大學生英文網路閱讀習慣及觀感之探索性研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文. 指導教授：招靜琪博士 Advisor: Dr. Chin-chi Chao. 大學生英文網路閱讀習慣及觀感之探索性研究 An Exploratory Investigation on Undergraduates’ Habits and Perceptions. 治政大 of Reading English on the Internet 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. 研究生：洪珮菱撰 Name: Pei-ling Hung 中華民國 99 年 5 月 May, 2010. v.

(2) An Exploratory Investigation of Undergraduates’ Habits and Perceptions of Reading English on the Internet. 立. A Master 治Thesis 政 Presented to 大 Department of English,. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. National Chengchi University. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. by Pei-ling Hung May, 2010.

(3) The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Pei-ling Hung defended on May 21st .. Chin-chi Chao, Ph.D. Professor Directing Thesis. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. Chieh-yue Yeh, Ph.D.. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Committee Member. Ch. engchi. i Un. Hui-chin Yeh, Ph.D. Committee Member. Approved:. Huei-ling Lai, Chair, Department of English. v.

(4) iii. Acknowledgements I am indebted to the following people who made the present thesis possible. First of all, I would like to express the deepest and more sincere gratitude to my thesis professor, Dr. Chin-chi Chao who never hesitated to provide me with her professional knowledge and insightful suggestions, and always guided me through the whole research process to enrich the depth of this thesis content. Moreover, however arduous and stressful the process of the completion of this thesis it was, she always gave me constant encouragement and diligent support to help me get though all the difficulties.. 治政 Secondly, I am also greatly indebted to two of the大 oral committee members of 立 this thesis, Dr. Chieh-yue Yeh and Dr. Hui-chin Yeh. Their profound comments and ‧ 國. 學. thorough proofreading of my thesis enabled me to further revise the thesis to make its. ‧. content more readable and organized.. sit. y. Nat. Thirdly, this thesis could not have been completed without my friends’ company,. io. al. er. assistance, and support. I would like to express my greatest appreciation for my best friend, Pei-hua, whose assistance with the statistical methods facilitated the analysis. n. iv n C of the current study. I am also grateful and Eunice’s assistance with the h efornMigo’s gchi U process of co-coding the interview data. Moreover, I am really grateful to my. boyfriend, Kiro, who tolerantly and considerately went through all the ups and downs during the process of writing this thesis. Finally, my whole-heart gratitude must go to my family. It is their constant love and concern that could make me strong and confident enough to face all the difficulties and deal with all the stress the thesis-writing brought me. It is all these people’s support and encouragement that made this work possible. Therefore, I would like to share my joy from this achievement with them..

(5) iv. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... iii List of Tables.................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................ viii Chinese Abtract.............................................................................................................ix English Abstract ............................................................................................................xi Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................1 Background ............................................................................................................1 Rationales of the Study ..........................................................................................5 Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................7 Research Questions................................................................................................7 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................8 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................9 Chapter Two: Literature Review..................................................................................12 The Nature of Internet Reading: Features, Disadvantages, and Advantages...........................................................................................................12 Research on Reading Habits ................................................................................19 Research on Learners’ Perceptions of Internet Reading in L2.............................37 Summary..............................................................................................................47 Chapter Three: Methodology.......................................................................................49 Rationale for Research Method ...........................................................................49 Participants and Rationale for Participant Recruitment.......................................51 Data Collection Procedures..................................................................................54 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................62 Summary..............................................................................................................64 Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................65 EFL Undergraduates’ Internet English Reading Habits.......................................65 Differences of Online English Reading between Seniors and Freshmen ..........139 Summary............................................................................................................146 Chapter Five: Discussions and Conclusions ..............................................................147 Summary of the Major Findings ........................................................................147 Pedagogical Implications ...................................................................................162 Limitation of the Study ......................................................................................167 Suggestions for Future Research .......................................................................167 Concluding Remarks..........................................................................................169 References..................................................................................................................171. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(6) v. Appendixes ................................................................................................................179 Appendix A: Participation Consent Form (English Version).............................179 Appendix B: Participation Consent Form (Chinese Version) ............................180 Appendix C: Focus Group Interview Questions (English Version)...................181 Appendix D: Focus Group Interview Questions (Chinese Version) ..................182. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(7) vi. LIST OF TABLES. Table 2-1 Comparison of Print Reading and Electronic Reading................................16 Table 2-2 A Comparison of the Results from Previous Related Studies......................29 Table 2-3 Chang’s Taxonomy of Internet Reading Behaviors .....................................32 Table 2-4 Major Reasons for Reading Online and on Paper .......................................35 Table 2-5 A Comparison of Previous Studies on Students’ Perceptions on Reading Different Text Formats.................................................................................42 Table 2-6 A Comparison of Previous Related Studies on Students’ Perceptions on Web-based Learning Programs ....................................................................46 Table 3-1 Focus Group Interview Schedule.................................................................56 Table 3-2 Ten Interview Questions for Focus Group Interview ..................................59 Table 4-1Students’ Responses to Purposes of Reading English Online ......................66 Table 4-2 Frequency of Types of Internet English Reading Materials ........................75 Table 4-3 Websites for Sources of English Reading Materials for Literature Works ..76 Table 4-4 Websites for Sources of English Reading Materials for News, Columns, and Editorials ......................................................................................................77 Table 4-5 Websites for Sources of Multimedia Materials............................................78 Table 4-6 Websites for Blogging..................................................................................78 Table 4-7 Websites for Sources of English Reading Materials for Information about Movies..........................................................................................................79 Table 4-8 Websites for Sources of English Reading Materials from E-magazines .....80 Table 4-9 Websites for Sources of English Reading Materials in Fictions..................80 Table 4-10 Websites for Sources of English Reading Materials from E-newsletters ..81 Table 4-11 Frequency of Topics of Interest in Internet English Reading Materials ....82 Table 4-12 Frequency of Reading English Online on a Weekly Basis ........................83 Table 4-13 Factors Influencing the Selection of Internet English Reading Materials .87 Table 4-14 Methods to Improve Reading Comprehension While Reading Online .....97 Table 4-15 Nine Resources of Online Dictionary the Participants Frequently Consult .......................................................................................................97 Table 4-16 Disadvantages of Reading English Online ..............................................106 Table 4-17 Advantages of Reading English Online................................................... 118 Table 4-18 Suggestions for Teachers Intending to Incorporate Internet Use into Classes......................................................................................................126 Table 4-19 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Purposes of Reading English Online .........................................................................................140 Table 4-20 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Types of Internet Reading. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(8) vii. Materials ....................................................................................................141 Table 4-21 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Topics of Interest of Reading Materials ......................................................................................141 Table 4-22 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Factors affecting the Selection of Internet Reading Materials ....................................................142 Table 4-23 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Methods to Improve Reading Comprehension Online ................................................................143 Table 4-24 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Disadvantages of Reading English Online ...........................................................................................144 Table 4-25 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Advantages of Reading English Online ...........................................................................................145 Table 4-26 Differences between Seniors and Freshmen in Suggestions for Teachers to Incorporate Internet Use into Classes ....................................................146 Table 5-1 A Comparison of Findings of Prior Studies on Students’ Perceptions of Disadvantages of Reading English Online with those of the Present Study ..........................................................................................................157 Table 5-2An Example of the Double-entry Journal ...................................................166. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(9) viii. LIST OF FIGURES. Figure 1. An explanatory model of reading behavior ..................................................20 Figure 2. An overall picture of the procedures of data collection................................62 Figure 3. The cached link shown on the result page....................................................93 Figure 4. Yahoo! Babel Fish translator ......................................................................100 Figure 5. The function of passage translation provided by Yahoo Mini Pen.............100 Figure 6. The function of translate this page on Google search engine.....................101 Figure 7. The function of the look-up of words from Yahoo Mini Pen .....................101 Figure 8. The function of the look-up of words by Google Instant Translator ..........102 Figure 9. Distribution of preferences of reading English online or in print ..............124 Figure 10. The QUEST model of the Internet inquiry...............................................164. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(10) ix. 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班碩士論文提要. 論文名稱：大學生英文網路閱讀習慣及觀感之探索性研究. 指導教授：招靜琪博士. 研究生：洪珮菱. 立. 論文提要內容：. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 隨著網路的發展，人們的閱讀習慣和閱讀行為一直不斷的進化與改變。過去的研究指出在這數位化的年代，更多的網路閱讀習慣的研究需要再進一步的進行. ‧. 與更新，以便英語教育者更加了解英文學習者如何使用網路幫助他們的英語學. sit. y. Nat. 習。本研究欲探討大學生如何運用網路幫助他們的英語學習，此研究主要探索大. n. al. er. io. 學生英文網路閱讀的習慣以及他們對於英文網路閱讀的觀感。此外，此研究更進. i Un. v. 一步探討大一學生和大四學生在英文網路閱讀及觀感上是否有差異。. Ch. engchi. 本研究採取質性研究，以北台灣兩所大學為例，參加本研究的學生一共有四十九位學生，分別有二十五位大四英文系學生以及二十四位大一英文系學生。資料收集主要採用焦點團體訪談的方式，以半結構式的方談方式採訪了十八組學生。學生的訪談資料收集後，將訪談內容轉為逐字稿以進行內容分析。本研究主要發現，學生上網閱讀英文的主要目的是完成學校作業。學生喜歡在網路上閱讀和課業有關的文章、比較聳動以及容易記住、輕鬆的文章主題（例如：休閒活動和藝術）。學生也喜歡在網路上挑選比較簡短、比較具有信賴度和權威性的文章閱讀。根據網路上各種英語學習資源以及學生所提供的資料來分類，本文中整理出學生經常使用的英文學習網站，以供參考。此外，在網路上閱.

