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ABSTRACT

As students reach upper primary there is greater need for them to effectively comprehend

texts and to develop skills that will be used in further education.

The following hypothesis was investigated:

Explicit teaching of paraphrasing improves comprehension when reading texts.

This research study was designed to enhance the reading comprehension of Year 5 students

through teaching of the paraphrasing strategy. Four students of like abilities were chosen

from the Year 5 class for this study. In the control group there were another 4 students of

similar abilities.

The reading intervention program consisted of 10 paraphrasing lessons of 30 to 40 min each

taught over a 2 week period. Students worked in groups, pairs and then individually. The

students moved from paraphrasing individual words to paraphrasing sentences and then

paraphrasing paragraphs.

Post testing showed an increase in only half of the students’ comprehension. When tested

for paraphrasing skills all but one student made progress. Therefore the explicit teaching of

paraphrasing demonstrated improvement in some students’ comprehension skills. To

further assist students to improve in their comprehension ability further teaching and

practice of this strategy would be of benefit.

INTRODUCTION

Students who are competent text decoders are not always competent at comprehending

what they have read. Often these students cannot recall in detail what they have read

leaving out important facts and details relevant to the meaning of the text.

In order to enable students to comprehend texts Sorrell (1996) suggests that it is necessary

to teach them strategies to use while reading. Sorrell states “reading is the art of searching

for and understanding the meaning of the written word” (Bender, 1996 cited Sorrell 1996).

Research has shown that teaching comprehension strategies will improve the reading

comprehension of all readers. In his research Sorrell (1996) has shown that teaching

strategies to students with learning disabilities could increase their comprehension ability.

He talks about the need to teach before, during and after reading strategies to assist with

the students with obtaining meaning from the text. He suggests using the paraphrasing RAP

strategy, developed by Schumaker, Denton and Deshler (1984) as an after reading strategy,

to help students recall the facts they have read. In this strategy students are taught an

acronym, RAP, to help them remember the comprehension strategy;

Read the text.

Ask yourself questions about the main ideas and details

Put the ideas into your own words and try to change as many words as you can.

Studies completed by Fisk and Hurst (2003) indicate the paraphrasing strategy is meant to

be a genuine retelling of the text in the students own words ensuring that the main ideas

and tone of the text are held intact.

They state “one of the reasons that paraphrasing for comprehension works so well is

because it integrates all modes of communication – reading, writing, listening and speaking

– which leads to deeper understanding of the text. “ (Fisk and Hurst 2003)

Studies completed by Fisk and Hurst (2003) indicate the paraphrasing strategy is meant to

be a genuine retelling of the text in the students own words ensuring that the main ideas

and tone of the text are held intact.

They suggest the use of a similar process to that developed by (Schumaker, Denton and

Deshler) (1984), which includes four steps;

1. Initial reading and discussion

2. Second reading with note taking

3. Written paraphrase

4. Sharing paraphrases

John Munro (2008) has identified paraphrasing as a useful strategy for students with reading

difficulties. When referring to his Multiple Levels of Text Processing (MLOTP) model, reading

develops through various stages and it is clear that the paraphrasing strategy can be used

throughout these levels. Students can begin to paraphrase individual words, sentences and

then paragraphs. Munro (2006) has developed a paraphrasing teaching sequence beginning

by paraphrasing as a whole class, then in groups and then individually. This approach has

been used for this study.

As Katims and Harris (1997) found that teaching reading strategies in an inclusive classroom

was effective, the following study will follow their lead as it too will investigate the effect of

teaching the paraphrasing strategy to students at risk within a whole class setting. There will

be a focus on synonyms which will aim to further assist students with paraphrasing. This will

enable students to develop skills to identify important texts within a text.

The present investigation aims to examine the effects of teaching a sequential set of

paraphrasing lessons to a group of year 5 students. Throughout these lessons students will

focus on the use of synonyms to assist them with the paraphrasing strategy. These

paraphrasing lessons will assist the students with developing their understanding of the

meaning of the text and with attention to detail. The hypothesis is the explicit teaching of

paraphrasing improves comprehension when reading texts.

METHOD

Design

This study used a case study OXO design in which the gain in paraphrasing and reading

comprehension following the teaching of the paraphrasing strategy was monitored for Year

5 students who have like reading abilities.

