INTRODUCTION
LITERATURE REVIEW
Reading Ability
- Models of Reading Process
- Reading Skills
- Teaching Reading
For Kim and Goetz (1995), reading refers to the interaction between writers and readers in the way writers communicate with readers through their texts. Basically, reading is the process by which readers use different factors to understand information in the form of written language. Broad vocabulary and grammatical expertise should still be intact in the process of the bottom-up model (Nagao, 2002).
In conclusion, the bottom-up model is the process by which readers attempt to understand texts by examining specific meanings or grammatical qualities of the texts' most basic units. The top-down model emphasizes inference and the importance of the reader's prior knowledge (Grabe & Stoller, 2011). For this reason, prior knowledge and readers' expectations become crucial parts of the comprehension process (Angosto, Sánchez, Álvarez, Cuevas, & León, 2013).
Second, context provides various clues for readers to identify unfamiliar words, helping them to guess the meaning of texts.
Visual Thinking Strategies
- Definition of Visual Thinking Strategies
- Advantage of Visual Thinking Strategies
- Disadvantage of Visual Thinking Strategies
- Characteristic of Visual Thinking Strategies
- Components of Visual Thinking Strategies
- Instruments of Visual Thinking Strategies
Moreover, according to Bomgaars and Bachelor (2020) and Yeom (2018), using VTS and writing about the artworks they observe can improve learners' writing ability. According to Cappello and Walker (2016), the VTS procedure was mainly adapted from museum education, where all learners' interpretations were valued as long as supporting evidence was presented. Teachers observe the learners' ideas, collect their thoughts and weave their views into conclusions based on their ideas (Bomgaars & Bachelor, 2020).
There are two main tasks of the teacher: a) to ask the three specific questions of VTS (described below), and b) to respond to student comments. The teacher accepts all of the students' comments without judgment and focuses on their way of thinking, not their mistakes. In addition, he/she should relate the points of the students throughout to show how the discussion is going.
In addition, students can be engaged and creative in the VTS classroom, and teachers can act as facilitators of learning.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
VTS can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the subjects or abilities that educators want to improve. In addition, VTS can help learners practice a variety of skills by viewing and engaging with works of art. It is noteworthy that any visual material can be used in the VTS classroom, which is convenient and flexible for teachers who do not specialize in art.
It is suggested that teachers should introduce the English language to EFL students by giving them access to communication with native speakers, encouraging them to write letters to pen pals and giving advice on visiting an English speaking country ("What is it?" difference between ESL and EFL. In conclusion, EFL learners study the language for various reasons including applying for a scholarship, traveling to an English speaking country, immigration requirements or work progress. For EFL learners, teachers should introduce EFL learners to English through allowing them to communicate with native speakers, encouraging them to send letters to pen pals and providing information about visiting English speaking countries.
Attitudes
In EFL learning, students' attitudes towards English can be positive or negative. Students' attitudes can affect the way they learn English in the required way (Getie, 2020). This means that the positive attitudes can support and motivate the students, whereas the negative ones can totally demotivate the students (Abu-Snoubar, 2017).
Similarly, Abidin, Pour-Mohammadi and Alzwari (2012) argue that success in the target language is determined not only by the intellectual ability, but also by the learner. attitude towards the target language. In conclusion, a positive attitude of students is an important part of helping students to learn a language. In short, a person's views on an object, person, thing or event, etc. are called attitudes.
For EFL learners, positive attitudes play a crucial role in supporting learners to achieve their language learning goals.
Related Research
The aim of this study was to explore how VTS affects learners' English reading ability and attitudes towards learning to read through VTS. The test was designed by the researcher to examine the learners' reading skills as follows: 1) reading for topic (3 items), 2) reading for main idea (4 items), 3) reading for details (10 items), and 4) read to guess meaning from the context (3 items). A questionnaire was designed to investigate the learners' attitude towards the use of VTS to improve reading ability.
The reliability of the English reading ability test and the questionnaire to study the learners' attitude towards the teaching method was 0.79 and 0.75 respectively. In the last week, the learners were asked to do a questionnaire to investigate learners' attitude towards the use of VTS to improve reading ability. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of VTS on EFL first-year learners' reading ability, to investigate the effects of VTS on EFL third-year learners.
