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Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Volume Two - Academic Conferences

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poor<br />

not so good<br />

average<br />

good<br />

excellent<br />

Zuzana Šaffková<br />

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%<br />

Figure 9: Effectiveness of the course (N=90*)<br />

On-line practice<br />

In-class instruction<br />

Content of the course<br />

Usefulnes of the course<br />

*Since the questionnaire was an anonymous and voluntary assignment, only 90 students completed<br />

it.<br />

Figure 10: Effectiveness of web-supported learning (N=90)<br />

5. Conclusion<br />

strongly agree<br />

agree<br />

neutral<br />

disagree<br />

strongly disagree<br />

The purpose of this article was to provide some insights into the first-year EFL students´<br />

insufficiencies in their critical reading competences. Then, based on the analysis of the results from<br />

the continuous work on on-line assignments and the students´ comments in the questionnaire,<br />

suggest possible ways and implications for the further improvement of the reading instruction.<br />

Considering the research questions stated at the beginning of the investigation, it can be affirmed<br />

that:<br />

Scaffolded instruction realized through modeling and guided practice in contact lessons and<br />

independent practice in an on-line training setting, proved to be effective for building the students´<br />

reading competence. The results from the achievement test at the end of the course indicated<br />

improvement even at the level of metacognition, especially the ability to activate the students´<br />

713

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