An Empirical Study On CSCL In After-class English Reading Of College Students

In foreign language teaching and learning, reading is a very important aspect as an important approach for students to acquire foreign language knowledge and skills. But because of the increasing number of college students and the limited classroom time, students'reading proficiency is not so satisfactory. Therefore, making good use of after-class time to improve students'reading proficiency is becoming an effective method. Based on the literature review at home and abroad, this thesis is oriented to probing into an optimal way to improve students'reading ability by integrating computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) into their after-class reading.In this study, the author applies CSCL to after-class English reading and attempts are made to investigate in detail how much students can benefit from this approach. An experiment which lasts eight weeks is conducted. Both quantitative and qualitative data analyses are employed to exam the effects of CSCL in after-class English reading. The five aspects to be discussed are reading comprehension, writing, attitude towards English learning, interest in English learning, and self-efficacy in English learning. 70 English major students of Grade 2005 in Chongqing University are assigned to the experimental and control groups and take part in the whole experiment of their own accord. According to statistical data, the subjects in both groups show no significant difference in their English proficiency before the experiment. Both the students in the experimental group and control group have the same after-class reading materials. During the experiment, the students in the experimental group finish the after-class reading tasks on Moodle and have discussions with other students and the teacher, while, the students in the control group do that by themselves and hand in a report after reading.The research results show that the application of CSCL in after-class English reading is effective. The students in the experimental group have a better reading proficiency than that of the students in the control group after the experiment. Besides, their interest in English and self-efficacy in English learning are improved greatly, though not very obvious in writing and attitude towards English learning. Finally, the author points out the limitations of this thesis and makes some suggestions for future study.