were (M= 3.73,SD=1.16) and (M=3.80,SD=0.94) and there was no statistically

significant increase in post-test scores; t=-0.43,p= 0.869.

The fourth story the Jungle Book experimental group pre and post-test mean

scores were (M= 3.267,SD=0.704) and (M=4.867,SD0.352) with statistically

significant increase in scores after intervention in post- test; t=-8.411,p=<0.000.

Similarly, the control group pre and post-test mean scores were (M=2.86, SD=1.50)

and (M= 3.46,SD=1.06) and there was no a significant increase in post-test scores;

t=-1.71,p= 0.108.

The fifth story which was Jack and the Beanstalk experimental pre and post-

test mean scores were (M=3.867,SD=0.915) and (M=5.677,SD=0.488) with

statistically significant increase in post –test; t=-8.08,p=<0.000. The control group pre

and post-test mean scores were(M= 3.20,SD=1.65) and(M= 4.00,SD=1.19) and there

was no significant increase in post-test scores; t=-2.10,p= 0.054.

In the sixth story Hansel and Gretel also experimental scores increased in

post- test and there was a significant increase in scores; t=-8.26,p=<0.000. The control

group pre and post-test mean scores were (M= 3.00, SD=1.55) and (M=3.46,

SD=1.06) and there was no significant increase in post- test scores; t= 1.16, p= 0.264.

In the seventh story The Pony School experimental group pre and post-test

mean scores were (M=3.733,SD=0.799) and (M=4.733,SD=0.594) with statistically


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 124

significant increase in post-test scores; t=, -5.123,p=<0.000. The control group pre

and post-test scores were (M=3.53,SD=1.30) and (M=3.733,SD=0.79) and there was

not a significant increase in scores; t=-0.56, p= 0.582.

The eighth story was Elves and the Shoemaker and the experimental group pre

and post-test mean scores were (M= 4.20,SD=0.67) and (M=4.87SD=0.35). There

was a significant increase in post-test scores; t=-4.183,p=<0.000. Furthermore, the

control group pre and post-test mean scores were (M=3.73,SD= 0.37) and(M=

3.867,SD0.83) and there was no significant increase in scores was observed; t = -

0.38,p= 0.709.

The ninth story was the Red Knight the experimental pre and post-test mean

scores were (M=3.733, SD=0.884) and (M=4.867,SD=0.35) with statistically

significant increase in the scores; t=-5.264, p=<0.000. The group pre and post-test

mean scores were (M=3.20,SD=1.52) and (M=3.867,SD=0.83) and there was no

significant increase in scores observed; t=-1.62, p= 0.126.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 125

4.5 Effect of Intervention on Speaking Fluency

Speaking ability is one of the key concerns in the primary level students and

an integral part of conversation. Therefore, it is inevitable to deny its significance in

the real-world to enhance the communication and convey the message properly. In

this aspect, the researcher assessed the students speaking fluency.

It has been assessed on the basis of speaking fluency forms where control and

experimental groups have been assessed after the application of the read aloud

technique to the experimental group. The researcher of the study further utilised

pictorial materials in form of story books based on pictures and other relevant

materials to examine whether the performance improved or remained intact

subsequent to the use of read-aloud technique. Pertaining to these aspects, the results

regarding post-test score of both control and experimental groups have been

presented as follows on the basis of ranking scale ranging from 0 to 4 where 0 was

referred to as not able to perform and 4 refers to as exceptional performance:


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 126

Table 4.17
Speaking Fluency Mean, Standard Deviation and effect size calculation of EG and CG in five
Stories
Overall
Stories Groups Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation Interaction
fluency
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.667 3.533 3.4 3.533 3.533
SD 0.617 0.516 0.632 0.516 0.64
Control
Puss in N 15 15 15 15 15
boots M 0.867 1.667 1.133 1.467 1.267
SD 0.834 0.617 0.743 0.834 0.704
Me-Mc 2.8 1.867 2.267 2.067 2.267
T 10.453 8.984 8.996 8.161 9.229
p-value 0 0 0 0 0
ES 3.281 2.763 2.758 2.638 2.796
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.667 3.733 3.533 3.533 3.6
SD 0.488 0.458 0.516 0.516 0.507
Control
N 15 15 15 15 15
Rapunzel
M 1.4 1.2 1.933 1.333 1.533
SD 0.632 0.775 0.594 0.617 0.743
Me-Mc 2.267 2.533 1.6 2.2 2.067
T 10.99 10.905 7.876 10.588 8.896
p-value 0 0 0 0 0
ES 3.426 3.547 2.405 3.256 2.831
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.6 3.667 3.6 3.733 3.467
SD 0.507 0.488 0.507 0.458 0.516
Control
Snow N 15 15 15 15 15
White M 1.667 1.4 1.867 1 1.533
SD 0.9 0.91 0.64 0.535 0.64
Me-Mc 1.933 2.267 1.733 2.733 1.933
T 7.25 8.5 8.222 15.043 9.106
p-value 0 0 0 0 0
ES 2.376 2.807 2.550 4.601 2.816
Experimental
The N 15 15 15 15 15
Jungle
M 3.467 3.6 3.467 3.733 3.533
Book
SD 0.516 0.507 0.516 0.458 0.516
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 127

Control
N 15 15 15 15 15
M 1.8 1.6 1.933 1.133 1.733
SD 0.941 0.91 0.704 0.516 0.704
Me-Mc 1.667 2 1.533 2.6 1.8
T 6.013 7.434 6.803 14.592 7.987
p-value 0 0 0 0 0
ES 1.980 2.441 2.138 4.440 2.511
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.2 3.6 3.4667 3.5333 3.5333
SD 0.67612 0.50709 0.5164 0.63994 0.5164
Control
Jack and
N 15 15 15 15 15
Bean
M 1.6 2.3333 2.0667 1.2 1.8667
Stalk
SD 0.82808 0.9759 0.70373 0.56061 0.74322
Me-Mc 1.6 1.267 1.4 2.333 1.667
T 5.797 4.461 6.212 10.622 7.132
p-value 0 0 0 0 0
ES 1.789 1.480 1.952 3.099 2.263

The table 4.17 shows results of speaking fluency assessment of five stories. In

the first story Puss in Boots experimental group performed significantly better as

compared to control group in which most of the students were not able to perform

well (p=<0.000).Effect size after intervention on overall speaking fluency Hedges‘ g=

2.79.

In second story Rapunzel results showed that experimental group performance

was better as compared to the control group and they had adequate skills(p=<0.000).

Effect size after intervention on overall speaking fluency Hedges‘ g= 2.83.

In the third story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the scores of

experimental group were significantly higher than the results of control group

(p=<0.000). Effect size after intervention on overall fluency of experimental group

Hedges‘ g= 2.81.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 128

In the fourth story the Jungle Book overall results of experimental group were

statistically significant (p=<0.000). Effect size after intervention on overall fluency

Hedges‘ g= 2.51.

