The Use of Extensive Reading Activities to Develop English Reading Competency and Critical Thinking Ability

Abstract

      This research aimed to study the effectiveness of using in-class and online extensive reading activities to develop English reading competency and critical thinking ability. The subjects were 40 Matthayomsuksa Four students studying in a government school under the Secondary Education Service Area Office 13, Trang Province in the academic year 2014. Two experimental groups, each consisting of 20 students, constituted the in-class group and online group. The experimental instruments included 10 reading texts, 10 in-class and 10 online post-reading activities. A pre-post reading test, the data collection instrument, included questions based on the critical thinking level of Bloom’s taxonomy (1956): 1) knowledge, 2) comprehension, 3) application, 4) analysis, 5) synthesis, and 6) evaluation. Percentages, means, standard deviations, and a t-test were employed in the data analysis. It was found that the levels of reading competence of the two groups increased significantly at the level of .01** suggesting that both the in-class and online post-reading activities yielded positive results. A further comparison also showed no significant differences between the two types, making it fair to say that both are equally effective. Regarding critical thinking ability, both groups can improve their critical thinking significantly at the level of .01**. Results from the comparison of the two types indicated no significant differences in the progression of all levels of critical thinking, except level two (comprehension), in which the in-class group scored significantly higher (.01** level) than the online group.