Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Methodology:
Zuzana Šaffková
Since the main aim of the investigation was improvement in general, action research as a recurring
process of problem diagnosis, action intervention, and reflective learning was applied. Other features
of the study also complied with action research, such as: natural environment in which the research
took place; both quantitative and qualitative data collected and described in detail; focus on process
rather than product; application of inductive analysis; and the utilization of findings for practice (Craig,
2009; McNiff and Whitehead, 2002). Descriptive statistics, as the common analysis in second
language acquisition research was used and the main aim was to record the frequencies which
provide “information on the performance of the subjects” and help to “obtain insights into and
understanding of the data and the results” (Seliger and Shohamy, 1989, pp. 211-212). First, the data
collected from the students´ responses to tasks were analyzed quantitatively by percentage counts for
future decision purposes. Then the open-ended items, which were used to support the quantitative
data, were examined qualitatively for discussion purposes. The semester-long trial implementation
consisted of three stages:
Phase 1: diagnosis of the students´ reading skills and abilities
Phase 2: modeling and guided practice in critical reading
Phase 3: evaluation of the effects of the reading intervention
Procedure and instruments:
Phase 1:
In order to gain an insight into the students´ general ability to comprehend a text, a diagnostic on-line
task at the beginning of the course was carried out (Figure 1). The students were required to read an
article about the benefits of education and identified the main idea (Q1) and the intent of the article as
well as selected facts (Q2) by means of multiple-choice questions. Then open questions were used to
check whether the students understand implicit ideas and details (Q3). Finally, they had to guess the
meanings of particular expressions from the context and explain them using their own words (Q4).
The task helped to detect both basic and higher-level cognitive reading skills as a fundamental
precondition for initiating training in metacognitive abilities.
Q1.1 Aim of the article
Q1.2 Intent of the article
Q2: Specific details
Q3.1 Interpretation of irony
Q3.2 Finding reference in the text
Q3.3 Meaning of the author’s conclusion
Q4: Meanings of words
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Correct
Imprecise*
Incorrect
Figure 1: First year students reading profiles (N=112)
*In Q2 the students could choose from more than one correct answer and in Q4 they had to provide
more than one precise reply. If the students had more than half of the responses incorrect, their
overall result was considered “imprecise”.
In order to motivate the students to approach the reading tasks responsibly and to make them work
with the text independently, they were informed of the significance of the on-line reading practice for
their success at school and, in addition, their responses were not marked. Instead, a scale of
“accepted – accepted with reservation – not accepted”, which is a scheme that is offered by the
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