Storyboarding and reading comprehension: Using creative teaching methods to facilitate the reading comprehension development of adolescent English language learners in Iceland

The results of recent iterations of the Programme for International Student Assessment reveal a decline in the reading ability of Icelandic learners at the end of compulsory education. Many of these learners fail to achieve the minimum competence they need to be prepared for upper secondary educatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Freyja Sól Pálsdóttir Hólm 1998-
Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
Format: Master Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1946/46594
Description
Summary:The results of recent iterations of the Programme for International Student Assessment reveal a decline in the reading ability of Icelandic learners at the end of compulsory education. Many of these learners fail to achieve the minimum competence they need to be prepared for upper secondary education. To counteract this development, teachers at all levels of education, particularly in upper secondary schools, need to diversify their teaching methods to facilitate reading comprehension development. While first language instructors have often been thought of as the individuals who should shoulder this responsibility, it is essential that other teachers, including English language teachers, participate in this development. Furthermore, if these learners have poor reading comprehension in their first language, it can be argued that their comprehension in other languages also suffers. This thesis was constructed as a literature review exploring historical and current theories on reading and reading comprehension, and factors affecting reading comprehension development, such as learning styles, learning difficulties, and strategy use. According to the literature, current views on reading and reading comprehension argue that meaning is made through the learner interacting with the text. Therefore, teachers should incorporate teaching methods and activities that encourage learners to become active readers. At the center of the thesis is the belief that the creation of storyboards can serve as an activity to facilitate the reading comprehension development of learners. Learners with visual learning styles and learning difficulties such as dyslexia can particularly benefit from using visual methods such as storyboards. The storyboarding method incorporates various strategies that have all been demonstrated to increase reading comprehension. This thesis, therefore, demonstrates the necessity of a study exploring the effects of storyboarding on the reading comprehension of Icelandic English learners in upper secondary ...