In the fifth story Jack and the Beanstalk also the results of experimental group

were significantly higher as compared to control group (p=<0.000). Effect size after

intervention on overall fluency Hedges‘ g=2.26.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 129

Table 4.18
Speaking Fluency Mean, Standard Deviation and Effect Size Calculation of EG and
CG in Four Stories
Overall
Experimental Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation Interaction
fluency
N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.467 3.4 3.267 3.333 3.333
SD 0.516 0.632 0.594 0.617 0.488
Control
Hansel
N 15 15 15 15 15
and Gretel
M 1.8 2.067 2.133 1.667 2.067
SD 0.941 0.961 0.743 0.817 0.799
Me-Mc 1.667 1.333 1.133 1.667 1.267
T 6.013 4.488 4.615 6.307 5.241
p-value 0 0 0 0 0
ES 1.980 1.436 1.429 1.972 1.697

Experimental

N 15 15 15 15 15

M 3.4 3.333 3.133 3.133 2.6

The SD 0.737 0.617 0.64 0.64 0.91


Pony Control
School N 15 15 15 15 15
News M 1.8 2.267 2.067 1.667 1.733
SD 1.014 0.704 0.799 0.817 0.799
Me-Mc 1.6 1.067 1.067 1.467 0.867
T 4.943 4.413 4.036 5.476 2.772
p-value 0 0 0 0 0.01
ES 1.556 1.346 1.250 1.702 0.809

Experimental

N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.467 3.2 2.933 3 2.467
SD 0.516 0.561 0.799 0.845 0.99
The Control
Elves and
N 15 15 15 15 15
the
Shoemaker M 2 2.2 2.067 1.667 1.667
SD 1.134 0.676 0.799 0.817 0.9
Me-Mc 1.467 1 0.867 1.333 0.8
T 4.559 4.41 2.971 4.394 2.316
p-value 0 0 0.006 0 0.028
ES 1.538 1.357 0.886 1.302 0.680
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 130

Experimental

N 15 15 15 15 15
M 3.333 3.2 2.933 3.133 2.933
SD 0.817 0.561 0.799 0.915 1.1
The Control
Red N 15 15 15 15 15
Knight M 2.067 2.2 1.933 2.067 1.8
SD 1.033 0.862 0.799 0.961 0.862
Me-Mc 1.267 1 1 1.067 1.133
T 3.726 3.767 3.428 3.112 3.141
p-value 0.001 0.001 0.002 0.004 0.004
ES 1.156 1.207 1.022 0.936 0.901

The above table 4.18 shows speaking fluency assessment results of four stories

after the intervention. In the sixth story Hansel and Gretel experimental group results

were significant in comparison to control group (p=<0.000). Effect size after

intervention on overall fluency Hedges‘ g= 1.69

In the seventh story The Pony School News experimental group results were

statistically significant as they were taught through read aloud and control group with

traditional method (p=<0.000). Effect size on overall fluency Hedges‘ g= 0.80.

In the eighth story The Elves and the Shoemaker experimental group

performed better in comparison with control group (p=<0.000). The effect size on

overall fluency after intervention Hedges‘ g= 0.68.

In the ninth story the Red Knight experimental group again showed better

result and it was observed students were more fluent and were able to convey the

meaning in a better way as compared to control group (p= 0.001). Effect size after

intervention on overall fluency a Hedges‘ g= 0.90.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 131

4.6 Analysis of Reading Motivation

In order to assess the reading motivation of the students generally, the

researcher let the students fill a questionnaire which was related to their sentiments.

The questionnaire was adapted from the research conducted by Heathington (1975)

with the title ‗The Development of Scales to Measure Attitudes towards Reading‘.

Therefore, the primary level students who were undertaken for this research as sample

comprised of two intact groups which were assigned as experimental group and

control group were given the questionnaire to be filled as pre-test and post-test. The

questionnaire comprised of 5 points scale ranging from 1 to 5. The value of 1

represented very sad, 2: sad, 3: neither sad nor happy, 4: happy and 5: very happy.

The questionnaire incorporates 20 statements reflecting reading motivation of

the students. The students were assessed to retort on the feeling pertaining to reading,

going to library, reading instead of playing, reading aloud in the class and similar

other aspects representing the motivation to read irrespective of the place and

environment. The results concerning reading motivation has been represented as

follows with respect to three categories which are how do they feel while reading at

home? How do they feel while reading at school? How do they feel while reading

generally?
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 132

Table 4.19
Gain Scores and Effect Size Calculation of EG and CG on Reading Motivation

How do you feel while How do you feel while How do you feel while
Categories
reading at home? reading generally? reading in school?

Pre- Post- Gain Pre- Post Gain Pre- Post- Gain


Group
test test Scores test test Scores test test Scores
Experimental
N 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 14.4 18.13 3.73 21.87 28.8 6.93 26.87
20.8 6.0667
2.7568
SD 2.7203 2.42 4.06 3.02 3.840 4.99 2.29 3.17
1
Control
N 15 15 15 15 15 15
M 13.66 14.4 0.74 19.93 23.59 3.66 19 21.61 2.61
SD 1.44 3.83 3.82 2.34 3.005 2.82 2.61 3.56 6.76
Me-Mc 0.74 3.73 2.99 1.936 3.6 3.26 1.8 3.2 4
T 0.922 3.192 2.08 1.95 2.86 2.2 1.83 2.927 2.07
p-value 0.365 0.003 0.04 0.06 0.008 0.036 0.07 0.007 0.047
ES 0.75 0.8 0.65
[0.04, [0.23, [0.04,
95% CI
5.95] 6.29] 7.95]

The above table 4.19 shows results of motivation towards reading

questionnaire which was based on 20 questions which were divided into three

categories and asked from the students in the experimental group and control group

before and after the intervention as pre-test and post-test. In the first category of

questions which was about that How do you feel while reading at home? In the pre-

test performance of both the groups experimental group (M=14.4, SD=2.72) and

control group (M=13.66, SD=1.44) were similar (p=0.365). On the other hand, in the

post-test condition results of control group were similar and experimental group were

significantly different. The mean difference between experimental and control group

pre-test was 0.74 and the mean difference in post-test of experimental and control

group was 3.73 which also shows that read aloud proved to be a better teaching

strategy as compared to the traditional one.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 133

Gain scores of experimental group on how do you feel while reading at home

were also significantly higher than those of control group (p= 0.04). Effect size on

gain score on first category of questions with 95% confidence interval was 0.75[0.04,

5.95].

In the second category of questions which were regarding their feelings that

How do they feel while reading generally? In the pre-test performance of both the

groups was similar experimental group (M=21.866, SD= 3.0205) and control group

(M=19.93, SD=2.34). The mean difference is not statistically significantly (p= 0.060).

In the post-test the respondents were happier in experimental group (M= 28.8,

SD=3.83) rather than control group (M= 25.2, SD=3.00) after they had story read

aloud sessions as the difference between experimental and control group performance

were statistically significant (p= 0.008). Gain scores of experimental group on how do

you feel while reading generally were also significantly higher than those of control

group (p= 0.036). Effect size on gain score on second category of questions with 95%

confidence interval was 0.8[0.23, 6.29].

As for the third category of questions is concerned which was about how do

they feel while reading in school in the pre-test both the groups performed similarly

experimental group (M= 20.8, SD=2.75) and control group (M= 19.00, SD=2.61).

The findings of pre-test show that there is not a significant difference between the

experimental group and control group in terms of happiness while they are reading in

school. Furthermore, in the post-test performance of experimental group improved

(M=26.86, SD=2.29) as compared to control group (M=23.66, SD=3.55).The

difference is statistically significant with (p= 0.007). Gain scores of experimental

group on How do you feel while reading at school? were also significantly higher than
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 134

those of control group (p= 0.047). Effect size on gain score on third category of

questions with 95% confidence interval was 0.65[0.04, 7.95].

