The Effect of Students’ Textual Prior Knowledge Activation on Their EFL Reading Comprehension
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20372/star.v9i2.05Keywords:
Cue, Cultural Context, Prior Knowledge Activation, Reading ComprehensionAbstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the students' textual prior knowledge (PK) activation effect on their reading comprehension. The participants were 88 randomly selected students for the treatment group and 87 students for the comparison group. The design employed was the QUAN-qual nested mixed method. The treatment group was exposed to reading comprehension lessons consisting of various cultural texts involving cuing and brainstorming as PK activation mechanisms, whereas the comparison group continued with the usual way of reading lessons. The data collection instruments were the post-test, questionnaire, and group interview. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics for reliability and normality checks involving KR-21, Cronbach’s alpha, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Inferential statistics employed the independent t-test, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and effect size tests. From the result, it was seen that the PKA group surpassed the PKIA group by a significant mean difference of t (173) = 6.06, p<001. At Z(86) = -2.182, p =.05, there was also a significant mean difference between the two strategies. Accordingly, cuing was found to be more helpful in activating the students' PK in terms of the familiar text, with a mean rank of 42.76. Conclusions can be drawn that PK activation enhances reading comprehension and that cuing increases with increased familiarity of text. Therefore, text writers should become aware of including PK activation strategies through the use of cuing cultural expressions. This can simplify texts of complicated nature into those learner-friendly ones that ease reading comprehension for practice.
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