ES OF ISHOF

- Souza

1. writing - Skuja

2. of learners towrds ?he learning ofEnglish - bte

3. Effect of different literature teaching onsecondary pupils - Lau How

4. Socio-cultural factors affecting students' attitudestowrds English - bte

5. The Shakespearean film : some problems and approaches -L Nalpon

6. structure in poetic discourse - Arthur Yap

7. Intonation in Singapore English -

8. Teaching non-narrative writing skills -

9. Spelling through conputer-assisted instruction - G VTeague and others

10. Pictures or non pictures - P J and M J Skinner

11. Conputer games and toys in class - A Wright

12. Effects of media on reading achievement - J Telfer andR S

13. Should different media be - G C

14. Different media and learning - J O Careyand M

15. of in the secondary classroom - Rand T L Hennigan

16. Influencing students to use media.centre -Ron Blazek

OVERVIEWb y DUDLEY DE SOUZA and GOH SWEE CHIEW

T h i s i s s u e of REACT f e a t u r e s another two themes, namely, t h et e a c h i n g of E n g l i s h Language and L i t e r a t u r e and t h e use o fe d u c a t i o n a l media. The f i r s t e i g h t a b s t r a c t s draw a t t e n t i o n t o some o ft h e f a c t o r s t h a t make f o r t h e e f f e c t i v e t e a c h i n g and l e a r n i n g o fLanguage and L i t e r a t u r e . Researchers i n language educa t ion , i n p a r -t i c u l a r , have been v e r y p r o d u c t i v e , a l t h o u g h much o f t h e work done hasn o t been s y s t e m a t i c a l l y d isseminated. T h i s r o l e o f d i s s e m i n a t i o n i s nowp a r t l y borne by REACT. The rema in ing e i g h t a b s t r a c t s h i g h l i g h t t h ee f f e c t s o f t h e use o f media on t h e l e a r n i n g process.

a d d i t i o n , i n t h i s i s s u e we presen t i n a c o l o u r f u l broadsheet some keyf i n d i n g s i n s n i p p e t form from research s t u d i e s n o t a b s t r a c t e d here.They range o v e r a number o f s u b j e c t areas. We hope you w i l l f i n d them

and though t- p rovok ing , b u t t h e r e i s a c a u t i o n a r y n o t e - t h ef i n d i n g s f r o m t h e s e s t u d i e s shou ld n o t be over- genera l i sed .

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

The a b s t r a c t s i n t h i s s e c t i o n dea l w i t h a v a r i e t y o f t o p i c s r a n g i n g f r o mt h e t e a c h i n g o f o r a l and w r i t t e n s k i l l s t o a t t i t u d e s a f f e c t i n g t h e l e a r n -i n g o f E n g l i s h . The a b s t r a c t e n t i t l e d "Teaching Non- Nar ra t i ve W r i t i n gS k i l l s " makes a case f o r t h e use o f n o n- n a r r a t i v e m a t e r i a l f o r composi-t i o n w r i t i n g i n t h e upper p r i m a r y c lasses , a g a i n s t t h e widespread b e l i e ft h a t c h i l d r e n are i n t e r e s t e d i n n a r r a t i v e r a t h e r t h a n e x p o s i t o r y w r i t i n g .

" I n t o n a t i o n i n Singapore E n g l i s h ' ' examines SingaporeanE n g l i s h speech and d e s c r i b e s t h e wel l- known s t a c c a t o e f f e c t o f E n g l i s hspoken here. What teachers shou ld do about i t o r shou ld n o t i s an i s s u eposed b y t h i s s tudy .

The two r e m a i n i n g language a b s t r a c t s , An ie b t e A t t a n J s " A t t i t u d e s ofMalay Learners Towards t h e L e a r n i n g o f E n g l i s h " and Mariam" S o c i o - c u l t u r a l F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g S t u d e n t s ' A t t i t u d e s Towards E n g l i s h " ,a r e s o c i o- p s y c h o l o g i c a l i n approach. The fo rmer focusses Malay l e a r -n e r s and t h e way t h e y v iew l e a r n i n g E n g l i s h as a second language and t h el a r t e r examines s o c i o - c u l t u r a l f a c t o r s i n f l u e n c i n g p u p i l s o f v a r i o u se t h n i c backgrounds i n t h e a t t i t u d e s t h e y e x h i b i t towards t h e E n g l i s hLanguage.

The L i t e r a t u r e s e c t i o n ranges over t h r e e major areas i n t h e t e a c h i n g o ft h e s u b j e c t . Kan How's " E f f e c t o f D i f f e r e n t L i t e r a t u r e TeachingM a t e r i a l s on Secondary 2 P u p i l s " focusses on t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s ofv a r i o u s l i t e r a t u r e t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l s ; i t i s u s e f u l as a g u i d e i n t h ec h o i c e o f a p p r o p r i a t e back-up m a t e r i a l s . There i s a s t u d y of t h ev a r i o u s k i n d s o f Shakespearean f i l m p r o d u c t i o n s and t h e i r r e l a t i v es t r e n g t h s and weaknesses i n Na lpon 's "The Shakespearean F i l m : Some

and Approaches". A r t h u r Yap 's "Thematic S t r u c t u r e i n P o e t i cD i s c o u r s e" i s a s t u d y o f t h e t h e m a t i c e lement i n p o e t r y .

Taken as a whole, t h e e i g h t a b s t r a c t s on research on Language andL i t e r a t u r e t e a c h i n g p r o v i d e t e a c h e r s w i t h an a r r a y of s t u d i e s which h o l di m p o r t a n t i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r i m p r o v i n g Language and L i t e r a t u r e t e a c h i n g i no u r schoo ls .

USE OF EDUCATICNAL

The use o f e d u c a t i o n a i media i s i n c r e a s i n g l y p r e v a l e n t theThr media a v a i l a b l e range f rom a simple c h a r t t o

s o p h i s t i c d t e d computer- ass is ted i n s t r u c t i o n . However, our i si n t h e use o f i n s t r u c t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s t o make lessons e f f e c t i v e andi n t e r e s t i n g . shows t h a t c e r t a i n t ypes o f media s u i t c e r t a i nl e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n s b e t t e r .

Moore and S k i n n e r ' s a b s t r a c t e n t i t l e d " P i c t u r e s o r No P i c t u r e s " s t r e s s e st h e re levance o f p i c t u r e cues o r i l l u s t r a t i o n s i n t h e l e a r n i n g o f prose.When i t has t o do the l e a r n i n g o f s p e l l i n g , however, i n c o n t r a s tt o t h e " o l d way" o f u s i n g p i c t u r e s , t h e "new way", as r e p o r t e d i n" S p e l l i n g Through Computer-Assisted I n s t r u c t i o n " , seems e q u a l l y e f f e c -t i v e . I n f a c t , computer ized i n s t r u c t i o n i s w i d e l y cons ide red as ana l t e r n a t i v e t o o l f o r a l l l e a r n i n g .

But a p a r t f r o m expens ive computer techno logy , can r e l a t i v e l y inexpens ivedev ices ( f o r example, e l e c t r o n i c games and c a l c u l a t o r s ) c o n t r i b u t e t oc lass room l e a r n i n g ? The low- cos t c a l c u l a t o r i s found t o be t h e mostu s e f u l l e a r n i n g a i d as r e p o r t e d i n A. W r i g h t ' s s tudy, a b s t r a c t e d i n"Computer Games and Toys i n Class" .

The e f f e c t o f t e l e v i s i o n v i e w i n g on r e a d i n g achievement i s examined i nT e l f e r and Kann 's " E f f e c t s o f Media on Reading Achievement" . Teachers w i s h i n g t o promote r e a d i n g can do so by e x p l o i t i n g c h i l d r e n ' s fondnessf o r t e l e v i s i o n o r by encourag ing l e i s u r e read ing , l i s t e n i n g t h e r a d i o ,r e c o r d s o r sound tapes.

Carey and Hanna f in ' s " D i f f e r e n t Media P r e s e n t a t i o n s and Learn ing" and"Should D i f f e r e n t Media be Combined?" draw a t t e n t i o n t o t h e

e f f e c t s o f v a r i o u s types and comb ina t ions o f media on s tuden t l e a r n i n g .Whether i t i n v o l v e s t h e use o f audio, v i s u a l o r p r i n t m a t e r i a l , o r evencomb ina t ions o f them, s tuden ts seem t o do b e t t e r when teachers i n c o r -p o r a t e such media i n t h e i r teach ing .

I n t h e i r study, "Use o f Media i n t h e Secondary Classroom", G i l b e r t andHennigan conc lude t h a t secondary school teachers p laced importance ont h e use o f media. The t e a c h e r s ' v iew was t h a t t h e i r t e a c h i n g was moree f f e c t i v e because t h e y used t e a c h i n g a ids . T h e i r Singapore c o u n t e r p a r t si n b o t h t h e p r i m a r y and secondary schoo ls should, t h e r e f o r e , f e e lencouraged t o i n t e g r a t e v a r i o u s t y p e s o f media i n t h e i r teach ing , t o o .

F i n a l l y , t h e r e i s y e t another aspect o f media use t h a t shou ld becons ide red . The a b s t r a c t , " I n f l u e n c i n g Students t o Use Media Cen t reM a t e r i a l s " by Blazek, emphasizes t h e impor tance o f s e l f - l e a r n i n g th rought h e use o f supplementary i n s t r u c t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s i n t h e l i b r a r y .S tuden ts shou ld be m o t i v a t e d t o make use o f r e l a t e d i n s t r u c t i o n a l r e s o u r c e s i n t h e l i b r a r y so t h a t c lass room i n s t r u c t i o n w i l l n o t alwaysbe textbook- bound.

ENDNOTE

As you read each a b s t r a c t , you may f i n d t h a t t h e r i c h n e s s o f d e t a i l i ssomewhat l o s t i n t h e e f f o r t t o be conc ise . T h i s i s i n e v i t a b l e . Yout h e r e f o r e encouraged t o read t h e o r i g i n a l r e p o r t s , a r t i c l e s o r d i s s e r -t a t i o n s , most o f which are d e p o s i t e d i n t h e I E L i b r a r y .

ARGUMENTATIVEWRITING

b y V. SKUJA

A b s t r a c t by R. V . Sku ja

WHAT WAS THE AIM OF THE STUDY?

Twenty General Paper compos i t i ons , w r i t t e n by s t u d e n t s i n a SingaporeJ u n i o r Co l lege , were analysed i n o rder t o examine t h e way s t u d e n t s wereo r g a n i s i n g argumenta t i ve w r i t i n g and t o i s o l a t e those f e a t u r e s whichappeared t o be c a u s i n g problems. F i f t e e n teachers f r o m England and New

w i t h u n i v e r s i t y q u a l i f i c a t i o n s i n E n g l i s h , t h e n wro te on t h esame t o p i c , i n o r d e r t o p r o v i d e a check on t h e t e x t f e a t u r e s mishandledo r m i s s i n g i n s t u d e n t w r i t i n g .