(11) x. 讀英文時，學生比較有動機閱讀有多媒體呈現的文章內容。當在網路閱讀英文時，遇到閱讀理解有問題，學生通常利用線上網路字典或是網路即時翻譯的功能，以幫助他們對文章的理解。學生提出在網路閱讀英文有些缺點，包含缺乏靈活性、容易分心和迷失方向、提供過多的資訊、缺乏人體工學的考量。此外，學生也提出網路閱讀的優點。學生認為在網路閱讀可以讓他們省時、省錢的得到資訊、得到快速更新的資訊以及其他人的觀點、得到不同形式的資訊、與他人溝通、製作自己的閱讀檔案、增進英文學習、同時處理很多事務。學生也提出一些建議給有意願使用網路教學的的老師，以便老師能夠了解他們的真正的需求與困難。例如，他們希望老師能夠. 治政推薦他們有用的網站、教導他們網路搜尋技巧、並且能夠將網路的使用真正的融大立入課堂中。 ‧ 國. 學. 本研究也發現大一學生和大四學生在網路閱讀習慣及觀感最主要的相異之. ‧. 處在於大四學生比大一學生習慣將英文融入他們的日常生活中，以便他們透過網. sit. y. Nat. 路來增加學習英文環境的機會。此外，大四學生比較能夠有技巧性地運用網路資. io. er. 源，以解決他們在網路閱讀上遇到的問題。相反地，大一學生仍然需要老師教導他們一些技巧來解決在網路上閱讀所遇到的問題，以及教導他們如何分辨可信賴. n. al. 和不可信賴的網站。. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 希望本研究的發現可以讓教育者瞭解大學生如何使用網路來幫助他們的英語學習，以及網路的使用如何影響他們的閱讀習慣。文末進一步提出相關建議，作為教育學者們教學上的參考。.

(12) xi. English Abstract With the advancement of the Internet, people’s reading habits and behaviors have been evolving and reshaped. Previous studies indicated that more research on reading habits in this digital age is necessary to be further investigated and updated to eke out EFL educators’ understanding of EFL learners’ uses of the Internet to facilitate their English learning. This study attempts to explore how undergraduate students use the Internet to facilitate their English learning by delving into their habits and perceptions of reading English on the Internet and whether there is any difference between. 治政 undergraduate freshmen and seniors. 大立 The present study adopted a qualitative research method. The participants are ‧ 國. 學. forty-nine EFL English major undergraduates with twenty-five seniors and. ‧. twenty-four freshmen from two universities in northern Taiwan. The major way to. sit. y. Nat. collect data is focus group interviews, which are semi-structured interviews with. io. al. er. eighteen focus interview groups of the participating students. The interview data were transcribed in verbatim and analyzed in accordance with content analysis method.. n. iv n C The major findings of the habits English online revealed that the h eof nreading gchi U. participants basically held positive attitude towards and grew into the habit of reading English on the Internet. They read English online for the purpose of doing schoolwork and they preferred reading contents related to their courses, with light topics such as leisure and art, with sensational and catchy topics, in short length, or with more reliability and authority. The English learning websites that the participants usually went to were also provided for pedagogical references. Moreover, the participants were much more motivated to read English online when the reading contents were accompanied with multimedia. Upon facing reading comprehension problems, they usually turned to online dictionaries or online instant translators to improve their.

(13) xii. understanding of the contents they were reading on the Internet. The students’ perceptions of disadvantages of reading online included inflexibility, distraction and disorientation, oversupply of information, and lack of ergonomic concerns. Apart from the disadvantages of reading English on the Internet, the participants put forth a number of valuable merits of reading online, including time and cost saving in gaining information, gaining rapidly-updated information, others’ perspective, accessing information in divers forms, interacting with others, making documents, benefiting English learning, and multitasking. As for the suggestions made to the teachers intending to integrate the Internet use into classes,. 治政 the participants hoped that teachers could recommend 大 them useful websites, teach 立 them search skills, and infuse the Internet into the classroom setting. ‧ 國. 學. The major findings of the differences between the seniors and the freshmen were. ‧. that the seniors were more accustomed to incorporating English language into their. sit. y. Nat. daily lives in order to increase more chances to immerse themselves in English. io. al. er. learning environments through the Internet than the freshmen. In addition, the seniors were more resourceful in using the Internet to help themselves with problems they. n. iv n C met while reading online. Contrarily, still needed teachers’ training on h the e nfreshmen gchi U how to solve their reading comprehension with more methods and on how to distinguish reliable websites from incredible ones. Finally, it is expected that the findings of this study can provide educators with more understanding about how undergraduates utilize the Internet to facilitate their English learning and how their reading habits are influenced by the widespread use of the Internet. Besides, a number of pedagogical implications and instructional suggestions are presented at the end of this thesis for educators’ teaching references..

