Letting the Story Out: Drawing on Children's Life Stories and Identities to Help Them Read beyond and Enhance Their Comprehension

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

Y

15

Personal Narratives; Self Concept; Reading Comprehension; Picture Books; Reading Aloud to Others; Literacy; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Reading Tests; Ethnography; Asians; Foreign Countries; Elementary School Students; Student Attitudes; Grade 2; Grade 3; Libraries; Workshops; Qualitative Research

10.1080/15348458.2016.1239537

1534-8458

This study aims to explore the nature of the identities constructed by EFL learners through picture-book read-alouds and the possible relationship between these identities and their literacy learning. Eight Korean students were encouraged to connect with stories through picture-book workshops. Before and after the picture-book read-alouds, tests were administered to examine whether there had been any change in the participants' comprehension. The main findings were the following: (a) McCarthey's frames of "appropriation," "transformation," and "resistance," which characterize the identities of students as literacy learners, were able to explain the nature of the identities the students in this study constructed through the read-alouds and (b) the nature of these identities seemed to influence the students' comprehension. The results of this study suggest that teachers need to create literacy curricula that students can connect with in meaningful ways and that students should be encouraged to continually reconstruct their identities.

As Provided

50

2016

EJ1121751