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Examining the effects of integrated instruction on Chinese sixth-graders’ reading comprehension, motivation, and strategy use in reading fiction books

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Abstract

Reading is a complex task that requires cognitive and emotional engagement. The integrated instruction approach, incorporating strategy instruction and literature circles, was developed to improve Chinese students’ reading comprehension, reading motivation, and strategy use in reading fiction books. The current study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest treatment–control group design. A total of 87 sixth graders (aged 11–12 years) were assigned to three groups, receiving integrated instruction (INI), literature circle (LC), or traditional Chinese instruction (TRC), respectively, over 12 weeks. A reading comprehension test, reading motivation questionnaire, and strategy questionnaire were used to measure students’ abilities before and after the quasi-experiment. Paired-samples t-tests, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) were used to compare reading-related outcomes within and between groups. The results indicated that the students in the INI group significantly improved their reading comprehension, all aspects of reading motivation, and strategy use; the LC and TRC students also significantly improved some aspects of their reading motivation and strategy use, but to a lesser degree than the INI students. These findings reveal evidence-based effects of INI and LC on multiple reading outcomes in the Chinese cultural and lingual context.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Elementary Education, Teachers’ College of Beijing Union University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Yi-xin Gu

  2. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Kit-ling Lau

  3. Department of Elementary Education, Teachers’ College of Beijing Union University, Beijing Union University (Dong Yuan), Room 514 No. 93, Beisihuan East Road, Chao Yang District, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Yi-xin Gu

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Dr Yi-xin Gu is in charge of designing the research, collecting the data, and writing the paper. Dr Kit-ling Lau has supervised the whole researching process and revised each version of the manual script.

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The paper is partly based on Dr Yi-xin Gu’s doctoral thesis. Gu, Y. X. (2019). The Effects of Integrated Instruction on Chinese Sixth Graders’ Reading Comprehension, Reading Motivation and Strategy Use in Fiction Reading (Doctoral Thesis). Abstract available in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database (UMI No. 27662468).

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Gu, Yx., Lau, Kl. Examining the effects of integrated instruction on Chinese sixth-graders’ reading comprehension, motivation, and strategy use in reading fiction books. Read Writ 34, 2581–2602 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10161-6

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