READING FOR PLEASURE: EFFECTS OF USING AN ONLINE ANIMATED BOOK ON YOUNG ELLS' READING PROFICIENCY

Headnote

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of online animated books in English reading class in Korean elementary school, and to investigate how those materials affect young ELL learners' learning attitude towards reading in English, and what features play a key role in promoting a motivation and an interest in terms of utilizing online reading materials. Total four elementary ELL learners of low level of English proficiency in Korea participated in this study for 12 weeks. Through Summer English immersion program, participants were encouraged to experience an online animated book as a primary reading source, and read them as many times as they could. To answer the research questions, an ethnographic research was conducted with semi-conducted in-depth interviews, followed by researcher's fieldnotes and memos. The findings show that online animated books helped students to have a positive attitude in reading materials written in English by stimulating their interest. In particular, the multimodal features of visualized animation, sound, and music were key factors which naturally made students immerged in reading activity.
Keywords: Reading Comprehension, Online Book, Student Attitudes, Reading Motivation.

I. Introduction

The technological development and emergence of e-books, or reading online materials are getting popular due to the rapid growth in the ICT (Information Communication and Technology) sector. It is no more surprise today that e-books are increasingly available from a variety of distributors with different formats, and work on a various electronic devices, and have a lot of advantages. Readers are eager to enjoy pleasure of reading with the grounds in that e-book can be easily downloaded and updated, and it is instant to read, has accessability (e.g. to change font size) as one of the advantages it has, and multiple usage in the foreign and second language acquisition and practice as well as reading process. Besides, it is supposedly cheaper, and is of better usage than print based books in terms of functionality, expediency, portability and etc. Despite such advantages of e-books, however, the reading instruction in a foreign or second language classroom in Korea has been still geared towards using mostly paper based reading materials rather than digital ones.

Thus, this paper is designed to investigate whether online reading with animated books could be effective to have a positive attitude in English reading to young novice ELL students, and what features in those books could play a key role in promoting motivation and interest.

II. Literature Review

2.1. Reading a Lot

Everyday, people acquire new knowledge by reading and listening. In a foreing language class, it is not an exeption. In particular, reading a lot has been applied and emphasized as a significant reading procedure in English speaking countries since the term, 'extensive reading' was first introduced by Palmer (1968). Numerous researchers indicated that extensive reading as massive amounts of reading aimed at a general understanding from a macro perspective (Brown, 2000; Day & Bamford, 2002). Extensive reading implies reading a lot of and different texts, based on the major premise that the more the reader reads, the better a reader reads (Bamford & Day, 1997). It puts emphasis on meaning rather than linguistic aspects, in contrast with intensive reading, in which learners read texts at the sentence level, look up the unfamilair words in the dictionary, analyze grammar, and translate words and expressions into L1.

Since the 1990s, extensive reading has expanded to become an inviting research topic particularaly in L2 reading instruction after studies in various ESL/EFL reading contexts having been conducted (Bamford & Welch, 2000). A study by Elley (1991) showed the effects of extensive reading in terms of reading amount, attitude, and motivation compared book-based programs to traditional audio-lingual programs with English learners in the South Pacific and Southeast Asian countries. The results of the study uncovered a positive attitude towards reading, different from the traditional reading instruction program. Students were then observed to incidentally learn English from books by comfortably and continuously reading many easy and interesting books.

From the same point of view, Day and Bamford (2002) argued that struggling readers of low English proficiency could be motivated, and their attitude for further reading improved through extensive reading. At the same time, they pointed out that careful guidance about the effects of reading easy materials would be significant because students who became accustomed to reading short and difficult materials in class could be doubtful about reading easy ones.

2.2. The Use of Online Animated Reading Materials

The increased use of the Internet and of advanced technology has greatly influenced English language teaching and learning. As Morris (1993) pointed out, this may be because the Internet connects information and people without time and geographical limitations, and also provides authentic materials to read with. Based on these advantages, many studies have examined the efficacy of the Internet use in English teaching (Bork, 2001; Chou et al, 2007; Goldman, 1999; Gurpina et al, 2009; Shroff& Vogel, 2009; Yoon, 1999).

