The objectives of this study are to develop an information book-making activity (IBA) and examine its effects on children's understanding of expository text, explanatory ability and their wiring ability. Based on the effects of IBA on 5-year-old child...
The objectives of this study are to develop an information book-making activity (IBA) and examine its effects on children's understanding of expository text, explanatory ability and their wiring ability. Based on the effects of IBA on 5-year-old children, the study proposes an effective instructional method that can facilitate early childhood expository text learning. The following research questions are established:
Research Question 1. How does IBA affect children’s understanding of expository texts?
Research Question 2. How does IBA affect children’s explanatory ability?
2-1. How does IBA affect children's explanatory ability
in terms of expository text structure?
2-2. How does IBA affect children's explanatory ability
in terms of mean length of utterance?
Research Question 3. How does IBA affect children's writing ability?
A total of 48 five-year-old children attending D Kindergarten located in Dae-gu, South Korea were selected for research. They were divided into experimental (25 children) and comparative (23 children) groups. The average ages of children in the experimental and comparative groups were 74.10 and 75.94 months old respectively, which made the two groups homogeneous.
In order to observe the children's understanding of expository texts, data were gathered using a modified version of expository text structure testing tool(s) developed by Park and Kwon (2010), which was produced based on Kamberelis and Bovino's (1999) expository text structures' analytical standards informed by Pappas’s (1991) expository text structures. Also, a modified version of Park and Kwon’s (2010) expository text structure testing tool(s) was used to examine children's explanatory ability in terms of expository text structures. To observe children's explanatory ability in terms of mean length of utterance, the study used Han’s (2010) analytical standards of mean length of utterance which was informed by Jeon (1997). Lastly, Noh’s (1994) writing ability rating scale for children- adapted from Lindberg’s (1987) Kindergarten Writing Assessment- was used to examine children's writing ability.
Children in the experimental group participated in a total of 18 sessions for six weeks from March 30 to May 8, 2015. They were instructed to read information books on daily topics as provided in the Nuri curriculum for 5-year-olds and then create information books. As for the comparative group, the children attended 18 sessions for eight weeks from March 30 to May 8, 2015. The comparative group was instructed to read narrative picture books on daily topics as provided in the Nuri curriculum for five-year-olds and then make picture books in continuation of the previous activity.
To examine the effects of IBA, identical tests were conducted before and after the activity to test children's understanding of expository text, explanatory ability and writing skills. The results were statistically interpreted using a t-test via SPSS.
The findings suggest that IBA has a positive influence on children’s (i) understanding of expository text, (ii) explanatory ability in terms of expository text structure, (iii) explanatory ability in terms of mean length of utterance and (iv) writing ability.
In conclusion, the results indicate that IBA is a suitable instructional method for enhancing children’s understanding of expository text, explanatory ability and writing ability.