Embodied EFL reading activity: Let’s produce comics

Date
2018-04
Authors
Shiang, Ruei-Fang
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University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center
Center for Language & Technology
Volume
30
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1
Starting Page
108
Ending Page
129
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Abstract
While theories of embodied cognition have been investigated in lab experiments with proficient readers, currently no studies have applied these theories to improving reading comprehension for low-proficiency readers. Using an embodied cognition approach, this study investigated producing comics as an embodied reading activity. To compare effects on English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension of narrative texts, 71 low-proficiency tertiary EFL readers were randomly assigned to one of two collaborative post-reading activity groups: comics production or translation. Before the activities, the participants were given background knowledge instruction for the narrative texts. Reading comprehension was assessed by a true-false test, followed by a semi-structured focus group interview. The results show that the comics production group outperformed the translation group in reading comprehension. Moreover, evidence from interviews shows the comics production activity assisted low-proficiency EFL readers in constructing multimodal representations of what they read, improving the depth of their reading comprehension.
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embodied cognition, situation models, multimodal, EFL reading comprehension, learner-generated illustrations, comics, translation
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