The Effect Of Self-explanation On Students’ Ability In Answering Proofreading And Error Correction Questions In TEM-8

Self-explanation refers to the activity where learners explain learning materials tothemselves for a better understanding. So far, studies about self-explanation cover avast area, and gain relatively good results. But most of them focus on well-structuredfields like physics, mathematics, etc. Only a few studies examine self-explanation inthe field of language learning, and they are basically done under the context of mothertongue. Given the scarce researches into the effect of self-explanation on foreignlanguage learning, it’s necessary to carry out the present study.Subjects in this experiment include20junior English majors. They are dividedinto lower level group and higher level group, according to their scores in Test forEnglish Majors band4(TEM-4). This experiment is done following four procedures:test without self-explanation, self-explanation training, immediate posttest, anddelayed posttest. Conducted with the methods of think-aloud protocol and stimulatedrecall, this experiment studies the effect of self-explanation on higher and lower levelstudents’ ability in answering proof-reading and error correction questions. It aims toprobe into the following three aspects:1). Can both higher level and lower levelstudents benefit from self-explanation? To what extent do both groups benefit fromtheir self-explanation activity?2). What are the similarities and differences of higherlevel and lower level groups in using strategy to answer proofreading and errorcorrection questions?3) Does one group make more incorrect self-explanations thanthe other? What are the similarities and differences of higher level and lower levelgroups in using strategy to dispel incorrect self-explanations? Based on data of thisexperiment, and analysis of independent samples t tests and paired samples t tests onstatistic software SPSS13.0, this experiment yields the following results:1). Self-explanation is efficient in improving both lower level and higher levelsubjects’ ability in answering proofreading and error correction questions. There issignificant far transfer in lower level group, while there is no far transfer in higherlevel group, which means lower level group benefit more than higher level group.2). Strategy mode used to answer proofreading and error correction questions issimilar for lower level and higher level group, with elaborating and paraphrasing themost frequently used, bridging and comprehension monitoring less frequently used,and predicting the least used.3). Subjects in lower level group make more incorrect self-explanations than higher level counterparts. When using strategies to dispel incorrect self-explanations,lower level group shows a disperse tendency, while higher level group shows aconcentration tendency.This experiment proves that self-explanation effect does exist in lower level andhigher level students. Thus, in actual teaching, teachers should encourage students toengage in this efficient learning activity frequently, and to make great use of learningstrategies and their previous knowledge and experience.