Effects of discourse signals and a structural advance organizer on Indonesian EFL learners' comprehension of expository texts

Abstract

The main interest of this study was to investigate whether the effects discourse signals which signalled the main ideas and a structural advance organizer which described the structure of the main ideas of expository texts would facilitate Indonesian EFL learners to understand and retain the main information from expository texts. For this purpose, four texts were manipulated into four conditions (or versions) each: (a) Condition A--texts provided with both discourse signals and a structural advance organizer, (b) Condition B--texts provided with discourse signals only, (c) Condition C--texts provided with a structural advance organizer only, and (d) Condition D--texts provided with neither discourse signals nor a structural advance organizer. In addition, how Indonesian EFL students and teachers rated each text condition was also explored.

One hundred and fifty-seven junior college students participated in this study. Each of them read four different texts and conditions. Thirty-three EFL teachers participated in the rating. As measured by written summaries and by responses to main-idea questions, the presence of both discourse signals and a structural advance organizer generally facilitated the retention of the main ideas. Discourse signals were also found to help most students retain the main ideas; however, a structural advance organizer was not as helpful. The ratings indicated that most students were unaware of the function of discourse signals and a structural advance organizer, while in general teachers were aware that these two factors would help students retain the main ideas in expository texts.