Participants

The 8 participants were selected from a Year 5 class. All participants attend a Catholic co

educational primary school. They were all chosen from the same grade, with 4 students in

intervention group and 4 students in the control group. Each group was selected, on the

basis of their Pat R comprehension test results which took place as part of the screening at

the beginning of the year. This test required students to answer multiple choice questions

after reading a number of texts. Eight students with the lowest score were chosen and then

divided into 2 groups of even spread, one being the intervention group and the other the

control group.

In the teaching group student number 1 is fairly new to the school, commencing October

2008. Student number 1 came from Year 5 at the previous school to complete term 4 in Year

4 due to learning issues. This has caused a huge impact for her both academically and

socially.

Student number 4 and number 7 both are funded under LNSLN provided from the Catholic

Education Office. Student 4 is funded under the heading of Chronic Health. Chronic Health

problems have greatly impacted Student 4’s learning due to absences of school and the

nature of the illness. Student 7 is funded for an intellectual disability. This disability, as well

as coming from a family of 11 siblings and a low socio- economic environment has greatly

impacted learning capacity. Both of these students have been on reading recovery as well as

the Erik program following the phonological stream.

Students 3, 5, 6 and 8 all have English as their second language.

Below is a data set of the students involved in the study.

Name T/C

Group

Age in

yr/m

Gender ESL LNSLN Earlier

Intervention

Strategies

Pre Pat

R Scale

Score

Pre Pat

R

Stanine

Score

Pre

Synonyms

Test

Pre

Paraphrasing

Test

Student

1 T 11y5m F 38

3

56 11

Student

2 T 10y0m F 44.4

4

58 15

Student

3 T 10y9m F YES 41.2

3

56 19

Student

4 T 10y7m F YES

Reading

Recovery,

ERIK

47.9 5 28 14

Student

5 C 10y6m M YES 44.4

4

75 21

Student

6 C 9y10m F YES 49.8

5

64 23

Student

7 C 11y5m M YES

Reading

Recovery,

ERIK

39.6 3 6 14

Student

8 C 10y2m F YES 53.7

5

58 14

T- Teaching Group C- Control Group

Materials

• The Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading – Third Edition (Pat –R):

Comprehension, test Form 1 (Australian Council for Educational Research, 2001)

were used to asses reading comprehension ability. This task involves independently

reading 8 prose passages and answering the comprehension questions, in multiple

choice formats. This test measures literal and inferential comprehension and takes

up to 40 min to complete.

• Synonyms Test. Developed by Munro (2005)

• Paraphrasing Task. Developed by Munro (2005) was used as a measure of

paraphrasing ability. This task involves being given 16 sentences that students read

to themselves and then write down another sentence (with as many words changed

as possible) that conveys the same meaning.

• Paraphrasing Lessons – 10 sequential lessons

• Text “Once” Morris Gleitzman

• Highlighters

• Student workbooks

Procedure

In pretesting for this study students were assessed using

• Pat R - Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading: Comprehension.

• Synonyms Test – John Munro

• Paraphrasing Test – John Munro

The paraphrasing lessons were conducted within the literacy block over a two week period.

The four students were withdrawn from the class and taught the paraphrasing lessons in a

quiet focused learning environment. Each lesson took approximately 30 to 40min to teach.

The text used for each lesson was ‘Once’ by Morris Gleitzman. This text was chosen as it

was the text all Year 5 students were going to work on in their Literature Circles during Term

3. Students were each given a copy of the text to work with.

The teaching procedure was taken from John Munro’s (2005) Comprehension Paraphrasing

Strategy with an emphasis on teaching students to identify synonyms for key content words.

(Appendix 1). During each session students reflected on the text from the previous lesson

then paraphrased sentences from that text. Students were constantly reminded of the

steps involved in how to paraphrase.

Read a sentence

Change as many words as you can while keeping the meaning the same

Say the sentence again in your own words

At the beginning of each session Students were given a copy of the next page of the text, to

identify key words and to brainstorm new synonyms for these. Students used the synonyms

to assist with paraphrasing the new passages from the text. Students were encouraged to

use a thesaurus to assist them in identifying synonyms which they could use when they

paraphrase. Towards the end of the sessions the students were asked not to use the

thesaurus but to independently change the synonyms then paraphrase the sentences.

After the ten lessons were taught the students in the teaching and the control group were

reassessed using the same pre –assessment materials.

RESULTS

Results indicate support for the hypothesis that explicit teaching of paraphrasing improves

comprehension when reading texts. The post comprehension scores of the 4 students

(Figure 1) in the intervention group have all not shown an increase in their scores, however,

there is evidence that all 4 students have shown growth in all other areas that were tested,

the paraphrasing and the synonyms test. (Table 1) As can be seen in Figure 4, on average

the post results from the controlled group and the teaching group have all stayed the same.

