The Effects of Information Technology Integrated into Instruction on EFL Reading Comprehension of Junior High Students

• Main Authors: Yan-zheng Lai, 賴彥錚
• Other Authors: Huei-chun Teng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/92862090669069008977

碩士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 應用外語系 === 101 === This study investigates the effects of information technology integrated into instruction (ITI) on EFL reading comprehension of junior high students. To address the issue, three research questions were proposed, including (1) What are the effects of information technology integrated into instruction on EFL reading comprehension of junior high students? (2) What effects does information technology integration into English teaching have on students with different EFL proficiency? (3) What are junior high students’ perspectives for information technology integrated into English instruction? Sixty-six ninth graders from two different classes in a public junior high school in northern Taiwan were selected to participate in this research. Students in these two classes were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group received ITI and the other group received traditional instructions. In the pre-experimental stage, the participants took a reading comprehension test of elementary GEPT (General English Proficiency Test). After the ITI treatment, they took another GEPT reading comprehension test. The completion of the reading comprehension test was then followed by a questionnaire administered to the experimental group. An interview was also held with the eight selected participants based on the proficiency levels. Results indicated that ITI facilitated junior high school students’ EFL reading comprehension. The experimental group exhibited significantly better tests scores in the post-test than in the pre-test on the reading comprehension test, but the difference between the experimental and control groups was not significant. Furthermore, significant progress was found in both high and low achievers in the experimental group. However, greater progress shown in low achievers than in high achievers in the experimental group on the reading comprehension test indicated that ITI seemed to influence low achievers more positively, especially in the cloze test and reading comprehension. This was probably because low achievers started with lower scores, and thus had greater room to make progress. On the whole, participants held positive attitudes towards ITI in reading comprehension and their learning motivation was promoted after ITI. Based on the study results, it is advisable for junior high school teachers to apply ITI in teaching English reading to help motivate students and enhance their reading proficiency. Finally, it is hoped that the study results could provide EFL teachers in junior high schools with some insights into future reading instructions.