Uyarlanmış Çok Ögeli Bilişsel Strateji Öğretiminin Zihinsel Engelli Öğrencilerin Metin Anlama Sürecinde Kullanılan Üstbilişsel Strateji Bilgisini Kazanmalarında Etkisi

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Modified Multi-component Cognitive Strategy Instruction on the metacognitive strategy knowledge used for the comprehension process of descriptive texts for stu- dents with mild mental retardation (MMR). Three students with MMR from inclusive classes participated in the study. The study was designed using a qualitative method. In order to collect data, students were interviewed via the metacognitive interview format before and after the application of the intervention, and content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results of the study indicated that there was a positive change in text comprehension related to the metacognitive knowledge of the students between pre and post instruction. Results were discussed and recommendations relating to the implementation, as well as additional studies, were presented.Key WordsMulti-component Cognitive Strategy Instruction, Metacognitive Knowledge, Reading Comprehension, Students with Mental Retardation, Text Comprehension.Text comprehension is a complex process in which different levels of cognitive and metacognitive skills like predicting, identifying main ideas, questioning, correlating information units, summarizing, organizing and evaluating performance during the comprehension process are used (Alexander & Jetton, 2000; Baker & Brown, 2002; Gersten, Fuchs, Williams, & Baker, 2001; Westby, 2004). Text comprehension depends on the reader's usage of before, during and after reading cognitive strategies and the metacognitive strategies that guide the self- monitoring of his/her comprehension to regulate the reading strategies according to his/her reading goals during this period (Alexander & Jetton, 2000; Baker & Brown, 2002).During the reading process, competent readers use cognitive strategies to comprehend the text (Duke, 2003; Pressley & Hilden, 2002). Studies of the competent readers' comprehension strategies via interviews show that these readers use a variety of cognitive strategies before, during and after reading (Pressley, 2002; Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995), as well as metacognitive strategies (Pressley & Gaskins, 2006). Some of these strategies can be listed as (a) setting a goal before reading (Pressley & Gaskins, 2006), (b) underlining important information units, note-taking and identifying the meaning of unknown words for during reading (Otero, 2002; Pressley & Gaskins, 2006; Westby, 2004), (c) reviewing, re-reading or re-examining the important parts of the text for comprehension, and self-questioning for after reading (Pressley, Symons, McGoldrick, & Snyder, 1995). On the other hand, it is stated that the readers with poor cognitive and metacognitive strategies (a) start to read without considering the content, (b) have problems with setting a reading goal, (c) cannot follow a systematic way about how to read, and (d) do not know what should be done when they don't comprehend the text (Cakiroglu, 2007; Gelen, 2003).Metacognitive ability refers to the ability to manage and control one's cognitive activities and evaluate whether or not they are performing them successfully (Gersten et al., 2001). Metacognition in reading comprehension is an individual's control and awareness on self-monitoring and self-regulating the cognitive skills for interpreting a text (Caron, 1997). There are three types of metacognitive knowledge (Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1983; Schunk, 2001). These are declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge. Declarative knowledge addresses the stable knowledge of a person about his/her task structure and goals. Procedural knowledge is about how the strategies are performed. On the other hand, conditional knowledge includes the application and adaptation of strategies to accommodate various conditions (Jacops & Paris, 1987; Paris et al., 1983). During the reading process, readers who don't have any metacognitive knowledge about strategies cannot use appropriate comprehension strategies (Bakes & Brown, 1984) or manage the comprehension process (DeBoy, 1991; Dermitzaki, Andreou, & Paraskeva, 2008; Short, 1992). …