(14) 1. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background Reading is indispensable for second or foreign language (henceforth, L2) learners and it has been of the spotlight of L2 research. According to Anderson (1999), reading is the prerequisite skill that all language learners must be equipped with because the development of good reading abilities can greatly help them in the development of various academic areas. In addition, a variety of reading modes, such as extensive reading, pleasure reading, and free volunteering reading, have been. 治政 heatedly discussed and advocated in an attempt to provide 大 L2 learners with abundant 立 comprehensible input (Krashen, 2004) to acquire grammar, and reading and writing ‧ 國. 學. literacy, and further boost their language development. As a consequence, it is. ‧. obvious that developing good English language proficiency does depend on good. sit. y. Nat. English reading habits.. io. al. er. Nevertheless, several studies on learners’ reading habits have indicated that learners at college level hardly ever read unless they are required to read under. n. iv n C compulsion, such as the imminencehof examinations, U e n g c h i papers deadline, report. presentations, and so forth (Mokhtari & Sheorey, 1994; Pandian, 2001; Smithies, 1983). In other words, for students, reading is nothing but a utilitarian activity (Mokhtari & Sheorey, 1994), meaning that reading is only associated with passing examinations or academic workloads instead of pleasure and acquisition of up-to-date knowledge (Pandian, 2001; Smithies, 1983; Yang, 2007). Likewise, Taiwanese EFL learners seem to not take reading English as their leisure reading activity. According to a transnational survey (United Daily News, 30 November 07)1conducted by 1. The source of this information was covered in 聯合新聞網, called United Daily News in Chinese, on November 30th in 2007 and it was extracted on March 4th in 2008. The news website is as follows: http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=99848.

(15) 2. Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PRLS) in 2007 to investigate students’ reading habits across 45 countries, the result shows that Taiwanese students’ reading habits and literacy are ranked as 22 among 45, which worries the education authorities and teachers here in Taiwan. Therefore, it can be assumed that Taiwanese students seem to lack habits of reading English in their leisure time. If English language educators desire to enhance learners’ ability to acquire subject-matter knowledge as well as their English language competence simultaneously, the importance of understanding and developing their reading habits should not be underestimated. Currently, with the advent of information computer technologies (hereafter, ICTs). 治政 such as Internet or World Wide Web (henceforth, WWW), 大 “people nowadays tend to 立 rely heavily on computer-based resources (such as writing email, watching online ‧ 國. 學. videos, reading online news, transmitting instant messages through MSN, exchange. ‧. information in online chat rooms or discussion areas) than paper-based ones (such as. sit. y. Nat. reading newspapers, magazines, novels, writing mails, and sending postcards)” (Shen,. io. al. er. 2006, p.559). In this perspective, reading in this information-bombarded age is no more restricted to reading print books since a large number of electronic versions of. n. iv n C printed materials can be easily accessed on the WWW. “This h e nandgobtained chi U. phenomenon may change the way people perceive about reading and how printed materials are being utilized to facilitate reading” (Karim & Hasan, 2007, p.2). Viewed in this vein, a curious question accordingly emerges from this technology-dominated phenomenon in language education: Are language learners’ reading habits affected by the revolution of ICTs and how are they affected? Many reading scholars propose that with the advancement of the Internet and new technologies, people’s reading habits and behaviors have been profoundly influenced and thus evolving in several ways (Coiro, 2003; Eagleton & Dobler, 2007; Karim & Hasan, 2007; Henry, 2006; Leu, 2007; Liu, 2005; McPherson; Sutherland-Smith,.

(16) 3. 2002). First of all, owing to the demand of globalization, abilities to comprehend online information in both native language and foreign language, especially in English, have become a major concern in the field of L2 teaching and learning (Jurado, 2007; Warschauer & Healey, 1998). Additionally, according to Crystal (1997), “an estimated 85% of electronically stored information in the world is in English, so it is important for English language teachers to look at the social, economic, cultural and linguistic consequences of the global spread of the English language influenced by the development of the Internet”(cited in Shin & Son, 2007, p.3). In this regard, the Internet serves as an inexhaustible repertoire of teaching and learning resources that. 治政 provide L2 educators with access to a diversity of teaching 大 materials and L2 learners 立 with authentic target language environments (Altun, 2003; Anderson, 2003; ‧ 國. 學. Hanson-Smith, 2003; Walz, 2001a & 2001b). It is accordingly unquestionable that. ‧. nowadays most L2 learners resort to the Internet before hardcopy books for personal. materials as they want.. io. al. er. sit. y. Nat. and school-based reading and they can read as many genres and multimedia forms of. Secondly, with openness and multiplex presentations of reading materials on the. n. iv n C Internet, reading on the Internet is not texts posted on websites. Almost h ejustn reading gchi U all Internet reading materials accompany with hyperlinks embedded in reading. contents for further information and details, namely non-linear hypertexts, and display with multimedia, movie clips, audio, video, and graphical cues (Altun, 2000; Hanson-Smith, 2003; Son, 1998). Furthermore, Warschauer and Healey (1998) propose that the Internet provides many channels of communication to bridge learners of a language with other speakers of the target language around the world synchronously (e.g., Messenger and chat room) or asynchronously (e.g., e-mail and blog). All these characteristics allow Internet users and readers to be exposed to information-dense contexts under the WWW employing different ways to obtain.

(17) 4. information that they desire to search for. In brief, Internet reading reinforces comprehension, facilitates discovery approach, and enhances learning strategies for L2 learners’ autonomous learning. Thirdly, the nature of Internet reading is an interplay of reading comprehension and web literacy that requires learners’ ability to find, scan, digest, and store Internet information (Coiro, 2003; Eagleton & Dobler, 2007; Henry, 2003; Sutherland-Smith, 2002). To be exact, L2 learners who read target language on the Internet should be prepared with not only the command of the target language to comprehend texts but also the additional Internet-based reading skills and navigational skills to specifically. 治政 bring them closer to target resources in the labyrinthine大 system of Internet (Coiro & 立 Dobler, 2007; Huang, 2006). Following this line, a growing body of studies which ‧ 國. 學. specifically intend to explore L2 learners’ actual Internet reading strategies use and. ‧. performances has been conducted in hope of seeking for the best instruction to. sit. y. Nat. enhance L2 learners’ reading performances on the new format of reading in the digital. io. 2006).. al. er. age (Altun, 2003; Anderson, 2003; Chun, 2001; Huang, 2006; Konishi, 2003; Tseng,. n. iv n C L2 learners’ perceptions of reading language on the Internet is another h e target ngchi U. focus that the educators need to pay attention to because no matter how many resources can be conveniently accessed on the Internet, they still have difficulty reading target language on the Internet (Huang, 2006; Kung & Chuo, 2002; Kung, 2005; Tseng, 2008; Soon et al, 2004; Stepp-Greany, 2002). In order to come up with pedagogical suggestions for educators to help themselves design better Internet-based instructions for their courses as well as help L2 learners deal with the difficulties of reading English on the Internet and take advantage of Internet resources or their English learning, L2 learners’ perceptions of reading on the Internet should not be underscored..

