The Effects of Think-aloud in a Collaborative Environment to Improve Comprehension of L2 Texts

___________________ Numerous studies have shown that thinking aloud while reading can be an effective instructional technique in helping students improve their reading comprehension. However, most of the studies that examined the effects of think-aloud involve subjects reading individually and carried out in isolation away from the classroom context. Recently, researchers have begun to explore efforts to engage students in constructing meaning from text through collaborative discussions. Hence, framed within Vygotsky’s socio-cognitive theories, this study is an attempt to examine the effects of combining think-aloud and collaboration in the classroom context in enhancing reading comprehension among English as Second Language (ESL) students at tertiary level in Malaysia. A quasi-experimental design using two intact classes of ESL students was used in examining the effects. The findings, pedagogical implications and limitations of the study will also be discussed. __________________ Introduction This article reports a study which examined the effects of combining think-aloud and collaborative discussion with the primary aim of improving reading comprehension. The usefulness of think-aloud is currently being explored in efforts to engage students in constructing meaning from text through collaborative discussions (Kucan and Beck, 1997). Such efforts indicate a new direction for the use of think-aloud, one in which “social interaction assumes increased importance” (ibid., p. 271). Hence, the purpose of the study was to examine the effects of think-aloud in a collaborative situation on ESL students’ ability to comprehend L2 reading passages. A related purpose was to investigate what happens during the group think-aloud sessions. While the first purpose mentioned pertained to the product or outcome of the instructional procedure, the second purpose was concerned with the processes that occur with the use of the procedure. Such a two-pronged approach to the study provided a more comprehensive view of the instructional procedure’s efficacy. However, this article will only report the part of the study which examined the effects of the instructional procedure through the use of a quasi-experiment. Background And Literature Review Think-aloud and Collaboration in Reading Instruction