Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Zuzana Šaffková
prior knowledge, the ability to construct meaning, interpret events and distinguish between what is
important and what is unimportant .
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Identifying the
author’s main
idea
Extending
vocabulary
Better
orientation in
text
Ability to
analyze facts
quickly
Understanding
weak and
strong
arguments
Figure 11: Improvement in sub-skills identified by the students themselves (N=90)
Understanding
valid and
weak
evidence
Blended learning became an effective means of assuring independent practice of the strategies
that enabled the students to adapt and internalize strategic reading and thus to take more
responsibility for their learning. The e-learning environment then contributed to increasing the
volume of reading as well as its quality by an individualized feedback that helped learners
“complete the reflective cycle” (Macdonald 2008, p.131). It also facilitated systematic sequencing
of explicit instruction, guided practice and independent work so that instructional support and
intellectual challenge were properly balanced. Finally, the e-learning scheme proved to be an
excellent tool for action research since as a means of “on going progress monitoring” it provided
valuable information on the students´ levels of mastery of the various concepts being studied and
helped plan new lessons and reteach unclear concepts (Schumm 2006, p. 52).
The research considerably helped to specify concrete steps and procedures for a novel
framework of the course. First of all, considering the choice of texts, more attention should be
paid to suitability of content, exploitability, and especially to readability of texts (Nuttall, 2005).
Even if the first-year university students are familiar with necessary grammatical structures,
authentic texts frequently contain more complex constructions and less frequent vocabulary,
which may cause the students´ failure in analyzing such texts. Thus equal-level or below-level
rather interpersonal texts should be used at the beginning of the course, “moving later to a
concern with the quality of description or exposition within a text, involving attention to more
hidden parts of the grammar” (Wallace 2003, p.82). Then, a direct explanation and training in
responding to tasks should be included in reading instruction. The analysis of the students´
responses disclosed their inability to convey their ideas accurately yet using simple words.
Further research would be needed to collate the students´ results with their own approaches to
independent on-line work to find out to what extent their effort to work independently on-line, without
the tutor’s direct guidance influences critical reading performance. Then, other reading strategies,
mainly those that comply with metacognition should be introduced and investigated. Finally, other
potential for an e-learning environment, which primarily facilitates collaboration and interaction with
peers, should be exploited and researched.
Acknowledgment
This paper was supported by grant SGS 5842/2011, Technical University of Liberec.
References
Adams, R.W. and Patterson, B. (2008) Developing Reading Versatility. Thomson, Wadsworth, Boston.
Alderson, J. C. (2005) Assessing Reading. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Block, E. (1986) “The Comprehension Strategies of Second Language Readers” TESOL Quarterly, September,
Vol 20, No. 3, pp. 463-494.
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