(18) 5. To recapitulate, people’s reading habits have negatively and positively influenced by the exponential growth of diversified formats of authentic English-dense information displayed on the Internet and the prevalent use of the Internet. Even though it is generally agreed that people’s reading styles have changed along with the implementation of brand-new technologies, how Taiwanese EFL learners’ reading habit change and how they perceive Internet English reading to foster their English learning remain at issue. As Shen (2006) pinpoints, “If computers have replaced the traditional literacy world, it is noteworthy that educators, publishers, writers, and software engineers might cooperate with each other to create more interesting and economic online materials for students based on the knowledge of students’ reading habits and reading behaviors.” (p.560). 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Inspired by Shen’s viewpoint, the present study attempts to investigate EFL English. ‧. majors’ Internet reading habits and perceptions for English educators to improve their. sit. y. Nat. Internet reading performances and help them make better use of the online English. io. al. er. learning resources by understanding EFL English majors’ Internet practices to. n. enhance their English learning.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Rationales of the Study Based on the background of the significance of L2 reading and Internet reading in the digital age in the previous section, the rationales of the present study and the niches found from the previous studies are expounded in the following four aspects. Firstly, despite that the Internet provides language learners with access to affluent authentic target-language information (Warschauer & Healey, 1998), whether learners’ language learning can be ameliorated still depends on their reading habits and perceptions. EFL students are often considered lacking proper reading habits, and reading for many of them is merely a preparation for examinations (Yang, 2007)..

(19) 6. Even if they choose to read, English would not be their choice of language (Kung, 2005; Mokhtari & Sheorey, 1994). Besides, Li (2006) also mentions that the low proficiency levels of most Taiwanese EFL learners can be attributed to their lack of interests in and habits reading English and interests. Concerning these phenomena, several questions arise: Do EFL learners read English materials on the Internet in reality? If they do, why, when, how often, what genres, and what topics would they like to read? Secondly, some research indicates that reading habits vary on education level whether it is in printed-text reading or Internet reading (Chen, 2007; Mokhtari &. 治政 Sheorey, 1994; Shen, 2006). This interesting finding brings 大 up a question that has not 立 been taken into consideration in the extant literature: Are there differences of Internet ‧ 國. 學. reading habits and perceptions between university freshmen and seniors? If so, what. ‧. are the differences?. sit. y. Nat. Thirdly, as discussed previously, patterns of reading have been reshaped by the. io. al. er. advent of Internet, more research on reading habits in the digital age is necessary to be further updated to eke out EFL educators’ understanding of Taiwanese EFL learners’. n. iv n C uses of the Internet. However, so far, is relatively scant research particularly h there eng chi U. focusing on learners’ Internet reading habits and perceptions conducted in Taiwan (Shen, 2006) even though there is a growing body of research attempting to explore their actual Internet reading strategies use, which refers to “ the conscious actions that learners take to improve their language learning” (Anderson, 2003, p.3). Finally, as to the research methodology per se, almost all the previous related research is conducted using questionnaires quantitatively without probing deeply into other possibilities of reading habits and perceptions. To fill this gap, this study adopts interviews to qualitatively investigate EFL learners’ Internet reading habits and perceptions with the goal to delve into more insights into their English learning from.

(20) 7. the Internet. In conclusion, with the four rationales listed above, how Taiwanese EFL undergraduates perceive reading English on the Internet as well as how they use the Internet to improve English learning as well as broaden horizons in their daily lives remain to be qualitatively uncovered.. Purpose of the Study In conformity with the motivation stated above, the purpose of the present study is threefold. The first purpose attempts to understand how the rapid advancement of. 治政 the Internet affects cohorts of English major freshmen’s 大and seniors’ English reading 立 habits in respect to their Internet reading purposes, genres, topics, frequency, variables ‧ 國. 學. influencing their reading choices, and ways to improve reading comprehension. The. ‧. second purpose intends to probe into their perceptions of Internet reading in terms of. sit. y. Nat. advantages, disadvantages, challenges, suggestions to instructors, and preferences of. io. al. er. Internet reading and printed text reading. The last purpose is to understand if there is any difference between university freshmen and seniors in terms of their Internet. n. iv n C reading habits and perceptions. In doing pedagogical suggestions can be h e nso,gmore chi U generated to help language educators cater for university students of needs and help learn to best perform during Internet reading. Overall, understanding EFL learners’ Internet reading habits and perceptions will inform language educators of how to integrate the Internet into class effectively and resourcefully and web designers to supply more effective Internet devices to facilitate L2 learners’ language learning through the Internet.. Research Questions Grounded upon the purposes stated above, the current study intends to answer.

(21) 8. the following research questions. 1.. What Internet reading habits do EFL undergraduates have?. 2.. What perceptions do EFL undergraduates have for reading English on the Internet?. 3.. What are the differences between freshmen and seniors in terms of their Internet reading habits and perceptions?. Significance of the Study This study is significant for the following: future research, language educators,. 治政 and language learners. To begin with, given that there is 大scant research on examining 立 EFL learners’ Internet reading habits and perceptions specifically for English learning, ‧ 國. 學. this study will be beneficial, through its qualitative methodology, to fill this hiatus and. sit. y. Nat. and perceptions.. ‧. to enrich the exiting literature in regard to the tertiary students’ Internet reading habits. io. al. er. Secondly, as far as the language educator is concerned, as Kymes (2005) states, “only when educators truly understand how readers approach Internet reading. n. iv n C materials and hypertexts, how critical are made online, and what strategies h ejudgments ngchi U are routinely used by them will educators be able to know what needs to teach for better reading in online environments” (p.499). Viewed in this point, the findings of this study can directly contribute invaluable insights into how exactly Taiwanese university students read on the Internet to the educators. With these insights, the educators can teach the students to equip themselves with successful and effective Internet reading skills so as to cope with reading in this electronically-bombarded information age. Lastly, as for EFL learners, through the teacher’s refined instructional guidelines for Internet reading stemming from the understating of their Internet reading habits.

(22) 9. and perceptions, they will become more adept at Internet reading processes and cultivate more skills to make effective use of Internet resources for English learning and further their autonomous learning.. Definition of Terms Four main terms used throughout this study are defined as follows for better understanding of the specific scope of this study. (1) Reading The definition of reading varies from people to people and depending on the. 治政 scope of each research and study. Nuttall (1978) defines 大 reading as the recognition 立 of words we meet in print and the learning of speaking and pronunciation. Some ‧ 國. 學. people think that reading equals information reception, others deem that it should. ‧. involve the occurrence of thinking, and still others consider it as an activity. sit. y. Nat. demanding long time to read an article or a text (Chang, 2003). However, reading. io. al. er. does not happen without the reader’s intentions. As Nuttall (1978) proposes, “reading is not only a linguistic exercise but also an engagement to get meaning. n. iv n C out of a text for some purposes,hsuch as obtaining U e n g c h i facts, ideas, enjoyment, and. feelings of community” (p.3-4). To be specific, Rivers and Temperley (1978) even classify the following reasons that second language learners may need or want to read: . to obtain information for some purpose or because we are curious about some topic. . to obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily life. . to keep in touch with friends by correspondence or to understand business letters. . to know when or where something will take place or what is available.

