Computer-Aided Teaching and Assessment of Reading Skills in English as a Second Language

Abstract

The research article presents the observations and findings of a case study on the effectiveness that the computeraided teaching of reading skill in English as a second language of first year engineering students. The research focuses on the students’ reading skills such as concentration on the text, transforming information, perception of meaning in the content, reasoning, and retrieval of required information from text. The present research investigates the change in language abilities deduced from the reading in the context of delivery of reading units in English Proficiency course. The study was conducted during two academic semesters of first year engineering for the academic year 2021-22. The target group consists of four batches of twenty five students having Marathi as their mother-tongue. The study has been carried out with the help of a computer based language laboratory multimedia instructional tool having the standard functions in it. The Reading Skill units of the course were taught in the traditional classroom approach to the control group and the experimental group has received the same content in computer assisted language laboratory software tool that enhances teaching-learning experience. The analysis of study is based on the formation and implementation of assessment tests on a CG and an EG. The result analysis directs the researcher to conclude that the computer-aided language learning tools generate positive change in students’ perception, transcoding, reasoning, and information recalling abilities.