Journal of Educational Practice and Research

Investigating Elementary Expert Teachers’ Questioning Strategies that Promote Students’ Mandarin Chinese Text Comprehension

Hsiao-Feng Tsai & Hsin-Hsi Chen

This study investigated how expert Chinese language teachers led inquiry-based reading comprehension of texts through multi-level questioning, and how these teachers implemented specific discursive scaffolding strategies in various levels of questioning. The study employed mixed research method, combining quantitative and qualitative content analysis to examine the transcripts of instructional videos from nine expert teachers who used the Literacy-oriented Elementary Mandarin Chinese Textbooks as experimental teaching materials. The results indicated that the most frequently asked questions initiated by the expert teachers during classes were still level one and two questions. Moreover, teachers used clarification and follow-up as the discursive scaffolding strategies when they initiated level one and level two questions, whereas higher order thinking scaffolding strategy such as requesting alternative answers typically was associated with teachers’ level three and four questions. Lastly, there were three different objectives for teachers to use in their questioning strategies, namely “construct details,” “incorporate reading strategies to solve puzzles,” and “develop criticisms.” The teachers flexibly switched questioning levels and discursive scaffolding strategies based on their purpose of dialogue to meet learners’ needs. The study concludes that different levels of questions expert teachers asked played different roles in classroom discussion, and that the teachers adjusted question levels and discursive scaffolding strategies based on their instructional principles. The study serves as a reference for future research in instructional dialogue and questioning.

Development of a Modern Citizen Core Literacy Test for Middle School Students

Yen-Chun Chen & Su-Pin Hung

The purpose of this study was to design the Modern Citizen Core Literacy Test with well reliability and validity for middle school students. To develop the test, the core competency index as well as the assessment framework of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Survey were used as references. The Modern Citizen Core Literacy Test is developed to reflect the life experiences of middle school students. To establish content validity of the test, a panel of experts from middle schools were invited to review the first version of the test. After a pilot study, the test was administered to a total of 1,479 students from 22 middle schools in Taiwan; they were recruited with stratified purposive sampling. Multi-dimensional Partial Credit Model was used to assess the model-data fit. Five-core literacy were identified: moral literacy, democracy literacy, scientific literacy, media literacy and aesthetic literacy. Moreover, the test showed sufficient internal consistency with person separation reliability ranging from .593 to .882. The Split-half reliability is .883. In addition, the present study adopted item response theory based validation procedure. The results revealed that five dimensions of the Modern Citizen Core Literacy Test exhibited an acceptable model-data fit. Criterion-related validity, interpretability evidence, generalizability evidence, and substantive evidence were all supported, indicating that the test has good reliability and validity.

A Case Study on a Passive Taiwanese University Student’s Metacognition Changes in the Process of English Academic Reading

Jeng-Jia Luo

Interest in exploring English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners’ English academic reading has been growing due to increased use of course materials printed in English in Taiwan. In higher education settings, there are numerous passive students who use excuses to discontinue reading their English textbooks when they encounter reading difficulties. However, learning to read is a self-regulated process. To date, longitudinal research targeting this student population is scant. Therefore, this study aimed to explore what a passive EFL undergraduate student’s story of reading English academic materials suggests about an EFL learner’s metacognition changes of English reading for academic purposes over time. The researcher adopted the notion of metacognition as the core framework and employed a case study method, involving a university student who initially considered himself a passive reader of academic English materials, for an entire school year. The data were gathered via questionnaires, follow-up interviews, on-site observations and textual documents. The collected data were then conducted through open coding to document emergent themes and construct meaningful categories. The research findings indicate the dynamics of EFL reading for academic purposes. Based on the results, research implications and pedagogical suggestions are provided.

Charles Taylor’s Critique of the Modern Conceptions of Liberty and Rights and its Applications in Human Rights Education

Huang-Kun Chang

The purpose of this paper is to form a more comprehensive view of rights based on Charles Taylor’s critiques of the modern conceptions of liberty and rights, and to re-envision our human rights education to help our students learn an appropriate view of rights. Three main views on liberty and rights Taylor proposed are as follows. First, The ultimate goal of liberty and rights is self-realization. Therefore, the exercise of rights should be evaluated by the individual´s "reflective self-evaluation" to determine how the exercise of rights corresponds with the orientation of his self-realization. Second, Rights are not inherent to human beings, but given by society. The reason the society gives people rights is based on the importance of certain human abilities. The development of such abilities is regarded as rights so that people have the possibility to demonstrate these abilities. Finally, the exercise of rights is dependent on the society. When people enjoy rights, they are relatively obligated to society. They must defend the society and maintain its development so that all members of the society could enjoy the rights. Based on the viewpoints of Taylor, this paper suggests four principles as guidelines for the implementation of human rights education. This paper also analyzes how characteristics of the "rational critical debate" conform to these principles and suggests how the activity could be used in human rights education.