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Computer Assisted Language Learning

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Blended learning for college students

with English reading difficulties
a
Yu-Fen Yang
a
Department of Applied Foreign Languages, National Yunlin
University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China
Version of record first published: 14 Sep 2011.

To cite this article: Yu-Fen Yang (2012): Blended learning for college students with English reading
difficulties, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 25:5, 393-410

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 Computer Assisted Language Learning
Vol. 25, No. 5, December 2012, 393–406

Blended learning for college students with English reading difficulties

Yu-Fen Yang*

Department of Applied Foreign Languages, National Yunlin University of Science

and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China

Most previous studies in blended learning simply involved on-site and online
instruction without considering students’ control of their own learning in these
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two different modalities. The purpose of this study was to investigate how college
students with English reading difficulties integrate their conceptions of and
approaches to blended learning for enhancing their reading proficiency. A sample
of 108 students was recruited – 54 students were assigned to the experimental
group with blended learning and another 54 students to the control group with
on-site instruction only. Results of this study revealed that the blended learning
was effective in enhancing students’ reading proficiency in the experimental group
as shown in the semistructured interview for students’ conceptions of blended
learning, log files for their approaches to blended learning, and the post-test for
the improvement of their reading outcomes. From the new conceptions and
approaches generated by students, three factors were identified as helping them
take control of their own reading in blended learning. First, the online reading
activities enabled students to extensively practice what they had learned in the on-
site instruction without the limitations of time and location. Second, the process
data (log files) for students to observe and reflect on their own online reading
process in strategy usages engaged students in metacognition since they were not
allowed to compare their reading processes with those of their peers in the on-site
instruction. Finally, social interaction was facilitated in blended learning, as
students had more opportunities to discuss their reading difficulties during group
discussions and obtain individual feedback from different peers.
Keywords: blended learning; reading difficulty; reading strategy; metacognition;
group discussion

1. Introduction
The rapid development of information technology has promoted the growing use of
blended learning in higher education (Ellis, Goodyear, Calvo, & Prosser, 2008).
Blended learning provides students and teachers with an environment where they can
interact in both face-to-face instruction and online learning. It also provides
opportunities for small group discussions and collaboration as well as the possibility
of creating extended learning communities. Singh and Reed (2001) describe blended
learning as ‘‘a learning program where more than one delivery mode is being used

*Email: yangy@yuntech.edu.tw

ISSN 0958-8221 print/ISSN 1744-3210 online

Ó 2012 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2011.597767
http://www.tandfonline.com
 394 Y.-F. Yang

with the objective of optimizing the learning outcome’’ (p. 1). It is facilitated by an
effective combination of different learning techniques, technologies, and delivery
modalities to meet specific and individual needs (Şahin, 2010). Several studies show
the success as well as usefulness of blended learning, such as facilitation of language
knowledge construction and improvement of social skills (e.g. Engerlberg & Sjoberg,
2004; Leakey & Ranchoux, 2006; Linn, Clark, & Slotta, 2003).
College students who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL) and
whose English reading proficiency had been identified as being at the level expected
of junior or senior high school students (Chen, You, Yang, & Huang, 2004) were
reported to have benefited from blended learning in a remedial reading program
(Yang, 2010). The findings of Yang’s study (2010) revealed that students could select
appropriate reading strategies to suit their own reading pace, style, and level. That is,
students were able to take control of their own reading – making decisions on what,
how, when, and why to read. With blended learning, students’ on-site reading could
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be extended by online reading activities after class for individual purposes without
the restrictions of time and location. Different from classroom learning, students
could work at their own pace, as they had flexible time to work on favorite reading
sections or focus on reading tasks for individual needs. Blended learning also
increases the opportunities for students to interact with their peers, as low-proficient
students are more active in online group discussions due to the anonymity of their
identity (Yang & Tsai, 2010). Anonymity enables students to freely express their
ideas and opinions to peers. As such, college students with English reading difficulty
could be more independent in online reading activities and more autonomous in peer
interactions.
In examining the effectiveness of blended learning on the improvement of
students’ learning outcomes, recent studies have indicated the significance of
investigating how students integrate face-to-face instruction with online learning
(e.g. Bliuc, Ellis, Goodyear, & Piggott, 2011; Tsai, 2009; Tsai, Tsai, & Hwang, 2011).
‘‘We know little about . . . whether and how students are able to manage learning
activities that are distributed across material and virtual spaces, or whether they are
able to integrate their experiences and make appropriate connections between
activity in online and face-to-face contexts’’ (Ellis et al., 2008, p. 268). Aycock,
Garnham, and Kaleta (2002) claim that from the experiences of designing and
teaching hybrid courses, students’ poor management of time and organization skills
rather than technology is an important barrier to their blended learning. Moreover,
when learning facilitators such as the teacher, the reading activity, or the automatic
mechanism in the learning environment are not well combined, this can increase
extraneous or ineffective cognitive overload in the students’ learning process
(Leacock & Nesbit, 2007). All these problems indicate that simply turning classroom
courses into blended formats do not necessarily ensure the effectiveness of blended
learning in reading instruction. The effectiveness of blended learning may involve
deliberate design of blended formats to foster students’ conceptions of and
approaches to on-site and online learning, instead of simply developing many
delivery modes in an instruction.

