本研究旨在探討與文章內容相關之圖片運用在國三學生閱讀美國節慶選材理解上之效益。這些節慶包括西洋新年、西洋情人節、復活節、萬聖節及感恩節。78位來自兩個不同班級的國三學生參與本研究。實驗班級必須閱讀五篇附圖片之測驗，控制班級則讀五篇相同但不附圖片之測驗。此外，為了解圖片對不同程度學生閱讀表現之影響，每班學生根據其模擬考之成績分為高、中、低三組。實驗完成後，實施問卷調查以協助本作者了解學生對閱讀測驗、圖片運用及增進西洋文化認知之觀感。
　　本研究結論如下所述: (1) 在五個測驗整體閱讀理解上，兩班並無顯著差異。(2) 比較兩班在個別測驗表現上，在西洋情人節測驗中有顯著差異。可能原因為學生對此節慶背景知識有限，而加深其對圖片之依賴。(3) 在兩個班級中，學生都在萬聖節的測驗中表現最好。對控制班級而言，原因可能為學生對此內文敘述較為熟悉。對實驗班級而言，原因可能為此篇之附加圖片比其他節慶更詳盡。(4) 顯著差異存在於兩個班級中之低程度學生之間，兩組中程度及兩組高程度學生中並無顯著之差異。(5) 在實驗班級中，程度較低的學生並沒有因圖片的輔助而表現得比程度較高者好。(6) 80%以上的學生表示生字是他們閱讀測驗中最主要的障礙。大部份學生利用”從上下文猜測”的策略來克服困難。(7) 大部份的學生對本閱讀測驗之設計及有關異國節慶文章之運用大都持正面之回應。(8) 大部份實驗班級中的學生對本研究中之圖片大都持正面之態度。建議教師運用圖片增進教學。具體地說，老師可利用圖片於教學前(製作教學計畫)，教學中(傳達觀念)，以及教學後(評量及強化學習及教學)。

　　The current study investigates the effects of the content-related pictures on the third-year junior high school students’ comprehension of the reading selections concerning American festivals, including western New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. 78 third-year junior high school students from two different classes involved in this research. The experimental class had to read five tests with pictures. The other class, the control class, read the same five tests but without any pictures. In addition, with the intention to see the influence of the pictures on the performances of students with different proficiency levels, each class was further divided into three groups- high, mid and low- on the basis of their scores of mock tests. After the experiments were completed, the questionnaires were conducted to help the researcher look into the students’ perspectives on the reading assessments, the applications of accompanying pictures and the improvement of western cultural recognition.
　　The results indicated as follows: (1) In terms of the overall performance of reading comprehension in the total five tests, there is no significant difference between the two classes. (2) Comparing the performances of the two classes in each festival, a significant difference is found in the test of Valentine’s Day. The possible reason is that their very limited knowledge to the origin of the festival may deepen their dependence on the pictures. (3) Both in the two classes, the students perform best in the test of Halloween among the five tests. It may be in the control class that the students are more familiar with the textual description, while in the experimental, the added pictures in Halloween are more detailed than the other festivals. (4) A significant difference exists in the comprehension of the low proficiency students between the experimental class and the control class; whereas no significant differences are found between the two high proficiency groups and the two mid proficiency groups. (5) In the experimental class, the students with lower proficiency do not perform better than those with higher proficiency with the assistance of pictures. (6) More than 80% of the subjects express that unknown words are their main obstacles in reading comprehension. Most of them use the strategy “guessing the information in the context” to overcome the reading difficulties. (7) Most of the subjects respond positively to the design of the reading assessments and the usage of reading materials concerning foreign festivals. (8) Most of the students in the experimental class have positive attitudes to the added pictures. Teachers are suggested to employ the potential of pictorial aids to enhance their teaching. Specifically, teachers may use them before instruction (making instructional plans), during instruction (to communicate ideas) and after instruction (assessing and reinforcing learning and instruction).

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