Table 4.20
Mean, Standard Deviations, and T- Test Scores on Reading Motivation of EG and CG
Experimental Group Control Group
Paired Sample T-test Paired Sample T-test
Group N=30 M SD T P-value M SD t P-value
How do Pre 14.4000 2.72029 13.66 1.44
you feel
while
reading at 18.1333 2.41622 14.4000 3.83
home? Post -3.56 0.003 -0.74 0.470
How do Pre 21.8667 3.02056 19.93 2.34
you feel
while
reading 28.8000 3.83964 19.40 2.35
generally? Post -5.37 <0.000 0.552 0.589
How do Pre 20.8000 2.75681 19.00 2.61
you feel
while
reading in 26.8667 2.29492 19.13 6.67
school? Post -7.4 <0.000 -0.07 0.943

The table 4.20 shows results of paired sample-t test which depicts that in first

category of questions which were about How do you feel while reading at home?

there was a significant difference between pre-test and post- test of experimental

group ; t= -3.56,p= 0.003. On the other hand, there was not a significant difference in

pre-test and post-test of control group; t= -0.74,p= 0.470.

In the second category of questions which were about How do you feel while

reading generally? the experimental group students showed significant level of

increase in their interest level in post –test than in the pre-test; t= -

5.37,p=<0.000.Which shows the effectiveness of the read aloud technique. Whereas,

the control group pre-test score was (M= 19.93, SD=2.34) and post-test mean score

was (M= 19.40, SD=2.35) but the difference in the interest level was not significant; t

= 0.552,p=0.589.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 135

In third category of questions which were about how do you feel while reading

in school the experimental group pre-test mean scores were (M= 20.80,SD=2.75) and

post-test mean scores were (M= 26.86,SD=2.29) there was a significant level of

increase in interest in the post test ;t=-0.07, p=<0.000. Moreover, the control group

pre-test scores were (M= 19.00, SD=2.61) and post-test mean scores were (M= 19.13,

SD=6.67) with no statistically significant increase in the level of interest; t=-0.07,p=

0.943. The difference shows that the experimental group students were happier than

control group students in terms of reading in school after the intervention.

4.7 Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the analysis of students‘ reading motivation analysis is

included. In this analysis, the children were asked about whether they are motivated to

read the books or what makes them motivated in order to read the books. The results

from the analysis of reading motivation questionnaire showed that the responses

obtained from the children indicated that children are more motivated to read when

they are around others. Especially when in the class room or reading groups are

formed the children immediately feel motivated and interested in reading. Moreover,

it has also been gathered from the data that when the children are reading the story to

others, they tend to feel good about it.

The fictional story re-telling analysis identified that fiction is considered to be

one of the most effective techniques that provoke the minds of students in order to

think beyond and out of the box. In this analysis, the researcher used nine picture

story books in order to enhance the memory and retention power of the students on

the experimental group. Based on the results of fictional story re-telling analysis, it

can be inferred that the technique of read-aloud is effective for the improvement in the

comprehension skills related to fictional story retelling.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 136

On the other hand, the vocabulary test analysis was discussed which showed

that the understanding and clarity of different words is the main issue among the

primary level students as they are crucial part of the conversation. The results of

vocabulary test revealed that prior to the implementation of the technique, the scores

of both experimental group and control groups were more or less same. However,

following the implementation of the read-aloud technique, the researcher found that

the scores of the experimental group significantly increased which inferred that the

technique used by the researcher is effective for enhancing vocabulary of primary

level students.

The comprehension test analysis identified that after reading aloud picture

storybooks mentioned along with additional teacher‘s selected vocabulary, improved

the comprehension of the experimental group. It has also been identified that the

technique of read-aloud assisted as an effective tool for the primary level students as

they improved their speaking skills in the case of second language which is English.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 137

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY FINDINGS DISCUSSION CONCLUSION

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1Summary

Amidst the globalisation wave, it is observed that the learning methodologies

have continuously evolved while bilingualism is a necessity rather than an option

among the children of the current generation. Bilingualism most commonly comprises

of children‘s mother tongue combined with any other foreign language but preferably

English Language in our context which is spoken globally. However, in order to learn

two languages at an early age challenges the students to acquire linguistic and

communicative competence. Analysing these difficulties, the method for teaching

incorporated by faculties and education ministries were to primarily focus on the

development of linguistic and communication abilities of the students till the age of

12 (Ali, 2018). Once their command on language has been significantly developed

that they are intrigued to learn more about the concepts, then their learning practices

will shift towards practical knowledge with firm control over their communication

capabilities.

This study incorporated two sets of sample from a private school of Lahore

studying in primary level. Quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study and

two intact groups of students were randomly allocated as experimental group and

control group, Data was collected by conducting pre-test and post –test using

comprehension worksheets, vocabulary test, speaking fluency assessment form,

Fiction story retelling form and students self-perceived reading motivation

questionnaire. Later data was statistically analysed by applying paired sample t-test in
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 138

order to reflect upon the findings of the study efficiently. The controlled set was not

exposed to any changes in their learning environment; while the other experimental

group was introduced read aloud methodology in order to develop their linguistic

skills including their vocabulary and communication abilities. In order to address the

aims and objectives of this research, this chapter discusses the literature and empirical

findings answering the research questions while satisfying the aims and objectives of

this research. In order to effectively determine the impact of read aloud strategy, the

strategy is continually compared to the controlled environment who are only equipped

with traditional practices.

In order to effectively assess the read aloud practice, its impact on vocabulary,

speaking fluency, comprehension skills and desire to read is distinctively analysed in

this study. However the desire to read among the children is discussed in this chapter

with the relevance of the impact to incorporate the read aloud methods. Since the

motivation to read among children is the deciding factor in their learning curve in

accordance to the study put forward by Wigfield, Gladstone and Turci (2016), this

chapter extensively discusses the impact of read aloud methodologies in determining

the level of motivation among students to read.

Read aloud strategies further reflects upon the child‘s ability to speak as they

are enlightened with the pronunciation of the word which enables them to speak with

confidence because they are guided beforehand on how to speak a particular word.

This enables them to reciprocate with the help of read aloud method. In order to

further analyse the benefits of read aloud method, its implication on the student‘s

ability to comprehend is also discussed in this chapter. This discussion is in line with

direct comparison from the findings of the literature and empirical results whereas

similar results from other researchers are also discussed in this chapter.
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 139

5.2 Impact of Read Aloud on Reading Comprehension

 The reading comprehension skills of the primary school students was assessed

using the worksheets that were provided to each participant of the study given

at the end of the story books which they were given to read. The worksheets

which were provided to the students in the control group and the experimental

group were targeting the critical thinking, predicting, and inferring skills of the

students. The students in the experimental group were given post-test after the

application of the read aloud teaching method and control group was given

after the conventional teaching method and the worksheets were scored with

the help of a pre-determined rubric.

 In order to assess the difference in an efficient manner, it is important to first

study about the difference in the scores of the students; the analysis of the test

scores of the students after the presentation of read-aloud method has shown

that in the average scores of the experimental group and the control group

which was taught in a traditional way there was a significant difference

 The post-test analysis of the results revealed that the reading aloud

intervention improved the scores of the children in primary schools across all

the determinants which shows that the experimental group students performed

significantly better on the tests after reading aloud technique was applied.

