Effects of Multimedia-Based Instruction on Promoting Reading Motivation

Abstract

A significant proportion of academic exercise today, even for those who do not speak English as a first language, has to do with the English Internet and the texts within. Accordingly, the present study focused on examining the effects of extensive multimedia-based English Internet reading on enhancing motivation in EFL learners’ English reading. Specifically, the quasi-experimental pretest-post-test design was used to compare the performance of three groups of Iranian university EFL students (i.e., one control and two experimental groups) in terms of their degrees of motivation, prior to and following university-level general English courses which included a multimedia-based Internet extensive reading program on the one hand, and a linear text extensive reading program on the other. Analysis of the results revealed that the extensive reading of both linear and multimedia Internet texts enhanced Iranian EFL readers' reading motivation, an enhancement which was not observed in the motivation of the participants in the control group who did not experience any such program. However, there was no statistically significant difference observed in the amount of motivation improvement between the linear text and the multimedia Internet groups. Teachers may be the most beneficiaries of the present study as they can gain insights into how far they should enter the realm of integrating Internet-based reading programs into general English courses.