(23) 10. . to know what is happening or what has happened (as reported in newspapers, magazines, reports). . for enjoyment or excitement (Rivers and Temperley, 1978, p.187). To better understand EFL undergraduates’ Internet reading habits in the broad perspective of reading, this study adopts the Rivers and Temperley’s definition of reading. In brief, reading does not merely occur when readers read long articles and texts, but when readers read any types of reading materials. (2) Internet reading. 治政 The definition of Internet reading can interchange大 with online reading (Coiro & 立 Dobler, 2007; Leu, 2007), hypertext reading (Altun, 2000, 2003; Konishi, 2003), ‧ 國. 學. e-reading (Chang, 2003), and web-reading (Sutherland-Smith). In this study, Internet. ‧. reading corresponds to the term, online reading, used by Leu (2007) to differentiate. sit. y. Nat. from offline reading that simply requires readers to read information on a single. io. al. er. screen without being situated within social practices, texts, and contexts that need online reading act. Therefore, Internet reading requires readers to obtain information. n. iv n C from the open networked system ofhthe Internet. All inUall, with the reading defined engchi above, Internet reading in this study refers to reading any forms of digital English documents that can be obtained through the Internet, such as multimedia, emails, e-newsletters, e-zines, e-novels, e-books, news, literature, journal articles, online information, sales, sports, bulletin board system (BBS), chat room postings, and so forth. (3) Internet reading habits Reading habits have been defined as a combined preferences for the types of reading materials read, the topics of reading materials, the volume of reading. completed on a daily or weekly basis, the frequency and the amount of time devoted.

(24) 11. to each type of reading, the sources of reading materials, the factors influencing the selection of reading materials, the occasions for reading, and the motives for reading, the availability of reading areas, and the activeness in the acquisition of reading materials (Chen, 2007; Dimitrijevic & Gunton, 1975; Karim & Hasan, 2007; Kaur & Thiyagarajah, 1999; Kung, 2005; Mokhtari & Sheorey, 1994; Pandian, 2000; Shaikh, 2004; Shen, 2006). However, consistent with the research questions of this study, the respects of Internet reading habits encompassed in this study are as follows: purposes of reading English materials on the Internet, genres and topics of IEMs usually read, frequency of reading on the Internet, factors affecting selections of IEMs, and ways to. 治政 improve comprehension in reading on the Internet. 大立 (4) Internet reading perception ‧ 國. 學. Founded on several research (Altun, 2001, 2003; Davis & Lyman-Hager, 1997;. ‧. Huang, 2006; Kung & Chuo, 2002; Kung, 2005; Son, 2003; Tseng, 2006, 2008),. sit. y. Nat. Internet reading perception is investigated respecting disadvantages and difficulties,. io. al. er. advantages of reading Internet English materials, differences and preferences of reading Internet materials and printed materials, and suggestions to instructors who. n. iv n C would like to integrate Internet English into courses. h e reading ngchi U. Following several definitions of the key terms, the next chapter starts with a theoretical framework by introducing Internet reading in terms of its nature and its differences from printed-text reading. Besides, relevant research on learners’ Internet reading habits and learners’ perceptions of Internet reading in L2 is reviewed..

(25) 12. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter encompasses four sections. The first section reports the theoretical background by the introduction of the Internet reading, including its impact on reading, its advantages and disadvantages, and its comparison with paper-based reading. The second section presents previous empirical research on language learners’ paper reading habits and Internet reading habits. The third reviews previous research on language learners’ perceptions and attitudes towards paper reading and Internet reading. The last section concludes this whole chapter with a summary.. 政治大 The Nature of Internet Reading: Features, Disadvantages, and Advantages 立 As discussed previously, it is the feature of nonlinear hypertext that distinguishes. ‧ 國. 學. the Internet reading from offline reading or screen reading. Therefore, it is essential to. ‧. introduce the nature of the Internet reading based on the attribution of the hypertext.. sit. y. Nat. Hypertext is characterized by two features: nonlinearity and multimedia. The first. io. al. er. feature is its non-sequential text and structure organized to allow readers or users to freely explore banks of nonlinear information through a myriad of hyperlinks which. n. iv n C are usually indicated by a keywordshset in underlined U e n g c h i blue type, and meanwhile take their own control of these dynamic hyperlinks to construct their personal pathways in this open-wide system (Altun, 2000; Son, 1998). Additionally, Sutherland-Smith (2002) claimed that hyperlinks enable online readers to instantly jump from a text to a footnote or reference, to an online dictionary, to a picture or a movie, to another language, another country, or even outer space. The possibilities of hyperlinks seem so limitless and enticing that all types of information seem just a click away. This particular feature not only lends itself to various orders of information processing but also distinguishes itself from traditional printed text reading. The second feature, based on Altun’s (2000) concept, is that hypertext is.

(26) 13. interactive, digitized, and displayed in various forms accompanied by hypermedia or multimedia with movie clips, audio, video, animation, and graphical files, which allow users or readers to be exposed to various formats of information-dense contexts. Hypermedia, according to Beatty (2003), involves linking only two types of media (e.g. text + sound or text + photographs) while multimedia tends to feature several media types simultaneously. In brief, hypertext is an electronically presented text connected to other sites throughout the World Wide Web in a variety of forms, so it is available in every language and on every topic imaginable every time to everyone. Nevertheless, Hanson-Smith (2003) proposed that not all Internet reading. 治政 materials are accompanied with multimedia or hyperlinks. 大 Instead, she viewed 立 Internet-based materials as of three types: (1) text repositories, (2) electronically ‧ 國. 學. mediated texts, and (3) computer-mediated communications (henceforth, CMCs). Text. ‧. repositories, in conformity with Son’s (2003) term of non-hypertext, are online. sit. y. Nat. materials virtually replicating the format of paper materials, with the addition of. io. al. er. hyperlinked references and search capabilities. They are often comfortably read by being downloaded and printed out. Electronically mediated texts are created and. n. iv n C edited by authors, both amateur andhprofessional, for U e n g c h i their own purposes, whether informational, emotive, or propagandistic. These documents are characterized by hypermedia and linking, so they are supposed to be read online. CMCs, native to electronic media, offer interactive authentic language on blogs, BBS, electronic lists, e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, and so on, which can present their own perplexities for the reader. All in all, with the features of nonlinearity and multimedia embedded in the Internet, McPherson (2005) listed how the Internet has impacted students’ reading respectively as follows..

(27) 14. Internet’s impacts on reading (1) A nonlinear hypertext environment places greater demand on a reader’s shot-term memory. (2) Hypertext encourages student control over and engagement with content. (3) Students report being more engaged with content when multiple presentation modes (e.g., reading, viewing, and listening) occur simultaneously. (4) Internet-based learning activities make reading enjoyable for students, foster use of critical reading skills, and promote reading fluency. (5) The Internet provides authentic reading materials that, in turn, encourage students to read more.. 立. 政治大. (6) Reading is contextualized in multimedia environments. (p. 60). ‧ 國. 學. In addition to these Internet’s impacts on reading, McPherson (2005) further outlined. sit. y. Nat. Disadvantages. ‧. the following disadvantages and advantages the Internet brings to readers.. io. al. er. Readers sometimes get lost and waste time navigating the links. Advertising can be distracting and have ethical implications.. n. iv n C Webpage design often parallels text structures, making it h e ninformation gchi U. . difficult for young readers to read. Readability of Webquests and linked websites is often more difficult than students’ independent reading ability. (p. 60) Advantages Multimedia can increase the readability of text-heavy pages. Webquests often link to authentic reading materials and deal with essential questions. Students are motivated to read online materials. It exposes students to information text structures..

