LEARNING HOW TO LEARN: FACILITATING LEARNERS TO BE SUCCESSFUL READERS THROUGH A STRATEGY TRAINING
Social Science and Humanities Department, ITS
Abstract
Why is facilitating learners with strategies how to learn important? The answer might lie on the fact that strategy is quite amenable to change, and by nature, teachable as well as learneable (
Referring back to the idea of self-direction, it seems sounding although in practice it is still far from satisfying result. It cannot be denied that many of our learners are still accustomed with being spoon fed. And it seems we, teachers, feel much safer to provide everything learners need for their learning. However, it should have already been realized that learning does not only take place inside the class where teachers are around ready for assisting their learners. There should be any courage to change either from the sides of teachers or learners, or even both. Attitude and behavior like this make learning more difficult so a change should be carried out. Then, what sort of change that can be carried out might be the question to all teachers or educational practitioners. The answer is to help learners to rely more on themselves and train them for using better strategies. Thus, encouraging learners for self direction should not any longer be postponed so that they could gradually gain greater confidence, involvement, and proficiency.
This article is going to focus on encouraging learners for a self-direction learning particularly for learning how to read. As it is a compulsory for learners especially for those who study in colleges to have good reading skills, these learners should acquire as well as learn how to read so that they can easily handle any references they need for, accomplishing every task given. Moreover, it cannot be denied that they will always deal with accomplishing final project or thesis in which they are finally forced to read various books and references, while at the same time the lecturers’ assistants are no longer easily accessible as when they were inside the class.
What is Learning Strategy for?
By definition, learning strategies can be understood as steps taken by learners to enhance their own learning. These are especially important because they can be used as tools for active, self-directed involvement for developing their competence. And as it is also stated by
In practice, it might be not easy for learners to justify whether their strategies that have so far been employed appropriate or inappropriate. Because for some learners, they can pronounce their learning strategies consciously, but many others will not deny that they use strategies unintentionally, and because they use them over times then the strategies are like automatic behavior for them. If this is the case, then learners will neglect the importance of learning strategies to gain improved proficiency. Learning strategies should not be instinctively, unthinkingly, and uncritically employed. They are actually assessabled so that a reflection can show whether they are already employed appropriately or inappropriately. Making learners aware of how they study is still important, since strategies that are effectively employed can help learners to gain a successful learning. This might be the role of the teachers or other educational practitioners to make them aware of their own learning strategies. Strategy assessment and training might be necessary to help them become more aware of the strategies they are using and to evaluate the utility of those strategies. This is, once again, due to the fact that even the best learners can improve their strategy use through such training.
Why Should Learn How to Read?
For many people, reading can sometimes be very complicated since it very often requires certain skills so that reading can become an activity for restoring input from written text. Especially, reading academic texts is not as easy since they do not only focus on the concrete aspects of the text, the facts, and what is easily visible on the page. Therefore, for those whose reading skills are still less than excellent, academic reading can become overwhelmingly difficult. Dr. King (no date) states that there are four variables to be considered so that reading can become more successful: the reader, the text, the strategies, and the goal. Characteristics of the reader include reading skills, interest in the topic, physical factors such as sleepiness or hunger. The text varies in type (novel, science, play, psychology, etc.) and difficulty. Some reading is easy and moves along quickly, while other reading is quite dense and perhaps even tedious, packed with information. The next factor is the strategies employed by the reader. There are reasons that make reading strategies important, first, strategies create a plan of attack, it means that by means of strategies, then, readers can solve any reading problems by themselves. Second, strategies help readers to learn HOW to understand. If they know HOW to understand, then they are more likely TO understand. Finally, strategies help readers realize HOW they are thinking so that they can think more deeply and more consciously.
For these reasons then this article puts the focus on the elaboration of the reading strategies that can be easily accessed by learners for the betterment of their reading skills.
Which Strategies are Suggested for Learning How to Read?
This article attempts to present two feasible reading strategies that can be designed for training learners for learning how to read. The selected strategies include Annotating a text, and S3QR. Both strategies are quite teacheable as well as learnable so that learners can take the benefit of trying them and using them for improving their present strategies.
