The Effect of Speech and Thought Presentation on Comprehension and Appreciation of Non-Native Speakers.

This study investigated the effect of speech and thought presentation on the comprehension and appreciation of English prose fiction by Turkish students. A total of 42 students from the English Language Teaching Department of Çukurova University participated and submitted a questionnaire about their reading habits and self-image in terms of being good readers of Turkish and English literature. Additionally, the participants were presented three different tasks for six extracts (taken from five novels and one short story) in which their comprehension and appreciation were probed in relation to point of view and speech and thought presentation modes. The first task focused on the general understanding of the extract and its point of view; the second task asked the participants to identify whose point of view (perspective) was expressed in each sentence (27 sentences for each extract). The third task was comprised of 18 questions, the locus of which was on the comprehension and appreciation of the extracts. Additionally, the researcher interviewed 30 participants in order to clarify their written answers. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, and the results provide insights into how non-native speakers of English are affected by speech and thought presentation modes in English prose fiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]