8
Experiment 3: Extensive Reading With Writing In The Target Language
In the third study, groups differed in the language used for writing their summaries. In addition, a comparison group was used that had extensive work on cloze exercises, the format of the dependent variable. Another way in which this study differed from the others was the fact that more books were available. Experiment 3 was conducted at one of the authors' (B.M.) institutions, where a much larger choice was available, over 3000 books.
Procedure
Subjects. Three groups of subjects participated in this study.
| 1. | English response group: students participated in an extensive reading program similar to that described in the previous two studies for one academic year. As in Experiment 2, students were required to write a short summary of the book. Group (1) wrote their responses in English. |
| 2. | Japanese response group: students did extensive reading, but wrote their summaries in their first language, Japanese. |
| 3. | Comparison group: the comparison group did extensive work on cloze exercises (approximately three to four hours per week, done in class with the help of the teacher and at home), read 32 stories, each four pages in length, and took a vocabulary test every week on words they had to look up to do the cloze exercises. One of the experimenters (B.M.) taught the class. To insure that the traditional/cloze method was given every chance to succeed, B.M. selected this particular class for use in the study because, of the three classes of this kind she taught, this one appeared to be the most proficient. B.M. also noted that they were an especially diligent group. |
8