Annotating A Text
Annotating a text is an effective strategy to promote active and critical reading skills; this strategy provides a number of useful clues that learners can use to remember different elements of writer's craft when reading and annotating a text. According to Porter-O’Donnell (in Hall, 2008), annotation of the text provides a “visible record of the thoughts that emerge while making sense of the reading. It is usually done during reading, and at the same time readers start writing literature and separate these responses into categories. They typically identify categories such as making predictions, asking questions, stating opinions, study of the author’s craft, making connections, reflecting on content or the reading process. In his article Donnell suggested how to make annotation marks, as the following:
DURING
Mark in the text:
Characters (who) ○
When (setting) □
Where (setting) □
Vocabulary
Important information
Write in the margins:
Summarize
Make predictions
Formulate opinions
Make connections
Ask questions
Analyze the author's craft
Write reflections/reactions/comments
Look for patterns/repetitions
By writing what a reader is reading there is an attempt from the reader to make a dialog with the text and as a result there is a connection between the reader and the text. This annotating then will help readers to slow down reading so that reading becomes a process to comprehension, in addition, writing during reading will help readers for active reading as well as improving their writing skill. In order to reach this ideal, then reader should receive a kind of training so that they become aware what should be annotated and how to write the annotation.
SQ3R
Another common strategy used for academic reading is SQ3R. SQ3R helps learners better retain primary source content information using reading and study strategies. This process involves the following steps:
1. Survey - Learners pre-read the primary source text by skimming headings, bold-faced type, and captions. Learners make predictions about main idea and content.
2. Question - Learners turn headings into questions to answer while reading.
3. Read - Learners read the text and record the answer to each self-generated question.
4. Recite -Learners try to answer each question from memory.
5. Review - Once done, learners check to see if they can answer all the questions from memory one more time. If not, they review their questions and answers.
SQ3R is a useful technique for extracting the maximum amount of benefit from one’s reading time. It helps readers to organize the structure of a subject in their mind. It also helps them to set study goals and to separate important information from irrelevant data. Eventually, the use of SQ3R can significantly improve the quality of study time.
How a training is designed?
One main point to date why strategy training becomes important is that learners need to learn, and teachers need to learn how to facilitate how to facilitate the process. Although learning is certainly part of the human condition, conscious skill in self-directed learning and in strategy use must be sharpened through training. Then, the general goals of such trainings are to help make learning more meaningful, thus strategy training should be highly practical and useful rather than abstract and theoretical.
This article puts forward a one-time strategy training type as it only involves learning and practicing two strategies with actual reading tasks. This kind of training gives learners information on the value of the strategy, when it can be used, how to use it, and how to evaluate the success of the strategy.
The suggested steps for training is set as the following
- Determine the learners’ need and time available
- Tryout the first strategy: Annotating A Text
· Instruction for Annotating Practice
1. A text (i.e. for beginner readers, fiction text is recommended) is given and learners have to read as the first reading. This first reading will give a clear sense of the key concept and the relevant details of the texts.
2. Learners read the text for the second time, this time they can start focusing on a paragraph, or learners can divide the text into chunks. Before start reading, they have to choose a focus or framework for the highlighting. (e.g. main ideas only, or with supporting details, or definitions and examples and the like)
3. During the second reading they should mark the piece for surface meaning (vocabulary, who, what,etc). They can use annolighting or highlighting with color pens for marking. The highlight should only go to the targeted information.
4. They should write an explanation for anything which they have underlined or highlighted. The explanation should be written along the margins or using sticky paper. It can be in the form of summary, predictions, opinion, questions, and so on)
- Tryout the second strategy: SQ3R
SQ3R is a five-step study plan to help learners construct meaning while reading. It uses the elements of questioning, predicting, setting a purpose for reading, and monitoring for confusion.
· Instruction for SQ3R includes the following procedures:
1. Survey
At the first stage, learners are given a text, and they have to glance over headings and first sentence in paragraphs. Before they start reading, they have to think about the title: “What do I know?” “What do I want to know?” Then they start reading the first paragraph through the last paragraph or summary.