Therefore, it can be stated that the increase in the test scores indicates that the

read aloud method is an important tool for the primary level students to bring

improvement in their reading comprehension ability in case of English as a

second language for the students.

 The findings observed in the current study are coherent with the results put

forward by the study of Mason (2017) which was focused on identifying the
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impact reading aloud on the reading comprehension skills of the children of

primary schools. The findings of the study stated that the reading aloud

positively influences the reading comprehension skills of the students of

primary schools using English as a second language. Similarly, the outcomes

of the current study also support the findings of the study of Dyson et al.

(2017) that also propose significant positive impact of reading aloud on

improving the critical understanding and comprehension skills of the students

and asserts that this technique provides readers with a strategy to think about

what they have read, the meaning relationships incorporated into the text and

possible connections to what they already know about the world.

 Apart from these studies, the research of Alharbi (2015) has shown that the

eighth-grade students who have English as a second language can improve

their comprehension skills by reading aloud as the study has found that

reading comprehension as a positive correlation with reading aloud. In

addition to this, the current study also supports the findings of the study

carried out by Jackson (2016) which has mentioned that the reading

comprehension of the primary school children is positively affected by the

reading aloud intervention. However, from the findings of the study by Harris

& Butaud (2016), it can be observed that there was not much difference

between control group and experimental group literal comprehension but in

critical comprehension, experimental group performed better. This indicates

that reading aloud may not have an influence on literal comprehension.

Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the reading aloud positively influences

the reading comprehension of the primary level students.


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 Fiction is considered to be one of the effective techniques that provoke the

minds of students to think beyond and out of the box. Fiction story re-telling

improves with the passage of time as the skills were assessed week by week.

Moreover, it helps them analyse real-life situations from different perspectives

and dimensions to explore a new outlook to the solution of a specific problem.

Therefore, the tutors in their classes use fiction as supportive material to help

the students comprehend the concepts of the world in a better manner. In this

research, the researcher used different storybooks as well along with pictures

to enhance the memory and retention power of the students on the

experimental group. The findings of this research evaluated that story re-

telling enhances the reading comprehension skills of the students. For

example, in the story Puss in the boots, the findings show that the total score

of the students in which the experiment was done is higher than the score of

those students who have not experimented. Moreover, findings of other

experiments are found to be somewhat similar. This represents that the

findings of the research support the literature of the study.

5.3 The Impact of Read Aloud Practice on Student’s Vocabulary

The read aloud strategy as discussed in the literature is defined as the activity

to engage the students to learn while utilising their sharp listening abilities which in

accordance to Mason (2017) significantly surpasses their reading skills. The primary

school students are aged 5-13, on average, their exposure to linguistics is limited.

Therefore, their reading ability is challengeable. Even if the individuals are forced to

reciprocate on their reading abilities, it is found in this study that the students lose

their interest in developing their skills in relevance to the second language. In case of

Pakistan, the country‘s transition towards incorporating education in English has been
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challengeable yet beneficial due to the read aloud practices. In order to facilitate the

country‘s productivity amidst the wave of globalisation, it is essential for the students

to learn language which is majorly spoken all over the world. Picture books are being

widely used in the country due to its effectiveness in teaching students at a primary

level. Graphic representation of the concepts delivered in the class will be discussed

further in this section in order to discuss the findings of this study.

Read aloud practices not only reflect upon exposing the children to the

linguistic of the second language in schools in Pakistan but also significantly

stimulates their exposure to vocabulary. As discussed in the literature, the

pronunciation of the words is solely dependent on the phonic conversation between

the tutors and the students. Similarly, in a study presented by Hutton et al (2015), it is

analysed that the visual representation is not only an essential part of learning among

primary school students but also create a lasting memory in order to build the

concepts in targeted student‘s mind. The extensity of English language and the

complexity of the vocabulary require the speakers to start learning at an early age in

order to efficiently address the requirements of the language (Cook, 2016). South

Asia‘s educational sector is predominantly based on English medium schools, where

the sole mode of communication, verbal or written, is English. However, at an early

age students are exposed to pictorial description of the words that they are continually

exposed to.

In line with the findings of this study, it is analysed that primary schools focus

more upon the development of linguistic skills. Therefore, the dependence towards

the technology in order to reflect upon phonic representation of the words is primarily

relied upon. The visual memory of the students is investigated by Sarica and Usluel

(2016), where the extensity with which the students understand using different colours
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is analysed and compared with regular learning techniques. The finding of that paper

match in line with the findings of this study, where the students learning through

visualisation better off compared to the regular learning techniques, particularly in

case of linguistic skills development. Furthermore, in order to reflect upon the stories

used to develop the skills of students, it is analysed in this literature that the pictorial

study sessions are greeted with enhanced discussion among the students of primary

schools.

Read aloud practices using pictures not only reflects on the linguistic skill

building of the students but also significantly impacts their ability to grasp the concept

being taught to them. As discussed in the literature and findings of this study, it is

analysed that the pictorial information exposure to the students enables them to reflect

upon the concept which increases their in-depth understanding while culminating their

critical thinking skills necessary for their future growth. The stories communicated

with pictorial information also let the students understand the expressions associated

with the words. While increasing their thinking skills capabilities, it is assessed by

Wang (2016) that the presentation of pictorial information not only facilitates

student‘s ability to comprehend expression, but also significantly increases their

interest to the read aloud practices where they can be aided with an initial perception

about the topic being taught.

Results of the study conducted by Sudiati et al (2018) on twenty-three

Indonesian students of grade eight and the results of this study simultaneously prove

that the stories communicated to the students are better understood with the

implication of illustration support where the read aloud practices are proved essential

in order to generate an initial perception in a student‘s mind which decides the

direction towards the right concept being delivered throughout the learning session.
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Furthermore, in accordance to the findings of this literature, it is analysed that the

pictorial information store a graphic memory of the words learnt in class which are

essential for their remembrance of the concept being delivered to them. It is analysed

that a challenge among the students is to learn the idioms which are hard to grasp due

to multi-dimensional meanings associated with it. Since multi-dimensional meanings

are difficult to communicate to the students of primary schools, it is deemed as

helpful that the tutors use pictorial representation of the idioms in order to develop the

understandings of students in order to marginalise their learning in terms of linguistic

skills development.

5.4 Impact of Read Aloud on the Oral Fluency of the Primary Level

Students

The speaking fluency of the students was assessed using the speaking fluency

form where control group and experimental group were assessed after the application

of the read aloud technique for the experimental group and conventional teaching

method for control group. In addition to this, the researcher also used the pictorial

materials in form of story books based on pictures to examine whether the

performance improved or remained intact subsequent to the use of read-aloud

technique. The primary level students were scored on the scale ranging from 0 to 4.

The results of the students in the control group and experimental group after the read-

aloud technique application can be seen in Table 4.17 and 4.18.

