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marlay8282@cox.net

Ways of using KWL chart in textbook reading

Jade (Jin Ouyang )

I. Introduction

I. 1. Reading comprehension is very important for Chinese ESL

students.

Reading comprehension , one of the four basic skills of English

learning, is defined as the level of understanding of a text. This

understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are

students. written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text. Many

ESL students in China find reading difficult .The word text used here to refer

to reading materials in High school Text books in China, is also considered

as intensive reading as well.

Intensive reading, is the practice of reading short-to-medium length

passages with the aim of focusing on specific text-based elements, such as

comprehension, vocabulary, etc. So it may take teachers and students a

week and a half to finish a unit in order to solve the problems of the usage

of new words and phrases, grammar points, complex sentences in

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structures as well as include many extensive reading materials in the

exercises . And the teachers have done a lot of research or attempts to have

the text better understood.

It must be pointed out that many internationally recognized proficiency

tests have already put great emphasis on the reading comprehension to

learners. For example, Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

features 5 reading tasks, which accounts of 52 the total score. The same

goes with the writing section of International English Language Testing

System (IELTS). Meanwhile, the Senior High School Entrance Examinations

for English in Guangzhou require the students to finish 5 passages to get as

many as 60 points in the test. While in the National Entrance

Examination ,the students have to finish 7 passages , which is 70% of the

full mark.

I.2. Reading comprehension is very difficult for Chinese ESL students.

Here are the main language difficulties for ESL students:

illegibility，unfamiliar words，lack of background knowledge , difficult

Concepts , complex syntax, Nominalization ,Polysemy , complex noun

groups ,advanced cohesion ,Poor Writing etc. As a result, some students

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have the negative attitude to learn English text, which leads a series of

problems in their study.

The purpose of this article therefore is to introduce a good way to

mainstream teachers how we can help the students in our classes to

become more effective readers . It is by using the KWL chart that we can

help students to get familiar with the topic of the text and have motivation

to go on with their reading with the goal of searching useful information to

satisfy their needs from the text.

II. Theoretical background:

II.1.(1). what is reading ？Reading means that perceiving a written text in order to understand its

content. This can be done silently . The understanding is called reading

comprehension .

"We have shown that activity is the essence of good reading, and that

the more active reading is, the better it is."

(Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book. Simon and

Schuster, 1972)

After training, the students are supposed to have good reading skills ,

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which are specific abilities enabling a reader to read the written from as

meaning language, and to read anything written with independence,

comprehension and fluency, and also to mentally interact with the message.

II.1. (2) How do we read?

First of all, reading has not only a purpose of getting information but also

for pleasure. Sometimes the text is like a literary works. It is suggested

“pleasurable reading ” helps ESL students best.

According to Wallace(1992), “an important by-product of reading for

pleasure in any language is fluency, which is a premise for increasing

motivation for language learners to read more.”

Secondly, Reading with a purpose is more effective than reading without

a purpose. Effective reading depends first of all on having a purpose for

reading, we should know why we are reading the text. The purpose will

determine what specific information you are going to look for and the

appropriate type of reading skills to be used.

In the third place , reading mainly is an individual activity. Although all

students are encouraged to read as fast as possible, they always read at

different speeds . Students can start reading together , read aloud together,

but they cannot read together. They might be using one book, but they are

reading individually with different results.

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II.1.(3.) Reading strategies and approaches

Reading different types of texts requires the use of different reading

strategies and approaches. Making reading an active, observable process

can be very beneficial to struggling readers. A good reader interacts with

the text in order to develop an understanding of the information before

them. Some good reader strategies are predicting, connecting, inferring,

summarizing, analyzing and critiquing.

It is through reading that they acquire much of their knowledge and

understanding of the different subject areas, and reading often forms the

basis of follow-up work such as class discussions or homework questions.

For these reasons it is essential that our students are helped as much as

possible and necessary to understand what they read.

