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Constructivist pedagogy in strategic reading instruction: exploring pathways to learner development in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom

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Abstract

The study explored English as a Second Language (ESL) learner development. In particular, it focused on investigating learners’ understanding of reading and their willingness to be engaged in strategic reading in participatory classroom activities. It also examined possible effects of such pedagogy on reading performance. The context was a two-month strategy-based reading instruction program, set within a constructivist framework. The program emphasized developing students’ academic reading proficiency. The study, quasi-experimental in design, involved a control group and an experimental group, both of whom were ESL students from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The students were expected to satisfy an intensive English communication skills requirement in order to be successfully matriculated into English-medium universities in Singapore. The results showed that the teacher’s strategy-based instructional intervention evolving around participatory activities affected changes in the ESL students’ use of reading strategies and improvement in comprehension. These findings are discussed in relation to PRC students in study-abroad contexts, especially the cultures of learning that they bring along with them. Recommendations for further research are also made.

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Acknowledgments

This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 37th International IATEFL Conference in Brighton, April 2003, UK. I thank Professors Sandra McKay, Joan Rubin, Andrew Cohen, Anna Chamot, Rebecca Oxford, Larry Vandergrift, Neil Anderson, Sara Cotterall and Ernesto Macaro for their encouragement and helpful suggestions in various stages of my writing it up. I owe the Editor, Professor Peter Goodyear and the reviewers, for their very constructive comments that have substantially helped improve the clarity of this paper. I am also obliged to my colleagues, Dr Heather Kay, Dr Peter Gu and Mrs Donglan Zhang for carefully reading through and making incisive comments on earlier versions of this paper. I am indebted to all the participants in this study for their warm cooperation. Any error or omission remains my responsibility.

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  1. English Language & Literature Academic Group, Arts Building, NIE3-03-98, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Republic of Singapore

    Lawrence Jun Zhang

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Correspondence to Lawrence Jun Zhang.

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I have been granted permission to use all the materials presented in this article and I declare that the participants’ names that are referred to in this study are not their real names.

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Zhang, L.J. Constructivist pedagogy in strategic reading instruction: exploring pathways to learner development in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom. Instr Sci 36, 89–116 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-007-9025-6

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