The f o l l o w i n g t e x t f e a t u r e s were analysed :-

e x p l i c i t sentence r e l a t i o n s h i p s

i m p l i c i t sentence r e l a t i o n s h i p s

g l o b a l l i n k s , between paragraphs

use o f i n f o r m a t i o n

awareness o f a rgumenta t i ve w r i t i n g conven t ions

WHAT D I D THE STUDY FIND?

s t u d e n t w r i t i n g was l e s s readab le than t h a t o f teachers , eventhough s t u d e n t s used more e x p l i c i t s i g n a l s o f sentence r e l a -t i o n s h i p s , c o n n e c t o r s and r e p e t i t i o n . Hence, i t was apparentt h a t one had t o l o o k e lsewhere t o f i n d reasons f o r t h e i r w r i t i n ginadequac ies .

s t u d e n t w r i t i n g u n l i k e t h a t o f t e a c h e r s ' , appeared t o be f r a g m e n t a r yt h e y r e l i e d on sequences o f genera l s ta tements w i t h o u t

b a c k i n g up each s ta tement w i t h adequate i l l u s t r a t i o n s and reasons.Fur the rmore most essays l a c k e d c o n c l u s i o n s t h a t were l o n g e r than oneo r two sentence genera l s ta tements .

t h e r e was l i t t l e c l e a r i n t e r - p a r a g r a p h l i n k i n g i n s t u d e n t w r i t i n gand t h i s meant t h a t t h e i r compos i t i ons appeared t o c o n s i s t ofparagraphs randomly s t r u n g t o g e t h e r .

t h e r e was l i t t l e use b y s t u d e n t s o f g i v e n i n f o r m a t i o n t o p r o v i d ee i t h e r g l o b a l l i n k s o r t o a c t as a s p r i n g b o a r d f o r i n t r o d u c i n g newi n f o r m a t i o n o r f o r c l a r i f y i n g o r h i g h l i g h t i n g views. There was ano c c a s i o n a l up a t t h e end of a paragraph, b u t t h e c o n t i n u i t ywas broken a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e n e x t paragraph.

Even though t e a c h e r s a t t i m e s i n c l u d e d seeming ly unconnected i n f o r -mat ion , t h i s was l a t e r ga the red i n t o t h e v iews b e i n g p r e -sen ted and was done d e l i b e r a t e l y .

ano the r s e r i o u s d e f i c i e n c y n o t e d i n s t u d e n t w r i t i n g was an t o address t h e i s s u e o f t h e t i t l e . T h i s r e s u l t e d i n t o o much a c t u a lc o n t e n t a t :he expense of d e v e l o p i n g p r o and con views i n r e l a t i o nt o t h e issue .

WHAT DO THE FINDINGS SUGGEST?---

grammat i ca l cohes ion and f a c t u a l c o n t e n t do n o t ensure q u a l i t y i nw r i t i n g

s t u d e n t s a r e n o t c l e a r about t h e c o n v e n t i o n s o f a rgumenta t i vew r i t i n g , t h a t t h e r e i s an i s s u e t o be d iscussed , t h a t b o t h p r oand con views have t o be i n c l u d e d and weighed and t h a t a l l o f t h i smust l e a d t o a reasoned c o n c l u s i o n .

s t u d e n t s l a c k r e a d e r awareness and t h e r e f o r e a r e u n a b l e t o choosea p p r o p r i a t e i n f o r m a t i o n t o back up arguments o r t o p r o v i d e s u f f i c i e n tl i n k s between sentences and between paragraphs.

s t u d e n t s l a c k s t r a t e g i e s f o r c o p i n g w i t h t h e t a s k o f w r i t i n g a rgu-m e n t a t i v e compos i t i ons . These r a t h e r t h a n c o n t e n t and languagemust be emphasized i n t h e c lassroom.

a b s t r a c t i s based on a U n i v e r s i t y o f Birmingham m a s t e r ' s t h e s i se n t i t l e d "An A n a l y s i s o f t h e O r g a n i s a t i o n a l F e a t u r e s o f Argumenta t i veCompos i t i ons W r i t t e n b y P u p i l s and Teachers i n S ingapore" Ac o p y o f t h e t h e s i s i s a v a i l a b l e i n t h e L i b r a r y .

ATTITUDES OFMALAY LEARNERS

THELEARNING OF ENGLISH

b y BTE

A b s t r a c t by S a l l y Low

WHAT WAS THE STUDY ABOUT?

An ie B t e s e t o u t t o i d e n t i f y t h e a t t i t u d e s o f Malay s t u d e n t stowards t h e E n g l i s h Language, Eng l i sh- speak ing peop le ( b o t h n a t i v e andn o n- n a t i v e ) , and E n g l i s h language l e a r n i n g . She then t r i e d t o e s t a b l i s ha r e l a t i o n s h i p between these a t t i t u d e s and E n g l i s h language a t t a i n m e n t .

HOW WAS THE STUDY DONE?

A group of f i r s t - y e a r Malay s t u d e n t s i n t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Malaya wereasked t o respond t o an a t t i t u d e q u e s t i o n n a i r e . These s t u d e n t s had had t h e i r e n t i r e e d u c a t i o n i n Bahasa Malays ia . I n t h e i r system o f educa-t i o n , E n g l i s h was t a u g h t as a second language. The s t u d e n t s a l s o took ac l o z e t e s t i n E n g l i s h . T h i s was t o measure t h e i r p r o f i c i e n c y .

WHAT WERE OF THE FINDINGS?

The r e s u l t s o f t h e s t u d y showed t h a t :

t h e s t u d e n t s had f a v o u r a b l e a t t i t u d e s tcwards n a t i v e and Ma lays ianspeakers o f E n g l i s h . They tended t o t h i n k o f these peop le as b e i n g'more c o m p e t i t i v e ' , ' c o n f i d e n t ' , ' a m b i t i o u s ' and ' s u p e r i o r ' . Theya p p r e c i a t e d t h e ' f r a n k n e s s ' , ' c r i t i c a l s e l f - a n a l y s i s 1, ' f i r m n e s s o fw i l l ' and ' p u n c t u a l i t y ' t h a t were o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h speakers o fE n g l i s h .

t h e s t u d e n t s had a f a v o u r a b l e a t t i t u d e towards t h e E n g l i s h language.

t h e s t u d e n t s had an un favourab le a t t i t u d e towards t h e l e a r n i n g o fE n g l i s h .

t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between a t t i t u d e s t o a language and p r o f i c i e n c y i nt h e language was weak.

ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS?

The r e s e a r c h e r suggested t h a t s t u d e n t s ' u n f a v o u r a b l e a t t i t u d e s towardst h e l e a r n i n g o f E n g l i s h migh t be a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e f o l l o w i n g : t h e sma l lr o l e t h e language p l a y s i n Ma lays ian s o c i e t y where t h e ma jo r language

o f communication i s Ma lays ia , and t h e q u a l i t y o f i n s t r u c t i o np r o v i d e d . recommended t h a t teachers o f E n g l i s h :

make t h e l e a r n i n g o f t h e language more r e l e v a n t t o t h e needs o f t h es t u d e n t s t h e need t o read E n g l i s h re ference books)

t r y t o be good models f o r t h e i r s tuden ts t o i m i t a t e , and

choose t e a c h i n g s t r a t e g i e s t h a t t h e y are c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h , whetherthese a r e 'modern' o r not- so-modern ones.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SINGAPORE TEACHERS?

Ms recommendations a r e genera l enough t o be o f re levance t o us.B u t i n one respec t , t h e teacher o f E n g l i s h i n Singapore i s l u c k i e r t h a nh i s Malays ian c o u n t e r p a r t . The widespread use o f E n g l i s h i n t h e c o u n t r y i s an asse t t o h im f o r he m i g h t e x p l o i t t h i s f a c t t o m o t i v a t e s t u d e n t st o l e a r n t h e language.

I n t r y i n g t o make t h e l e a r n i n g o f t h e language r e l e v a n t t o t h e needs oft h e l e a r n e r s , t h e Singapore teacher m i g h t c o n s i d e r t h e s o c i a l needs i na d d i t i o n t o t h e examina t ion needs o f t h e l e a r n e r s . Students i nl e a v i n g c lasses, bes ides p r e p a r i n g f o r examinat ions, a re l i k e l y t o bei n t e r e s t e d i n u s i n g t h e language i n v a r i o u s s o c i a l c o n t e x t s . The j o bi n t e r v i e w o r meet ing new f r i e n d s a r e examples. Younger s t u d e n t s m i g h t l i k e t o l e a r n how t o respond a p p r o p r i a t e l y t o s t rangers , o r how t o com-mun ica te on t h e te lephone.

T h i s a b s t r a c t i s based on a N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f Singapore m a s t e r ' st h e s i s e n t i t l e d " A t t i t u d e s o f Malay Learners Towards t h e L e a r n i n g ofE n g l i s h as a Second Language" (1982). A copy o f t h e t h e s i s i s

a v a i l a b l e i n t h e I E L i b r a r y .

EFFECT OFDIFFERENT LITERATURE

TEACHING MATERIALS ONSECONDARY TWO PUPILS

b y LAU KAN HOW

A b s t r a c t by Dudley de Souza

WHAT WAS THE STUDY ABOUT?

The s t u d y focussed on t h r e e ques t ions :

What was t h e e f f e c t o f u s i n g a d d i t i o n a l t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l sa u d i o - v i s u a l a i d s ) i n t h e t e a c h i n g o f l i t e r a t u r e ?

What a d d i t i o n a l t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l s would be most e f f e c t i v e i n t h et e a c h i n g o f l i t e r a t u r e ?

Would t h e r e be any change o f a t t i t u d e t o t h e s u b j e c t as aconsequence o f u s i n g a d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s ?

HOW WAS THE STUDY DONE?

F i v e Secondary 2 c l a s s e s were ass igned a t random t o d i f f e r e n t groups,one o f which was a c o n t r o l group.

B e f o r e t h e v a r i o u s methods were app l ied , p u p i l s ' a t t i t u d e t o l i t e r a t u r ewas assessed v i a a q u e s t i o n n a i r e . The q u e s t i o n n a i r e a l s o a l lowed p u p i l st o l i s t t h e i r t w e l v e c u r r i c u l u m s u b j e c t s accord ing t o t h e i r l i k e s andd i s l i k e s .

D u r i n g c u r r i c u l u m t i m e a l l f i v e groups were t a u g h t l i t e r a t u r e i n t h esame manner b y t h e same teachers . Apar t f r o m t h e c o n t r o l group, t h ee x p e r i m e n t a l groups were g i v e n a d d i t i o n a l exposure t o t h e same t o p i ct h r o u g h t h e use o f d i f f e r e n t t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l s o u t s i d e school hours

a d d i t i o n a l r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l s , o r c o l o u r s l i d e s , o r reco rded tapes,o r d i a l o g u e s f o r d r a m a t i z a t i o n .