1.1. Students’ conceptions of and approaches to blended learning

Students’ ‘‘conceptions of learning’’ and ‘‘approaches to learning’’ are the two
important factors for integrating blended learning (Lee, Johanson, & Tsai, 2008;
 Computer Assisted Language Learning 395

Purdie, Hattie, & Douglas, 1996). Conceptions of learning refer to what students
think learning is and what its outcomes might be (Ellis et al., 2008); approaches to
learning refer to how students proceed with academic tasks and how they improve
learning outcomes. Conceptions are constructed by students’ prior knowledge,
experiences, and preferred learning styles in a specific learning context, which will
influence the approaches that students employ to process learning tasks (Biggs,
2003). As a result, students’ approaches to learning are context specific and are
developed according to students’ conceptions of the learning context in terms of the
learning environments, learning activities, and instruction (Schmid, 2006). In other
words, students’ conceptions of learning and their approaches to learning are related
to each other and thereby to their learning outcomes (Yang & Tsai, 2010).
The integration of conceptions and approaches to improve learning outcomes
has been verified in many studies (Burnett, Pillay, & Dart, 2003; Chin & Brown,
2000; Eklund-Myrskog, 1998; Lin & Tsai, 2008; Lonka, Joram, & Bryson, 1996). For
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example, Minasian-Batmanian, Lingard, and Prosser (2006) indicate that students’

conceptions related to restructuring of existing knowledge are more likely to involve
the adoption of in-depth approaches associated with an orientation toward active
learning. Prosser and Trigwell (1999) also point out that students with cohesive
conceptions are inclined to adopt in-depth approaches that involve the learning of
materials through reflections, while students with fragmented conceptions adopt
approaches associated with the materials through rote memorization rather than
comprehension.

1.2. Background of this study

In this study, the remedial reading program provided the experimental group students
with blended formats to learn reading strategies in both a face-to-face and an online
learning context, while only face-to-face instruction was provided to the control
group students. Students acquiring and practicing reading in blended formats are
likely to possess two different sets of conceptions and approaches: one relevant to
learning in the on-site context and the other to learning in the online context (Tsai,
2009; Yang & Tsai, 2010). By integrating the two different sets of conceptions and
approaches, students can generate new conceptions and approaches to take control of
the reading tasks. However, most previous studies in blended learning simply
involved the on-site and online learning activities in a course or a program without
providing clearly the blended formats which would have enabled examination of
questions such as how the online system simulates students’ on-site practice, how the
on-site and online instruction support each other to enhance students’ learning, and
how students extend their on-site practice to online learning (e.g. Engerlberg &
Sjoberg, 2004; Linn et al., 2003; Singh & Reed, 2001; Valiathan, 2002). Particularly,
very few studies focused on the students’ integration of on-site with online learning in
generating new insights toward their future learning. Apart from the implementation
of the on-site and online activities, students’ blended learning deserves to be further
investigated in terms of their (1) conceptions of their reading in the on-site and online
environment, (2) approaches in processing reading tasks spread across on-site and
online learning, and (3) integration of on-site and online learning conceptions and
approaches to generate new conceptions and approaches.
The purpose of this study was to design a blended remedial reading program for
college students with English reading difficulties in order to maximize their reading
 396 Y.-F. Yang

outcomes. In on-site reading instruction, as college students with English reading

difficulties were reported to be lacking reading strategies and metacognitive skills
(Abraham, 2008; Dreyer, 1998; Dreyer & Nel, 2003; Wood, Motz, & Willoughby,
1998), the four reading strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and
summarizing (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) were introduced and practiced during the
first four weeks of on-site instruction. Students learned how to predict, clarify,
generate questions, and finally summarize the text on a paper-based worksheet.
Other strategies necessary for composing a summary were also instructed, such as
learning how to identify topic and supporting sentences and how to paraphrase
sentences. Students were also encouraged to take turns playing the reciprocal roles of
‘‘teacher’’ and ‘‘student’’ in demonstrating the correct usage of the reading strategies.
After the on-site instruction on the reading strategies for four weeks, the two
groups of the students continued to have instruction on reading comprehension for
another six weeks. The students in the control group attended the on-site instruction
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for 3 h per week and had 2–4 h after-class practice on paper-based exercises assigned
by the teacher, while the students in the experimental group had on-site instruction
for 3 h and online practice for 2–4 h per week. To ensure that each student in the
experimental group understood the usage of the reading system, they were taught to
use the online system to practice the four reading strategies. The four-strategy
practice was supported by the four functionalities in the system: dialog box,
discussion forum, chat room, and annotation tool. A list of guidelines and examples
was developed and posted on the system for students to follow.
Based on the research purpose, which was to design a blended remedial reading
program for college students with English reading difficulty in order to maximize
their reading outcomes, three research questions were addressed in this study: (1)
What are the students’ conceptions of the blended remedial reading program? (2)
What are the students’ approaches to the reading tasks in the blended remedial
reading program? (3) How do students make progress in the blended remedial
reading program?

