The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two different teaching methods, authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays, on the story comprehension and social competency of young children.
The research questions in this study were established as follows:
1. Do the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays affect on the plot comprehension and inferential comprehension as a sub-factor of story comprehension of young children? Do the two different teaching methods have a different impact on the story comprehension according to their gender?
2. Do the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays affect on the capability, leadership, apprehension and hypersensitiveness as a sub-factor of social competency of young children? Do the two different teaching methods have a different impact on the social competency according to their gender?
The participant in this study were 72 of 5-year-old preschoolers who live in the metropolitan city of G. The experiment was designed to have three different groups, the authorship strategy, the thematic fantasy plays and the control group, with 24 preschoolers in each group. The experiment was conducted for a 12-week period of time.
The authorship strategy group conducted four authorship strategy activities every week after listening to selected picture-story books during 12 weeks. 48 of authorship strategy activities in total were implemented in this group.
The thematic fantasy plays group engaged in a three-day preparation in a week by adapting the stories, casting a part to each member, acquiring props and constructing required environments after listening to selected picture-story books during 12 weeks.
The control group was engaged in optional activities based on the 6th National Kindergarten Curriculum after listening to selected picture-story books during 12 weeks.
15 picture books were selected after verifying the content validity of the books by two early childhood education professors and three early childhood education teachers. Out of the 15 books, 12 books were used during the experiment, and three books were utilized in pilot test, pretest and posttest respectively.
In order to assess the story comprehension of the young children, Rand(1991)'s Story Comprehension Inventory that modified Morrow(1984)'s one was employed. In addition, in order to evaluate young children's social competency, Park Yun-jeong's Korean version which translated the preschool mother form of Iowa Social Competency Scale constructed by Pease, Clark & Crase(1979) was used. The translated questionnaires were converted into questionnaires for teachers after making a factor analysis.
SPSS Win 10.1.3 program was utilized to analyze the collected data. One-way ANCOVA and Fisher's LSD posttest were conducted to see how the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays affected on the story comprehension and social competency of young children. Two-way ANCOVA was performed to see if gender made any differences on the story comprehension and social competency of young children.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
First, the effect of the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays on the story comprehension including plot comprehension and inferential comprehension was meaningful. It is found that there was a significant difference among the three groups(F(2, 68)=18.874, p<.001). When Fisher's LSD posttest was conducted to look into their differences in detail, the authorship strategy group and thematic fantasy play group scored significantly higher than the control group(p<.001 respectively), but there was no significant gap between the former two groups. So the two teaching methods that applied authorship strategy and thematic fantasy plays were effective in improving the story comprehension of the young children, and there was no difference between the effects of the two.
Concerning intergroup gaps in plot comprehension scores, the three groups were statistically significantly different from one another(F(2, 68)=13.06, p<.001). As a result of conducting Fisher's LSD posttest to find out more precise intergroup gaps, the authorship strategy group and thematic fantasy play group scored significantly higher in plot comprehension than the control group(p<.001 respectively), but no significant disparity existed between the former two groups. Therefore the authorship strategy and thematic fantasy plays were identified as effective teaching methods to teach the preschoolers to make out the stories, and there was no difference between the effects of the two.
As to intergroup gaps in inferential comprehension scores, the three groups were significantly different from one another(F(2, 68)=9.085, p<.001). When Fisher's LSD posttest was utilized to check their differences in detail, there was a statistically significant gap between the authorship strategy group and control group only(p<.001). It showed that the authorship strategy was most effective in enhancing the inferential comprehension of the young children.
Second, regarding the influence of the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays on story comprehension by gender, the gender of the preschoolers made no differences to the effects of the two on their overall story comprehension including plot comprehension and inferential comprehension.
Third, the effect of the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays on the social competency including capability, leadership, apprehension and hypersensitiveness was meaningful. It is found that there was a significant difference among the three groups(F(2, 68)=98.631, p<.001). When Fisher's LSD posttest was fulfilled to get more detailed information, the thematic fantasy play group scored significantly higher than the authorship strategy and control groups(p<.001 respectively). And the authorship strategy group got significantly higher scores than the control group (p<.001).
Accordingly, the authorship strategy and thematic fantasy plays were effective in improving social competency. Specifically, the thematic fantasy plays had a better effect on that than the authorship strategy.
In regard to intergroup gaps capability, one of the sub-factors of social competency, the three groups were significantly different from one another(F(2, 68)=45.704, p<.001). When Fisher's LSD posttest was conducted to find out their gaps in detail, the thematic fantasy play group scored significantly higher than the control group(p<.001), but no significant difference was found between the authorship strategy and control groups. So the thematic fantasy plays were especially effective in elevating capability.
Concerning intergroup gaps in leadership, one of the sub-factors of social competency, the three groups differed significantly from one another(F(2, 68)=52.802, p<.001). As Fisher's LSD posttest was fulfilled to take a closer look at their differences, the thematic fantasy play group got significantly higher scores than the authorship strategy and control groups(p<.01, p<.001 respectively). And the authorship strategy group scored significantly better than the control group(p<.01). Therefore the thematic fantasy plays and authorship strategy were effective in enhancing leadership, and the thematic fantasy plays had a better effect on that.
As to intergroup gaps in apprehension, the three groups varied from one another significantly(F(2, 68)=21.891, p<.001). As Fisher's LSD posttest was implemented to take a closer look at their differences, the thematic fantasy play group scored significantly less than the authorship strategy and control groups(p<.001 respectively). But no significant gap existed between the authorship strategy and control groups. So only the thematic fantasy plays had a good effect on easing the apprehension of the preschoolers.
Concerning intergroup gaps in hypersensitiveness, the three groups differed from one another significantly(F(2, 68)=33.289, p<.001). When Fisher's LSD posttest was conducted to check their differences in detail, the thematic fantasy play group got significantly less scores than the authorship strategy and control groups(p<.01, p<.001), and the authorship strategy group was less sensitive than the control group. Accordingly, the thematic fantasy plays and authorship strategy were two of effective teaching methods to alleviate hypersensitiveness. Specifically, the thematic fantasy plays were more effective.
Fourth, in regard to the impact of the authorship strategy of literary approach and thematic fantasy plays on the social competency of the young children by gender, their gender made no significant differences to the effects of the two teaching methods on their overall social competency, capability, leadership, apprehension and hypersensitiveness.