The exper imen t ended w i t h a 45-minute paper- and- penc i l t e s t t o de te rm iner e t e n t i o n , comprehension and a p p r e c i a t i o n . Three weeks l a t e r t h ea t t i t u d e s c a l e used e a r l i e r was a p p l i e d again.

WERE SOME OF THE FINDINGS?

The d a t a and a n a l y s i s showed t h a t p u p i l s exposed t o a d d i t i o n a lt e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l s were l i k e l y t o o b t a i n b e t t e r grades i n l i t e r a t u r et e s t s compared t o p u p i l s den ied these m a t e r i a l s .

There were differences in the effectiveness of different teachingmaterials. Colour slides produced the best results; additional

material read after conventional teaching produced the secondbest results; the lesson content did not show signifi-cantly better than were obtainable from the control group.

Significant positive changes in attitude were apparent in the groupwhich had supplementary reading materials and the one which viewed colour slides. A minor positive change was registered by the group involved in dramatization. Negative changes were registered by thecontrol group and the group which listened to audio recordings.

WHAT DO THE FINDINGS TO TEACHERS?

There should be more widespread use of additional teaching materials -- especially in the form of colour slides, andsupplementary reading materials.

School libraries should include a good range of non-print materials.

Teachers should have easy access to the required hardware thatwill enable them to exploit the use of supporting software.

This abstract is based on a National University of Singapore Ed.thesis entitled "Effect of Teaching Methods in Literaturethe Attitude and Achievement 2 Pupils" (1978). A copy of the thesis is available in the Library.

-AFFECTING

STUDENTS' ATTITUDESENGLISH

b y MARIAM Z A M A N I BTE

A b s t r a c t b y A. S o b r i e l o

THE STUDY

The s t u d y s e t o u t t o d i s c o v e r s t u d e n t s ' a t t i t u d e s towards E n g l i s h andt h e s o c i o - c u l t u r a l f a c t o r s i n t h e s t u d e n t s ' background which a f f e c tthese a t t i t u d e s .

I THE SUBJECTS OF THIS STUDY

I Form Four s tuden ts from e i g h t government secondary schoo ls i n Penangwere se lec ted . They comprised g i r l s and boys who came f r o m b o t h r u r a land urban areas.

WHAT THE STUDY FOUND OUT

The f a c t o r s which had d i s t i n c t r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h a t t i t u d e s towardsE n g l i s h were area o f res idence, socio-economic s t a t u s and

t y p e of school .

0Area o f res idence : Urban s t u d e n t s showed more p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e stowards E n g l i s h than d i d r u r a l s tuden ts . Students f r o m r u r a l areasd i d n o t possess t h e amen i t i es en joyed b y t h e i r urban c o u n t e r p a r t s sot h a t exposure t o books, magazines and newspapers i n E n g l i s h wase x t r e m e l y l i m i t e d . Urban students , on t h e o t h e r hand, made use o fE n g l i s h i n c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h f a m i l y and f r i e n d s and had h i g h expo-sure t o Eng l i sh .

0Socio-economic s t a t u s : Students from low and m i d d l e socio-economicgroups had l e s s p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e s towards E n g l i s h than s tuden ts f r o m t h e h i g h socio-economic group. Again amen i t i es a v a i l a b l e t ot h e h i g h socio-economic group were l a c k i n g f o r t h e o t h e r two groups.The w r i t e r p o i n t s o u t t h a t e d u c a t i o n a l l e v e l i s u s u a l l y r e l a t e d t oincome l e v e l so t h a t p a r e n t s w i t h low e d u c a t i o n a l a t ta inment a l s oearn low incomes and c h i l d r e n f r o m such homes l a c k t h e necessaryamen i t i es t o f a c i l i t a t e e d u c a t i o n a l a t t a i n m e n t and a t t i t u d e s towardse d u c a t i o n and towards E n q l i s h a r e affected.

0, Type o f school : The p r o c e s s o f change i n t h e medium o f

f r o m Engli'sh t o Bahasa M a l a y s i a was completed up t o Form 5 i n 1980and up t o Form 6 i n 1982. A l though t h e r e i s now no d i s t i n c t i o n b e t -ween schools b a s i s o f t h e medium o f i n s t r u c t i o n ,t h e s t u d y showed t h a t s t u d e n t s from E n g l i s h med iumschoo lshad more f a v o u r a b l e towards E n g l i s h than those fromschools t h a t were o r i g i n a l l y Malay-medium.

AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The w r i t e r p o i n t s o u t t h a t p o v e r t y d e p r i v e s s tuden ts o f f a c i l i t i e snecessary f o r e d u c a t i o n a l a t ta inment and t h i s a f fec ts a t t i t u d e towardsl e a r n i n g . Lack o f c o n t a c t w i t h speakers and E n g l i s h languagem a t e r i a l s l i k e books, magazines, newspapers and r a d i o and t e l e v i s i o nprogrammes i n E n g l i s h l a c k o f exposure t o o r a l , a u r a l and w r i t t e nforms o f t h e language. The w r i t e r concludes t h a t i t i s hard t oc u l t i v a t e f a v o u r a b l e a t t i t u d e s towards E n g l i s h language l e a r n i n g whent h e r e i s no o p p o r t u n i t y t o f a m i l i a r i s e o n e s e l f w i t h t h e language and i t susers. The w r i t e r no tes t h a t s tuden ts i n d i c a t e d u t i l i t a r i a nreasons f o r s t u d y i n g Eng l i sh . She suggests t h a t perhaps t h i s aspectc o u l d be focussed on i n t h e s y l l a b u s . Language l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n swhich maximise t h e use o f m a t e r i a l s w i t h emphasis on u t i l i t a r i a npurposes c o u l d be c o n s t r u c t e d so t h a t t h e focus i s perhaps more ont r a n s a c t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s than on day- to- day communication w i t h t h ef a m i l y and neighbours. Such day- to- day communication would n o r m a l l y bedone i n t h e home language and n o t Eng l i sh . Th is be ing so, t e a c h i n gs i t u a t i o n s based on t r a n s a c t i o n a l communication w i t h f o r e i g n e r s o r thosel i v i n g o u t s i d e t h e would be more r e a l i s t i c and t h e r e f o r e p r e f e r a b l e . F i n a l l y , she says t h a t t h e r o l e o ft h e teacher i n t e a c h i n g c h i l d r e n w i t h l e s s f a v o u r a b l e a t t i t u d e s i simpor tan t . The teachers themselves need t o be e n t h u s i a s t i c i n t e a c h i n gt h e language and t h e y must p r o j e c t t h i s enthusiasm t o t h e students .

a b s t r a c t i s based on a N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f Singapore m a s t e r ' s .t h e s i s e n t i t l e d " S o c i o- C u l t u r a l F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g A t t i t u d e s TowardsE n g l i s h " (1983). A copy o f t h e t h e s i s i s a v a i l a b l e i n t h e I E L i b r a r y .

THE SHAKESPEAREAN FILM:SOME PROBLEMSAND APPROACHES

b y YVONNE LINDA NALPON

A b s t r a c t by C l i v e Scharenguive l

THE STUDY

I n t h i s s t u d y Yvonne Nalpon examines s e v e r a l f i l m s o f Shakespeare'sp l a y s t o f i n d o u t whether t h e f i l m can be b o t h ' f a i t h f u l ' t o t h e t e x tand a t t h e same t i m e be c r e a t i v e and a r t i s t i c , whether a f i l m canbe b o t h good Shakespeare and good cinema.

HOW WAS THE STUDY DONE?

A model c o m p r i s i n g t h r e e modes was proposed, v i z .

( a ) T h e a t r i c a l - f i l m s o f a c t u a l s tage p r o d u c t i o n s ,

( b ) R e a l i s t i c - f i l m s s h o t on l o c a t i o n ,

F i l m i c - u s i n g f i l m t e c h n i q u e s f o r c r e a t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o fShakespeare

S e v e r a l f i l m s r a n g i n g f r o m t h e f i l m e d r e c o r d o f a s tage performance t ot h e f u l l screen a d a p t a t i o n o f t h e t e x t were d iscussed and analysed undert h e f o l l o w i n g modes o f p r e s e n t a t i o n :

The Temporal S e t t i n g

Dramat i c Time i n Shakespeare

The Treatment o f L i n e s

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE FINDINGS?

Some o f t h e f i l m s d i d n o t fi't e a s i l y i n t o t h e model.

The a u t h o r suggested i n s t e a d a c o n t i n u u m i n s t y l e s o f p r e s e n t a t i o n f r o m " i l l u s t r a t i o n " t o " n o n - i l l u s i o n " . T h i s was because f i l m d i r e c t o r sm i g h t " s w i t c h " f r o m one mode t o ano the r , u s i n g d i f f e r e n t degrees ofi l l u s t r a t i o n t o enhance t h e v i e w e r ' s a r t i s t i c exper ience .

Some o f t h e a u t h o r ' s c o n c l u s i o n s were as f o l l o w s : ---Laurence O l i v i e r ' s Henry V s a t i s f i e d t h e Shakespearean s c h o l a r b yt h e e l o q u e n t d e l i v e r y o f t h e t e x t and t h e f i l m c r i t i c b y c r e a t i v euse o f c i n e m a t i c techn iques .

Merchant of Venice and and J u l i e t f a i l e dthe d i r e c t o r s l a c k e d an unders tdnd ing of how t o make

work on f i l m and, how t o use t h e resources of t h e cameraf 3 r v i s u a l e x p r e s s i o n .

Z e f f i r e l l i ' s f i l m s , Romeo and J u l i e t and The Taming o f t h eShrew, were e n t e r t a i n i n g and i n n o v a t i v e as w e l l as i n s t r u c t i v e .

Macbeth used an e x p e r i m e n t a l dpproach and favoured ac i n e m a t i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e t e x t . As a r e s u l t t h e t e x t s u f f e r e df r o m o v e r - s i m p l i f i c a t i o n and u n i n t e l l i g i b i l i t y .

P e t e r H a l l ' s A Midsummer N i g h t ' s Dream was l e s s e x t r a v a g a n t . Thet e x t was k e p t i n t a c t and c l e a r l y spoken b y t h e c a s t . However, t h ev i s u a l p r e s e n t a t i o n was s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y c l e v e r and, as a r e s u l t ,r a t h e r d i s t r a c t i n g .

F i l m s o f Shakespeare 's p l a y s shou ld be f a i t h f u l t o t h e t e x t andmust match t h e r i c h t e x t u r e o f t h e l i n e s i n i n t e n s i t y andc o m p l e x i t y o f v i s u a l exp ress ion . To Nalpon, P e t e r B r o o k ' s K i n g Lears t r u c k t h i s ba lance. I t was f a i t h f u l t o t h e t e x t and was c i n e m a t i c ,c r e a t i v e and a r t i s t i c as w e l l .

