Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a reading-aloud instructionpackage to the improvement of English performance. Participants were approximately170 first- and second-year Japanese college students whose English performance is considered as “Low” according to the placement test. The participants were divided into two groups: Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 served as the experimental group in the first semester, and as the control group in the second semester (switched the role). The reading-aloud instruction package consisted of 1) reading-aloud practice, 2) slash reading, 3) cloze test, and 4) concurrent practice of reading-aloud and transcribing, and was applied to the experimental group intensively for three months. The results of statistical analysis of pre- and post-tests in TOEIC Bridge^® showed significant improvement in English in the experimental groups in both semesters. Pedagogical implications and limitations of this study were also discussed.