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Extensive reading and web 2.0 tools in tandem: a mixed-methods study

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Abstract

This mixed-methods study reports the findings of the integration of Web 2.0 tools in a one-semester extensive reading project. 27 Turkish-L1 learners of English read graded readers based on their proficiency, identified using a level test. Then they were asked to use various Web 2.0 tools to prepare a post-reading activity for each book they read and share it on a self-hosted blog. In the quantitative strand, blog statistics provided descriptive data about activity types, number of posts/comments and interaction rate, whereas in the qualitative one, focus group interviews were carried out to explore the participants’ perc"eptions of the project, and the blog post were examined. The results indicated that the participation in the activity and interaction on the blog were poor, and the learners mostly prepared less time-consuming and cognitively less demanding activities. It was also found that most of the participants were not accustomed to working with Web 2.0 tools and suffered from lower motivation. Some participants did not think that the Web 2.0 tools promoted their creativity. These findings suggest that such tools might not boost learners’ motivation, unless learners are trained on how to use them or they are informed about the user-friendliness of some software.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey

    Arif Bakla

  2. Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi Merkez Külliyesi Esenboğa, Çubuk, Ankara, Turkey

    Arif Bakla

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  1. Arif Bakla
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Correspondence to Arif Bakla.

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Appendices

Appendix 1. The pre-instruction survey

figure a

Appendix 2. List of suggested post-reading activities

1. Designing cover pages for the stories and creating polls to find out the best/most interesting/most expressive/most related cover and so forth (Suggested tool: https://wvirw.easypolls.net)

2.. Accepting the story as a film preparing “a video fragment” for the story

3. Retelling the whole story or some portions of it with the help of digital storytelling tools and pictures (Suggested tools: PowerPoint. Moviemaker, Paint. and so forth)

4. Posting a short summary of the story in the blog

5. Making online poster about the book (Suggested tool: https://edu.gloaster.com)

6. Book review/critical analysis of the story

7. Preparing comics (Suggested tool: https://wykrw.makebeliefscomix.com)

8. Writing a different ending for the story

9. Roleplaying the dialogues in the story (audio/video) and uploading them on the blogs and commenting on them

10. Creating and sharing polls about the stories or characters within them (e.g.,

Do you like the story “Lucky Number”? Which character did you like most/least? (Suggested tool: https://www.easypolls.net)

11. Writing the main idea/morale lesson given by the story

12. Figuring out new titles for the story (and explaining why you created this title)

13. Doing research on whether there is a film version of the story and giving information about it (Maybe sharing a trailer)

14. Reading comprehension questions (both multiple-choice and open-ended)

15. Preparing online flashcards/crosswords for the vocabulary items (Suggested tool: https://www.studystack.com)

16. Glossaries with pictures or without pictures/audio glossaries produced by text to speech technology (Suggested Text-to-speech tool: https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/)

17. Writing sample sentences for the new words in the story and studying the sentences which contain the new words in the story

Appendix 3. Interview questions

  1. 1.

    What were the advantages/disadvantages of this project in terms of reading and vocabulary?

  2. 2.

    What problems and challenges did you experience during this project?

  3. 3.

    What were the positive and negative sides of sharing the activities on the blog?

  4. 4.

    How do you evaluate this experience with respect to “creativity”?

  5. 5.

    What are you experiences in using the Web 2.0 tools in this project?

  6. (a)

    Learning to use them

  7. (b)

    Value

  8. 6.

    Did you do research on other Web 2.0 tools? Why?/Why not?

  9. 7.

    What would you change if you were the teacher in this project? What are your recommendations for better practice in such a project?

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Bakla, A. Extensive reading and web 2.0 tools in tandem: a mixed-methods study. Educ Inf Technol 25, 3131–3160 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10103-9

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