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS

S e l e c t i n g f i l m s f o r Shakespeare l e s s o n s w i l l need some degree ofc a r e f u l s t u d y o f t h e v a r i o u s t y p e s o f Shakespearean p r o d u c t i o na v a i l a b l e i n movie form.

Teachers w i l l have t o b e a r i n mind t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h et e x t and t h e f i l m v e r s i o n i f s t u d e n t s a r e t o b e n e f i t f r o m v i e w i n g a Shakespearean p r o d u c t i o n .

Some f i l m v e r s i o n s o f Shakespearean p r o d u c t i o n s a c t u a l l y d i s t o r tt h e o r i g i n a l t h r o u g h o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n . These w i l l have t o behand led w i t h care .

T h i s a b s t r a c t i s based on a N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f S ingapore m a s t e r ' st h e s i s e n t i t l e d "Shakespearean F i lm : Some Problems and Approaches"(1982). A copy o f t h e t h e s i s i s a v a i l a b l e i n t h e N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o fS ingapore L i b r a r y .

THEMATIC STRUCTURE INPOETIC DISCOURSE

b y ARTHUR YAP

A b s t r a c t by Dudley de Souza

WHY WAS THE STUDY DONE?

The s tudy was an a t tempt a t su rvey ing v a r i o u s approaches t o t h e t o p i cmade by a number o f schoo ls o f l i n g u i s t i c s . I t was a l s o aimed a ta p p l y i n g concepts t o t h e of p o e t r y and d e s c r i b i n g a frameworkf o r i d e n t i f y i n g and t r a c i n g themes i n p o e t r y .

WAS THE STUDY DONE?

o Background m a t e r i a l i n t h e f o r m o f d i f f e r e n t l i n g u i s t i c approachest o theme a n a l y s i s was presented.

A p i l o t p r o j e c t was conducted t o p rove t h a t d e s p i t e v a r y i n gapproaches t o t h e same poem a consensus c o u l d be a r r i v e d a t r e g a r d i n gt h e c e n t r a l theme o f t h e poem. Three batches of respondents of 20each were i n v o l v e d i n t h e p r o j e c t .

There was a l s o a compar ison o f t h e r e s e a r c h e r ' s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o fa poem w i t h t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f o t h e r s r e g a r d i n g t h e s e l e c t i o no f t h e theme.

A survey o f theme s t u d y f r o m v a r i o u s p e r s p e c t i v e s -- semant ic , psycho-l o g i c a l , f u n c t i o n a l and s y n t a c t i c -- was c a r r i e d o u t and a work ingconcept o f theme was developed.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE FINDINGS?

The p i l o t p r o j e c t proved t h a t t h e r e was genera l agreement over t h es e l e c t i o n and f o r m u l a t i o n o f t h e c e n t r a l theme.

Where t h e r e were d i f f e r e n c e s , t h e s e tended t o be m i n o r and concernedw i t h d e t a i l s i n t h e f o r m u l a t i o n o f t h e theme.

There were no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e f i n d i n g s when t h e t e x t sexamined were e i t h e r n a r r a t i v e o r e x p o s i t o r y .

The r e a d e r s i d e n t i f i e d and s e l e c t e d themes th rough i n f e r e n c e , anunders tand ing o f e x p r e s s i v e o r l i t e r a r y dev ices and genera l r e a d i n gcompetence.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS

Some degree o f f l e x i b i l i t y o v e r approaches t o l i t e r a r y i n t e r p r e t a t i o nc o u l d be e n t e r t a i n e d s i n c e t h e outcome -- i n terms o f t h e s e l e c t i o nof c e n t r a l theme -- would most be s i m i l a r . The f e a r o ft a k i n g t h e wrong p a t h shou ld t h u s be minimised.

I t m igh t be u s e f u l t o conduct group work on the b a s i s o f d i f f e r e n tgroups d i f f e r e n t approaches f o r an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h etheme. The p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e f i n d i n g s would possess an e lemento f suspense and a h i g h degree o f v a r i e t y t o t h e t e a c h i n gs i t u a t i o n .

N a r r a t i v e and e x p o s i t o r y m a t e r i a l s would n o t need any s i g n i f i c a n t l yd i f f e r e n t methods o f theme a n a l y s i s and so teachers need n o t f e a rh a v i n g t o do b o t h forms i n one programme.

It would appear t h a t work s p e c i f i c a l l y r e l a t e d t o t h e u n d e r s t a n d i n go f e x p r e s s i v e d e v i c e s wou ld c e r t a i n l y h e l p i n i m p r o v i n g t h e s t u -d e n t ' s competence i n theme a n a l y s i s .

T h i s a b s t r a c t i s based on a N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f S ingapore Ph D t h e s i se n t i t l e d "Thematic S t r u c t u r e i n P o e t i c D i s c o u r s e " a copy o f wh ichi s a v a i l a b l e i n t h e N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f S ingapore L i b r a r y .

INTONATION INSINGAPORE ENGLISH

b y DEVI AYAMPILLAY

A b s t r a c t by A. S o b r i e l o

S tandard Singapore E n g l i s h

DO you know t h a t YOU a r e a speaker of Standard S ingapore E n g l i s h ? Whocan c l a i m t o be speakers o f Standard S ingapore E n g l i s h ?

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e w r i t e r of t h i s s tudy, a l l t h o s e who have been educatedi n an Engl ish-medium school up t o a t l e a s t ' A ' l e v e l and v e r y p o s s i b l yu n i v e r s i t y l e v e l and who a r e now employed i n a s t a t u s - t y p e occupat ion,f o r example, any p r i m a r y o r secondary E n g l i s h medium teacher l i k e youand I .

WHAT THIS STUDY I S ABOUT

T h i s s t u d y i n v e s t i g a t e d t h e p a t t e r n s o f i n t o n a t i o n p r e s e n t i n t h e speechof S tandard Singapore E n g l i s h speakers, t o d e t e r m i n e t h e f u n c t i o n s t owh ich each of t h e s e p a t t e r n s i s p u t . I n o r d e r t o do t h i s t h e speech off i v e p r i m a r y school t e a c h e r s was r e c o r d e d and ana lysed f o r i n t o n a t i o np a t t e r n s .

WHAT DID THE STUDY DISCOVER?

I t was f o u n d t h a t Standard S ingapore E n g l i s h speakers use

0t h e f a l l i n g t o n e f o r s ta tements , commands, Wh ques t ions ;

0t h e r i s i n g t o n e f o r enumerat ions, a f t e r t h o u g h t s , g r e e t i n g s ,r e q u e s t s , incomp le te sta tements , h e s i t a t i o n s , ques t ion- tags ,

ques t ions , Wh q u e s t i o n s and

0t h e f a l l - r i s e t o n e f o r c o n t r a d i c t i o n s and doubts .

The s t u d y conc ludes t h a t t o a v e r y l a r g e e x t e n t t h e use o f i n t o n a t i o np a t t e r n s i n Standard S ingapore E n g l i s h i s comparable t o t h e use o fi n t o n a t i o n p a t t e r n s i n Standard B r i t i s h E n g l i s h i n a lmos t a l l respec ts .BUT t h e s t u d y p o i n t s o u t t h a t t h e g r e a t e s t d i v e r g e n c e between t h e i n t o --n a t i o n systems o f Standard B r i t i s h and Standard S ingapore E n g l i s h i s t obe f o u n d i n what t h e w r i t e r c a l l s " t h e m u l t i p l e - n u c l e i phenomenon".S i m p l y p u t , t h i s means t h a t t h e Standard Singapore E n g l i s h speaker tendst o pronounce a l l c o n t e n t words w i t h a t o n e o r p i t c h g l i d e . The laymanm i g h t express t h i s by s a y i n g t h a t t h e Singapore speaker tends t o s t r e s sa l m o s t e v e r y word i n a sentence. T h i s g i v e s r i s e t o t h e wel l- known

e f f e c t i n Singapore E n g l i s h which, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e w r i t e r , c o n t r i b u t e s t o a g r e a t d e a l o f c o n f u s i o n between n a t i v e speakers andn o n- n a t i v e speakers o f E n g l i s h because o f t h e i n a b i l i t y o f t h e n a t i v e speaker t o i s o l a t e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n f o c u s i n t h e sentence.

THE B I G QUESTION

Should t e a c h e r s do a n y t h i n g about t h i s " m u l t i p l e - n u c l e i phenomenon"?

S ince t h i s i s a f e a t u r e o f Standard S ingapore E n g l i s h speech and s i n c et e a c h e r s are speakers o f S tandard Singapore E n g l i s h , t h e n t h i s i s af e a t u r e o f t h e i r speech. A lso, d e s p i t e t h i s p a r t i c u l a r f e a t u r e o fspeech one Standard Singapore E n g l i s h speaker can always unders tandano the r . However, t h i s i s n o t t h e case when a Standard SingaporeE n g l i s h speaker t a l k s t o a n a t i v e E n g l i s h speaker. I n f a c t t h e r e i s ap o s s i b i l i t y o f Knowing t h i s , shou ld teachers dosometh ing about t h e i r own way o f speak ing? Should t h e y then a l s o dosometh ing about t h e way t h e y t e a c h t h e i r p u p i l s t o speak? O r shou ldt h e y j u s t keep t h i s i n mind as an i n t e r e s t i n g b i t o f i n f o r m a t i o n aboutt h e many v a r i e t i e s o f E n g l i s h i n t h e w o r l d ?

T h i s a b s t r a c t i s based on "Form and o f I n t o n a t i o n i nS i n g a p o r e E n g l i s h : An A u d i t o r y and I n s t r u m e n t a l S tudy" aN a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f S ingapore m a s t e r ' s t h e s i s , wh ich i s a v a i l a b l e a tthe I E L i b r a r y .

TEACHING NON-NARRATIVEWRITING SKILLS

by ROBERT YEATH

A b s t r a c t by Rober t Heath

A SAMPLE OF GOOD NON-NARRATIVE WRITING

T h i s c o m p o s i t i o n was produced b y a Pr imary 5 p u p i l f r o m an average c l a s si n Singapore. We n o t e t h a t t h e w r i t i n g has these f e a t u r e s :

A t i t l e t h a t t h e number o f paragraphs.

A paragraph on each o f t h e t h r e e f r u i t s w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n i n al o g i c a l o rde r .

Another and A l s o used as l i n k e r s r e f e r r i n g back t o t h e t i t l e andas s i g n a l s t h a t a new f r u i t i s b e i n g descr ibed.

HOW WAS THIS WRITING PRODUCED?

