Date of Award

2010

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Dissertation

Divisions

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Department

Department of English Language

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

Strategy use is a highly researched area, more so in the L1 context than the L2 context. On the other hand, summary writing has been rarely studied in the L2 context despite its importance to reading comprehension. This study has tried to investigate and evaluate the strategies used by Malaysian sixth formers in summary writing. The study adopted a mixed research design that used both quantitative (SILL Questionnaire) and qualitative (Modified Think-Aloud Protocol and document analysis of written summaries) research approaches. Strategies are normally used to overcome problems. Therefore, firstly the study explored the problems faced by both high and low proficiency students and the strategies employed at the three different stages of summarization, namely comprehension, condensation and production. The strategies were first inferred by the researcher from the Modified Think-Aloud Protocol sessions. The lists of inferred strategies were then categorized as productive or unproductive strategies based on a Criteria Checklist developed by the researcher. This aspect of classifying strategies is unique as it has not been carried out in any other related study. Finally, the summary scripts of the 25 subjects were examined to study the differences in strategy use between high and low proficiency students. The SILL Questionnaire was also used to get an overview of students’ general strategy use. The main findings of the study show that both high and low proficiency students generally face similar problems during summarization, pertaining to text and task, teacher and learner proficiency. However, the difference lies in the propensity of the problems. The study also establishes that both high and low proficiency students use various productive and unproductive strategies at the three stages of summarization. Thirdly, the findings also revealed that the high group used more paraphrasing while the low group used more copying. Hence it can be concluded that a combination of factors such as learners’ proficiency, use of productive strategies and systematic instruction from teachers can enhance and improve summary writing, a tool to better literacy.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 2010.

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