The Effects of E-books on EFL Learners' Reading Attitude
| Autor: | Irene Yi-jung Lin, 林宜蓉 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 97 This paper is intended to investigate the effects of using e-books (or texts with multimedia support) in an extensive reading program (ERP) on EFL learners’ attitude towards reading in English. It also attempts to explore what features of e-books affect their reading attitude. In a junior high school in northern Taiwan, 109 students from three intact classes were recruited in the ten-week ERP of e-books. Each class was introduced to a list of 140 selected e-books for the reading program; each student was then encouraged to read e-books after school, with the target of reading four e-books every week. After each reading, they were required to fill out a self-report form. The degree of changes in reading attitude was assessed by using the reading attitude scale (Stokmans, 1999) before and after the e-book ERP. In addition, the teacher-researcher’s class notes of the students’ reading behaviors and reactions as well as their spontaneous oral or written feedback were analyzed to be triangulated with the other data. At the end of the program, a reaction questionnaire was administered to all of them. The results showed that the e-books had positive effects on the students’ attitudinal changes in all dimensions of reading attitude, namely, utility, development, enjoyment and escape, as well as in all the cognitive, affective and conative components. The results also showed that five features of the e-books, including oral reading, highlighting, animations, music/sound effects and pictures, were considered essential to change attitudes. The implementation of interaction and learner control in the e-books guaranteed positive attitudinal changes as well. Finally, based upon the results, a set of principles for selecting and designing e-books were concluded in terms of genre, length, difficulty, content and features. Stories, fairy tales and fables with 10 to 25 screen turns of medium level were popular, and so were the positive e-books with a clear theme or learning focus. As for the features, good e-books should simultaneously contain the five features mentioned earlier. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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