II.2 (1.).what is KWL chart

A KWL table, or KWL chart, created by Donna Ogle in 1986,is a graphical

organizer designed to help in learning during the beginning, middle and

ending of a lesson.. The letters are the capital letters from the three words:

know, want to know and what have learned . So A KWL table is typically

divided into three columns which include or exclude information.

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The KWL chart is useful to complete formative assessment in the

classroom. It allows the teacher to find out the students prior knowledge

on a particular topic。From this knowledge the teacher is then able to gear

their lessons based upon this information.

The teacher can create lesson plans based upon the interests and

inquiries of the students and their needs. Using this strategy can increase

motivation and attention by activating the students' prior knowledge.

II.2.(2)Benefits of the KWL chart to Students

First, as a graphic organizer, the KWL chart benefits an ESL student

because it is a visual aid. The purpose of these classroom tools is to parse

up information so it can be seen in an organized fashion. The KWL charter is

often helpful to ESL students when organizing their thoughts.

Consequently, if an instructor begins a lesson , ESL students can fill out the

KWL to focus their attention on the significant points. Once again, the KWL

has enabled an ESL student to clearly view the important components of a

lesson. It is also an effective study tool for an ESL student. He or she can go

back to the graphic organizer paired with a particular lesson and review

major ideas for a test. Furthermore, notes and significant vocabulary can be

plugged into a graphic organizer as a way of convenient review.

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II.2.(3.) Common KWL Variations

*KWHL: if necessary, teachers can add an 'H' column which stands for

how I'm going to find the information. (according to Margaret Mooney)

*KLEW: Another adaptation of the KWL chart is The KLEW chart , which was

developed by a group of people with various backgrounds including an

elementary school teacher, a professor and a professional development

specialist. Within this chart, the "K" stands for what students know of a

topic, the "L" for what is being learned, the "E" for evidence that supports

the learning previously described, and the "W" for wondering, which leaves

room for further questions. This table differs from the traditional KWL chart

as it places an emphasis on observation and examination of evidence that

supports what they see.

* K-W-L-W chart, Hill, et. al. (1998) have modified the K-W-L chart to

include a fourth column at the end, W for "Further Wanderings." In their

this column is for students to pose new questions they have as a result of

their research. They also suggest that the first column be filled in

individually first and then knowledge and questions from the entire class

are pooled second. Throughout the unit, students add to the columns as

they encounter new information. Different colored markers or pencils can

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be used to visually represent new learning. The K-W-L chart (and its

modifications) helps students organize their thoughts about a topic.

II.3. Role of motivation in language learning

Integrative Motivation: Crookes & Schmidt (1991) identified as the

learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language.

It means that learner's positive attitudes towards the target language group

and the desire to integrate into the target language community.

Instrumental Motivation: Hudson (2000) characterized the desire to obtain

something practical or concrete from the study of a second language.

Instrumental motivation underlies the goal to gain some social or economic

reward through L2 achievement.

Another kind of motivation is when the learner feels motivated by the

engagement they feel in the activity itself, when it is at the exact level of

difficulty that they feel that they can cope with.

On the other hand, the educators should take measures to improve

students' intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is changeable, its change often directly influence

the effect that the students learn foreign language. So it is not proper to

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only depend on students’ extrinsic motivation to make them learn English

with higher efficiency. Intrinsic motivation is rather stable in comparison

with extrinsic motivation. Improving students’ extrinsic motivation is only a

mean that improve intrinsic motivation, improving students intrinsic

motivation is our final goal, which make students learn foreign language

with higher efficiency. It is well known external cause influences organisms'

activity by internal cause.

III. Discussion.

III.1.Purpose for using KWL charts

I have many reasons for using KWL charts in the classroom. First, a KWL

chart activates students' prior knowledge of the text or topic to be studied.

By asking students what they already know, students are thinking about

prior experiences or knowledge about the topic. Next, KWL charts set a

purpose for the unit. Students are able to add their input to the topic by

asking them what they want to know. Students then have a purpose for

participating and engaging in the topic. Also, using a KWL chart allows

students to expand their ideas beyond the text used in the classroom. And

in this way , the process of reading the text is not only to finish the task, but

also for fun. By being aware of students' interests, I should have the

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ability to create projects and assignments that the students will enjoy. A

KWL chart is a tool that can be used to drive instruction as well as guide

student learning.