T h i s compos i t i on , a long w i t h many o t h e r s , was p a r t o f a r e s e a r c hp r o j e c t i n w r i t t e n c o m p o s i t i o n conducted i n a p r i m a r y school i nS ingapore i n The r e s e a r c h e r t a u g h t t h e c l a s s , made obser-v a t i o n s , and ana lysed t h e r e s u l t s . B a s i c a l l y t h e c o m p o s i t i o n lessons

c o n s i s t e d of g o i r g th rough a s h o r t n o n - n a r r a t i v e passageand p o i n t i n g Out t h e p u p i l s t h e f e a t u r e s which " h e l d i t :t h e t i t l e , t h e i n k i n g words, t h e i n f o r -mat ion . were t h e n s e t a p a r a l l e l t o p i c as t h e i r w r i t i n ga c t i v i t y . These were some :

Reading passage P a r a l l e l w r i t i n g a c t i v i t y

Two Popc la r F r u i t s Three Popular F r u i t s( d u r i a n and ranbu tan ) banana,

The Produc ts o f Wood The Products o f l u b b e r .2.

Two Forms o f T r a n s p o r t Three Popu la r Forms o f T r a n s p o r tand (motor- cyc le , t r i s h a w )

HOW WAS THE WRITING ANALYSED?

The c h i l d r e n ' s compos i t i ons were marked i n t h e usua l way f o r mechanicale r r o r s : s p e l l i n g , grammar, and p u n c t u a t i o n . These were n o t t h e mainfocus, however. The compos i t i ons were marked f o r ORGANISATION on a5- p o i n t R a t i n g Scale, t a k i n g i n t o account paragraph ing, cohesion, andl o g i c a l sequence.

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

Over t h e fou r months o f t h e p r o j e c t t h e c h i l d r e n improveds i g n i f i c a l l y i n t h e i r a b i l i t y t o o r g a n i s e in fo rmat ion- based t o p i c s .Some improved d r a m a t i c a l l y , moving f r o m 2/10 f o r ORGANISATION t o 9/10and even on t h e R a t i n g Sca le i n t h r e e o r f o u r weeks. I n a d d i t i o n ,t h e p u p i l s a t p r i m a r y 5 l e v e l seemed t o e n j o y d o i n g f a c t u a l t o p i c s( c o n t r a r y t o t h e w i d e l y- h e l d b e l i e f t h a t p r i m a r y c h i l d r e n o n l y l i k e dw r i t i n g s t o r i e s ) .

WHAT DO THE RESULTS SUGGEST?

Composi t ion s y l l a b u s d e s i g n e r s and c lassroom t e a c h e r s shou ldi n c l u d e more n o n- n a r r a t i v e s i n t h e i r l i s t s o f t o p i c s . C h i l d r e nshou ld w r i t e about f r u i t , i n s e c t s , computers, ca rs , music, f i s h , t h eMRT and so on.

S p e c i f i c and sys temat i c h e l p i n o r g a n i s i n g n o n- n a r r a t i v e s shou ld beg i v e n b e f o r e t h e c h i l d r e n a r e asked t o w r i t e i n s t e a d o f t r y i n g t ot e a c h a f t e r - t h e - e v e n t t h r o u g h " c o r r e c t i o n s" . One way i s t o ana lysew e l l - w r i t t e n n o n- n a r r a t i v e comprehension passages i n t e x t b o o k s andt h e n t o s e t a p a r a l l e l t o p i c .

I n s t e a d o f g i v i n g a compos i te mark l i k e harder" , teachersshou ld s u b- d i v i d e t h e i r marks and i n c l u d e a mark f o r ORGANISATION.T h i s w i l l r eward t h e w e l l - o r g a n i s e d p u p i l s and t e l l t h e weaker ones where t h e y a r e g o i n g wrong.

T h i s a b s t r a c t i s based on a U n i v e r s i t y o f Birmingham m a s t e r ' s t h e s i se n t i t l e d "Teaching Cohesive Non- Nar ra t i ve W r i t i n g Us ing D iscourse Models t o 10 year o l d ESL C h i l d r e n i n Singapore" (1984). A copy of t h et h e s i s i s a v a i l a b l e i n t h e I E L i b r a r y .

SPELLING THROUGHCOMPUTER-ASSISTED

INSTRUCTIONby G.V. TEAGUE and OTHERS

A b s t r a c t b y M e l i n d a Lim-Altman

Remember how we had t o l e a r n and p r a c t i s e " s p e l l i n g " ? Rote l e a r n i n gt h e sequence o f t h e l e t t e r s o f t h e a lphabe t f o r each word was common-p l a c e and t h e o n l y t o o l s we had t o a s s i s t us were paper and p e n c i l ando u r l i s t o f s p e l l i n g words!

L e a r n i n g how t o s p e l l t h r o u g h t h e computer s h o u l d n o t o n l y appeal t oyoung " h i g h- t e c h" b u f f s b u t , as Teague and a s s o c i a t e s have shown, w i l lr e s u l t i n a marked success r a t e when used as an i n t e r v e n t i o n t o o l w i t hf i r s t g r a d e r s who a r e weak i n s p e l l i n g .

THE STUDY

Seven f i r s t g raders , who were poor s p e l l e r s , were t h e s u b j e c t s f o r t h ei n t e r v e n t i o n a c t i v i t i e s w i t h a microcomputer. F o r t h e f i r s t f i v eweeks, t h e s e c h i l d r e n , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e i r o t h e r c lassmates, f o l l o w e da 4-days-a-week r o u t i n e i n l e a r n i n g t o s p e l l 10 new words p e r week. I nt h e second f i v e weeks, t h e s e seven c h i l d r e n were p u t on a s i m i l a rr o u t i n e as be fo re , e x c e p t a microcomputer was used i n a l l t h e i rs p e l l i n g - a s s o c i a t e d a c t i v i t i e s . A m u l t i s e n s o r y approach was emphasizedi n t h e l e a r n i n g a c t i v i t i e s (computer- based o r o t h e r w i s e ) .

Bes ides t h e week ly t e s t s o f 10 words each t ime, a t e s t o f r e t e n t i o n( o f 1 0 randomly s e l e c t e d words f r o m t h e 50 l e a r n t d u r i n g i n t e r v e n t i o n ) was g i v e n t o t h e seven c h i l d r e n a f t e r t h e t e n t h week.

THE RESULTS

Of t h e seven c h i l d r e n , s i x showed a d r a m a t i c improvement i n t h e i rs p e l l i n g t e s t sco res i n t h e second f i v e weeks, as w e l l as b e t t e rs c o r e s i n t h e r e t e n t i o n t e s t .

The poor per formance o f t h e seventh c h i l d was p r o b a b l y due t o h i si n a b i l i t y t o adapt t o and work w i t h t h e mic rocompute r and t h er e l a t e d s o f t w a r e . .A l l t h e p u p i l s chose t h e microcomputer o v e r c o n v e n t i o n a l i n s t r u c t i o n i n t h e l e a r n i n g o f t h e i r s p e l l i n g words.

FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS

Computer- ass is ted i n s t r u c t i o n ( C A I ) shou ld n o t be thought of as at o o l o n l y f o r mathemat ics i n s t r u c t i o n and l e a r n i n g .

Wi th low a c h i e v i n g p u p i l s , C A I seems t o be a e f f e c t i v emethod than t h e t r a d i t i o n a l i n s t r u c t i o n a l methods.

C A I can be i n t r o d u c e d s u c c e s s f u l l y t o p rob lem p u p i l s as e a r l y asp r i i n a r y one.

A secondary e f f e c t on such p u p i l s i s t h e r a i s i n g o f s e l f -esteem when t h e y f i n d t h a t t h e y are s u c c e s s f u l i n t h e i r l e a r n i n g .C A I o f t e n improves t h i s s e l f - e s t e e m immed ia te l y .

We must n o t g e t c a r r i e d away w i t h t h e many g l o w i n g r e p o r t s o fsuccess w i t h and t h r o u g h CAI, and must c o n s t a n t l y be aware of t h epresence o f some who w i l l n o t be a b l e t o work s u c c e s s f u l l y w i t hcompute r i zed i n s t r u c t i o n .

T h i s i s an a b s t r a c t o f a s t u d y e n t i t l e d "Use o f A s s i s t e dI n s t r u c t i o n t o Improve S p e l l i n g P r o f i c i e n c y o f Low A c h i e v i n g F i r s tGraders" by G.V. Teague, R.M. Wi l son and M.G. Teague, p u b l i s h e d i nt h e A s s o c i a t i o n f o r E d u c a t i o n a l Da ta Systems J o u r n a l ,1984, 30-35. A copy o f t h e o r i g i n a l r e p o r t i s a v a i l a b l e i n t h e I EL i b r a r y .

PICTURES OR NO PICTURESb y PHILLIP J. MOORE and MICHAEL J. SKINNER

A b s t r a c t b y Goh Swee Chiew

W i l l t h e r e a d i n g comprehension of c h i l d r e n be improvedb y t h e use o f p i c t u r e cues o r i l l u s t r a t i o n s ? The answer t o t h i sq u e s t i o n shou ld i n t e r e s t n o t o n l y language t e a c h e r s b u t a l s ot e a c h e r s o f o t h e r s u b j e c t s as w e l l .

T h i s A u s t r a l i a n s t u d y b y Moore and Sk inner examined t h e e f f e c t s o fi l l u s t r a t i o n s on t h e comprehension of a b s t r a c t and c o n c r e t e passagesb y 11- year o lds . F o r t h e purpose of t h i s s t u d y an example was g i v e nt o d e f i n e concreteness and abs t rac tness : "a lamp i s conc re te , b u t i t sb r i g h t n e s s i s a b s t r a c t

THE STUDY

F i f t y - f i v e 11- year- o ld p u p i l s f r o m an urban school were randomlyp l a c e d i n t o two groups: t h e P i c t u r e group and t h e No- P ic tu re group.These p u p i l s were found t o be r e l a t i v e l y poor readers b e f o r e t h ecomprehension t e s t .

A pane l of judges s e l e c t e d two passages: one r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e mosta b s t r a c t and t h e o t h e r , t h e most concre te .

Q u e s t i o n s were f o r m u l a t e d f o r each o f t h e passages, t e s t i n g 3 l e v e l so f comprehension: l i t e r a l comprehension ( f a c t u a l r e c a l l ) ; i n f e r e n t i a lcomprehension ( tex t- based , r e q u i r i n g t h e r e a d e r t o i n t e g r a t ei n f o r m a t i o n f r o m t h e g i v e n passage); and t o t a l comprehension ( t h er e a d e r t o f i n d t h e answers beyond t h e g i v e n passage).

A b l a c k and w h i t e i l l u s t r a t i o n was a l s o produced f o r each passage andp r e s e n t e d t o t h e P i c t u r e group d u r i n g t h e t e s t i n g .

S p e c i f i c i n s t r u c t i o n s were g i v e n t o t h e two groups o f c h i l d r e n p r i o rt o r e a d i n g . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e P i c t u r e group was d i r e c t e d t o paya t t e n t i o n t o t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s as t h i s would a s s i s t i n t h e i ru n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e passage.

THE RESULTS

F o r t h e Concre te Passage

There was h a r d l y any d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e comprehensionscores between t h e P i c t u r e and t h e No- P ic tu re groups. Hence,t h e use o f i l l u s t r a t i o n s had n e g l i g i b l e i n f l u e n c e oncomprehension o f c o n c r e t e t e x t s .