Table 1 Student Teaching/

Control

Group

Pre

Pat R

Percentile

Rank

Post

Pat R

Percentile

Rank

Pre

Paraphrasing

Score

Post

Paraphrasing

Score

Pre Synonyms

test

Post

Synonyms

test

1 TG 15 8 11

34%

5

16%

56,

64%

58

67%

2 TG 30 47 15

47%

25

78%

58

67%

74

85%

3 TG 22 30 19

59%

28

88%

56

64%

54

62%

4 TG 41 30 14

44%

19

59%

28

32%

42

48%

5 CG 30 26 21

72%

23

66%

75

86%

66

76%

6 CG 47 30 23

75%

24

72%

64

74%

74

85%

7 CG 19 22 14 14 6 14

44% 44% 7% 16%

8 CG 59 79 14

44%

22

69%

58

67%

82

94%

Student 1 has not shown gains in the Post Pat Reading comprehension score and has

actually dropped from a percentile rank of 15 to 8. (Figure 1) Student 1 has also dropped in

the paraphrasing score from a pre test score of 34% to a post test score of 16%. (Figure 2)

Student 1 did however make a 3% gain in the synonym test result. (Figure 3) These results

are quite indicative of the students learning issues and behaviours. Throughout the lessons

Student 1 was often unorganised and forgetful (glasses) causing a disruption to the settling

in time of the beginning of the lesson. This disruption and lack of settling in time caused this

student to tune out and lose valuable learning time.

Student 2 has made significant progress in Pat Reading comprehension, a percentile ranking

of 30 to 47. (Figure 1) Student 2 has also demonstrated an improvement in the

paraphrasing scores a jump from 47% to 78%. (Figure 2) This increase of 31% can be

supported by the increase shown in the synonym results up by 18% as can be seen in the

results for synonyms. (Figure 3.)

Figure 1

0

5

1015

202530

35

4045

50

Percentile Rank

Student 1 Student 2 Student3 Student 4

Students

Pat Reading Comprehension

pre

post

Student 3 has shown an improvement in the percentile ranking from 22 to 30 in the Pat

Reading Comprehension post testing. (Figure 1) Student 3 has also significantly improved in

the post paraphrasing scores from 59% to 88%. (Figure 2) This increase of 29% in the

paraphrasing scores has enabled the Student to perform better in the post Pat Reading

Comprehension. Student 3 did not perform as well in the synonym test a drop by 2%.

(Figure 3) When using synonyms student 3 often changed the target word grammatically

and semantically, therefore finding it difficult to record the correct responses during a rest.

Student 4 did not improve in the post Pat Reading Comprehension Score and dropped from

a percentile ranking of 41 to 30. (Figure 1) Student 4 did however show an improvement in

the paraphrasing score from 44% to 59% up by 15%. Improvement was also evident in the

synonyms test, Student 4 gained 16% overall in the post test results. (Figure 3)

Figure 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

%

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4

Students

Paraphrasing Scores

Pre

Post

Post test conditions were not all to the same standard as pre test conditions. Due to

availability of classrooms and teaching space the teaching and controlled groups of students

involved were cramped for space with some students sitting on the floor. This was not ideal.

For Students 1 and 4 in the teaching group this type of learning environment has affected

their comprehension results. (Figure 1) Both Students 1 and 4 need structured well

organised and quiet learning environments. Note Student 5 and 6 from the control group

had a drop in their percentile ranks in Pat Reading Comprehension, (Figure 1) but did show

gains in their paraphrasing and synonyms tests. (Figure 2 and 3)

Figure 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

%

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4

Students

Synonym Scores

Pre

Post

Figure 4

Pat Reading Comprehension

22.5

23

23.5

24

24.5

25

25.5

26

26.5

Pre Post

Average %

Control Group

Teaching Group

DISCUSSION

In reflecting on the results of this study there is support for the hypothesis and the research,

which suggest that teaching students strategies to use when reading improves their

comprehension ability. Students demonstrated some gains in the reading comprehension

and improved in their paraphrasing and synonym abilities. The trends indicated are positive

however to bring about more of a significant change the intervention would need to take

place over an extended period of time.