However, the post-test scores of the experimental group on which the read

aloud technique was applied displayed significant improvement. The test measured

the speaking fluency based on the factors of vocabulary, grammar, overall fluency and

interaction. The results in all the above discussed determinants of fluency in this case

indicated that the experimental group students performed much better than the control
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group. Specifically, each category has seen significant changes in a positive manner

which means using the technique helped the students to increase their vocabulary,

grammar, overall fluency and interaction which are cumulatively indicating the

speaking fluency of the students in the primary section of the schools. Therefore, it

can be asserted that the significant difference in average scores of experimental and

control group suggests that the read aloud technique is significantly important tool for

the primary level students to bring improvement in their speaking ability in case of

English as a second language for the students.

These findings of the current study are in support of the study carried out by

Downs (2017) on fourteen students out of which twelve were ESL learners and two

were native speakers has described that the technique of reading aloud has a positive

effect on the learning of the students that takes place at the primary level. The

conversational skills of the students are also developed as a result of the reading aloud

as it increases their understanding of the second language and promotes better

learning. Similarly, the work of Rivers (2018) has concluded that reading aloud

enables the students at primary level to improve and extend the conversational skills,

on the understanding, on the narrative development, on pragmatic skills, how to

understand that questions are clues to start a communication process specifically in

the case of learning a second language. The technique of reading aloud to the students

can create important opportunities for learning and developing language speaking,

reading and writing skills. This is an enriched approach towards the learning of a

language to which the children are exposed, because the language of books holds a

diversity words and examples used in a variety of different scenarios and they can be

approached at different frequencies which is not the case with normal everyday

conversations (Muslem & Abbas, 2017).


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In addition to this, the findings of the current study have mentioned that

speaking fluency in the primary level students can be developed with the reading

aloud technique which has been proven to improve the vocabulary, interaction,

grammar and overall fluency of the students at primary level. This is in coherence

with the study of Warner (2016) that has compared the reading aloud method with the

play, where the audience participates and enters imaginatively into the fictitious and

narrative spaces of the staging.

Even though, the audience listening to the reading are in different conditions

as compared to the audience in the play, but they are somewhat in the same state of

mind as they exhibit the same expressions of emotions such as the laughter, the shock

or the sadness. Therefore, it can be asserted that reading aloud has significant impact

on the audience learning in the same way as a play impacts it audience. Finally, the

findings of Ba & Huan (2017) can also be supported by the outcomes achieved in this

study as it asserts that the reading aloud enables the audience to develop their own

images in the minds that promotes greater learning of language because students get

to learn in accordance with different situations. Hence, it can be concluded that the

reading aloud influences the fluency of the primary level students.

5.5 Reading Aloud Strategy and Increase in Students’ Desire to Read

In line with the argument raised by Nisbet and Shucksmith (2017) where the

comparison is made between the read aloud practices by the teachers and

conventional teaching methodologies; the results clearly replicate the findings of this

research. The read aloud practices are found effective against the conventional

teaching methods. Discussing the review of vast literature incorporated in this study,

it is analysed that the read aloud practices vitalises the learning abilities of the

students in order to develop their conceptual learning abilities which are not
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 147

effectively cultivated using conventional reading methods. The reason of student‘s

questionable conceptual grasp using the conventional reading methods is due to their

limited exposure to linguistic and reading skills. Similarly, an argument is developed

by Hermann et al. (2015) as it states that the students who are forced to grasp

concepts from conventional reading styles lose their interest from reading which

disrupts the overall learning curves of the students.

Empirically this research defends the read aloud practices due to the positive

impact on the results of the experimental group after the analysis on the development

of vocabulary, grammar, fluency and interaction. The controlled environment of this

study helped to reduce the external variables to a greater extent which cause

deviation in the learning of different students. The ability to grasp concepts among

different students varies as studied by Castro et al. (2015). Whereas controlling the

environment enabled this study to marginalise the impact of variation of intelligence

among students and achieve effective results. It is analysed that the learners aged from

5-13 have a greater learning skills which helps them in learning effectively through

read aloud practices where they can focus more upon the concept being delivered

rather than their reading skills.

With reference to the literature review of this study, it is analysed that the read

aloud practices helps the students by making them more motivated and raise their

level of thirst for knowledge. The concepts being delivered to them are, however,

incomplete without their indulgence and participation in class. In order for them to

learn effectively, the teachers must encourage the students to re-read what they were

taught in class. The extra knowledge gained through reading clearly reflects upon the

student‘s desire to read more and achieve their objectives. Furthermore, the necessity

behind read aloud strategy is to develop the students‘ ability to comprehend the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 148

expression of the words and its meaning as given by the author. The problem behind

reading a story alone is the student‘s inability to comprehend the author‘s hidden

meaning in the text or read between the lines, whereas when strategies concerning

read aloud is incorporated, the students learn from the reader‘s expression on what the

author was trying to say. This intrigues them to read more in order to extend their

knowledge while working on it as a recreation.

Comparing the results of the controlled sample with the experimental group,

the scores suggest that the significant difference is observed of the reading motivation

of the experimental group due to the read aloud practices they were exposed to by

efficient tutors and storytellers. Similarly, this result has also been achieved by

Breunig (2017) empirically strengthening the results of this study. Experimental

group was further investigated if they were willing to read more to learn further about

the concept taught. In a study presented by Falloon (2019), it is analysed that the

students who are exposed to experiential learning, extract more concept. Therefore, it

is observed that educational institutes are increasingly incorporating technology to

teach students, the sole implication behind the technological measures in learning is to

benefit the primary school students in order to effectively motivate them to

continuously learn.

Furthermore, it is analysed empirically in this study that with time, the desire

to read among the controlled sample stayed constant instead of improving or started

to reduce to some extent .This is also verified from the results of paired sample t-test

that there was a significant difference in the pre-test and post –test scores of

experimental group with(p=0.0030) and on the contrary in the pre-test and post-test

scores of control group there was no significant difference with(p=0.470) In a study

conducted by Tahir (2017), it is analysed that the monotonous teaching methods


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 149

slows down the growth rate of the student‘s learning curve to an extent where they

lose the desire to further learn. It is recommended in the study that the damage done

to student‘s learning is treatable by replacing the teaching method with creative and

interactive teaching methodologies. The empirical results of this study are found in

line with the aforementioned researcher and strengthen their argument. The modern

method of education adopted in Pakistan clearly reciprocates the behaviour of the

younger generation with the level of intellect they possess at such a young age.

The learning efficiency through read aloud methodology equips students with

command over vocabulary. Analysing the experimental group, it is observed that their

reading ability is significantly increased due to their command over vocabulary where

they are challenged to read the words and grasp what the author means. Whereas, the

control group students were observed to be laid back in their vocabulary skills due to

their limited exposure read aloud learning strategies. This reflected upon their desire

to read more due to the extra effort they had to put in to learn from the studies they

were assigned and benefit from the stories in a way that experimental group was

benefited from. On the other hand, it is observed that the experimental group student‘s

ability to communicate their opinions was also significantly more than the students of

the controlled sample.

5.6 Findings and Suggestions

Reflecting on the current study, the researcher carried out this research with

the objective of finding out the effects of the reading aloud teaching method on the

reading comprehension skills and the speaking skills of the primary school children in

the case of English as a second language. This was done by the researcher to increase

the desire of the students to read. For this purpose, the researcher of the current

research carried out a review of the current thinking present in the literature to
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develop the groundings for the research. The literature review developed a concept of

reading aloud from the perspective of different authors. The effects of the reading

aloud on the reading comprehension, vocabulary, reading motivation and speaking

fluency were also addressed in the light of the existing studies.