III.2. How I will use KWL charts in my class

After doing the research on KWL and finishing my homework by using KWL

chart in UCI, I think it is a necessary to bring KWL to my students in China

even though it is a popular way for teachers to help students in America for

quite a long time.

Take the reading material A taste of English Humor in Unit 3 New

Senior English For China student Book 4 as an example. After learning

vocabulary, the students will go to learn the text “ A master of Nonverbal

humor”, which introduced the famous actor Charlie Chaplin . However,

even though Charlie Chaplin is well-known to us, the young generation are

lack of Background Knowledge, which is a case of difficulty for students.

Research has indicated that the lack of cultural knowledge may affect the

rate of reading comprehension because language and culture are linked.

As victor Hugo once said, “ lighter is the sun that drives from the human

face,” and up to now nobody has been able to do this better than Charlie

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Chaplin, he brightened the lives of Americans and British through two world

wars and the hard years in between. He made people laugh at a time when

they felt depressed, so they could feel more content with their lives.

The abov passage appears in the very beginning of the text, in which

there are several background knowledge problems. One is “through two

world wars and the hard years in between” the students have no ideas

about the social situation in America. The other is what Charlie Chaplin did

to brighten the world.

The KWL charter will be given to them in order to help the students

understand the text better.

Here is what the KWL chart can look like:

K W L

What I know

(Write the information

about what the

students know about

Chalie Chaplin.)

What I want to know

(Write the information

about what the

students want to know

about Chalie Chaplin.)

What I learned

(After the completion

of the lesson or unit,

write the information

that the students

learned about Chalie

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Chaplin.)

*at the beginning of the lesson or as homework:

The students will finish the first two parts “K”“W”

* Activate students' background knowledge and get students thinking

about what they have already known about the topic to get them ready to

connect prior knowledge to new learning.

*Establish the purpose for the lesson or unit and set the goals for the

learning, letting students know what to anticipate from the lesson.

*Engage students in asking questions about the new content and draw

their curiosity, one or two students will say something they have known,

and then 2-3 minutes will be given to have a group discussion to share their

ideas about what they want to know. After that, a representative from each

group will share one point . I will gather their questions. In this way,

learners will find more different views to know Charlie Chaplin.

* During the lesson:

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After the students finish the first two parts, the chance will be given to

them to finish the rest of their charts, Students recognize that the lesson is

answering their questions. These answers can be written down as soon as

they learn them.

Students can keep track of their learning by seeing that they have

unanswered questions to follow up on.

Students can note down some information which they havn’t

considered before reading the text.

When closing the lesson:

According to their KWL charts t, Students will summarize their

learning in simple, easily expressed ideas.

Students can compare their take-away learning to their classmates'

and add ideas that they left out to make a more comprehensive list.

I can use KWL charts to review the day's learning . This is a way to

scaffold learning for students who process new information more

slowly and to make sure they have a high quality list of important

points from the lesson.

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I can use KWL charts as informal assessments to determine whether

students really 'got it' and how to modify their instructional

approach for the students who struggled with the new content.

III.3. How can I adapt it?

A. If I will train them how to find the details , the students will be asked

to find evidences in Column E .

K W E L

What I know What I want to

know

Evidences about

What I want to

know or what I

learned

What I learned

1.He is an

American.

2.He is a famous

actor.

1.How many

films has he

made?

2. when was he

born and when

he died?

3.When did

To No.4

Para 1. Made

people laugh at a

time when they

felt depressed,so

they could feel

more content

1. 1889-1977

2. Teens, the

most popular

Child star.

3. wrote,

directed

andproduced ,

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Charle start his

film career?

4. what do

people think of

him?

5. what great

chievement?

with their lives.

To. No,5

Made a sad

situation

entertaining.

starred

4.a great actor

who inspire

people with great

confidence.