The results provide support for Fisk and Hurst (2003), Katims and Harris (1997) who suggest

that the teaching of paraphrasing will improve students’ comprehension of text. As there

appeared to be an overall positive effect on student’s comprehension further study is

needed as mentioned by Lee and van Colln (2003). This would particularly benefit student 1

and 4.

Fisk and Hurst’s (2003) approach of hearing the text, reading it for themselves, rewriting it

in their own words and talking about the paraphrased text with peers worked well and

students began to know the process and by the last lesson were confident in being able to

do this independently.

Student’s attitudes changed towards paraphrasing as the lessons went along. In the

beginning the students were unsure and lacked the confidence to use the paraphrasing

strategy or to use synonyms in their work. The students become more confident in their

ability to complete the tasks which was evident in their work.

The text used for the sessions was chosen, as this was the text that all the Year 5 students

from the class would be reading in the future for their Literature Circles. The classroom

teacher chose the text. The text was too difficult for some students in the teaching group. A

simpler text would have given the students easier vocabulary that would be easier for the

students to understand and increase the possibilities for generating synonyms. The choice

of text has been an important factor throughout the research project.

In conclusion the explicit teaching of the paraphrasing strategy has been a valuable tool for

the students involved. It has improved the comprehension of some students but has given

all students the strategies to use to improve their paraphrasing abilities and synonym use.

REFERENCES

Fisk,C. & Hurst,B.(2003). Paraphrasing for Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 57, 2, 182-

195

Katims,D.S & Harris,S.(1997) Improving the Reading Comprehension of Middle School

Students in Inclusive Classrooms. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 41, 2

Lee, S.W.& Von Colln T. (2003). The Effect of Instruction in the Paraphrasing sSrategy on

Reading Fluency and Comprehension. University of Kansas, 18p.

Munro, J. (2005) Paraphrasing. University of Melbourne

Munro, J. (2008) Literacy Intervention Strategies – Course Notes. University of Melbourne.

Schumaker,J.B, Denton,P.H, & Deshler,D.D ( 1984). Learning Strategies curriculum: The

Paraphrasing Strategy. Lawrence; University of Kansas.

Sorrell, A.L. (1996) Triadic Approach to Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction. 17p.

Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Learning Disabilities Association of Texas

(32nd

, Austin TX, October 25, 1996).

RESOURCES

Gleitman, M. (2005) Once. Penguin Group ( Australia )

APPENDIX 1

Teaching Sequence Paraphrasing

Lesson 1

Activity Task Description

Introduce the

Paraphrasing

Strategy

We are going to learn something that you can do to help you read. It’s called paraphrasing.

To paraphrase you need to,

1. Read a sentence

2. Change as many words as you can while keeping the meaning the same

3. Say the sentence again in your own words.

Model the

Paraphrasing

strategy

Teacher reads the first paragraph twice to the students, then reads each sentence again (one

at a time). After the teacher reads a sentence, paraphrase it by changing as many words as

possible but still keeping the meaning the same. The teacher then asks individual students to

paraphrase it by changing more than one word in it. Record responses on the blackboard.

On blackboard write original sentences, teacher’s paraphrases, Students paraphrases.

Review Action

Revise what has been done. Read each sentence and the paraphrasing choices given.

Repeat this for the next paragraph, sentence by sentence. Teacher models paragraphs first,

then students responses.

Small Group

Work

Students in small groups can begin to write their own paraphrases of sentences in a

paragraph.

Review Action

Come together as a class. Revise what has been done. Read each sentence and the

paraphrasing choices given. Repeat this for other paragraphs, sentence by sentence.

Teacher always models paragraphs first, then students responses. Remind students to use

RAP.

Group Work

Get students to explain what paraphrasing is and what steps are needed to paraphrase a

text. Get students to write down what they do when they paraphrase.

1. Read a sentence



Lesson 2


Text

Retelling

Students retell passage from the previous session. They say what they remember about the text.

Text

Reading

Students and teacher re read passage from previous session .Teacher cues use of paraphrasing

during the reading,” How would you say it another way?” Each student reads a sentence and

then retells it in his/her own words, changing as many words as possible.

Text

Reading

Teacher reads the first paragraph twice to the students, then reads each sentence again (one at a

time). After the teacher reads a sentence, paraphrase it by changing as many words as possible

but still keeping the meaning the same. The teacher then asks individual students to paraphrase

it by changing more than one word in it. Record responses on the blackboard. On blackboard

write original sentences, teacher’s paraphrases, Students paraphrases.

Synonyms

At this point Students brainstorm synonyms for selected key words. A thesaurus may be used.

