Use of a Graphic Organiser as a Pedagogical Instrument for the Sustainable Development of EFL Learners’ English Reading Comprehension

Abstract

As a visual teaching tool, a Graphic Organiser aids students by constructing and displaying a graphic of the text’s structure, improving students’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension. However, few studies have investigated sustainable development in English reading comprehension using Graphic Organisers, although they might play a critical role in this. Thus, by adopting the methods of quasi-experimentation, observation and interview, this paper aims to address the following two questions from the perspectives of Schema Theory and Dual Coding Theory: (1) What is the effect of Graphic Organisers implemented in English reading on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension? Is it positive? (2) How do Graphic Organisers affect various groups of EFL learners’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension? One hundred students in an EFL school were chosen as research participants for this experiment, and the whole treatment lasted for three months. The results revealed that the application of Graphic Organisers improved EFL learners’ sustainable development in English reading comprehension overall. In addition, Graphic Organisers benefited EFL learners with a medium reading ability most in their sustainable development of English reading comprehension; Graphic Organisers also made a certain difference for students with low and high reading abilities.