5. good example

The Gold Rush

B. After Students finish the whole text , they will be required to add

new questions that pop up during their learning as they deepen

their understanding of the new concept.

K W L W

What I know What I want to

know

What I learned Further

Wanderings

(pose new

questions they

have as a result

of their research)

1.He is an 1.How many

films has he

4. 1889-1977 1.what made

Charlie create

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American.

2.He is a famous

actor.

made?

2. when was he

born and when

he died?

3.When did

Charle start his

film career?

4. what do

people think of

him?

5. what great

achievement?

5. Teens, the

most popular

Child star.

6. wrote,

directed

andproduced

,

starred

4.a great actor

who inspire

people with

great confidence.

5. good example

The Gold Rush

“the little tramp?

2.Why was “ the

Little tramp” so

welcome?

3.What special

Oscar did he get?

C. If time limited, we can focus on some big problems, such as focusing

on the first paragraph. What we wonder is why people had a hard

time in the world wars and between .

In addition , students can use KWL charts as a study guide for unit exams or

vocabulary..

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IV. Conclusion.

Based on the detailed discussion of the KWL charter and the careful

analysis of methods of the KWL charter , KWL charts are one of the

simplest and most versatile graphic organizers. They are used at the

beginning, middle and end of a lesson, and their use extends beyond the

lesson as a study guide or informal assessment tool. Having students write

what they know, want to learn and what they learned cements the

learning within the context of prior knowledge, helping them make

connections and not feel like they're learning new content in a vacuum. In

order to make students learn on their own initiative and learn with higher

efficiency, KWL charts are useful for a variety of student ability levels and

are an effective visual aid, KWL charts can also be modified to fit a

particular assignment or for used with a larger unit. As a result, the

individual student or the entire class can understand their texts . And it is

noted that teacher develop the students’ extrinsic motivation, encourage

their conviction that they have to learn foreign language, enhance

students’ self-confidence in learning foreign language, foster their direct

interest in foreign language and make them have a competition in

learning foreign language. The ultimate goal of using KWL charter is that

the students gradually become initiative learners.

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What’s more, what I will suggest to the teachers in China is that the

KWL chart can be widely used in a variety of topics in different levels. As

teachers , we should analyze the text we are going to teach and develop

the ability to embed text links, giving an extra level of interaction and

explanation so students can show their examples of their knowledge.

Reference:

1. KWL table http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KWL_table Oct.22 .2013

2. 1. THE RELATION OF STRENGTH OF STIMULUS TO RAPIDITY OF HABIT-

FORMATION

3. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Yerkes/Law/ Oct.20 .2013

4. Motivation in second-language learning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation_in_second-language_learningOct.18 .2013

5. Learning and Motivation

http://www.stanford.edu/group/cubberley/link/learning-and-motivationOct, 17

6. Readingcomprehension

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_comprehension Oct.21.2013

7. Definition of reading skills

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_of_reading_skillsOct.21.2013

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A good source of insight on reading instruction is the late John Holt,

especially his classic essay "How teachers make children hate reading."

(hint: the villain is intensive reading!)

8. KWL charter

http://www.eslpartyland.com/graphic-organizers-help-esl-students.htmlOct. 10 . 2013

9. K-W-L (Know, Want to Know, Learned) http://www.nea.org/tools/k-w-l-know-want-to-know-

learned.html Oct.11.2013

10.KWLcharterhttp://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/kwl-chart-

example-graphic-organizer-and-classroom-applications.html Oct .13.2013

11.Facing the challenge of teaching and learning EFL reading: Beyond the Language Of critique

Abdeliah Salim Sehlaoui Emporia State university, Kansas, USA

http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/PastIssues/rfl132sehlaoui.pdf Oct .23.2013

11. Supyan Hussin, Nooreiny Maarof, and J. V. D'Cruz

Sustaining an Interest in Learning English and Increasing the Motivation to

Learn English: An Enrichment Program

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Hussin-Motivation/ Oct.20.2013

13. Instructional strategies online

http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/kwl/ Oct. 21 2013