A Case study of the role of key concepts in Turkish learners background knowledge for enhancing reading comprehension in a specific content area

Abstract

ABSTRACT Title: A case study of the role of key concepts in Turkish learners' background knowledge for enhancing reading comprehension in a specific content area Author: Raifa Gahramanova Thesis Chairperson: Ms. Patricia Brenner, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program. Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Linda Laube, Dr. Dan J. Tannacito, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program This descriptive case study attempted to investigate if the knowledge of key concepts from academic texts facilitated reading comprehension of ESP students in a content class. The following research questions were investigated: 1. Do the key concepts introduced in lectures on American History consti tute a part of students' background knowledge, content schemata? 2. Does the knowledge of key concepts in the area of American History facilitate reading comprehension? Five learners participated in this study. Participants were selected by nonprobability sampling, criterion method used. Data-collection techniques used by the researcher to answer the research questions were standard open-ended interviews and delayed retrospective interviews. Standard open-ended interviews helped to obtain data about the parti cipants' general and cultural background. Retrospective interviews served to determine the learners' knowledge of five key concepts isolated from a text on American History and to discover the relationship between the knowledge of the concepts and reading comprehension of the text. The study yielded the following results: The answers requiring the knowledge of three concepts - `peace without victors`, `the Monroe Doctrine`, and `isolationism` - introduced during the lectures were rather elaborate and exact. The answers involving the knowledge of two other concepts - `the Old World` and `provincial paci fists` - which were not introduced during the lectures were less informa tive and less exact. Some subjects revealed their uncertainty about the particular context in which these two concepts were used. The knowledge of these 2 concepts was supposed by the researcher to come from their general and cultural background. The analysis of the comprehension questions part and the definition part of retrospective interviews revealed that those participants were moresuccessful in defining the concepts and answering comprehension questions who managed to integrate their prior knowledge of the concepts with the given text. The results of this study lead us to the conclusion that key concepts introduced in American History classes became a constituent of learners` background knowledge and contributed to enhancing reading comprehension.