In addition, this study was designed to investigate students' attitudes towards learning to read through VTS. The results indicate the positive effects of VTS on the reading ability of first-year students. The analysis shows that VTS had positive effects on the reading ability of third-year students.
The results highlight the positive effects of VTS on the reading skills of third-year students. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the effects of VTS on the reading abilities of first-year EFL students with those of third-year students, and the results are shown in Tables 9 and 10. To investigate students' attitudes toward learning English reading skills through VTS after the experiment, data were collected from questionnaire and semi-structured interview.
The highest mean score statements were: "I enjoyed doing VTS in reading class" (M=4.60) and "The teacher's techniques were ineffective in improving my reading skills" (M=4.60),* followed by "VTS in the class allowed me to practice more reading skills” (M=4.56). These statements were: "VTS in reading class was too difficult" (M=4.84)* and "Learning reading skills through VTS wastes my time" (M=4.84).* In addition, the statement "The teacher's techniques were ineffective in improving me . reading skills” (M=4.48)* was ranked third. In short, learners' attitude towards learning to read through VTS of both groups was at a very positive level.
This chapter presents the conclusion of the study, the effects of VTS on EFL learners' reading ability and learners'. attitudes towards learning to read through VTS. This indicates that learning to read through VTS had a positive effect on learners' attitudes of first-year learners and third-year learners. This can be seen in the results which show that the post-test average scores of the learners' reading ability test were significantly higher than the pre-test average scores of both groups.
METHODOLOGY
FINDINGS
The Learners’ English Reading Ability
- The effects of VTS on all learners’ reading ability
- The effects of VTS on first-year learners’ reading ability
- The effects of VTS on third-year learners’ reading ability
- The comparison of the effects of VTS on EFL first-year learners’ reading
To investigate the effects of VTS on the reading ability of all students, pre-test and post-test data were analyzed using mean score, standard deviation, and t-test analysis. To examine the effects of VTS on the reading ability of all students, mean scores, standard deviation, and the t-test analysis were used to analyze the data. Therefore, the mean score after the test was significantly higher than the mean score before the test.
According to Table 5, the results show that there were statistically significant differences in pre-test and post-test mean scores for first-year students (t p<.05). However, there were statistically significant differences in the mean scores for reading for details and reading to guess meaning from context. Regarding reading by subject, there were no statistically significant differences in pre-test and post-test mean scores (t p<.05).
Illustrating reading for the main idea, there were no statistically significant differences in pre- and post-test mean scores (tp<.05). Reading for details, there were no statistically significant differences in the pre-test and post-test mean scores (tp<.05). Finally, there were no statistically significant differences in the mean scores of pre-test and post-test reading for guessing meaning from context (tp<.05).
The results suggest that after first-year students were taught VTS, their ability to read for details and read for meaning from context improved significantly. Although students' reading for topic and reading for main idea did not improve significantly, their mean post-test score was higher than p<.05. From Table 7, the results show that there were statistically significant differences in the mean pre-test and post-test scores of third year students (t p<.05).
This means that the mean score after the test was significantly higher than the mean score before the test. This indicates the effects of VTS on first year students and third year students.
Learners’ attitudes toward learning reading through VTS
- A Questionnaire
- The semi-structured interviews
After reading, the teacher asks each group to present their Activity 2: What we get from the story. The teacher asks the students: "What is the theme of the passage you have just read?". The teacher asks the students to present what they are drawing and why they are drawing it.
Then the teacher asks the learners to work in groups of 5 to do activity 2: We find main idea (a worksheet). After the teacher has read, the teacher asks each group to present their activity 2: We find main idea (a worksheet). The teacher asks the learners: "What is the main idea of the passage you have just read?".
The teacher asks the students to create their own chocolate that they like and why they like it. Then the teacher asks the students to work in groups of 5 to do Activity 2: Main Idea and Details (Table for Completion). After reading, the teacher asks each group to present their activity 2: main idea and details (table to complete).
The teacher asks the students, "What are the details of the passage you just read?". The teacher asks the students to do Activity 3: I am an astronaut. worksheet) to create their galaxies. Then the teacher asks the students to work in groups of 5 and do Activity 2: What does it mean.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