(28) 15. Materials can be incorporated into a home literacy program. (p. 60) As seen from the nature of Internet reading reviewed above, reading on the Internet seems more complicated than reading in print in that online reading does demand readers to be more critical and interactive to cope with hyperlinks embedded in hypertexts and to enhance their online reading comprehension by making good use of existing Internet resources. To better understand how complex the online reading processing is, the differences between the two reading modes are explicated in the next section.. 治政大 Reading Differences between Internet Reading and Printed Text 立 Given that this study aims to delve into EFL learners’ perceptions on paper ‧ 國. 學. reading and Internet reading, the differences between Internet reading and paper. ‧. reading needs to be addressed. The discrepancies are divided into two dimensions: (1). y. sit. io. al. er. reading.. Nat. reading behaviors and (2) additional skills and strategies demanded to facilitate online. With respect to reading behaviors, Hanson-Smith (2003) elaborately compared. n. iv n C different reading behaviors betweenhreading printed texts e n g c h i U and reading Internet-based materials such as electronic media and CMCs as displayed in Table 2-1. Table 2-1 clearly shows that instead of turning pages for linear and static information displayed in books, online readers need to scroll down web pages for the rest of the reading content, decide whether to click the embedded hyperlinks for multiple forms of further information and references, and have more accesses to communicate with other online users through asynchronous BBS and emailing or synchronous discussion groups..

(29) 16. Table 2-1 Comparison of Print Reading and Electronic Reading2 Reading Paper Print Texts. Reading Electronic Media. Reading CMCs. (1) Single or multiple columns. (1) Scrolling multiple columns and/or frames. (1) Single scrolling column, but interlaced, undefined threads, and possible simultaneous audio, video, and multiple chats in several windows. (2) Illustrations. (2) Embedded or linked graphics, animations, sound files, movies. (2) Embedded or linked media. (3) Footnotes, appendices, references. (3) Links to other pages, other portions of the text or other Websites, both embedded in the text and in frames, headers, and footers. ‧. sit. n. al. er. io. 2. (4) Multiple functions for (4) Multiple functions for hyperlinks, (e.g., hyperlinks, perhaps illustration or example), fewer than in Web pages for mode-change, (e.g., survey or shopping cart), and for advertising and so on. y. Nat. (4) Limited functions for footnotes and references. (5) Static advertising. (3) Links. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. Ch. engchi. i Un. (5) Commercial distracters. v. (5) Animated advertisements, pop-unders and pop-overs, buttons, scrolling banners, etc. May have commercial distracters, depending on the mail service provider; spam. This table is excerpted from Hanson-Smith article: Reading Electronically: Challenges and Responses to the Reading Puzzle in Technologically-Enhanced Environments, which can be accessed through: http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/hanson-smith/..

(30) 17. Different reading formats demand different reading skills and strategies. Consequently completely relying on the L2 traditional paper reading skills such as skimming and scanning cannot suffice for the successful Internet reading. It involves even more perplexed cognitive processing in which learners’ learning literacy is remolded with the rapid advancement of technology. With this concern, Leu (2007) advocates New Literacies Perspectives to accentuate the prerequisite skills needed to read on the Internet. Leu (2007) defines the new literacies of online reading comprehension as: “the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to successfully use and adapt to the rapidly changing information and communication technologies and contexts that continuously emerge in our world and influence all areas of our personal and professional lives. These new literacies allow us to use the Internet and other ICT to identify important questions, locate information, analyze the usefulness of that information, synthesize information to answer those questions, and then communicate the answers to others.” (Leu, 2007, p.10). 政治大. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Nat. sit. y. Viewed in this light, reading on the Internet requires not only L2 learners’ command. n. al. er. io. of the target language but also web literacy in terms of finding, scanning, digesting, and storing Internet information.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Aside from the new literacies perspectives, Sutherland-Smith (2002) also recommended additional eight techniques that are necessitated to teach students to read web-based texts. Students should be guided: (1) To use the “snatch-and-grab” reading approach, meaning that readers should skim or scan text to identify keywords or phrases and grab the demanded text. This method emphasizes the broad nature of searching and the desire to obtain a great deal of material in a limited time frame. (2) To focus on refining keyword searches narrow the scope of their search to find information more efficiently. (3) To follow clear search guidelines and purposes to help overcome their deficiency of technical and task orientation skills. This technique,.

(31) 18. in line with Hammond’s proposition (1993), can promote the use of available information, prevents passive browsing, and increases the possibility of making well-motivated choices when searching for information (cited in Picchio & Blasón, 2003, p.88). (4) To use the “chunking” technique to search for online information by breaking down a complex topic into manageable chunks. This technique can encourage students with poor search or organizational skills to perceive a problem from other perspectives rather than head-on about assigned topics. (5) To overcome frustration with technology, especially when the results they click on do not live up to their expectations. Hence, it is vital for teachers to help students develop a range of. 治政 strategies to tackle traditional unmet reading predictions 大in the online reading 立 environment. (6) To employ preset lists of shortcuts or bookmarks to reliable websites ‧ 國. 學. and hints for them to effectively organize their lists of useful website addresses. (7). ‧. To limit the number of links to lessen their confusion, accordingly to help them. sit. y. Nat. refocus on keywords, questions, or tasks. (8) To critically evaluate nontextual features. io. al. er. such as images, graphics, or any multimedia components to assist them to discern credible and reliable visual elements. To boost students’ ability to assess online. n. iv n C information, this technique can be further with Fellog’s (2000) and Kirk’s h e nintegrated gchi U (1996) six criteria for students to evaluate a website: authorship, publishing body, point of view or bias, referral to other sources, and currency of the information (cited in Picchio & Blasón, 2003, p.89). To sum up, as Sutherland-Smith (2002) pointed out, even though, compared to paper texts, the Internet indeed provides students much more opportunities to enrich and expand concepts of literacy, to what extent the Internet technology can advantage them remains dependent on how teachers help them maximize their online reading skills..

(32) 19. Research on Reading Habits To date, there is a paucity of research with specific and exact reference to investigating L2 learners’ Internet reading habits, referring to reading frequency, reading attitudes, reading preferences, reading purposes, reading sources, amount of reading time, and factors influencing reading choices. As a result, this section initially reviews several empirical studies on L2 learners’ reading habits to glean a general snapshot of their reading phenomena. Finally, several studies which are specifically delved into Internet users’ reading habits are red to unveil research niches. Studies on L2 Learners’ Reading Habits. 治政 Several studies have been conducted to explore learners’ 大 general reading habits 立 for L2 educators to gain insights into L2 learners’ reading practice in an attempt to ‧ 國. 學. help them improve their reading proficiency and skills. Findings derived from these. ‧. studies have revealed that L2 students’ reading habits are associated with such. sit. y. Nat. influential factors as gender (Camiciottoli, 2001; Hung, 2003; Pandian, 2000), age. io. al. er. (Pandian, 2000), education level (Mokhtari & Sheorey, 1994; Pandian, 2000), other foreign languages proficiency (Gallagher & Dickens, 2006; Mokhtari & Sheorey,. n. iv n C 1994), academic profession (Pandian, types and topics of reading materials h e2000), ngchi U (Hung, 2002; Kaur & Thiyagarajah, 1999; Lee, 2005; Pandian, 2000; Smithies, 1983), reading attitudes (Camiciottoli, 2001; Hung, 2002), experiences in English contacts (Camiciottoli, 2001; Pandian, 2000), and other home and ethnicity variables (Pandian, 2000). Overall, to clearly display a picture of variables taken effects on university students’ reading habits, Pandian (2000) formulated an explanatory model of reading behavior, which is presented below as Figure 1..

