The impact of cultural education on adolescents and their comprehension of culture-specific reading material.

Ohtsuka, Keis and Miltiadous, Maria (1997) The impact of cultural education on adolescents and their comprehension of culture-specific reading material. In: 1996 ERA/AARE Joint Conference, 25-29 November 1996, Singapore.

Abstract

The impact of cultural education on adolescents and their reading comprehension of culture specific material was assessed using fifty-five 14-15 year olds. Two experimental groups (n = 22; n = 18) received cultural education, either on Aboriginal or Indonesian culture, and then read passages about cultural conflicts. The control group (n = 15) was not given cultural education. Two passages, either on Aboriginal or Indonesian culture, presented two episodes of cultural conflicts, a universal and culture-specific example. Later participants' comprehension was assessed. A repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that cultural education significantly improved the understanding of Indonesian culture, F(2, 52) = 18.2, MSE= .19, p < .0005. Furthermore, the opaqueness of cultural conflict within a passage had an independent significant effect on comprehension, F(2, 52) = 10.31, MSE = .22, p < .005. Motivation to interact with the culture and negation of former cultural beliefs significantly predict interest in Indonesian culture, F(2, 52) = 57.54, p< .001. There were no significant predictors of learning on Aboriginal culture. Prior knowledge predicted learning on Indonesian culture, F(2, 52) = 16.19, p< .001. The results suggest that cultural education improves adolescents' understanding of cultural information and that reader interest is in part attributed to negation of prior beliefs.

Additional Information

Paper presented at the 1996 Educational Research Association
(Singapore)/Australian Association for Research in Education Joint
Annual Conference, Singapore, 25-29 November 1996.

Item type Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/331
Official URL http://www.aare.edu.au/
ISBN 1324-9339
Subjects Historical > RFCD Classification > 380000 Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences
Historical > RFCD Classification > 330000 Education
Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > School of Social Sciences and Psychology
Historical > RFCD Classification > 420000 Language and Culture
Keywords Reading Comprehension, Cultural Education, Adolescents, high school students
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