Raising the Comprehension Level of the Advantaged Student Through Locus of Control, Conceptual Prerequisites, and Imagery

Raising the Comprehension 2 The study was conducted to investigate the possibility of raising the comprehension scores of twenty advantaged students through the use of attribution theory in moving the student's locus of control, concept work, and imaging. The subjects of the control and experimental groups were male and female tenth and eleventh grade summer school students whose comprehension scores were at the fiftieth percentile or below or students who would benefit from comprehension instruction. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests (1978), Level F, Forms 1 and 2 were used respectively for the pretest and posttest. A related sample ~ test and analysis of covariance was used to test the null hypothesis. A significant gain was evidenced from the pretest to the posttest and the null hypothesis was rejected. The implications of the study are that the application of attribution theory in the movement of the student's locus of control, concept study, and imaging can significantly raise the comprehension scores of the advantaged student. Raising the Comprehension RAISING THE COMPREHENSION LEVEL OF THE ADVANTAGED STUDENT THROUGH LOCUS OF CONTROL, CONCEPTUAL PREREQUISITES, AND IMAGERY Chapter I: Introduction Problem Statement By working with the culturally advantaged student who has a less inhibiting background, can comprehension 3 skills be increased through the application of attributional locus of control theory with the use of conceptual prerequisites and imagery? Rationale The majority of studies done in the area of reading comprehension disabilities seemingly have been conducted with regard to the disadvantaged student. Consider the child who has none of the limitations which are commonly associated with the socially and culturally disadvantaged child yet still has poor reading comprehension skills. With no apparent health problems, a supportive family, and a proliferation of experiential and world knowledge, it may be an easier task to get to the basis of the disability and, in turn, create a program which could benefit all. Societal expectations of these students are higher: success is assumed; educators have somehow failed to give these students the attention they require. Cookson (1986) questions whether teachers have paid too much attention to the basics and consequently ignored Raising the Comprehension 4 the imagination of society and its needs. These students are sometimes react~ng to parental or societal pressure and sometimes to boredom. A student's behavior is regulated by the pupil's self image (Rude & Oehlkers, 1984). The authors go on to say that students who "consider themselves disabled will perform accordingly" (p. 256). Gergen's study (1968) found that people strive to behave in a manner which is consistent with their view of themselves (cited in Wlodkowski, 1986). Whether a student is bored or has a poor self image, the skill of comprehension can be raised through the use of the theory of attribution and locus of control. In locus of control work, the instructor attempts to get the student to believe that the success or failure that the child encounters is attributed to the ability and effort which is expended (success) or the lack of effort (failure). Using prerequisite concept learning and imaging--the mental visualization of the text read--skills in reading comprehension should increase. Purpose According to Entwisle and Hayduk (1978), social class differences forecast achievement consistently. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the exceptions to that observation and to assess the possibilities of using a more aware approach when dealing with the advantaged student. Raising the Comprehension 5 This approach includes the attempt--using attribution theory--~o move a student's locus of control from external (believing that success is due to luck rather than to effort and ability) to internal (believing that success is due to effort and ability) by modelling this behavior and verbally reinforcing the students successful attempts at reading comprehension. Instruction in concepts is applied before the attempt and the student's imaging of the events of the prose selection takes place throughout the attempt to increase reading comprehension. Raising the Comprehension Chapter II: Review of the Literature In reviewing th~ literature concerning the increase of reading comprehension scores through awareness, attribution, concepts, and imaging, the following was found. Awareness With family background and experiential knowledge playing such an important role in learning, students who have been afforded a strong background socially and culturally are sometimes overlooked by the teacher. 6 Studies imply that an awareness on the part of the teacher should be apparent in relation to the student's background knowledge because it tends to influence reading comprehension (Anderson & Barnitz, 1984). This awareness should extend to the preconceived ideas which the teacher has concerning the student's abilities. Teachers sometimes tend to direct their attention to the child without this rich background under the assumption that the advantaged student will progress nicely because of it. Because of this attitude, these students are many times no~ challenged and the abilities they do possess are not encouraged. Guilford (1979) says that there is a need for teachers to be keen observers of those whom they teach. Social strata is not an absolute indication of academic ability; cues can be provided from the behavior of the learner. Raising the Comprehension 7 Some false assumptions. Even though teachers pride themselves in the i~dividual approach, they often make generalizations concerning types of students and their ability. Teacher expectations are a powerful determinant of a student's performance according to Wlodkowski (1986). The culturally advantaged student who is sitting quietly with a book may be through with the assignment, may be bored, may have read but not understood, or may be ready to explore the next level of interpretation. The student may be in need of enrichment. It is important here to know what enrichment is not; it is not merely more of the same. It is not extra after school assignments. It does mean broadening the child's curriculum to allow more depth in a subject and freedom in the area of intellectual curiosity (Kappelman & Ackerman, 1977). Reading skills in the area of comprehension may be present, deficient, or in need of stimulation and enrichment, but enrichment will never occur without first the awareness of the need. Nicholson (1985) contends that reading can improve with heightened teacher awareness of classroom coniusion which underlies much of the learning. Tell tale signs. Educators should be cognizant of students who appear to need help. They mayor may not be discipline problems; their work is usually completed on time with sufficient detail. The student may gaze, Raising the Comprehension 8 daydream, or doodle while the teacher's attention is directed at others who do not appear as accelerated. There is also the student who, in spite of a rich, experiential background, does not comprehend at the level one would expect. The decoding skills may be excellent, but the comprehension low. Teachers may attribute this lack of comprehension to disinterest or perhaps to underachievement when, in actuality, the student has a very real deficiency in understanding what is read. This may be due to stress, unrealistic goals for personal achievement, or pressure from successful parents who, in turn, expect success from their child. Dunn, Dunn, and Price (1979) explain that some students are uncomfortable when under pressure to concentrate, are fearful of failing, become embarrassed, and consequently are too tense to concentrate. It is this student to whom this study is directed. An independent sense of self is necessary for achievement--independent of others' expectations. It can only evolve when one sets self goals to attain; with attainment comes self esteem (Simpson, 1977). , Helping the student to separate personal expectations from the parental and societal ones can help to increase the frequency with which the student encounters success in reading comprehension. Comprehension Comprehension is the real area of interest in reading Raising the Comprehension 9 instruction; the factors include linguistic competence, interest, motivatiop, reading ability, and reading environment (Cheek & Cheek, 1983). The key issues to be investigated here are interest and motivation under the assumption that all other areas, including experiential background and world knowledge are at a level which is considered to be above average. Comprehension can be increased through the use of established and enhanced conceptual knowledge. Concepts, which are a form of data or content that results from categorizing observations (Eggen, Kauchak, & Harder,1979), can be used to heighten the uses of visual, mental imagery and raise a reader's comprehension (Sinatra, Stahl-Gemake, & Berg, 1984). Social strata. Comprehension skills play no exclusive favorite to social strata. Although comprehension skills and world knowledge are interrelated--being heavily influenced by background information--(Rude & Oehlkers, 1984), lack of the skill is not designated only to the lower economic levels. There are students who corne to educators with a wealth of world knowledge, parental support, healthy bodies, initiative and ambition, yet still fall behind in comprehension skills. The teacher's expectations of these students are differentiated according to who they expect to be high achievers and Raising the Comprehension 10 who they expect to be low achievers (Good, 1982). The implication is that. instructors alternately expect more from students who are not considered low. Approach. Students who are seemingly progressing in other areas but who have special problems with reading comprehension are sometimes not patient with the proces