(33) 20. 立. 政治大. Figure 1. An explanatory model of reading behavior. ‧ 國. 學. Viewed from this model, it is obvious that the development of reading habits is. ‧. intricate since it must interact with at least four factors: (1) individual background. Nat. sit. y. characteristics, (2) home factors, and (3) school factors, and (4) other intervening. n. al. er. io. variables such as attitudes to reading and language and exposure to language.. i Un. v. Studies on English as a Second Language Learners’ Reading Habits. Ch. engchi. To precisely inquire into on L2 learners’ reading habits, several studies have focused on English as a Second Language (hereafter, ESL) learners were found (Kaur & Thiyagarajah, 1999; Mokhtari & Sheorey, 1994; Pandian, 2000; Smithies, 1983). Smithies (1983) conducted a survey to investigate the non-textbook reading preferences and habits of about 400 students at a technological institution in Papua New Guinea. The result showed that the students read relatively little. They did read attentively only when they knew there would be a check upon their reading in terms of a quiz, a test, or examination, or planned integration of required reading in lectures, seminars, and tutorials. It indicated that reading was associated with work rather than.

(34) 21. with pleasure. With regard to reading preferences, those who did read for pleasure inclined to read fiction (67%), comics, magazines, and newspapers (22%), and study-related books (18%). The author suggested several ways to promote students’ general reading habits. First of all, teachers should make sure that course texts are actually read by giving short quizzes and incorporating prescribed reading into classroom presentations. Secondly, requiring students to do reading reports on books they read in regardless of academic materials or non-academic materials. Thirdly, books selected for students should cater for their language level for better understanding of contents. Finally, Smithies (1983) argued that notwithstanding recent. 治政 technological advances, the essentials of reading will never 大 disappear. 立 Enlightened by Smithies’ research, Mokhtari & Sheorey (1994) conducted an ‧ 國. 學. empirical study to survey 158 ESL international students in different levels of English. ‧. proficiency (high vs. low) and education (63 graduates vs. 95 undergraduates) to find. sit. y. Nat. out whether different English proficiency and education levels would significantly. io. al. er. affect their reading habits. The first finding respecting the amount of reading time and the types of reading materials revealed that high English proficiency group spent. n. iv n C significantly more time reading andhread a wide variety e n g c h i Uof academic reading materials than low English proficiently group. However, the researchers further found that, however well or poorly these students read, they spent more time on academic reading than any other type of reading in college. Otherwise stated, ESL students either did not devote time to doing non-academic or pleasure reading in English is not their language of choice when it comes to reading non-academic reading materials. Moreover, the education level also made a difference in that the result showed that graduate students read more widely and spent more time reading for study than undergraduates. The second result concerning the students’ perceptions of reading ability in English and first language was that the participants with high English.

(35) 22. proficiency tended to rate themselves higher in evaluating their reading skills than those with low English proficiency. In other words, the participants who felt positive about themselves as readers spent more time reading and read more widely than those who rated themselves lower in their English proficiency. With this regard, the researchers stressed that reading is an activity involving a strong connection between behavior and attitude. The third finding regarding the students’ perceptions of weakness in reading exhibited that the low English proficiency students viewed a lack of adequate vocabulary as the major barricade to their reading fluency. In addition, more graduate students thought a dearth of adequate reading speed thwarted their. 治政 English reading efficiency and thus overall English proficiency. 大 The final finding 立 pertaining to the perceptions of needed improvements in reading skills was that the ‧ 國. 學. students, regardless of education levels and English proficiency levels, needed. ‧. assistance with reading their textbooks with the subsequence of newspapers, journals,. sit. y. Nat. research papers, and other reading materials. On a whole, it is noticeable that even. io. al. er. ESL learners who normally use English in their daily lives still have linguistic difficulties reading in English, spend less time reading nonacademic materials, and. n. iv n C require instructions to leverage theirhreading speeds and e n g c h i U comprehension in academic reading. Likewise, Kaur & Thiyagarajah (1999) aimed to survey and interview 63 Malaysian ESL freshman undergraduates, recruiting from the Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature Studies (ELLS) programme, to probe into their general English reading habits. The first finding relating frequency of reading showed that most of them devoted around 3-5 hours per week to reading literary works (such as poetry and drama) and ELT books (69.8) with the following of newspapers (28.6%), and novels (25.4%) while they spent less an hour reading comic books (60%), letters (38.1%), and journals (38.1%). Only 1-2 hours per week were spent on the reading of.

(36) 23. magazines with female students preferring magazines such as Cleo, Home Scene, Motherhood and Reader’s Digest and the male students favoring Time, Newsweek, and so forth. Through the structured interviews the researchers found that this discrepancy resulting from the participants’ deficiency of confidence in reading literary texts prescribed by their lecturers. Besides, the participants mentioned they had read more diverse types of English materials before entering the university. The second result respecting the students’ perceptions on their reading ability manifested that the participants generally perceived themselves as being efficient readers of the various types of reading materials like newspapers, magazines and letters.. 治政 Nevertheless, it was interesting to find that nearly half 大 participants did not rate 立 themselves as highly in reading and comprehending the prescribed course texts such ‧ 國. 學. as literary works (48.6%) and ELT books (44.4%). The reason for this finding is that. ‧. the participants claimed they had to grapple with difficulties caused by linguistic load,. sit. y. Nat. long texts, semantic problems, terminology, and unfamiliarity with poems and plays.. io. al. er. The third discovery regarding the students’ motivation to read in English revealed that most of the students were aware of their roles as mature students and showed very. n. iv n C positive attitudes towards reading. Most read in English because they feel it h e nof gthem chi U can improve their English language abilities and some want to become good English language teachers upon graduation. Likewise, most of them (74.67%) read for obtaining good grades in all their courses and only 42.8% for pleasure reading, which truly reflect their Asian characteristics of being goal-oriented and expecting to succeed at the university. The last finding about preparation time spent on courses indicated that 84.1% of the participants spent 6-10 hours more a week in doing assignments, 42.8% claimed to spend 3-5 hours reading relevant course texts, and 41.2% of them spent the same amount of time making notes for their courses. Surprisingly, it was found that very little time was spent working on the computer. As.

(37) 24. a result, the researches advocated that students should be encouraged to capitalize on the Internet as a tool to tap valuable reading resources which can promote autonomous learning. To delineate a profile of habitual readers in English from three dimensions of personal factors, school factors, and home factors, another research in ESL setting done by Pandian (2000) implemented a questionnaire survey on readership behavior among 674 undergraduates (277 male and 397 female students) and 975 secondary students (537 female and 438 male students) with multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual background in Malaysia. According to Pandian, readership behavior. 治政 denotes reading ability and willingness to read for information 大 and leisure as well as 立 reading practices that engage different print and audio and visual contents. The ‧ 國. 學. finding revealed that Malaysian undergraduates and secondary school students are. ‧. more likely to be a habitual reader in English if they:. come from a family with a higher socioeconomic status (henceforth, SES).. . come from a home where there is a greater variety and amount of materials. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. . in English, more home influence and reading models at home.. n. iv n C have attended a school with variety and amount of materials in h ea greater ngchi U. . English, with more teachers who encourage students to read and more friends who read English. . have more exposure to English.. . have a more positive attitude towards reading in English.. The final remark from Pandian’s study proposed that it is no longer useful to regard reading as an intra-personal. Contrarily, it has to be strongly promoted as an interpersonal, social or family related activity since parents, siblings, teachers, or peers can direct their efforts and contributions to the development of positive reading behavior. What is more, the author strongly encouraged the need to provide students.

