許多教學者認為透過閱讀可以無意間促進單字學習，所以在教學現場就很少或不特別做單字的直接教學。本研究使用英語繪本來探討三種閱讀後教學活動對臺灣學童學習英文單字的成效，此三種閱讀後教學活動分別為：在句型情境中學習單字「word learning in context」、單一詞彙學習單字「word learning in isolation」以及重複閱讀來學習單字「repeated reading」，最後一種閱讀後教學活動也是本研究的控制組。研究對象是臺北市某國小五年級三個班級共48位學童和六年級三個班級共60位的學童。研究方法是五、六年級共三大組的學生交替接受三種閱讀後教學活動，並以後測來評量單字學習成效。研究結果顯示，「單一詞彙學習單字」的閱讀後教學活動比透過「句型情境中學習單字」和「重複閱讀」來學習單字有幫助。除此之外，對於語言能力較好的國小學童，他們在接受「單一詞彙學習單字」直接教學的表現優於另外兩個閱讀後教學活動；對於語言能力比較弱的國小學童，本研究發現他們在接受這三種閱讀後教學活動之後，在閱讀認字測驗和聽力認字測驗的單字學習表現並沒有顯著差異，也就是說並沒有哪一種的閱讀後教學活動對他們的單字學習特別有助益。本研究結果對於臺灣學童透過閱讀後教學活動學習單字提供了教學的義涵，也給予學者在未來進行相關研究的建議。

Many teachers give little or no classroom attention to direct vocabulary instruction, assuming students will learn words incidentally through reading. This study used storybooks to assess the effects of word learning in three post-reading activities: word learning in context, word learning in isolation, and repeated reading, which was served as the controlled condition. Three intact classes of 48 fifth-grade Chinese-speaking children and three intact classes of 60 sixth graders at an elementary school in Taipei city were recruited for the study. A counterbalanced treatment, posttest-only design was used. The results showed that the post-reading activities which involved word learning in isolation promoted word recognition beyond word learning in context and repeated reading. For the higher-proficiency students, those receiving word instruction in isolation performed significantly better than those who received no word instruction but read the stories repeatedly as well as those receiving word instruction in context. On the other hand, no significant main effect of post-reading activities on written or spoken word recognition was found in favor of the lower-proficiency students. These findings have important implications for the use of post-reading activities on Chinese EFL learners’ word learning and provide directions for future research.

Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………iii
Table of Contents………………………………………………………v
List of Tables …………………………………………………………viii
List of Figures…………………………………………………………………….ix
中文摘要...…………………………………………………………………x
English Abstract ………………………………………………………xi

Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………….........1
1.1 Background and motivation…………………………………….1
1.2 The purpose of the study………………………………………6
1.3 Research questions ………………………………………………7
1.4 Significance of the study….…………………………………8
1.5 Definition of terms………………………………………………8
1.6 Organization…………………………………………………………11

Chapter 2 Literature Review…………………………………………12
2.1 Word learning through reading storybooks……………….12
2.2 The importance of direct vocabulary instruction…….19
2.3 Conditions for word learning………………………………….22
2.3.1 Word learning in context……………………………………..23
2.3.2 Word learning in isolation……………………………………26

Chapter 3 Method……………………………………………………………33
3.1 An overview of the current study…………………………….33
3.2 Participants……………………………………………………………35
3.3 Materials…………………………………………………………………36
3.3.1 Selection of reading materials…………………………36
3.3.2 Selection of target words………………………………..37
3.4 Procedure…………………………………………………………………39
3.4.1 Storybook reading…………………………………………….40
3.4.2 Post-reading activities……………………………………40
3.5 Measures………………………………………………………………….46
3.5.1 Grouping measures……………………………………………..46
3.5.2 Outcome measures……………………………………………...48
3.6 Data analysis……………………………………………………………51

Chapter 4 Results……………………………………………………………53
4.1 Effects of post-reading activities.………………………….54
4.1.1 Written word recognition.………………………………..55
4.1.2 Spoken word recognition……………………………………58
4.2 Effects of post-reading activities for students of different proficiency levels......63
4.2.1 Written word recognition performances for the two proficiency groups…65
4.2.2 Spoken word recognition performances for the two proficiency groups…72

Chapter 5 Discussion and Conclusion…………………………………81
5.1 Discussion………………………………………………………………..81
5.1.1 The effects of post-reading activities…………….82
5.1.2 The effects of proficiency level in post-reading activities….........87
5.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..90
5.2.1 Summary of findings………………………………………….90
5.2.2 Pedagogical implication……………………………………92
5.2.3 Limitations of the present study………………………93

References………………………………………………………………………96

Appendixes…………………………………………………………………….107
1. Word Recognition Test………………………………………………107
2. An Example of Story Texts………………………………………..109
3. Post-Reading Activity: Word Learning in Context……….110
4. Reading Comprehension Test ……………………………………..111
5. Written and Spoken Word Recognition………………………….112
6. Target Words.……………………………………………………………113


List of Tables
Table 1. A Comparison of Word Learned in Story Instruction Studies………………14
Table 2. Pros and Cons of Word Learning in Context and Word Learning in Isolation…30
Table 3. Experimental Design and Book Titles of the Study…………………………37
Table 4. The Frequency Distribution of the Target Words across the Storybooks…39
Table 5. Sentence Strips from ‘Prince Cinders’ …………………………………42
Table 6. Descriptive Statistics of Written Word Recognition Scores for the Three Clusters of Storybooks ……………………………………………………55
Table 7. Descriptive Statistics of Spoken Word Recognition Scores for the Three Clusters of Storybooks …………………………………………………..59
Table 8. The Comparison of Outcome Measures of Three Post-Reading Activities for Three Clusters of Storybooks …………………………………....……………63
Table 9. Descriptive Statistics of the Word Recognition Scores for Two Groups of Participants………………………64
Table 10. Means and Standard Deviations of Written and Spoken Word Recognition in Post-Reading Activities as a Function of Language Proficiency Level…...65
Table 11. The Comparison of Outcome Measures of Three Post-Reading Activities between Higher- and Lower-Proficiency Learners………………………81


List of Figures
Figure 1. Flash card…………………………………………………45
Figure 2. The procedures of reading instruction………..46
Figure 3. Written word recognition in ‘Froggy Gets Dressed’ …………………49
Figure 4. Spoken word recognition in ‘Froggy Gets Dressed’ …………………50
Figure 5. Written word recognition performances for the three clusters of books across the three post-reading activities……………………………………58
Figure 6. Spoken word recognition performances for the three clusters of books across the three post-reading activities……………………………………62
Figure 7. Written Word Recognition Performances in Cluster 1 across Three Post-Reading Activities for the Two Proficiency Groups…………………67
Figure 8. Written Word Recognition Performances in Cluster 2 across Three Post-Reading Activities for the Two Proficiency Groups…………………68
Figure 9. Written Word Recognition Performances in Cluster 3 across Three Post-Reading Activities for the Two Proficiency Groups…………………71
Figure 10. Spoken Word Recognition Performances in Cluster 1 across Three Post-Reading Activities for the Two Proficiency Groups………………..74
Figure 11. Spoken Word Recognition Performances in Cluster 2 across Three Post-Reading Activities for the Two Proficiency Groups………………..75
Figure 12. Spoken Word Recognition Performances in Cluster 3 across Three Post-Reading Activities for the Two Proficiency Groups………………..78

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