Incorporating reading circles into a task-based EAP reading scheme

Abstract

This study explored how reading circles (RCs) can be incorporated into a task-based reading curriculum in academic classroom settings. It investigated students’ perceptions of academic RC tasks and examined their effectiveness in improving students’ reading abilities and critical thinking skills. Twenty-six EFL university students majoring in Business English participated in the study. They were asked to read English business journal articles weekly, assigned different roles and tasks to complete, and given opportunities to share interpretations in class. Data were collected from questionnaires, interviews, students’ reflective journals, reading proficiency tests, and weekly homework. The results show that students held quite positive attitudes toward RC tasks in academic contexts and confirmed their effectiveness in enhancing their reading abilities and critical thinking skills through a collaborative learning process. Such a reading scheme has been proved to be a pedagogically appropriate approach for language development in academic contexts.

Addressing Language and Study Skills Challenges in Online Undergraduate EMI Courses

“…Furthermore, EAP learners often struggle to critically select, paraphrase, and summarise information from academic journals and texts [26]. As scholars have highlighted [31][32][33], readings in secondary schools are generally provided by the teacher, whereas in higher education students are expected to locate and read a wide range of academic texts [9]. However, they may struggle to use library search tools to find relevant materials.…”

Chinese University English-Major Students’ Attitude Toward Literature Circles and Literature Reading

“…Although literature circles were initially designed for young readers in K-12 education, they have expanded beyond young readers in America to learners of all age groups in different countries with different language backgrounds. However, in the Chinese context, limited research has focused on either high school students (e.g., Qin, 2022) or non-English-major students (e.g., Li et al, 2021;Xu, 2021;Liang, 2014), and the benefits of literature circles for college Englishmajor students have not been adequately examined. Thus, the current study hopes to encourage students to have a new experience of reading by participating in collaborative activity, to provide inspirations for language teachers to design more motivating reading activities and contribute to the knowledge concerning literature circles.…”

Designing a role for TAs in L2 Literature Circles

“…The most commonly practiced scaffolding system for literature circles (LCs) in foreign language contexts are role-based literature circles (LCs), rst developed for L1 classrooms by teachers in Chicago (Daniels, 2002) and subsequently adapted by others in the EFL context (Hsu, 2004;Furr, 2011). Such role-based LC systems, while having lost favor in L1 elementary education contexts (Young and Mohr, 2016), have been suggested as a future research avenue for training peer facilitators (Nishikawa, 2015) and have retained vitality in EFL contexts, at least at the advanced (CEFR B2) level (Maher, 2015;Shelton-Strong, 2019;Xu, 2021). Role-based LCs in this study feature small groups in which all the students read the same graded short story and prepare for discussion by playing roles that scaffold L2 learners' need for developing a variety of academic skills (e.g., Discussion Leader, Summarizer, Word Master, and Passage Person).…”

“…Through the investigation of inequalities and discourse triggered by the introduction of a TA's or teacher's presence among students within a role-based LC, this study hopes to elucidate a process for empowering TAs to shift from the mindset of a peer to that of language instructor for the effective facilitation of small group EFL literary discussions. When considering such a practice, it is important to note that the lower the pro ciency of learners participating in LCs, the more likely breakdowns will occur, and the fact is that most published, evidence-based studies of L2-LCs feature CEFR B2 level participants who have largely acquired conversational maintenance strategies (Kim, 2004;Ro, 2019;Shelton-Strong, 2019;Xu, 2021).…”