(38) 25. with more multimedia and ICTs exposure and to instill positive attitudes towards language and reading, specifically in the area of English language learning. Studies on EFL or Other Language Learners’ Reading Habits Interest in examining reading habits was also found in several studies considering EFL and other language students (Camiciottoli, 2001; Gallagher & Dickens, 2006; Hung, 2003; Lee, 2005). Camiciottoli (2001) administered a questionnaire to 182 Italian EFL students to examine their reading habits and attitudes relevant to leisure-time reading in English without any type of academic follow-up activities. The result indicated that while English reading habits had not grown on. 治政 most of the students, their attitudes towards it remained大 positive in that they reported 立 that they were short of (1) time to read due to school studies, (2) access to English ‧ 國. 學. materials, and (3) knowledge of selection of reading materials. Moreover, given that. ‧. Italian language is replete with English loanwords words and widespread concept of. sit. y. Nat. certain culture such as “fast food” and “shopping mall”, the students generally had. io. al. er. favorable attitudes and highly valued English reading. The researcher further found that the more experiences of reading in Italian (L1) and more English learning. n. iv n C environment students were immersed willingness and time they would h ein,nthegmore chi U like to devote to. Unexpectedly, a paradoxical outcome was found: fewer years of previous English study were related to more positive reading attitudes. The accountant of this result is that the students stayed less confident of their reading abilities in spite of several years of English learning. The last finding in terms of gender difference revealed that due to different career aspirations, the males were much more frequent readers of other types such as magazines and newspapers than the females. The author concluded the research by suggesting the incorporation of extensive reading into original curriculum to breed their English reading habits. Parallel to the Camiciottoli’s study, Hung (2003) undertook a survey to 144 EFL.

(39) 26. Taiwanese non English-majored collegians to probe into their pleasure reading practices. The first finding revealed that the students who experienced some forms of pleasure reading in the classroom settings embraced positive attitude to these activities. The second outcome demonstrated that most students spent less than an hour doing outside readings monthly, indicating that their habits of leisure time reading had not been cultivated. Specifically inquiring into English materials the students preferred reading, the author found that magazines, comic books, and short stories or fiction were the most favored choices, indicating that the short readings were much more favorable than lengthy ones such as non-fiction articles or articles. 治政 from the Internet/E-news. Accounting for the disfavor 大 of English reading materials 立 from the Internet, the author pointed out that since online information, for L2 readers, ‧ 國. 學. is too broad to select a suitable materials, too linguistically authentic to comprehend,. ‧. and too long to sustain their patience in reading continuously. The third finding. sit. y. Nat. showed that in spite of the existence of gender difference, generally the most. io. al. er. favorable reading genres were comics, movies, TV tie-ins, and humor while biography, classics, and war were the least favorable. Additionally, the most favorable. n. iv n C reading topics of nonfiction articleshwere leisure/recreation, e n g c h i U film/music, and fashion whereas the least favored topics were violence, business, politics, and design.. Generally speaking, Taiwanese students tend to prefer light topics rather than serious topics or classical works to mitigate their pressure from schools. To enhance learners’ language proficiency and develop their intellect, the author proposed that reading materials should be chosen in congruence with their interests. The fourth outcome revealed that linguistic difficulties related to vocabulary, grammar, and content were the major obstacle refraining them from reading more for pleasure. To counteract this problem, the author suggested teachers provide learners with guidance to choose proper reading materials and an array of books of various levels. At last, it was found.

(40) 27. that the students embraced positively attitudes towards reading and their reading attitudes were significantly correlated with their reading frequency outside school where a stress-free reading atmosphere abounded in. In this respect, the author suggested teachers create cozy vibes where learners can indulge in their reading with more pleasure and frequencies. Lee (2005) administered a survey to 101 Korean EFL undergraduates to examine what types of English contact or activities and how much English they were exposed to outside the class, which involved 16 activities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The general result found that the majority of the participants did not write or. 治政 speak in English. Further analysis concerning weekly hours 大 spent reading English 立 materials outside the class indicated that the majority of the participants did not spend ‧ 國. 學. any single hour on English reading under five different conditions: reading newspaper. ‧. or magazine (73%), literature such as novels or poems (76%), course-related materials. sit. y. Nat. (44%), emails or the Internet (65%), and English learning materials such as TOEFL or. io. al. er. TOEIC textbooks (81%). As evidenced from the statistics, even if the students would like to engage in English reading, most of their reading activities were predominantly. n. iv n C confined to coursed-related materials subsequence of emails, Internet, h ewithn the gchi U. newspapers, and magazines. Consequently the participants’ English reading habits were not cultivated apparently. Gallagher & Dickens (2006) did a questionnaire survey to obtain a snapshot of reading attitudes, perceptions and habits of foreign languages learners with different target language proficiency levels (ab inito students and experienced students) and education level (from freshman through senior) from seven UK universities. 601 questionnaires were returned by learners of Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic and Russian. The first result, in the aspect of learners’ perceptions of their FL reading competence, showed that even though 42% of the.

(41) 28. students agreed that they were doing well in L2 reading and 29% could read quickly in L2, they still encountered difficulties stemming from lack of foreign culture knowledge. A significant discrepancy further indicated that the freshmen held less confidence in their reading speed and proficiency than the seniors while the significant difference between ab initio and experienced students was not reached. The second result concerning L2 reading habits showed that seniors read more often than freshmen and nearly half (47%) of the students confessed that they did not get enough practice at L2 reading. Enquired why to read in L2, 97% of the students claimed that reading in L2 could improve their language skills, 77% would make. 治政 them a more knowledgeable person, and 60% could learn 大more about foreign 立 language culture. The third finding regarding the students’ attitudes to reading ‧ 國. 學. different genres in L2 revealed that magazines and newspapers were much more. ‧. likely to be read than the poetry across four years of students. Generally speaking,. sit. y. Nat. nearly a quarter of the students felt literature reading instrumentally useful for. io. al. er. improving language skills yet difficult. To be specific, more freshmen felt reading L2 literature more difficult than useful while seniors felt reading L2 literature more. n. iv n C useful than difficult. The last resulth found that all yearU e n g c h i students considered vocabulary and grammar as two major difficulties landed in texts and therefore would like to resort to vocabulary in a dictionary to gain better comprehension. Further result also showed that freshmen were more likely to ask others for help, to use a translation, and to translate the text to seek better understanding of the text while seniors were more likely to re-read the text, to break up the text, and to research the subject. Recommendations in this research accentuated the importance of building up learning experiences for ab initio students to develop their positive attitudes and confidence in L2 reading and promoting more extensive reading. To summarize and compare all the research on reading habits discussed above,.