The literature established that reading aloud is a traditional school activity that

is carried out with auditory artefact of a literary text (Hussain, Javed, & Munshi,

2015). Furthermore, the researcher found out from the literature that the reading aloud

has a positive impact on the reading comprehension skills of the students as it was

analysed that instruction in reading aloud has been highly effective in helping students

acquire a wide range of strategies to improve their comprehension of the text and to

face their comprehension difficulties (Santoro, et al., 2016; Chapleau, et al., 2017).

Moreover, the researcher found that reading aloud affects positively on vocabulary

development through various aspects of the interactive process between lexicon and

phonology, morphology, syntax, and discourse and then face the continuity between

oral and written modalities, which shows that vocabulary of the primary school

students is also positively affected by reading aloud (Boyer, 2017; Hunt & Feng,

2016; August, et al., 2018). Finally, the researcher also discovered in the literature

that speaking skills of the primary students are positively influenced by the reading

aloud technique as it is significant in enhancing the conversational skills of the

students (Snow, Sun, & Li, 2017; Krieber, et al., 2017; Hanington, 2017).

Based on this, the researcher developed a framework which asserted that the

reading aloud in the classroom of the primary school children affects the

comprehension, vocabulary, reading motivation and speaking skills which lead

towards the ESL development of the children in primary schools. After this, the

researcher selected the research methodology for the purpose of achieving the
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 151

objectives of the current research. The researcher selected two groups of the primary

school children for the study and labelled one group as control group and the second

group as experimental group. The researcher observed these groups pre-test and post-

test to compare the results before and after the application of reading aloud method.

The researcher selected non probability or convenience sampling (McMillan, 1996) to

select the primary school children for the study and the instruments used were the

evaluation forms and work sheets for the collection of the data from these students.

The duration of the intervention was one academic year.

Following the selection of the appropriate research methodology, the

researcher carried out the analysis on the collected data to answer the research

questions and to achieve the research objectives. The researcher carried out the

analysis in four parts i.e. analysis of reading motivation, analysis of reading

comprehension, analysis of vocabulary and the analysis of oral fluency. The analysis

of the reading motivation showed that the students tend to have greater motivation to

read when they are with other people like in the classroom and even on their own also

as it was observed that students of experimental group borrowed more such like books

from the school library as compared to the control group and they took more interest

in library activities which the library teacher conducts after they read stories in

library. For analysis of comprehension, speaking skills in terms of oral fluency and

vocabulary, the researcher took the scores of the children in control group and

experimental group as pre-test and post-test and only experimental group was

exposed to the intervention. The researcher found that the test scores of the students in

both the groups were not much different in pre-test as there was a negligible average

difference in the test scores.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 152

However, after experimental group students were exposed to the reading aloud

intervention, the researcher found that the test scores of the experimental group

students exposed to the intervention improved significantly in comparison with the

results of the control group in post-test. Through this, the researcher interpreted that

the reading aloud technique has a significant positive impact on the reading

comprehension, vocabulary and the speaking fluency of the primary school students

using English as a second language . It was also observed during the course of the

study by the researcher that the students in the experimental group showed a lot of

enthusiasm towards the read aloud session and they used to look forward towards the

next read aloud session and always were eager to know which was the next story from

them to be read aloud. While on the other hand students in the control group did not

show and enthusiasm for them it was just a routine matter and a mechanical activity

that they have to read the story and do the related activities The researcher also

discovered that the findings that are obtained in the current research supports the

findings of the researches which already exists in the literature (Boyer, 2017;

Chapleau, et al., 2017; Warner, 2016). Therefore, the researcher has recommended the

use of reading aloud technique in bringing improvement in the reading

comprehension, vocabulary and speaking fluency and desire to read in the primary

school students.

In relevance to discussion of the findings of this research, it is analysed that

the read aloud strategy is primarily responsible to develop the student‘s interest

particularly when they are training to dual linguistic. In case of Pakistan, the

predominance of the English medium schools has intrigued the bilingual method to be

incorporated by many schools. However, if the schools do not focus upon the English

language, the assessment made by Aqeel, Jami and Ahmed (2015) states that the
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households continuously nurture their child to speak English in order to adjust himself

to the dynamic needs of the society. The dominance of English language has been of

immense importance during the globalisation wave where the spoken language is

primarily English. Therefore, incorporation of interactive teaching methods in order to

facilitate students‘ regarding their English language skills is absolutely essential.

The comparison of control group and experimental group equipped this

research with the ability to effectively assess the benefits and impact of read aloud

strategy on students‘ vocabulary, reading comprehension, communication abilities

and desire to read. It is found in this research that the read aloud strategy overall aids

the students to learn effectively, particularly in case of learning English as a second

language in Pakistan.

5.7 Limitations

This study has led to define the importance and significance of read aloud

teaching strategy and how it leads to contribute towards the learning of primary level

children. The study has further significantly contributed towards assessing how

children with read aloud learning may be able to develop skills that are different from

the other students who do not undergo the same teaching approach. It has been

observed how English has gained high significance over the years and how important

it has become for students to learn the language and become proficient in it at early

stages of their life. While the study has been highly useful and beneficial for the study

area, few of the limitations regarding the study have been discussed as follows.

 One of the major limitations of the study was regarding the limited sample

size. The study was carried out in a private school where a limited sample was

being worked upon. Primary level students were taken for the research and

these students were divided into two groups where the research further got
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 154

implemented. The limitation of resources restricted the researcher from

limiting the sample size to a certain school in the city. With a larger sample

size and observations taken, the results may have varied and the significance

of the study could have increased further. It has been understood that with a

larger sample size, the significance of results augment considerably and so

researchers always focus on having large data sets to authenticate their results.

With the study catering to a single school and limited set of students, the scope

and value of the research has become limited to a certain extent. On the other

hand, time constraint was another limitation that has been faced by the

researcher. Having a limited time to conduct the study, the researcher was

unable to further explore the study area and reach out to more sources for data

gathering and analysis.

 Carrying out research activities could be regarded as a time taking and lengthy

process. Having said this, researchers often face the limitation of time

constraint as the study has to be carried out within a specific time frame. This

turned out to be one of the other major limitations of this study as fewer

sources could be approached and a limited sample size could be worked upon.

With more time to conduct the study, varied results and its dynamics could

have explored and a different stance towards the study may have established.

Moreover, the study has been carried out in a private school with children

from primary classes. In order to assess the importance and impact of read

aloud learning, students who are studying in different school contexts could

have also been used for the research purpose. Considering the fact that student

of only private schools have been taken into observation, the results may have
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 155

varied in schools with different settings. This has also acted as a limitation of

the study as it has restricted the study dynamics to a certain extent.

 One other limitation could be regarded as the geographic limitation, in which

it has been observed that the case of students from Pakistan has been observed

with regards to the importance and impact of read aloud learning. Considering

the impact on vocabulary development and comprehension, students from

different geographic locations may depict a different behaviour and result. The

fact that the case of Pakistan has been taken into consideration with regards to

read aloud learning, it must be understood that the external environment may

contribute to affect the students as well. Having said this, students living in

different societies and environment may depict different results and this could

add value to the study area. Lastly, the strategy of teaching has been assessed

in terms of English language only, which leads to define that read aloud

teaching method may have varied results if taught for different subjects other

than English. Despite all the limitations of the study, it is of great value for

the teaching of English language specially in the context of Pakistan due to its

duration which was one academic year.

