Using drama-in-education to enhance Hong Kong secondary school students' higher-order reading ability of Chinese narrative texts = Yi "jiao yu xi ju" ti sheng Xianggang zhong xue sheng li jie Zhong wen xu shi pian zhang de gao ceng ci yue du neng li

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate how the “Drama in Education” (DiE) approach can enhance students’ reading comprehension, and how Chinese Language teachers use DiE to improve students deep understanding of Chinese narrative texts.

The whole research program involves 202 Secondary Three students from different bandings, and consists of three Studies. Study 1 is a pre-experimental research, in which the researcher tested her study questions, drama conventions, and developed a reading assessment scheme. Studies 2 and 3 follow the Lesson study approach, integrating the ideas of the jugyokenkyn (lesson study) from Japan, the learning study from Hong Kong, and the practice of lesson research from mainland China. The researcher analyzed four teachers’ teaching practice, their after-class self reflections, teachers and students’ interviews, students’ performances in drama activities, as well as students’ results of pre-and post-tests. Findings show that the teachers changed their reading responses to the texts and their ways to apply DiE to teach. They considered more about text meanings and the characters’ feelings, so their ways of teaching also changed from a conventional to an interactive approach. Moreover, results of students’ pre-and post-tests showed their significant improvements after learning by DiE. According to the researcher’s observations and teachers’ interviews, as a result of seeing evidences of students’ gain, there was a shift in the teachers’ teaching perceptions and teaching behaviors in using new teaching approaches.

In this research program, teachers’ use of DiE, and the relevant changes in teaching perceptions and behaviors were analyzed and discussed. The process of using DiE not only benefited students’ reading comprehension, but also enhanced teachers’ professional development.

Finally, a model to improve students’ higher-order reading ability through DiE was proposed. Making use of the DiE-reading assessment scheme, and a localized Lesson Study, the researcher hopes to have made some contributions to local educators.