Sidek, Harison Mohd
(2010)
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EFL SECONDARY READING CURRICULUM IN MALAYSIA: APPROACHES TO READING AND PREPARATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This case study examined the overarching approaches to second language (L2) reading instruction reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary curriculum and how well this curriculum prepares students for tertiary reading in EFL. The Malaysian context was chosen because it highly values EFL instruction and has many similarities with other English as Foreign Language (EFL) countries, in terms of EFL reading issues at the tertiary level. The research questions for this study included: What types of reading tasks are reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum? What types and length of reading passages are used in the Malaysian Form Five English language textbook? What levels of cognitive demand of the reading tasks are reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum? What types of learner roles are reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum? This explorative study used document reviews as the primary data collection and analysis method. The Malaysian EFL Secondary Curriculum and the EFL secondary textbook were analyzed using a revision of Richards and Rodgers's (2001) framework for analyzing EFL teaching. The findings indicate that the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum frequently uses reading as an explicit skill to achieve the listed learning outcomes in the EFL Secondary Curriculum. Nonetheless, the curriculum is developed based on the cognitive information processing theory of SLA, Top-Down theory of L2 reading reflecting Non-Interactive Whole Language instruction as well as learner roles that are primarily in the form of individual tasks. The findings on passage analysis show that the EFL textbook primarily uses narrative passages with the majority of passages below grade-level length. The curriculum, however, emphasizes reading tasks that require high cognitive demand as well as important types of reading tasks.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
| Creators | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Sidek, Harison Mohd | hhm1@pitt.edu | HHM1 | |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
9 December 2010 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
17 November 2010 |
| Approval Date: |
9 December 2010 |
| Submission Date: |
28 November 2010 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Instruction and Learning |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Curriculum; EFL; L2 reading; Secondary education |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-11282010-184303/, etd-11282010-184303 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 20:06 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:52 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9837 |
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