 The decision of the researcher being the teacher of experimental group

encouraged consistency of the delivery of the treatment. The review of the

literature revealed other studies where researchers are involved, especially in

the data collection process (Muncy,2011). Since the researcher is aware of the

read aloud teaching strategy and the key elements such as voice stress and

intonation, use of body language and gestures, and discussing the illustrations,

which are important read-aloud protocols, it seemed appropriate that she

carried out the read aloud sessions with the experimental group herself. As any
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 156

other teacher would not have been able to follow the read aloud protocols and

the fear that data collected from experimental group would not reflect

appropriate results the researcher opted to be the interventionist. The decision

to be the reader herself during the read-aloud sessions may have created a

limitation. In many studies, the regular classroom teachers, assistant teachers

and others read the books and completed the treatment. However, the choice to

have the researcher conduct the read-aloud sessions increased reliability and

validity issues though it was a possible limitation.

5.8 Conclusion

It has been understood that teaching methods play a highly imperative role in

the learning of students. If teachers are effective and adapt to adequate techniques,

they may lead to significantly add value to the learning process of students along with

their retained knowledge. Over the years, teachers have used varied methods and

techniques for teaching students in different classes and ages. While some of these

methods have resulted in being effective and deduced proper results, others have not

really been useful. One of the most critical things in this is the ability to change and

amend the methods of teaching if it is observed that the required objective and

requirements are not being fulfilled. Considering all of these techniques and

approaches, one of them has been regarded as read aloud teaching method in which

focus is giving on reading out the content of courses to students with an intention to

augment the outcomes and efficiency associated with it. Moreover, further focus has

been put on English language for primary level students and their efficiency in

comprehension and vocabulary development.

It has been understood that English is considered a vital and imperative

language to learn for students in the primary classes. The fact that its importance and
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 157

use has been increasing over time teachers have also been putting more attention and

focus on strategies associated with learning of the language. The fact that less focus

has been put on education on the whole in Pakistan, it is considered even more critical

to adapt to techniques that may result in better and improved outcomes. It has been

observed that through read aloud teaching technique, teachers are able to clearly and

concretely communicate the content to their students which allows them to retain the

information in a better way. Many of the students have been observed of having

difficulties in reading and understanding, and so through read aloud technique, the

issues related to this aspect mitigates significantly and teachers are able to cater to a

wider set of students at the same time. Various benefits have been observed of being

associated with reading aloud and one of these have been understood as catering to

the needs and requirements of a larger set of students and improving their learning

efficiency through adequately communicating the content that is to be transferred.

Considering that English has been gaining more significance with time, the

need to learn it and inculcate in the student courses has become imperative. Moreover,

not only the students have to go through the course of English as a subject in their

syllabus but more effective and efficient techniques must be developed in order to

make sure that optimum results are received. Students in Pakistan who do not have

English as their first language need to put high attention and efforts in learning

English. This language learning may not only be beneficial in the early years of

education but turn out to be useful throughout the span of their life. English is being

used at different stages of an individual‘s life and its requirement may be needed at

varied instances. With globalisation taking place and the integration of cultures,

learning the language could be considered as a necessity. On the other hand, it has

been observed that individuals who are unable to learn the language in an effective
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manner often lack behind in their professional life. In order to overcome any sort of

related adversities, learning the language could be considered very important. The fact

that learning English is become more and more critical, teachers need to be more

effective in the adoption of techniques and measures used to teach the language.

Learning English as a second language is highly useful in the primary stages

of education as the child is able to better grasp and understand the language and its

intricacies. As the child grows old and comes into secondary schools, teaching them

the language may become comparatively difficult. Having said this, working on

effective techniques and measures for teaching language in the right stage of life

could be considered very useful. Young ESL learners have a higher potential to learn

and adapt to the teachings and so it is important that students are given the right set of

knowledge and information at the right time also. Beyond and prior to school

learning, in recent years it has been argued that reading aloud not only helps children

in school processes, but also the general development of the language. This

development of the language if worked upon at the right time may lead to become

highly useful for the same individuals and the command over the language would also

become equally stronger. It has further been understood that if the child has been

exposed to hear, read and look at the text in a multimodal reading, with a visualization

of the texts and the presence of voice, looks, gestures, etc., surely he/she will be able

to follow how that reading coincides with shapes, colour, typography, size of the

graphics and even images in movement and with gestures, tones, and voices of

reading.

With regards to the significance of read aloud technique, it could also be

concluded that it plays an imperative part in developing social and emotional

competence of children in schools. In this regard, it has been evident that it is not
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 159

possible to not inculcate the aspect of emotional education when it comes to

discussing the aspect and learning of school. Along with this, the behavioural aspects

of individuals has also been regarded highly imperative when it comes to the

education and upbringing of children at school. While the emotional, social and

behavioural development is regarded as imperative aspects to be considered at school,

the academic learning and performance also has to be given immense significance.

Considering the academic preparation of students, the teachers have shown a wide

range of techniques and methods through which the aim to enhance the teaching and

learning experiences. With students in different settings responding to the techniques

in a different manner, it has further been stated that teachers need to rightly assess

which methods are of high use in the particular educational environment.

Several individuals in different school settings do not receive any kind of

literary education in the primary years of education and these results to various

drawbacks for such individuals in the long-run. The languages used by teachers to

educate the children play a critical role in their development. The effectiveness of

teachers lead to contribute in the overall development and upbringing of children as it

depicts in how well the content will be communicated to the students. If the

developed content is good but the teacher is inefficient, he/she may not be able to

deduce effective outcomes out of the whole procedure of teaching and learning.

Moreover, storytelling has been understood as one of the major contributors in

augmenting the learning process of individuals as it provides the opportunity to retain

the interest of students in the maximum way and allow them to learn what is being

transferred. Through the process of storytelling, it becomes easier for teachers to

involve the students in learning process and allow them to carefully listen. With such
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 160

high attention, the students are given the chance to not only memorise the content of

what is being told but the language in itself is being improved through the process.

A number of advantages and benefits have been observed associated to read

aloud techniques used in classrooms. The fact that teachers are communicating with

the students and reading the content, they tend to make the corrections and read aloud

in the most adequate manner. The voice for instance leads to play a critical role in the

learning process of the student. It has further been stated that the voice must be easily

understood and should have the right scope and intensity. It must reach clearly to the

students and through this manner the students may be able to effectively learn what is

being taught to them. The tonality on the other hand is equally essential in

establishing an impact. The tonality of the message being conveyed assists in the

differentiation of meanings and allows the listeners to understand the context in which

the word is being spoken. This eventually leads to contribute in the development of

children, making it easier for them to identify words in a better way and associate

them with the taught content. In the same manner, the accent plays its role and assists

in adequate pronunciation of words. On the whole, it could be understood that read

aloud teaching technique significantly assists in efficient learning of students in

primary years of education.