2. F o r t h e A b s t r a c t Passage

The r e l e v a n c e o f t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s c o n t r i b u t e d t o inc reasedo f t h e a b s t r a c t passage.

H igher i n f e r e n t i a l and t o t a l f o r t h e P i c t u r egroup suppor ted t h e c o n t e n t i o n t h a t p i c t u r e s enhancedunders tand ing o f a b s t r a c t t e x t s .

3. Bo th t h e P i c t u r e and No- P ic t i i r e groups had low scores f o r f a c t u a lr e c a l l .

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS

As f a c i l i t a t e l e a r n i n g a t t h e i n f e r e n t i a ll e v e l f o r a b s t r a c t passages, teachers shou ld use more p i c t u r e s org r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s i n t h e i r t e a c h i n g of such prose.

These i n s t r u c t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s must be o f r e l e v a n c e t o t h e t e x t sand be w i t h i n t h e r e a l m o f c h i l d r e n ' s t h i n k i n g .

Teachers a re a l r e a d y u s i n g guided compos i t i on w r i t i n g o rp i c t u r e- b a s e d compos i t i on w r i t i n g i n t h e classroom. Therefore ,t h e y should e x p l o r e t h e use o f i l l u s t r a t i o n s i n t h e t e a c h i n g o fp r o s e l e a r n i n g i n o t h e r sub jec ts , r a t h e r t h a n c o n f i n e i t s use t olanguage t e a c h i n g alone.

T h i s i s an a b s t r a c t o f an a r t i c l e b y P h i l l i p J. Moore and Michae l J.Sk inner , e n t i t l e d "The E f f e c t s o f I l l u s t r a t i o n s on C h i l d r e n ' sComprehension o f A b s t r a c t and Concrete Passages" i n Journa l ofResearch i n Reading, 1985, 45-56.

COMPUTER GAMESAND TOYS IN CLASS

b y W R I G H T

A b s t r a c t by M e l i n d a Lim-Altman

E l e c t r o n i c games o r "computer t o y s " , l i k e " M e r l i n " , "Speak and S p e l l "and "Simon", and c a l c u l a t o r s are becoming common gadgets i n o u r homesand schoo ls . Bes ides p r o v i d i n g e n t e r t a i n m e n t and speedy c a l c u l a t i o n s ,can t h e s e machines be p u t t o more e d u c a t i o n a l use? Can t h e y and dot h e y improve l e a r n i n g ?

THE STUDY

The degree t o which r e l a t i v e l y i n e x p e n s i v e m i c r o t e c h n o l o g y d e v i c e se l e c t r o n i c games and c a l c u l a t o r s ) can c o n t r i b u t e t o l e a r n i n g i n

t h e c l a s s r o o m was i n v e s t i g a t e d . A l i s t o f 69 such d e v i c e s wascomp i led . O f these , o n l y s i x dev ices , i n c l u d i n g two c a l c u l a t o r s , weref o u n d t o show some p o t e n t i a l e d u c a t i o n a l va lue . O t h e r s were r e j e c t e dbecause t h e y d i d n o t have any o r enough e d u c a t i o n a l v a l u e , o r e l s ewere n o t a v a i l a b l e i n Vancouver, where t h e s t u d y was done.

THE RESULTS--

The s i x e l e c t r o n i c d e v i c e s t h a t were f o u n d t o have some e d u c a t i o n a lv a l u e were:

(Texas I n s t r u m e n t s )ii Sears 2001 C a l c u l a t o r ( N a t i o n a l Semiconductor )

T I - 3 0 C a l c u l a t o r (Texas I n s t r u m e n t s )S p e l l i n g B (Texas I n s t r u m e n t s )Speak and S p e l l (Texas I n s t r u m e n t s )Q u i z Wiz

A d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n o f each o f t h e s e d e v i c e s t o s u p p o r t t h e i ri n c l u s i o n i n t h e l i s t i s g i v e n i n t h e r e p o r t . Sugges t ions on how t h e yc o u l d be used i n schoo l s i t u a t i o n s a r e a l s o g iven .

The l o w- c o s t c a l c u l a t o r was found t o be t h e most u s e f u l dev i ce .B e s i d e s b e i n g used f o r s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d c a l c u l a t i o n s , c e r t a i n c a l c u l a t o r"games" can a l s o be p layed . There i s p r e s e n t l y much documentedr e s e a r c h on t h e use o f t h e c a l c u l a t o r t o t h i s . The o t h e r f o u rd e v i c e s , l i k e t h e m a j o r i t y o f e l e c t r o n i c dev ices , have y e t t o be .r e s e a r c h e d f o r t h e i r e d u c a t i o n a l va lue . Indeed, more r e s e a r c h has t obe done on a l l such d e v i c e s b e f o r e any c o n c l u s i v e e v i d e n c e can be c i t e d .

IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR--

Some r e a d e r s may wonder why d e v i c e s which may appear t o have ane d u c a t i o n a l v a l u e were n o t i n c l u d e d i n t h e s e l e c t i o n . I n f a c t , t h es t u d y r e p o r t s t h a t some d e v i c e s found t o be " e d u c a t i o n a l " becauseo f t h e FUN and MOTIVATION t h e y However, t h e t h r u s t o f t h eo r i g i n a l s t u d y was t h e a p p l i c a b i l i t y o f these d e v i c e s i n t h es i t u a t i o n , and hence such m o t i v a t i o n a l d e v i c e s were n o t on t h e l i s t .

Undoub ted l y , p a r e n t s who w i s h t o purchase such d e v i c e s f o r t h e i rc h i l d r e n a t home may f i n d more e d u c a t i o n a l p o t e n t i a l i n some o f t h ed e v i c e s t h a t d i d n o t make t h e l i s t o f s i x , s i m p l y because o f t h e wayan e l e c t r o n i c d e v i c e may be used i n t h e home. A f t e r a l l , "any a c t i -v i t y wh ich teaches t h a t i n t e l l e c t u a l r e a c t i o n can be p l e a s u r a b l e maybe v a l u a b l e " !

A n o t h e r p o i n t t o remember i s t h a t t h e s t u d y was done w i t h t h eVancouver c u r r i c u l u m i n mind. Our l o c a l c u r r i c u l u m and c l a s s r o o m s e t -up may o r may n o t use e l e c t r o n i c d e v i c e s i n t h e way suggested. F o rexample, s i n c e hand- he ld c a l c u l a t o r s a re a l r e a d y an i n t e g r a l p a r t o fma themat i cs c l a s s e s i n our schoo ls , p l a y i n g c a l c u l a t o r "games" can bea r e l e v a n t a d d i t i o n a l a c t i v i t y . However, t e a c h e r s have t o bec o n s t a n t l y v i g i l a n t so as n o t t o a l l o w j u s t any e l e c t r o n i c d e v i c e t obe used i n t h e c l a s s r o o m under t h e g u i s e o f i t s e d u c a t i o n a l va lue .

Teachers and p a r e n t s who have con temp la ted s e r i o u s l y t h e q u e s t i o n ofhow b e n e f i c i a l " computer t o y s " a re , w i l l be i n t e r e s t e d t o r e a d t h i sd i s c u s s i o n paper b y A n n e t t e W r i g h t i n i t s e n t i r e t y .

T h i s i s an a b s t r a c t o f a paper e n t i t l e d "Low-Cost M i c r o t e c h n o l o g yL e a r n i n g A i d s i n t h e C lass room" a c o p y o f wh ich i s a v a i l a b l ei n t h e I E L i b r a r y i n m i c r o f i c h e (ED 208 845).

EFFECTS OF MEDIA ONREADING ACHIEVEMENT

b y RICHARD and ROBERT S. KANN

A b s t r a c t b y P e t e r Koh

There i s a common b e l i e f t h a t t h e r e a d i n g achievement o f young peop lehas d e c l i n e d because s t u d e n t s spend t o o much t i m e w a t c h i n g T V .T e l e v i s i o n i s b u t one source o f e l e c t r o n i c e n t e r t a i n m e n t these days.Perhaps, l i s t e n i n g t o t h e r a d i o , tapes, r e c o r d s and o t h e r sou rces o fmus ic among y o u n g s t e r s combined w i t h TV i n t e r f e r e d w i t h s t u d e n t s 'r e a d i n g and t h u s lowered achievement. T e l f e r and Kann i n t h i s p r e s e n ts t u d y ana lysed t h e h a b i t s o f s t u d e n t s i n m idwes te rn US t o f i n d o u twhe the r t h e media have a f f e c t e d s t u d e n t s ' r e a d i n g ach ievement .

HOW WAS THE STUDY DONE?

An e l e v e n - i t e m q u e s t i o n n a i r e on r e a d i n g , l i s t e n i n g and TV v i e w i n gh a b i t s was a d m i n i s t e r e d t o 234 s t u d e n t s . These s t u d e n t s were a m i x o f

8 t h and grade s t u d e n t s i n a s m a l l town i n t h e midwes te rn US.They were asked t o e s t i m a t e t h e number o f hou rs s p e n t on t h e f o l l o w i n g a c t i v i t i e s : l i s t e n i n g t o r e c o r d s , tapes, w a t c h i n g TV, l e i s u r e r e a d i n gand r e a d i n g ass ignments f o r schoo l . Time spen t i n each a c t i v i t y wascompared w i t h s t u d e n t pe r fo rmance on a s t a n d a r d i s e d r e a d i n g t e s t .

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

The r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d t h a t :

The 4 t h and 8 t h g r a d e r s watched more TV.

The g r a d e r s spen t much more t i m e l i s t e n i n g t o mus ic

The 4 t h more t i m e i n l e i s u r e r e a d i n g .

S t u d e n t s a t a l l g rade l e v e l s s p e n t about t h e same t i m e onschoo l ass ignments .

The 4 t h g r a d e r s were more l i k e l y t o combine r e a d i n g w i t h TV.

S t u d e n t s a t a l l g rade l e v e l s were e q u a l l y l i k e l y t o combiner e a d i n g w i t h l i s t e n i n g t o mus ic .

R e l a t i o n s h i p s between r e a d i n g t e s t s c o r e s and t h e s t u d e n t s 'e s t i m a t e s o f t i m e spen t on v i e w i n g TV o r l i s t e n i n g t o mus ic wereas f o l l o w s :

The g r a d e r s who spen t l e s s t i m e l i s t e n i n g t o mus ic hadh i g h e r r e a d i n g scores .

The graders more t i m e on l e i s u r ehad h i g h e r

The more t ime on TV had lower

The 8 t h graders more t ime on assignmentsbad lower r e a d i n g scores.

For graders , t h e r e was no a s s o c i a t i o n betweenscores and the w h i l e u s i n g o t h e r media.

F o r 4 t h and 8 t h g raders , t h e r e were lower r e a d i n g scores f o rwho mixed r e a d i n g w i t h o t h e r media.