Review

Action


Repeat this for the next paragraph, sentence by sentence. Teacher models paragraphs first, then

students responses.

Text

Reading

Students read passage. Teacher cues students to paraphrase

Students

1. Read a sentence



Small

Groups

In small groups students write their paraphrases for each sentence in their workbooks.

Share and discuss sentences.

Lesson 3


Text

Retelling


Text

Reading




Text

Reading





write original sentences, teacher’s paraphrases, Students paraphrases.

Synonyms


Review

Action



students responses.

Text

Reading


Students

1. Read a sentence



Small

Groups



Lesson 4


Text

Retelling


Text

Reading




Text

Reading





write original sentences, teachers paraphrases, Students paraphrases.

Synonyms


Review

Action



students responses.

Text

Reading


Students

1. Read a sentence



Small

Groups



Lesson 5


Text

Retelling


Text

Reading


during the reading,” How would you say it another way?” Each student reads a sentence and then

retells it in his/her own words, changing as many words as possible.

Text

Reading

.


Students

1. Read a sentence



Text

Reading

Students read aloud the first paragraph, then read each sentence again (one at a time). After the

student reads a sentence, they paraphrase pairs of sentences by changing as many words as

possible but still keeping the meaning the same. t this point Students brainstorm synonyms for

selected key words. A thesaurus may be used. The teacher then asks individual students for their

responses. Record responses on the blackboard. On blackboard write original sentences,

Students paraphrases

Review

Action



students responses.

Small

Groups

In small groups students write their paraphrases for pairs of sentence in their workbooks.


Lesson 6


Text

Retelling


Text

Reading


during the reading,” How would you say it another way?” Each student reads a sentence and then

retells it in his/her own words, changing as many words as possible.

Text

Reading


Students

1. Read a sentence



Text

reading

Students read aloud the each paragraph. In a whole group activity the teacher and students

paraphrase the text paragraph by paragraph. At this point Students brainstorm synonyms for

selected key words by changing as many words as possible but still keeping the meaning the

same. A thesaurus may be used The teacher then asks individual students for their responses.

Record responses on the blackboard. On blackboard write original sentences

Review

Action



students responses

Small

Groups

In small groups students write their paraphrases of each paragraph in their workbooks.


Lesson 7


Text

Retelling

Students retell passage from the previous session. They say what they remember about the

text.

Text

Reading




Text

Reading


Students

1. Read a sentence



Text

Reading

Students read aloud each paragraph. Students paraphrase sentence by sentence with the whole

group .Paraphrase by changing as many words as possible but still keeping the meaning the

same. Record responses on the blackboard.

Review

Action


Repeat this for the next paragraph, sentence by sentence. Teacher models paragraphs first,

then students responses.

Individually

Individually students write a paraphrases for each sentence in their workbooks.


Lesson 8


Text

Retelling


Text

Reading




Text

reading

Students read passage

Teacher cues students to paraphrase

Students

1. Read a sentence



Text

Reading

Students read silently each paragraph. Students paraphrase paragraph by paragraph with the

whole group. At this point Students brainstorm synonyms for selected key words. A thesaurus

may be used.

Record responses on the blackboard

Review

Action

Revise what has been done. Read paragraphs and the paraphrasing choices given.

Small

Groups

In small groups students write a paraphrase for each paragraph in their workbooks.


Lesson 9


Text

Retelling


text.

Text

Reading




Text

Reading


Students

1. Read a sentence



.

Text

reading

Students read silently the next few paragraphs.

Each student paraphrases paragraph by paragraph with the whole group by changing as many

words as possible but still keeping the meaning the same.


Review

Action

Revise what has been done. Read each paragraph.

Repeat this for the next paragraph,

Individually

Individually students write their paraphrases for each paragraph in their workbooks.


Lesson 10


Text

Retelling


text.

Text

Reading




Text

Reading


Students

1. Read a sentence



Text

Reading

Students read silently the next few paragraphs.

Each student paraphrases each paragraph silently by changing as many words as possible but

still keeping the meaning the same.

At this point Students brainstorm synonyms for selected key words. A thesaurus may not be

used.

Review

Action

Revise what has been done. Read each paragraph.

Individual

Groups

Individual students write their paraphrases of each paragraph in their workbooks Share and

discuss sentences.

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ABSTRACT - Education Student Home Page : Faculty of ... · This research study was designed to enhance the reading comprehension of ... students with developing their ... answering