The impact of graphic organizer instruction on English-as-a-foreign-language college students' reading comprehension

Second language students in academic settings face major challenges in learning to comprehend increasingly more dense and complex reading material. One recent recommendation for improving students' comprehension skills has been the use of graphic organizers (GOs) as instructional resources. The effectiveness of the use of GOs has been empirically supported by studies with first language English learners; however, little research on GO training has been conducted in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) contexts.; This study reports the impact of 16 weeks of GO instruction on Chinese college EFL students' reading development. Specifically, it explored the effectiveness of GO instruction, the retention of instructional effects after seven weeks, students' attitudes toward the use of GOs in reading instruction, and the possible impact of learners' educational level and reading ability on these issues.; A total of 340 students from 12 intact first-semester and third-semester college English classes participated in this study. Three main measures (measure of immediate multiple-choice passage comprehension, measure of GO completion, and measure of TOEFL reading comprehension) were administered as pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. The experimental group also completed a brief attitude survey at the end of instruction.; The results of the study demonstrated that GO instruction significantly improved students' reading comprehension as measured by GO completion and TOEFL reading comprehension at both educational levels and at various reading ability levels; the instructional effect was retained seven weeks after instruction as measured through GO completion. Overall, students' attitudes toward the use of GOs were positive.; This study is the first longitudinal, large-scale study with EFL students showing improved reading comprehension through GO training. It has demonstrated that GO training can be directly integrated into an existing EFL reading curriculum and be carried out successfully with no disruption to the learning of other language skills. The findings of the study also add empirical evidence to test the effectiveness of dual-coding theory, as well as depth of processing theory/involvement load hypothesis in reading comprehension research in applied linguistics.