Abstract:
The purposes of this research were to 1) study the basic information needed for the development of an instructional model, 2) study the causal factors and develop a model of these factors influencing English reading comprehension ability, 3) analyze confirmatory factor analysis of English reading comprehension ability and examine the consistency between the structural model and empirical data, 4) develop an English reading comprehension instructional model, and 5) study its effectiveness of an instructional model as pertaining to 2 main aspects: 1) English reading comprehension ability, and 2) the students satisfaction towards learning management using the instructional model. The research procedure based on research and development comprised 5 phases. First, investigate the basic information needed for the development of an instructional model. The sample selected through purposive selection consisted of 15 English teachers at the lower secondary level during the first semester of the academic year 2014 under Maehongson Primary Educational Service Area Office 2. The research instrument consisted of an interview form. Second, study the causal factors and develop a model of these factors influencing English reading comprehension ability. Third, perform a confirmatory factor analysis of English reading comprehension ability and examine the consistency between the structural model and empirical data. The sample for the 2nd and 3rd phase consisted of 340 grade 8 students studying during the first semester of the academic year 2014 under Maehongson Primary Educational Service Area Office 2. They were selected by multi-stage random sampling. The research instruments consisted of tests, a scale and a questionnaire. Fourth, develop the instructional model, conduct a pilot study and try out the instructional model to study the possibility in practice. Fifth, study its effectiveness of the developed instructional model. The research procedure during the 4th and 5th phases was based on Quasi-experimental Research. The sample selected through cluster sampling consisted of 20 grade 8 students studying during the second semester of the academic year 2014 at Banmaeoknuea School. The duration of the experiment was 12 weeks. The research instruments consisted of English reading comprehension ability tests and a satisfaction questionnaire. The statistics used in the data analysis were mean, standard deviation and One-way ANOVA with repeated measures. The findings of the research revealed that: 1. English reading comprehension ability of grade 8 students was at a low level. For the aspect of English reading comprehension instruction, the English teachers used a variety of reading passages with 3 steps of teaching: 1) presentation 2) practice, and 3) evaluation. The results of the study on basic concepts needed for the development of an instructional model involved documents pertaining to instructional model, curriculum, reading, teaching reading and learning theories. 2. The factors influencing English reading comprehension ability included 5 variables. The variable directly influencing English reading comprehension ability was prior background knowledge. Other variables influencing, both directly and indirectly, English reading comprehension ability were teachers teaching behavior and attitude towards English reading. The variables indirectly influencing English reading comprehension ability were achievement motivation and self-concept. The model of causal factors was in consistency with the empirical data, considering from chi-square ( 2) = 149.16, degree of freedom (df) = 125, p-value (p) = 0.08, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.97 and adjusted goodness of fit index = (AGFI) = 0.97. 3. The factors of English reading comprehension ability consisted of 3 components: 1) Literal comprehension including 7 indicators 2) Interpretative comprehension including 9 indicators, and 3) Critical comprehension including 7 indicators. There were 23 indicators with a range of factor loadings from 0.40 to 0.87, Eigen values from 5.24-20.38 and a cumulative percentage variance of 87.96. The structural model was in consistency with the empirical data, considering from chi-square ( 2) = 1381.56, degree of freedom (df) = 1282, p-value (p) = 0.07, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.88 and adjusted goodness of fit index = (AGFI) = 0.82. 4. The English reading comprehension instructional model for grade 8 students under Maehongson primary educational service area office 2 comprised 5 components; principles, objectives, content area, instructional procedures and evaluation. The instructional procedures comprised 3 stages: 1) The pre-reading stages consisted of 1.1) Motivating and inspiring 1.2) Developing background knowledge, and 1.3) Planning for reading. 2) The while-reading stages consisted of 2.1) Understanding the text, and 2.2) Discussing and sharing. 3) The post-reading stage consisted of 3.1) Presenting, 3.2) Reinforcing, and 3.3) Checking and correcting. 5. The effectiveness of the developed instructional model was as following: 5.1 The students development in English reading comprehension ability was higher at the statistically significant level of 0.05. 5.2 The students satisfaction towards learning using the instructional model was at a high level, with an average of 4.31.