Vol. 4. No. 4 A-1 December 2000
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EFL Academic Reading and Modern Technology: How Can We Turn Our Students into Independent Critical Readers?

Adina Levine, Orna Ferenz & Thea Reves
Bar Ilan University,
Israel
<levina@mail.biu.ac.il>
<toben@mail.biu.ac.il>

Abstract

The study investigated the issue of the development of EFL critical reading skills in a computer-networked environment. The computer-networked environment was seen as a means to combine the security and support of the language learning classroom and exposure to authentic reading material. The subjects of the study were four groups of students participating in EFL academic reading courses at Bar-Ilan University (Israel). The findings of the study suggest that the computerized learning environment contributed to the development of EFL critical literacy skills to a greater extent than the conventional learning environment did. The advantages of the networked computer environment were evident mainly for EFL students at the higher level of language proficiency. The computer environment created a different teacher-student relationship and changed the nature of the EFL teacher's as well as the EFL student's role in the academic reading class.

 

Keywords: ESL,EFL, reading, CALL, computers

 

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