Several studies (Burgess, 2009; Leu et al, 2004; Richardson, 2006, Swenson et al, 2005) have investigated how to use this medium to teach English to ESL/EFL learners, and have proposed various Internet sites to practice different language skills - thus supporting the idea of the usefulness of the Internet. However, although these studies' list recommended useful Internet sites, their effectiveness would receive greater support if an actual test, or a positive result could be provided to examine students' improvement in English, rather than simply documenting the sites.

Chun & Plass (1996) used the multimedia to teach reading to college students who showed a favorable reaction. However, the students with low language proficiency had difficulty in understanding the linking processes of the reading texts, so they relied heavily on visual cues rather than the text itself to understand its meaning. It was thus recommended that such students should avoid using multimedia with too many visual materials, menus and links for reading.

The study by Brandl (2002) and Acha (2009) showed the reading ability of the students who used the Internet program during class and their interest toward reading were higher than for those who did not. They advocated teaching methods, or lesson plans incorporating online materials, specifically for the reading class, and this seemed to reinforce the idea of the effectiveness of online for improving reading ability. Although these studies focused on the reading area, teaching reading by using online materials might also afford the opportunity not only to read but also to expose to other language skills because of multimedia features, such as embed texts, graphics, images, audio, and video materials.

Another studies by Dillon (1992), Dyson & Haselgrove (2000) and Pino-Silva (2006) examined the influences of various learner factors on reading, including the use of the Internet for the reading class. The findings showed that more personal factors, such as English reading and computer competence as well as having a PC, had an influence on their English reading and on their ability to surf Internet sites.

Yoon (1999) examined the change of Korean middle school ELLs' attitude to online multimedia storybook. The experimental group reading online storybooks outscored than the control group studying in a traditional reading class. Reading online storybooks in ESL classroom showed a positive effect on Korean middle school students.

III. Methods

3.1 Methodology

In order to explore the effect of online animated books in English reading to Korean novice ELL students, and which factors in e-books mostly affect the change of their attitude, an ethnographic research method was employed. During 12-week research from July to September, 2011, a researcher conducted semistructured pre-/post interviews with four focal participants, and also as a participant observer, wrote fieldnotes and memos for collecting data. Data were then transcribed and coded for analysis.

3.2 Participants

Four 6th grade Korean ELL students living in a rural area in Kyunggi province participated in this study. Based on the results of interviews with each other, it was revealed that they have not been exposed to not only online reading instruction, but also formal extensive reading program before. Two answered that they had experiences to read online comic books with a home computer. All the participants were enrolled in the Summer English Immersion Program run by their school district. In spite of students' common background in learning English, they respectively have different and various experiences in learning English regardless of formal and informal education. Most of them started to learn English in primary education, and they told that they were not confident to read materials wrriten in English.

3.3 Materials

The materials, online animated storybooks from the web page, 'http://www.starfall.com' were chosen as a main resource to visit and read. However, as this study was designed to encourage students to read a lot, depending on their interest and level, other web recources were also provided. Table 1 below shows the list of online reading resources used in this research.

Through the Summer English Immersion Camp, students were assigned to have an extensive reading session for forty minutes, three times per week. It was primarily led not by an English teacher, but by students who were encouraged to read as many online books as possible, depending on each one's interest and level. Figure 1 shows a sample digital book which students read.

IV. Findings

This study was designed to figure out 1) whether online reading with animated books could lead to have a positive attitude in reading in English to young novice ELL students, and if so, 2) what features in those books could play a key role in promoting motivation and interest. The results show that reading with online animated books encouraged young ELL learners who just started to study English to get involved in English learning after experiencing extensively interactive learning based on visual and audio function. Below is an excerpt from one of participants. To hide a student's identity, a pseudonym was used. And the whole interviews were conducted in Korean, and then translated into English.

"... I think it was fun to use a computer and multimedia in English class. And for me, it is not that difficult to read online written in English using digital animated book. Also, by reading a lot, I was able to understand stories even with some unknown words. Most of all, I liked online animated books because I didn't need to translate English into Korean every time when I read books."