2. Question
At this stage, learners have to turn the title into a question and also write down any questions that come to mind during the survey. Then, they can turn headings into questions, and turn subheadings, illustrations, and graphic aids into questions. They have to write down unfamiliar vocabulary words and determine their meaning.
3. Read Actively
The next stage is to read and search for answers to questions. Then they have to respond to questions and use context clues for unfamiliar words. They also have to react to unclear passages, confusing terms, and questionable statements by generating additional questions.
4. Recite
In reciting stage, learners have to look away from the answers and the book to recall what was read. They can recite answers to questions aloud or in writing. Finally they need to reread text for unanswered questions.
5. Review
At this final stage, learners look over answers and all parts of the chapter to organize information, and then summarize the information learned by drawing flow charts, writing a summary, participating in a group discussion.
4. Evaluate the Strategy training by inviting learners’ own comment about their strategy use. Thus, this self assessment should provide self monitoring and self evaluating for the success of the training
5. Finally, the result of the evaluation should become data for making a necessary revision.
How an experimental study shows the feasibility of strategy training?
A one group pretest-posttest has been conducted to see how the dependent variable, the ability to understand content English text, is measured before and after a treatment, strategy training is given to a group of learners. This experimental research requires one group consisting of 20 learners coming from different engineering departments in ITS. They currently belong to the English class that is designed for academic purpose. This compulsory subject is offered to all learners of semester one or two. This experimental extends in a relatively short period of time so that extraneous variables such as maturity, attitude change, and so on (Borg & Gall, 1979: 538-540) may not affect the reliability of the dependent variable involved in this study. The dependent variable, the ability of learners to perceive English content texts, is measured in order to see the effectiveness of treatment in this case strategy training in the attempt to improve understanding on the reading English content texts.
Beginning with a pretest on reading comprehension that is designed to assess the ability of the learners to recall any information from the text they have just read. Before e the test is administered learners are given four texts to read. As soon as they are ready for the test, they are given a set of questions. The questions require information that basically based on the texts they have just read. The next stage is to give them training on how to use annotation strategy and SQ3R. Finally, the same texts and tests with the same procedure is administered. In the test, the learners are required to bring the theories they get during training to handle the test.
20 learners were involved in the study. In order to reach the expected direction, a hypothesis is formulated. Null Hypothesis is accepted when there is no significant different before and after treatment, on the other pole, it is rejected when there is a significant different. When it is rejected it is implied that a strategy training can significantly gain better reading comprehension after it is treated to a group of learners. From the computation of the collected data, it is found out that the critical value for t for the 5 per cent level and 19 df in a directional test is 0.389. Since the calculated value for t, 0.152, is lower it means that the average score of reading comprehension after treatment is higher, so that the result in predicted direction. In short, the treatment, strategy training can be said that it is effective to help learners gaining better reading and understanding.
Summary
In the attempt to help learners to gain better reading comprehension particularly on reading their content textbooks, this article offers an insights for strategy training. Annotating a Text and SQ3R are proposed to be strategies that are exposed and trained to the learners for improving their reading skills. Improvement of reading skill will be simultaneously followed by learning skill betterment. In other words, an attempt for improving learners’ reading skill will at the same time enhance the quality of their learning. Moreover, the training that is given to them can help them increase the awareness towards their self direction and autonomy so that they become ready to autonomous learners who do not rely their learning on their teachers’ control. For further studies, a reflection might be necessarily carried out to trace back each learner’s experience in handling text reading and the strategies they have employed; moreover, it also important to present other types of strategies to the learners so that learners have more experiences with more varied strategies. Finally, the effect of the extraneous variables should be taken into account by having longer time of observation.
References
“ Annolighting A Text. (2008). Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/text.htm
“ Annotating A Text. (2008). Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/text.htm
Milan, D.K. 1988. Improving Reading Skills. New York: Random House,Inc.
Nuswantara, K. 2008. Portraying The Ways of Two Successful Learners of English Viewed from their Learning Styles and Strategy. Malang: Unpublished Dessertation.
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