I n summary, s tuden ts who spent more t ime on TV, r a d i o , r e c o r d s andtapes tended t o have lower r e a d i n g scores, w h i l e s tuden ts who spentmore t ime r e a d i n g f o r p l e a s u r e had h i g h e r r e a d i n g scores.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS PARENTS

Paren ts of younger c h i l d r e n shou ld r e g u l a t e t h e amount o f TVt h e i r c h i l d r e n watch. They shou ld a l s o encourage t h e i r c h i l d r e nt o i n areas of t h e house away from t h e t e l e v i s i o n .

Teachers may want t o e x p l o r e ways t o promote r e a d i n g th rough t h emedia t h a t s t u d e n t s p r e f e r such as l i s t e n i n g t o t h e r a d i o ,r e c o r d and tapes. S i m i l a r l y , t eachers o f p r i m a r y school p u p i l smay want t o e x p l o r e ways t o use t h e c h i l d r e n ' s fondness f o rt e l e v i s i o n t o promote read inq .

Both teachers and p a r e n t s shou ld encourage l e i s u r e r e a d i n g as away t o improve r e a d i n g achievement.

T h i s i s an a b s t r a c t o f R i c h a r d T e l f e r and Rober t S. a r t i c l e , , -"Reading Achievement, F r e e Reading, Watching TV and L i s t e n i n g t oMusic" , i n Jou rna l o f Reading, March 1984, 536-538.

COMBINEDby GWEY C .

A b s t r a c t by Tan Fong Khow

T h i s r e s e a r c h was aimed a t s y s t e m a t i c a l l y assess ing t h e e f f e c t and o p t i m a lcomb ina t ion , o f p i c t u r e s , aud io a i d s and p r i n t on l e a r n i n g . I t comprisedtwo s t u d i e s as below.

STUDY 1 was des igned t o comparel e a r n i n g f a c t u a l i n f o r m a t i o n f r o mv i s u a l s , aud io a i d s and p r i n t . Eachmedium c a r r i e d t h e same i n f o r m a t i o nabou t t h e cheetah.

PROCEDURES

201 f o u r t h , f i f t h and s i x t h g r a d e r swere randomly grouped f o r one o ft h e s e t r e a t m e n t s

1. v i s u a l s2. aud io a i d s3. p r i n t4. V+A5.6. P+A7.

The c o n t r o l group was n o t exposedt o any o f t h e 7 t r e a t m e n t s . A l lt h e groups s a t f o r a m u l t i p l e - c h o i c epaper- and- penc i l t e s t .

RESULTS

1. Treatment groups scored b e t t e rt h a n t h e c o n t r o l group.

2. S tuden ts scored e q u a l l y w e l li n t h e v i s u a l , a u d i o and p r i n tt r e a t m e n t s .

3. The use o f combined i c o n i c( p i c t u r e ) and l i n g u i s t i c ( a u d i oo r p r i n t ) symbols was moree f f e c t i v e than t h e use o f j u s tone form,

t r e a t m e n t was moree f f e c t i v e t h a n o rt r e a t m e n t s .

STUDY 2 was des igned t o assess t h er e l a t i o n s h i p between u s i n gt e l e v i s i o n o r f i l m i n s t r u c t i o n andt h e i r e f f e c t on l e a r n i n g . Thev i s u a l s and aud io n a r r a t i o n c a r r i e d d i f f e r e n t i n f o r m a t i o n . about t h echeetah.

117 f o u r t h and f i f t h g raders wererandomly grouped f o r one o f theset r e a t m e n t s -

1. a i d s2.3. a u d i o a i d s

V i s u a l s were t a k e n f r o m s t u d y onew h i l e t h e n a r r a t i o n c a r r i e d d i f f e r e n ti n f o r m a t i o n . Twenty-one m u l t i p l e -c h o i c e q u e s t i o n s were based oni n f o r m a t i o n p r e s e n t e d i n t h e v i s u a l sand t w e n t y were based on t h e n a r r a t i o n .

THE RESULTS

1. R e s u l t s showed t h a t scores oft h e group v i e w i n g t h e v i s u a l sand t h e group v i e w i n g t h e aud io-v i s u a l s were s i g n i f i -c a n t l y h i g h e r t h a n t h e groupl i s t e n i n g t o t h e audio t a p eThus, t h e 2 v i s u a l p r e s e n t a t i o n shad an i n s t r u c t i o n a l e f f e c t .

2. S i n c e scores on n a r r a t i o nq u e s t i o n s were a p p r o x i m a t e l yt h e same f o r and(A) t r e a t m e n t s , i t can be conc luded t h a t t h e presenceof v i s u a l s d i d n o t i n t e r f e r e

t r e a t m e n t was moree f f e c t i v e t h a n t r e a t m e n t o r a lone b u t s u p e r i o rt o a lone .

. r e s u l t s emphasized t h es u p p o r t i v e and i n t e r a c t i v er e l a t i o n s h i p between i c o n i c( p i c t u r e ) and l i n g u i s t i c( a u d i o o r p r i n t ) symboli n p r e s e n t i n g t h e same c o n t e n t .

w i t h t h e l e a r n i n gi n f o r m a t i o n presen ted i n t h eaud io r e c o r d i n g .

S i m i l a r r e s u l t s were o b t a i n e df o r andThe presence o f n a r r a t i o n d i dn o t appear t o i n t e r f e r e w i t h v i s u a l l e a r n i n g .

The showed t h a t t h ei c o n i c and l i n g u i s t i c c o d i n gsystems can work independen t l y ,b u t , when used t o g e t h e r , becomel e s s e f f e c t i v e as c o n t e n td i f f e r e n c e s inc reased .

FOR TEACHERS

Teachers s h o u l d be encouraged t o use more media i n c lass room t e a c h i n gas t h e s t u d i e s i n d i c a t e d t h a t those c h i l d r e n n o t exposed t o t e a c h i n gw i t h media d i d n o t p e r f o r m as w e l l as those g i v e n such i n s t r u c t i o n .

S tuden ts l e a r n e q u a l l y w e l l f r o m PRINT, AUDIO AIDS AND VISUALS o rcomb ina t ions o f them. Teachers shou ld , t h e r e f o r e , e x p l o r e t h ef e a s i b i l i t y o f p r o v i d i n g more o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r such modes o f l e a r n i n gi n t h e c lassroom.

3. Teachers s h o u l d t r y t o i n t r o d u c e r e l a t e d , r a t h e r than d i f f e r e n t ,t h r o u g h d i f f e r e n t media i n o r d e r t o f a c i l i t a t e

l e a r n i n g .

T h i s i s a b s t r a c t o f Gwen C . a r t i c l eand P r i n t : Symbol ic R e p r e s e n t a t i o n and E f f e c t on i n E d u c a t i o n a lCommunication and Technology Journa l , 1982, 163-174.

DIFFERENT MEDIAPRESENTATIONSAND LEARNING

b y JAMES CAREY and MICHAEL J.

A b s t r a c t b y Hazel Mah Yuet Har

Which o f t h e f o l l o w i n g p r e s e n t a t i o n s would you s e l e c t f o r t e a c h i n gp r o s e ? Would t h e medium chosen ach ieve most i n terms o f p u p i ll e a r n i n g ?

ORAL ( a u d i o c a s s e t t e )

2. PICTURE s l i d e p r e s e n t a t i o n )

CLOSE-UP (same number o f s l i d e s as i n 2 b u t w i t h added c lose- upsho ts o f c r i t e r i o n i n f o r m a t i o n )

4. ( comb ina t ion of 1

5. (comb ina t ion o f 1 &

THE STUDY

The s t u d y aimed a t i n v e s t i g a t i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s among p r e s e n t a t i o ns t i m u l i ( o r a l , v i s u a l , o r a l and v i s u a l ) , t y p e s o f c o n t e n t (conc re te ,a b s t r a c t ) , and l e a r n e r a b i l i t y ( h i g h v e r b a l , low v e r b a l ) .

248 t h i r d g rade s t u d e n t s were d i v i d e d i n t o two l e v e l s o f v e r b a la b i l i t y . They were t h e n randomly exposed o f t h e above f i v ei n f o r m a t i o n p r e s e n t a t i o n s developed. The p r e s e n t a t i o n s were adaptedf r o m a s h o r t s t o r y f o r c h i l d r e n and were c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e samem i n u t e p e r i o d .

A t e s t based on t w e n t y - e i g h t nouns ( 1 4 c o n c r e t e and 14 a b s t r a c t )i d e n t i f i e d as c r i t e r i o n i n f o r m a t i o n , was recorded on an audio c a s s e t t et a p e and a d m i n i s t e r e d t w i c e - once immed ia te l y f o l l o w i n g t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n and t h e o t h e r , two weeks a f t e r . P u p i l s reco rded t h e responses, which were e i t h e r s ing le- words o r shor t- phrases, on an answer sheet.

THE MEASURES USED

Performance was based on t h e number o f c o r r e c t responses and t h enumber o f i n c o r r e c t responses o f t h e 28- i tem t e s t . .The number o f i tems, f o r which a p u p i l had made t h e same i n c o r r e c tresponse on b o t h t e s t s , was counted. T h i s measured m i s l e a r n i n g .

RESULTS OBTAINED

F o r b o t h c o n c r e t e and a b s t r a c t r e c a l l , r a n k i n g by means producedt h e same o r d e r . p r e s e n t a t i o n gave t h e b e s t meanscore , f o l l o w e d b y CLOSE-UP, PICTURE and f i n a l l yORAL p r e s e n t a t i o n s .

P u p i l s r e c a l l e d more c o n c r e t e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a n a b s t r a c ti n f o r m a t i o n b u t t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n s t i m u l i used, whether v e r b a l o rv i s u a l , were e q u a l l y e f f e c t i v e f o r r e c a l l i n g b o t h c o n c r e t e anda b s t r a c t i n f o r m a t i o n .

P u p i l s i n t h e h i g h v e r b a l a b i l i t y group l e a r n e d more a b s t r a c t andc o n c r e t e i n f o r m a t i o n than those i n t h e low v e r b a l a b i l i t y group.

F o r m i s l e a r n i n g , t h e amount of m i s l e a r n i n g f r o m ORAL p r e s e n t a t i o n swas l e s s t h a n t h e v i s u a l - o n l y p r e s e n t a t i o n s . However, m i s l e a r n i n gf r o m ORAL was g r e a t e r than t h a t f r o m t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n s .

USEFULNESS OF RESULTS FOR THE TEACHER

F o r p u p i l s t o l e a r n more e f f e c t i v e l y i n prose,p r e s e n t a t i o n s a r e p r e f e r r e d and b e t t e r than e i t h e r ORAL o r VISUALalone. I f you have n o t t r i e d u s i n g t h i s f o r m o f mediated presen-t a t i o n , t h e n i t migh t be wor th a t r y .

