With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies （ICT）, the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to th...With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies （ICT）, the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing ICT contexts. This new definition presents an urgent need to acknowledge the gap between the types of reading experiences students come across at school and those they regularly practice outside the school. One way to bridge such gap is to expand the reading instruction to incorporate electronic reading device, like Kindle, to engage students in electronic reading. Many e-books feature multimodal functionalities, including audio, video, hyperlinks, and interactive tools. Research on this form of reading is still in its infancy in spite of some positive prospects for fostering literacy development and reading comprehension. Therefore, adopting a mixed method approach with 36 college freshmen in central Taiwan, the current study intended to fill in the void by investigating any difference in readers＇ reading comprehension and reading motivation, between the Kindle group and the print-based group. The results indicate that embedding aspects of technology into a traditional reading instruction boosted the participants＇ motivation to read. Nevertheless, the novelty-driven enthusiasm for electronic reading might not sustain students＇ reading motivation long enough to cultivate long-lasting reading habits. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between two groups. Implications for utilizing electronic readers in EFL classes are also provided.展开更多
This study was designed to study the effects of the process-oriented approach on the EFL writing proficiency of Chinese non-English majors.In this study,two research designs were employed:the quantitative design and t...This study was designed to study the effects of the process-oriented approach on the EFL writing proficiency of Chinese non-English majors.In this study,two research designs were employed:the quantitative design and the qualitative design.In the quantitative design,two classes participated in an 8-week experiment.An interview was employed in the qualitative design to find out students' attitude towards process-oriented approach.The result of the study showed that students generally held positive attitudes towards this approach and it was more effective in improving students' EFL writing proficiency and could thus be adjusted to teach writing.展开更多
This paper makes an overview of the studies on web-based formative assessment in college English writing teaching in China from 2000 to 2009 on the basis of relevant papers published in 10 important Chinese journals o...This paper makes an overview of the studies on web-based formative assessment in college English writing teaching in China from 2000 to 2009 on the basis of relevant papers published in 10 important Chinese journals of English language teaching. It analyzes the achievements and weaknesses of the research so far based on which to provide some implications for future development,展开更多
文摘With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies （ICT）, the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing ICT contexts. This new definition presents an urgent need to acknowledge the gap between the types of reading experiences students come across at school and those they regularly practice outside the school. One way to bridge such gap is to expand the reading instruction to incorporate electronic reading device, like Kindle, to engage students in electronic reading. Many e-books feature multimodal functionalities, including audio, video, hyperlinks, and interactive tools. Research on this form of reading is still in its infancy in spite of some positive prospects for fostering literacy development and reading comprehension. Therefore, adopting a mixed method approach with 36 college freshmen in central Taiwan, the current study intended to fill in the void by investigating any difference in readers＇ reading comprehension and reading motivation, between the Kindle group and the print-based group. The results indicate that embedding aspects of technology into a traditional reading instruction boosted the participants＇ motivation to read. Nevertheless, the novelty-driven enthusiasm for electronic reading might not sustain students＇ reading motivation long enough to cultivate long-lasting reading habits. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between two groups. Implications for utilizing electronic readers in EFL classes are also provided.
文摘This study was designed to study the effects of the process-oriented approach on the EFL writing proficiency of Chinese non-English majors.In this study,two research designs were employed:the quantitative design and the qualitative design.In the quantitative design,two classes participated in an 8-week experiment.An interview was employed in the qualitative design to find out students' attitude towards process-oriented approach.The result of the study showed that students generally held positive attitudes towards this approach and it was more effective in improving students' EFL writing proficiency and could thus be adjusted to teach writing.
基金funded by a key MoE project titled"Using Automated Writing Assessment in China EFL Classrooms"(Project number:GFA097005)
文摘This paper makes an overview of the studies on web-based formative assessment in college English writing teaching in China from 2000 to 2009 on the basis of relevant papers published in 10 important Chinese journals of English language teaching. It analyzes the achievements and weaknesses of the research so far based on which to provide some implications for future development,
