Assessing the Role of Vocabulary Breadth and Depth in Reading Comprehension: A Quantitative Study of Finnish EFL Learners

In this MA thesis, Finnish learners of English were studied in order to examine the relationship between second language vocabulary size, vocabulary depth, and reading comprehension. In addition, given the well-established connection between vocabulary size and reading comprehension, the second aim of the study was to see whether assessing vocabulary depth could add another dimension in predicting and explaining reading comprehension proficiency. Two groups were studied: the first group consisted of 39 Finnish upper secondary school students (the TOKA group) whereas the second group consisted of 19 university students of English at the University of Turku (the YLI group). Thus, comparisons were made between the results of a less advanced and a very advanced group of English learners, which was the third aim of the study. The participants in both groups filled in a background information form and took three tests: a multiple-choice reading comprehension test, a multiple-choice vocabulary size test, and a test designed to elicit information on learners’ depth of vocabulary knowledge of certain English words. The data were analysed using statistical methods. The results of the study show that the scores on the three tests were positively correlated in both study groups as well as in the two groups together. However, the correlations were higher in the TOKA group and in the two groups in total than in the YLI group. When examining the variance in reading comprehension test scores explained by vocabulary size and vocabulary depth, the figures of explained variance were again higher in the TOKA group and in the two groups in total than in the YLI group. When it comes to the results of the YLI group, vocabulary depth did not indeed seem to add any explained variance into the explanation of reading comprehension test scores. Based on the results of the study, it seems that vocabulary size and depth have a less significant role in the reading comprehension skills of more advanced learners of English. When looking at the less advanced TOKA group, on the other hand, vocabulary size and depth seem to be clear indicators of reading proficiency. In addition, the test results of the YLI group were clearly more uniform than those of the TOKA group. The variance in the test results of the TOKA group was large.

Implementing The KiVa Antibullying Program: What Does It Take?

There is variation in how teachers and schools implement bullying prevention programs. Although this variation has been discussed, there has been little empirical research concerning the relationship between implementation fidelity and program outcomes. This thesis contains three studies, each of them in the context of implementing the KiVa antibullying program, and examines teachers’ actions in preventing and intervening in school bullying. The first aim of this thesis is to examine implementation degree of the KiVa curriculum and its’ association with reductions in victimization and bullying perpetration (Study I). The second aim is to clarify why teachers displayed different degrees of adherence to the KiVa curriculum during a school year (Study II). Thirdly, it is investigated whether recognizing victimization can be difficult for school staff (Study III). In addition to these peer-reviewed studies, the thesis includes a qualitative analysis (unpublished) of the teachers’ open answers concerning their implementation experiences. The data were collected from elementary school teachers (Studies I–II; the unpublished study), elementary school students (Study I), and students on the elementary and middle school levels (Study III) during the evaluation of the effectiveness of KiVa antibullying program between 2007 and 2009. The findings demonstrate that a larger reduction in victimization can be achieved in classrooms where teachers display higher levels of adherence to the KiVa curriculum and invest more time for preparing the lessons. Bullying perpetration, however, was not equally affected by the level of curriculum implementation. With respect to the implementation process over one year, there was significant variation between individual teachers’ activity—ranging from systematic and high implementation to declining delivery from lesson to lesson. The sustained actions (high and moderate levels of implementation) were premised on principal support for antibullying work. Lesson preparation was associated with keeping implementation high throughout the school year. The findings also implied that the belief in the effectiveness of the program is important for a higher implementation degree at starting point of the process. Finally, there are severe flaws in teachers’ ability to identify students who are victimized. As it turns out, it is possible that only one-fourth of chronically victimized students are helped by the school staff. Especially when the victims are middle-school-aged girls, when they bully others themselves, or when they do not tell adults about bullying, reaching out for them is difficult. Implementation and dissemination of research-based interventions will take a good deal of time and effort. The findings demonstrate that active implementation is important for improving program outcomes. They also show how implementation can be sustained—there are both individual and interpersonal factors that facilitate or inhibit high-quality implementation. Thus, implications for future research regarding the implementation of school-based programs are suggested.

Test Anxiety, Coping, Gender and Academic Performance in English Exams: A Study of Finnish Upper Secondary School Students

In this MA thesis, test anxiety related to English exams among Finnish upper secondary school students was studied. In addition, the ways students try to cope with test anxiety were investigated. The purpose of the study was to investigate gender differences in test anxiety, the effects of test anxiety on academic performance and relationships between test anxiety, academic performance and coping strategies. Test anxiety and coping strategies were analysed as scores of questionnaire responses. Coping strategies comprised of three categories – task-orientation and preparation, seeking social support and avoidance. Academic performance was analysed as teacher ratings of general performance in English exams. In total 67 subjects were studied. The subjects were Finnish general upper secondary school students. The data were collected by using online questionnaires. This data were mainly quantitative, but also qualitative elements were included. The quantitative data were analysed by using statistical methods. The results showed that females experienced statistically significantly more test anxiety than males. In addition, a statistically significant correlation was found between test anxiety levels and academic performance ratings of the subjects: the higher the test anxiety score, the lower the academic performance rating. A meaningful correlation was found between test anxiety and seeking social support as a coping strategy: a higher test anxiety score was related to using social support as a coping strategy. However, no relationships were found between academic performance and the three coping strategies when quantitative and qualitative data were analysed. Therefore, different coping strategies per se did not seem to be related to academic performance, but instead it was assumed that the effectiveness of coping strategies is dependent on individual differences. In order to obtain more generalisable results and to gain more understanding of test anxiety and coping with it, a larger number of subjects form different areas of Finland and of different ages could be examined in future studies. Moreover, cross-national and cross-cultural studies could provide valuable information. As a practical recommendation for educational purposes, the results of this study indicated that a more individualised approach is needed.