Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Q1 Conclusion
Q2.1 Relevant evidence 1
Q2.2 Relevant evidence 2
Q3.1 Irrelevant section 1
Q3.2 Irrelevant section 2
Zuzana Šaffková
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Figure 6: Finding and evaluating sources of evidence (N=97*)
*The number of students decreased due to a continuing undergraduate drop-out.
Correct
Incorrect
The students´ answers implied their improvement in identifying the conclusion (69% compared to 5%
in Unit 2), which can be ascribed to in-class remedial training. They also distinguished relevant proof
from irrelevant evidence in sentences where these were explicitly addressed. On the other hand, the
students (93%) were not able to cope with a section that represented a useful piece of background
information, but did not provide any evidence to support the conclusion (Q3.2). As most of them
mentioned in class, they had also trouble understanding the message due to their lack of vocabulary.
The last in-class lesson (Unit 5) provided the students with an explicit instruction on different types of
context clues: contrast, restatement, example, and general knowledge clues (Flemming, 2006). The
practice in recognizing specific context clues was aimed to help the students find and understand
relationships to other words in the surrounding text and recognise multiple meanings of some words.
As students become more proficient in using context clues in a text, they develop more extensive
reading vocabulary, which obviously contributes to more effective reading on the whole. In an on-line
interactive multiple choice self-test (Figure 7) they could check whether they were able to
independently apply the strategies needed for identifying meanings of unfamiliar words presented and
practiced in a prior face-to-face session (Q1-15). In order to prevent the students from using
dictionaries, they had only an eight-minute time limit to choose a correct word from four options.
Q1-15
guessing
meaning from
context
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
12-15 correct answers
8-11 correct answers
4-7 correct answers
0-3 correct answers
Figure 7: Recognizing and interpreting context clues (N=97)
The results show that the students were able to recognize most of the expressions, even if the time
constraint might have contributed to the fact that only 13 students were able to answer correctly most
or all of the questions. Time pressure might have become a barrier especially for those students who
were more careful thinkers by their nature and needed more time to complete the tasks.
Phase 3:
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