The roles of mind mapping and drawing techniques in enhancing students’ comprehension of reading passages / Noor Laili Mohd Yusof, Rofiza Aboo Bakar and Raihanah Mohamed.

The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of mind mapping and drawing techniques in improving students’ comprehension of reading passages. A theoretical framework is presented in which mind maps and drawings are deemed useful for students learning English. Within the background of this theoretical framework, an empirical study is presented in which Semester Three Diploma students in a university received English reading texts in various topics. The subjects were divided into two groups: the control and experimental group. Both of the groups had to sit for a pre-test on a reading comprehension text entitled “Spare the Rod”. Marks from both groups were taken and analysed to see whether there was any significant difference in their comprehension level. After the pre-test, the experimental group was exposed to making notes in mind maps and drawings, and was asked to summarise the important points of reading comprehension texts in both techniques. Students in the control group, though, were not to choose their own preferred styles of summarizing the key points of reading comprehension texts. By means of a post test, it was found that there was a significant difference between the two groups. The comparison indicated that the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group. The possible reasons for this result are discussed.