(from an interview with Seokjoo on September 20, 2011)

Based on the students' reading behaviors and perceptions, it reveals that an extensive reading approach with online animated books could be implemented effectively in a formal English reading course if some modifications in ESL curriculum are made. In fact, extensive reading with such online materials provided an environment in which students had more opportunities to be exposed to a great deal of language input necessary for the development of English reading ability, students thought it could be a great alternative to novice ELL learners who begin to learn English in terms of increasing motivation and interest.

"... it was a very interesting experience for me. And I felt like I was playing an online game with a computer. I was able to practice pronunciation, too, by simply clicking the words that were unfamiliar to me. It pronounced very clearly and well better than my English teacher (laugh aloud). And I want to find more animated books to read."

(from an interview with Soonhee on August 20, 2011)

Another excerpt from Soonhee above shows that she enjoyed the learning process with online animated books which helped her to feel comfortable by lowing anxiety for English. In terms of narrowing the educational gap between urban schools and rural ones, it is clear that online extensive reading program with animated books was efficient to those students who had lack of interest in schooling. In addition to helping students to have a strong sense of motivation, online reading session also made each student become an independent learner. And it was a very positive change to learners who were all accustomed with a traditional way of learning, that is, a teacher-centered instruction. Unlike a normal English reading class, as participants were provided with enough time and various types of reading materials depending on the level of each learner, it was very likely that they might want to read more books, naturally being exposed to English in great amount.

"... I went back the website again at home to find some more interesting stories. I liked the sound and its effect. And I believe that such things help me to get an attention. Because I am a visual learner, these animated books really worked well to me."

(from an interview with Imkyu on September 5, 2011)

Considering that the learners in ESL contexts have little chances to be exposed to authentic reading materials written in English, and online books were relatively easy to access, extensive reading with online animated books showed an effective way of providing the appropriate language motivation necessary for language learning in ESL contexts. As Imkyu mentioned above, extensive reading with multimedia facilitated her reading ability.

V. Conclusions & Suggestions

The analysis of students' reading behaviors through extensive reading with online animated books reveals that the students who had different reading abilities and had little experiences in extensive reading in English became gradually accustomed to reading in English. Students did a great deal of reading during the study both inside and outside the classroom. The experiments provided students with opportunities to be exposed to English in great amount, which had never been possible in previous traditional reading classes.

Therefore, these findings appear to indicate that continued practice using online reading resources could well improve reading competence. The results also suggest that student-centered Internet and reading activities might be more effective to make them become an independent learner. A further point is that the participants in this study gave mostly favorable responses to online based reading practice.

Some suggestions can be made for the successful use of extensive reading with online animated books in English reading course. First, considering that students are likely to be motivated mainly instrumentally when an online extensive reading approach is incorporated into a formal English reading course, a reliable and valid evaluation method should be designed and applied to the course. Second, applying various kinds of classroom activities can be useful. It implies that classroom activities in an extensive reading with multimedia class need to be diverse. Various online activities related to extensive reading can help students have interest and motivation to read, and understand the value of extensive reading. For example, students can introduce what they read to others and share their ideas with each other after reading a book.

Plus, an online extensive reading class can be used with other language skills. For example, most of the graded readers provide the books with audio function. So, students can listen to them before and after reading if they are available. A specific time for listening can be set up or students can be allowed to check out the audio versions of the books for individual listening. As for writing, students can be encouraged to write reading records in English so that they have chances to practice writing and develop their writing skills.

In addition, a certain amount of class time can be used for asking and answering questions. A teacher can utilize ten or twenty minutes of each class time for answering students' questions to guide them more effectively. The use of a reading record can be one option. A teacher can answer the questions which students write down on reading records. Or, students can ask questions freely for a certain amount of time during the class. If an online extensive reading program provides activities which make English reading more interesting and valuable, students can be motivated to read more books.

References

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AuthorAffiliation

Tecnam Yoon
University of Massachusetts, USA

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