The Effectiveness of Scaffolding Interactive Activities in Developing the English Listening Comprehension Skills of the Sixth Grade Elementary Schoolgirls in Jeddah
Author: Al-Yami, Salwa Ahmed
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Dissertations/Theses - Masters Theses
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Instructional Effectiveness,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Listening Comprehension,Textbooks,Program Effectiveness,Content Analysis,Grade 6,Listening Skills,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Females,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Pretests Posttests,Check Lists,Predictor Variables,Educational Technology,Interaction,Audiovisual Aids,Multimedia Materials,Computer Assisted Instruction

The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of scaffolding interactive activities in developing the English listening comprehension skills of sixth grade elementary schoolgirls in Jeddah. The subjects in this study were 50 sixth grade pupils at an elementary school in Jeddah. They were assigned to two groups--control and experimental--with 25 pupils in each. Each group studied the same lessons. The experimental group participated in the scaffolded interactive activities designed by the researcher. To determine what listening skills are included in the English textbooks taught in the sixth grade in elementary schools, a listening skills list was selected. Based on these listening skills, the content of the textbooks was analysed and then a listening comprehension test was designed and used as a pre-post test. Before the treatment, a pre-administration of the listening comprehension test was performed. The treatment was taught for two periods a week over eight weeks. At the end of the treatment, a post-test was administered to each group to find out the effect of the treatment on developing the pupils' listening comprehension skills. The main statistical results showed statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the post-test (as a whole) in favor of the latter, and of the experimental in the pre-test and post-test in favor of the post-test. It was concluded that the proposed scaffolded interactive activities were effective in developing the listening comprehension skills of sixth grade elementary schoolgirls in Jeddah. The study recommends applying the proposed treatment to teaching listening comprehension skills at other learning stages taking into consideration the learners' age, needs and levels. It also recommends providing appropriate listening conditions and an interactive environment to students by their teachers who are expected to give immediate positive feedback throughout the listening process. There are six appendices included: (1) Content Analysis; (2) A Checklist of Listening Comprehension Sub-Skills--Hamada's List (1990); (3) A. The Letter Addressed to the Jury Members, B. Names of the Jury Members Who Validated the Listening Comprehension Skills Test; (4) A Listening Comprehension Test for the Pupils in the Sixth Grade Elementary Stage: A. Teacher's Version, B. Pupil's Version, C. Correction Key; (5) The Proposed Treatment: A. Description, B. Sample Lesson; and (6) Volume of Effect. (Contains 4 figures and 13 tables.)