An Investigation of Online Reading Strategy Use, English Proficiency, and Reading Comprehension in an Online Annotation System

• Main Authors: Luo, Wan-Chen, 羅婉珍
• Other Authors: 葉修文
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/752wq2

碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 英語教學研究所 === 101 === Studies on reading strategies have long been considered important in L2 reading instruction; however, there have been relatively few studies focusing on the use of online support reading strategies and the effectiveness of these strategies on comprehension among readers with variety in proficiency. As an application for computer-assisted language learning (CALL), Online Reading Annotation System (ORAS) offers a context for collaborative learning for online reading. Through this system, learners can make online annotations for the same reading texts and share these annotations with other users. The present study has three purposes: (1) investigating the use of online support reading strategies by EFL proficient and less proficient readers, (2) delving into the impact of use of online support reading strategies on reading comprehension, and (3) exploring readers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the support reading strategies for online reading. The study involved 50 participants drawn by convenience sampling from five colleges. Through the placement test, the high-intermediate GEPT reading test, they were divided into High proficiency group and Low proficiency group, whose heterogeneity was confirmed by the results of the independent t-test. They were required to read two online passages, take reading comprehension tests, as well as complete a survey Twenty-five volunteer participants attended an interview within one week after their accomplishment of the reading tasks. To collect data for readers’ use of online support reading strategies, a tracking system was applied to record each participant’s browsing behavior in accomplishing each reading task. The data of both groups’ strategy use were collected and analyzed with descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test. Pearson correlations were calculated to gauge the relationship between both groups’ use of online support reading strategies and their reading comprehension. Eventually, to interpret participants’ feedback on their perceptions to the effectiveness of these strategies from the post-survey and interview, both descriptive statistics and perception analysis were adopted. The results concerning both groups’ strategy use revealed that Dictionary strategy constituted the predominant proportion in their application of online support reading strategies, and that Question strategy was the least used one. With regard to the impact of strategy use on reading, the results showed that there are no statistically significant positive correlation between them. However, the findings of independent sample t-test presented that Low proficiency group’s need of online support reading strategies significantly exceeds that of High proficiency group. Concerning the effectiveness of the online support reading strategies, the findings of the survey and interview revealed most participants’ positive perceptions of strategy use for their online reading. They even showed their support towards the incorporation of these support reading strategy functions with a website into their English learning programs. The findings of the study revealed significant pedagogical implications. To begin with, before learners’ engagement in online reading, teachers should equip them with instruction of online reading strategies to facilitate their comprehension. Second, with the assistance of online support reading strategies, the online reading website could be a potential platform, where the teaching-learning effect could be maximized. For future research, several suggestions are also made based on the results of this study. First, class setting could be adopted so that all the participants will be allowed to share online annotations simultaneously. Next, the length of study could be expanded; therefore, the results of the correlation between strategy use and reading comprehension would be more significant and meaningful. Last, incorporation of other reading strategies, such as global strategies and problem-solving strategies, could be carried out. Consequently, the exploration of the effect of strategy use on reading performance would be more comprehensive. Keywords: online reading, online annotation system, online reading strategy, English proficiency, reading comprehension