Using VoiceThread to Enhance English as a Foreign Language Learners' Oral Reading Fluency

• Main Authors: Mei-Show Lien, 連梅秀
• Other Authors: Ya-Chun Shih
• Format: Others
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/48453791570468771146

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 英美語文學系 === 105 === Because little specific guidance is available advising teachers how to apply Web 2.0 tools to enhance English learners’ oral reading fluency (ORF), this qualitative case study explores how to enhance English learners’ ORF and investigates whether an association exists between various motivational factors and learners’ ORF. The participants were required to listen to models of fluent reading, practice reading repeatedly, and record themselves for each lesson. This mixed methods research collected qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and the quantitative data were collected using a time-series reading program based on the rubrics of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and the ORF scale. The English Language Learning Survey (ELLS) was used to collect the data related to motivation. A visual inspection and the C-statistic were employed to examine whether the participants’ ORF had improved. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the motivational factors, which related to participants’ English language learning and ORF improvement. The findings showed that the designed VoiceThread reading program had largely positive effects on participants’ ORF. The motivational factors were associated with participants’ language learning and ORF. The use of VoiceThread significantly enhanced three participants’ ORF. Two participants failed to enhance their ORF significantly, but VoiceThread influenced their language learning by teaching them the repeated reading strategy. One participant could not benefit from the program because of a limited Internet environment and she preferred her own methods of practicing English. Of the eight motivational factors examined in this study, friendship orientation and sociocultural orientation had the greatest effect on the participants’ language learning and was significantly associated with participants’ ORF.