I f you must make a c h o i c e between VISUAL o n l y o r ORAL o n l yp r e s e n t a t i o n s , then m i s l e a r n i n g shou ld be t h e y a r d s t i c k , and ORALwould be p r e f e r r e d t o VISUAL.

V i s u a l c lose- ups a r e i m p o r t a n t t o c h i l d r e n ' s l e a r n i n g o f in forma-t i o n . When u s i n g v i s u a l s , d e t a i l s o f impor tance shou ld be h i g h -l i g h t e d and emphasised. T h i s draws t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e p u p i l saway f r o m t h e s u r r o u n d i n g scene.

.

a paper e n t i t l e d " E f f e c t s of D i f f e r e n tMessages on C h i l d r e n ' sA copy o f t h e paper i n m i c r o f

a v a i l a b l e i n t h e I E L i b r a r y .

USE OF MEDIA IN THESECONDARY CLASSROOM

b y R . M. GILBERT and T. L. HENNIGAN

A b s t r a c t b y Angela Wong Foong

THE STUDY

The i n t r o d u c t i o n o f media i n t h e American c lass room t o o k p l a c e l o n gb e f o r e Singapore embarked on h e r c l a s s r o o m media campaign. But howw e l l has media u t i l i z a t i o n gone down w i t h American t e a c h e r s ? Aret h e y u s i n g media i n t h e i r i n s t r u c t i o n ? Has i t been a w o r t h w h i l eendeavour? To h e l p answer t h e s e q u e s t i o n s and more, a s t u d y t o d e t e r -mine t h e c u r r e n t s t a t u s o f t h e use o f media b y c lass room teachers wasconduc ted i n some 150 American secondary schoo ls .

HOW WAS THE STUDY DONE?

A group o f 1128 f u l l - t i m e secondary schoo l c lass room teachers weres e l e c t e d a t random f r o m 150 schoo ls i n t h e USA, i n c l u d i n g Americans c h o o l s abroad. These t e a c h e r s came f r o m d i f f e r e n t d i s c i p l i n e s ,r a n g i n g f r o m Mathemat ics and Sc ience t o Languages, S o c i a l Stud ies ,A r t , Music, Bus iness S tud ies , I n d u s t r i a l A r t s , Home Economics,P h y s i c a l E d u c a t i o n and even J o u r n a l ism.

Through t h e use o f a s p e c i a l l y c o n s t r u c t e d E d u c a t i o n a l MediaQ u e s t i o n n a i r e , d a t a were c o l l e c t e d about each respondent i n t h ef o l l o w i n g c a t e g o r i e s :

p r e s e n t l y t e a c h i n gMeans b y wh ich media knowledge was a c q u i r e d

3. Type o f schoo l4. Frequency o f media usage5. Years o f e x p e r i e n c e

E f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t e a c h i n g w i t h media7. Va lue o f media

From these v a r i a b l e s , compar isons were made t o de te rm ine i f t h e r e wereany r e l a t i o n s h i p s among them.

WHAT D I D THE RESULTS SHOW?

An a n a l y s i s o f t h e r e s u l t s p r o v i d e d t h e f o l l o w i n g f i n d i n g s :

Secondary schoo l t e a c h e r s va lued media usage i n t h e classroom.-- .II n f a c t 96% o f t h e t e a c h e r s who p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e s t u d y ach ieveda sense o f s a t i s f a c t i o n when t h e y made use o f media, and 92% showeda lmos t comple te agreement t h a t t h e i r t e a c h i n g was more e f f e c t i v ebecause o f media usage.

There were s l i g h t d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e f requency o f media usaget e a c h e r s i n d i f f e r e n t s u b j e c t areas.

72% used media one t o t h r e e t i m e s d a i l y , w i t h thoset e a c h i n g Horne V o c a t i o n a l A g r i c u l t u r e and A r t u s i n gmedia more f r e q u e n t l y and i n g r e a t e r than those t e a c h i n gi n t h e o t h e r s u b j e c t areas.

t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s h i g h l y recommended t h a t a l l secondary school t e a c h e r s undergo a compulsory media course i n t h e i r teachere d u c a t i o n programme.

The t e a c h e r s f e l t t h a t i t i s i m p o r t a n t f o r schoo l systerns t op r o v i d e media i n - s e r v i c e programmes f o r t h e i r teachers . T h i s v iewwas suppor ted b y some 73% o f t h e respondents .

IMPLICATIONS FOR SINGAPORE

The r e s u l t s o b t a i n e d f r o m t h i s American s t u d y a r e s i g n i f i c a n t f o rt h e secondary schoo l t e a c h e r i n S ingapore . They make us aware t h a ti n s t r u c t i o n a l media have a p rominen t r o l e t o p l a y i n t h e classroom.We shou ld , as f a r as p o s s i b l e , be i n c o r p o r a t i n g media i n o u r lessonst o h e l p r e n d e r o u r t e a c h i n g more e f f e c t i v e i f we have n o t a l r e a d y doneso. S t i l l n o t conv inced? Then, r e a d i n g t h e o r i g i n a l s t u d y may w i ny o u o v e r !

i s an a b s t r a c t o f a paper e n t i t l e d " U t i l i z a t i o n o f Media i nTeach ing b y Secondary Classroom Teachers" by Raymond M. G i l b e r tand Thomas Hennigan. A m i c r o f i c h e copy o f t h e paper (ED 223 i sa v a i l a b l e i n t h e I E L i b r a r y .

INFLUENCING STUDENTSTO MEDIA

CENTRE MATERIALSby RON BLAZEK

A b s t r a c t b y Yeap Lay Leng

THE STUDY

Can s t u d e n t s be encouraged t o use l i b r a r y media m a t e r i a l s eventhough i t i s n o t a r e q u i r e m e n t ?

Who i s the most e f f e c t i v e m o t i v a t o r i n the use of l i b r a r y mediam a t e r i a l s ?

Mathemat ics was s e l e c t e d f o r t h i s exper imen ta l i n v e s t i g a t i o n f o r t h ef o l l o w i n g reasons:

Mathemat ics was c o n s i d e r e d a v e r y d i f f i c u l t c u r r i c u l a r a rea t oencourage media c e n t r e use.

Mathemat ics t e a c h e r s were cons ide red minor users o f media c e n t r e s .

The d e f i c i e n c i e s o f mathemat ics i n schoo l media c e n t r e sa r e a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e r e l a t i v e l y s l i g h t demand p l a c e d on them.

PROCEDURES

The r e s u l t s were o b t a i n e d f r o m an exper iment and an i n t e r v i e w . Theexper imen t d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e groups t h e upper secondary c l a s s e s o fg i f t e d s t u d e n t s f r o m t h e U n i v e r s i t y H igh School, a l a b o r a t o r y schoolo f t h e C o l l e g e o f Educat ion, U n i v e r s i t y o f I l l i n o i s . The exper imen ta lgroup was t h e o n l y one g i v e n c o n t i n u o u s encouragement on t h e use o ft h e m a t e r i a l s t h r o u g h weekly 6 - i t e m b i b l i o g r a p h i e s , though t h e s t u -d e n t s were t o l d t h a t t h e y were n o t r e q u i r e d t o use t h e m a t e r i a l s . Thec o n t r o l groups t o l d o f t h e supplementary m a t e r i a l s n o r weret h e y encouraged t o use them.

Throughout t h e p e r i o d o f t h e exper iment , d a t a r e g a r d i n g l i b r a r y usewere c o l l e c t e d t o observe t h e c a r r y - o v e r e f f e c t . I n d i v i d u a li n t e r v i e w s were a l s o conducted w i t h t h e s t u d e n t s t o de te rm ine t h e i ro p i n i o n o f t h e i r t e a c h e r s ' p e r s o n a l i t i e s and s u b j e c t e x p e r t i s e .

THE FINDINGS

C i r c u l a t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s : The group t h a t r e c e i v e d encouragementd i d check o u t more m a t e r i a l s . Inc reased u t i l i z a t i o n o f media. .c e n t r e resources b y t h e t e a c h e r inc reased t h e use o f thesem a t e r i a l s b y t h e s tuden ts . S tuden t schedules d i d n o t d e t e r as t u d e n t f r o m u s i n g t h e m a t e r i a l s i f he was m o t i v a t e d by a teacher .

Forms o f media: s t u d e n t s found books and f i l m s t o be mosti m p o r t a n t i n t h e o f mathematics.

Keasons f o r s t u d e n t s ' use: Students r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e y used t h em a t e r i a l s because t h e i r t e a c h e r had recommended them. Teacheri n f l u e n c e was c o n s i d e r e d t h e most t e n a b l e e x p l a n a t i o n f o r s t u d e n tuse o f n o n- r e q u i r e d i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s .

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SCHOOLS

F o r t h e t e a c h e r : As s t u d e n t s ' use o f media c e n t r e m a t e r i a l s i sc l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o t h e t e a c h e r s ' p romot ion and p e r s o n a l i n v o l v e -ment, t e a c h e r s shou ld r e g u l a r l y encourage t h e s t u d e n t s t o usemedia c e n t r e m a t e r i a l s . Classroom i n s t r u c t i o n shou ld n o t bet e x t b o o k- c e n t r e d . Ra the r , l i b r a r y a c t i v i t i e s expos ing s t u d e n t s t ot h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f r e l a t e d resources shou ld be p a r t o f c lass roomi n s t r u c t i o n .

F o r l i b r a r y p e r s o n n e l : L i b r a r y - u s e r e d u c a t i o n can be p r o v i d e d f o ra l l t e a c h e r s and s tuden ts . I t shou ld n o t be m e r e l y a t o u r of t h el i b r a r y b u t shou ld i n c l u d e i n s t r u c t i o n i n l i b r a r y usage. Workshopscan a l s o be conducted f o r a l l t e a c h e r s on l i t e r a t u r e search anduse o f r e f e r e n c e and s e l e c t i o n t o o l s .

L i b r a r i a n s and r e s o u r c e s t a f f shou ld v o l u n t e e r t o be members oft h e c u r r i c u l u m teams a t b o t h t h e p l a n n i n g and t h e imp lementa t ions t a g e s o f t h e s y l l a b u s , where t h e y can p r e p a r e t h e a c q u i s i t i o n ofr e l e v a n t and u s e f u l resources and work w i t h t e a c h e r s on t h ep r o m o t i o n o f t h e s e m a t e r i a l s . A d v e r t i s i n g works!

3. F o r schoo l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s : L i b r a r y p e r i o d s c o u l d be b u i l t i n t oschoo l t i m e- t a b l e s . The a c t i v i t i e s t h i s p e r i o d can r e i n -f o r c e t h e t e a c h e r s ' encouragement o f use o f supp lementarym a t e r i a l s a t t h e media c e n t r e .

T h i s i s an a b s t r a c t of Ron a r t i c l e e n t i t l e dS t u d e n t s t o Use Media Cen te r M a t e r i a l s : A Research Study" i nSchool L i b r a r y Media Q u a r t e r l y , Win te r 1982, pp 147-151.