CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS
Suggestion 6: Incorporate Internet use into classroom settings
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立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
P3: I think teachers should sometimes care about our learning. Don’t just post or upload the reading materials on the e-learning platform for us to download to read. Rather, sometimes they can discuss over the reading contents with us through the Internet.
P1/P2: Right. I think they [the teachers] should also pay more attention to our learning process.
P3: That’s right. if they just ask us read online without any discussion with us, it seems that reading itself is not that important. (FG#17)
Seeing that the teachers hardly ever gave them feedback on their assignments required to post on the e-learning platforms, three participants expected the teachers’
remarks on their assignment on the Internet. One of the respondents recalled:
P2: I remember my teacher asked us to post what we have learned from reading on his website. But it seems that the teacher didn’t read what we wrote. So, I think the teacher should read our writing and then give us his feedback. (SG#3) Overall, for the students, the teachers’ engagement in their online learning is looked upon as stimuli that can rouse their motivation to learn since with the teachers’
feedback and communication, the students can feel that their learning process is valued by the teachers.
Suggestion 6: Incorporate Internet use into classroom settings
The last category of students’ suggestion to the teachers is to incorporate Internet use into classes. To incorporate website into classroom settings refers to that teachers can make better use of the websites in classes so as to (1) manifest readings or concepts included in textbooks, (2) check upon their online learning, and (3) connect the local students and the foreign students.
Based on their personal experiences of using the Internet to facilitate schoolwork, three participants strongly supported the teachers to capitalize on websites to deliver and manifest readings or concepts included in the textbooks in different ways. This enables them not only to better understand the teachers’ lecturing but also to reinforce their comprehension on reading materials. A participant stated:
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立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
P2: I really recommend teachers teach with the Internet because the teaching concept can be displayed graphically for me to understand better. I remember when our teacher taught Beowulf, he told us that old English is different from modern English by using Norton website12 to show their different
pronunciations, so I could feel the real differences. (SG#4)
Checking upon the students’ online learning is another means to practically incorporate website use into classes. This means that the teachers cannot request the students to read online without any follow-ups, such as examining the notes they take, giving tests, or summarizing or making reflections on the reading material. A student explicated:
P1: I remember my teacher told us to make a vocabulary list, to write a summary, and give our after-reading responses to the article she assigned us to read online because she wanted us to really absorb the reading content instead of merely browsing through it. What’s more, she also asked us to make a file and hand it in to her for checkups. Afterwards, based on these files we handed in, she gave us tests on English vocabulary. I hope the teachers who would like us to read online can follow suit. This is because sometimes while we read on the Internet, we usually spend lot of time only browsing through the reading content in place of reading it carefully and thoroughly. (SG#4)
From the participant’s statement, she seems to convey an idea that reading online as an assignment should be differentiated from that as a leisure time activity. To be specific, if online reading is taken as a compulsory assignment, the students may hold more serious attitudes towards reading on the Internet instead of perfunctorily skating through the websites. In this regard, to boost their learning effect from the Internet and make them more involved in online reading, teachers’ follow-up procedures are quite essential.
The last suggestion to integrate Internet into classes is to connect the local students and the foreign students. According to two participants, the use of the Internet can bridge the distances between them and the students from around the
12 The Norton English literature website link the participant mentioned is provided below:
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/
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立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
world, allowing them to infiltrate themselves into discussions with foreign students and reduce the gaps between them. In the interview, the participants mentioned that video conferencing and the use of the webcam are two of the channels to access to foreign students. They said:
P2: I think the teachers should make use of the Internet to connect us [Taiwanese students] with students from other countries.
P1: Yes. I think we need more interactions with foreigners. Through the Internet we can reach different people from as many places as possible. It is just as I can reach every corner of the world with clicks of the mouse. Take myself as an example. To improve my English speaking and listening abilities, I create English learning environment for myself by watching American drama series and then looking for some foreigners who also watch the same dramas as me to discuss the plot either through the webcam or online forums.
P2: That’s right. And this reminds me that my teacher had an idea about using the video conferencing to connect students from Tokyo. However, it was a pity that it was not administered in the end. So, I think teachers should try this way to conduct their teaching in order to increase English language learners’
learning motivation. (SG#6)
The participants’ description above reveals that the use of the Internet provides the students with convenient and diverse ways to synchronously interact with people from different countries and exchange their ideas in English. During this process, they can not only build up rapport with foreign students, but also leverage their English abilities. Seeing this, language teachers can initiate learners into learning with
foreigners by means of any online device as a good start, and then they may gradually develop their own ways to connect themselves with the world.
To recapitulate, based on the participants’ individual experiences and their expectations, they suggested the teachers integrate the Internet use into the classroom settings so that they are able to better comprehend the teaching materials, take online reading assignment more seriously, and have chances to get acquainted with and learn with students from all around the world.
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立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Differences of Online English Reading between Seniors and Freshmen
This section is to explore the difference of online reading between seniors and freshmen of the present study in terms of their habits and perceptions of reading English on the Internet respectively.
Differences of habits of online reading between seniors and freshmen
In the perspective of differences in habits of English online reading, the findings are computed by comparing the frequency of the interview responses (discussed in the previous section) of the group of the seniors with that that of the freshmen. Moreover, the results will be shown in order of the interview questions, including purposes of reading online, types and topics of interest of Internet English reading materials, factors affecting the selection of Internet reading, and methods to improve reading comprehension on the Internet.