5.9 Recommendations

The study has been of high significance and use in terms of assessing the

importance of read aloud learning in primary level ESL learners. It has been assessed

how this particular teaching strategy may be of significant use for children who wish

to learn English. Considering that the research has been carried out in the geographic

location of Pakistan where the need of improving teaching methods and quality is

very high, this particular study has led to add significant value in the matter. With
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 161

regards to the study and its findings, few of the following recommendations have been

made:

 Teachers must focus on the instructional strategies and pay close attention to

each student individually for making sure that it is rightly assessed regarding

which student is performing at what level. While read aloud learning strategy

has been considered of high importance and significance to the learners, it is

further imperative to assess how each of the student is performing and to what

extent is the learning taking place. Through this way, the teachers would be

able to understand the progress of their students with regards to the particular

teaching strategy and any required amends may be able to take place in

accordance.

 The read-aloud technique is an effective measure to improve the learning of

students, therefore, it is recommended to the schools to implement this

technique as part of their curriculum. However, only adding it to curriculum

will not be enough as the teachers should be trained accordingly and should

have the necessary skillset to create a balance between learning and teaching

so that the technique can be implemented efficiently and effectively.

 It has been observed that limited books have been used for assessing the

impact of read aloud teaching technique in a particular group of students

belonging from a school. In order to further make sure that the results would

be the same and the effectiveness of read aloud would not reduce more text

books may be used for assessing the learning of students. Rather books with

different genre may be used to explore the impact of this particular teaching

strategy. With a wider variety of text books used, it would become more

evident in assessing if the technique is useful for students on a larger scale or


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 162

if these learning turned out to be effective due to the book and its context. In

other words, books with varied context could be used to analyse the learning

and efficiency of primary ESL learners.

 For carrying out this study, the case of Pakistan has been taken which has

depicted the result in accordance. With regards to future studies, the study

must be carried out considering the learning of students through read aloud

teaching in different geographic locations. This would allow the researcher to

identify how the result of teaching strategy may or may not differ in varied

settings and environment and whether the results could be generalised. Once a

bigger sample is taken and different school settings are assessed in terms of

teaching methods, the significance of the independent variable may further

augment. While the study will be of high use to varied practitioners and

academicians, the wider dynamics of the research will add more value to the

area of study taken into consideration.

 Considering the element of read aloud teaching strategy, further research

could be carried out in assessing the impact of it on different subjects and their

learning other than English. In this particular research, the impact of read

aloud learning has been assessed only in terms of English as a subject, which

to an extent limits the study dynamics. While it has been understood and

observed that read aloud teaching strategy is highly useful and beneficial for

enhanced student learning in terms of English language, it must further be

assessed how the results may vary and differ for other subjects. Student

learning and teaching methods has been a very important area of study and

several researchers have depicted their findings over the last many years.

While all these results have been highly significant in their own context, there
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 163

is still a need to carry out such studies to explore different dynamics of

teaching and student learning. Read aloud has been regarded highly significant

in their field of teaching but there still remains a significant need of exploring

the related dynamics.

 For future research, different types of read-aloud technique can be used and

tested to examine what is the most significant and effective technique for

primary level students. Moreover, the future researchers can also conduct

study of comparison between urban and rural students to identify what effect it

has on different types of localities and students.


DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 164

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APPENDICES
Appendix A
Reading Motivation Questionnaire
Students Self Perceived Motivation towards Reading Questionnaire
How do you feel . . .

1. When you go to the library?

2. When you read instead of playing outside?

3. When you read a book in free time?

4. When you are in reading group?

5. When you read instead of watching TV?

6. When you read to someone at home?

7. About the stories in your reading book?

8. When you read out loud in class?

9. When you read with a friend after school?

10. When you read stories in books?

11. When you read in a quiet place?

12. When you read a story at bedtime?

13. When it's time for reading circle (group)?

14. When you read on a trip

15. When you have lots of books at home?

16. When you read outside when it's warm?

17. When you read at your desk at school?

18. When you find a book at the library?

19. When you read in your room at home?

20. When you read instead of colouring?


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21.

Appendix B

Fictional Story Retelling Form


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Appendix C

Vocabulary Pre- Tests

Hansel and Gretel

Match the following words with its given meaning

Cage sister of one‘s father or mother

Witch with magical power

Aunt a way or track for walking

Oven a structure of bars or wires to keep animals

Elves a woman thought to have power magic

Path used to heat food

Jack and the beanstalk

Match the following words with its given meaning

Beanstalk very huge

Magic an art of throwing something

Harp to rise from sleep

Wake up musical instrument

Throw super natural power

Giant stem of bean plant


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Vocabulary Post-Test

Hansel and Gretel

Match the following words with its given meaning

Cage sister of one‘s father or mother

Witch with magical power

Aunt a way or track for walking

Oven a structure of bars or wires to keep animals

Elves a woman thought to have power magic

Path used to heat food

Jack and the Beanstalk

Match the following words with its given meaning

Beanstalk very huge

Magic an art of throwing something

Harp to rise from sleep

Wake up musical instrument

Throw supernatural power

Giant stem of bean plant


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Appendix D

Speaking Fluency Form


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Appendix E
Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan 1(Hansel and Gretel Level 3) Lady Bird Series for ESL Learners

Time: 40 minutes

Period: 1period

Class level: Grade 2

Material: Picture story book, flashcards of vocabulary words

Objectives:

 Students will be able to use the vocabulary words appropriately in their own sentences
 Students will be able to discuss ideas, events and information in the text.
 Students will be able to find and remember the most important points in the text.
 Enhance students‘ critical thinking skills
 Increase students‘ desire to read

Pre-Reading/Pre-view (5-7 minutes)

Book talk: Vocabulary words will be introduced beforehand which will help the
students to better understand and comprehend the story.

Title and front cover will be discussed. While discussion students will be asked

 What they think the story is about?


 Which characters are going to be there?
 Where do they think the story takes place?
 What can they see on the front cover of the book?
 Is it a fiction or non-fiction?
 Is it a fairy tale?
 What kind of a house is it?
 Do you like the house?
 What is it made of?
 What is the colour of the house?
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 192

 Who lives in the house?


 How many characters do you think would be there in the story?
 Do you think the two characters on the front cover are related?
 What do you think are they rich or poor?
 What is the age of the children?
 Why do you think they are poor?
 Do they look happy or sad?
 Do you think Hansel and Gretel live there?

Picture talk: For previewing picture talk will be done to activate their thinking skills
to predict what the story is about.

Vocabulary Words: aunt, witch, angry, cage, candies, heard, left, cut, pushed,
showed, used, waited, bread, path, stone, wood, walked, oven, money

During Reading: (20-25 minutes)

 Teacher will read the lesson with fluency, Expression, correct stress and intonation

and variation in tone to attract students and maintain their interest.

 Teacher will make sure all the students are able to see the pictures as the picture will

aid the students to better understand the story.

 While reading teacher will ask questions to encourage students to focus on the

characters behaviour and actions like:

 Why did Hansel put the stones on the path?


 Could Hansel get out of the cage?
 Where possible children will be asked to predict what might happen next?
DEVELOPMENT OF READ ALOUD FOCUSED MODEL 193

For example:

 Could Gretel help Hansel?


 How could she help him?
 Students will also be encouraged to answer the questions in complete sentences to
enhance their speaking skills.

After Reading :( 5 minutes)

Students will be asked questions to encourage them to think more deeply about the
characters for example

 Who was bad in the story?


 Who was clever?
 Why did the witch give Hansel lots of food?

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