2. Method
2.1. Participants
A sample of 183 college students who were learning English as a Foreign Language
(EFL) voluntarily signed up to participate in a remedial reading program at a
university of science and technology in central Taiwan. These 183 technological and
vocational education system (TVES) students were from different departments and
colleges of the university, where there is a requirement to pass a standardized test such
as the Test of English as International Communication (TOEIC). The maximum score
that can be attained on the TOEIC reading test is 495. The students’ mean score and
standard deviation on the TOEIC, which was administered as the pre-test, was 187.64
and 46.49, respectively. Based on their mean scores on the pre-test, the 183 participants
were identified as college students with English reading difficulties although none of
them had attended any special education program in their past schooling.
The selection of participants for the experiment was based on the following
criteria: the individual student’s mean score on the pre-test falling within half of the
standard deviation of all the remedial students’ mean score (187.64 + 23.25). Among
the 183 students, 108 students met the criteria: 54 of them were randomly assigned to
the experimental group, while the other 54 comprised the control group. The
 Computer Assisted Language Learning 397

experimental group students’ mean score and standard deviation on the pre-test was
184.12 and 38.13, respectively, and the control group students’ mean score and
standard deviation on the pre-test was 182.08 and 39.03, respectively. The result of an
independent sample t-test also confirmed that there was no significant difference
(t ¼ 0.90, p 5 0.214) between the experimental and control groups in their scores on
the pre-test.

2.2. System development

The system includes two main modules: the student interface and the teacher
interface. Four functionalities, namely, the dialog box, discussion forum, chat room,
and annotation tool are implemented in the system to support the interactions
between the teacher and students and among students themselves. As Vygotsky
(1978) pointed out, knowledge is constructed in the midst of the social interaction by
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sharing individual materials, eliciting challenging questions, and providing con-

structive feedback. By utilizing these four functionalities, students were encouraged to
exercise metacognition in monitoring and regulating their own reading.

2.2.1. The student interface

The student interface provides students with questions when they read a passage.
Students make a prediction after they read the title of the text. After submitting the
prediction of the title, they read, clarify, and annotate the first paragraph. There are
three ways for students to clarify their comprehension of the text. Students can ask
for help in the online chat room, send a message to their peers or the teacher, or look
up their unknown words from the online dictionary provided by the system.
During reading, students are asked to highlight key words or phrases, topic
sentences, and other important sentences in each paragraph as annotation. After
clarifying the confusing words, sentences, or concepts, students have to figure out the
main idea of the paragraph and move on to the questioning strategy. In questioning,
students can generate one or more questions for their peers to discuss in the discussion
forum (see Figure 1). For example, for the reading article entitled ‘‘Stress

Figure 1. The discussion forum.

 398 Y.-F. Yang

Management’’, three peers raised questions such as ‘‘How to manage one’s own
pressure?’’, ‘‘How to manage our pressure for keeping a healthy mind?’’, and ‘‘How
do you deal with the pressure from school?’’ They can also view peers’ different
perspectives toward the same reading texts in the discussion forum. Then, they
evaluate whether their previous prediction matches with the reading text or not and
make revisions after they comprehend the paragraph. Students use these four
strategies, namely, prediction, clarification, questioning, and summarization, in each
paragraph until they finish reading the whole text. There is also a reading
comprehension test provided to them by the system after they finish reading the
entire text.
Peer support was provided via a ‘‘little angel’’ system where learners could
change their role to that of ‘‘little angel’’ to offer support to their peers. The role of
the little angel was proposed to facilitate peer interaction and peer assessment since
the responsibility of the little angel is to review peers’ reading processes and provide
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suggestions. The system provides a button for users to press in order to switch their
roles to little angels. The little angel reads and gives suggestions to his peers’
notebooks as shown in Figure 2.

2.2.2. The teacher interface

The log files and students’ action statistics are available for the teacher to monitor
students’ interaction and reading process in the system (see Figure 3). The log files
record students’ actions in the system such as reading, making annotations, asking
questions in the chat room, looking up unknown words from the dictionary, and
answering questions. Students’ reading comprehension test scores are also recorded.

2.3. Procedure of data collection

In this study, the remedial reading instruction incorporating the online system lasted
for 12 weeks (17 March to 4 June, 2010), covered 3 h in class per week, and provided
two weeks of recess during the mid-term exams. At the beginning of the remedial
reading program, the TOEIC was administered as a pre-test for reading
comprehension to all 183 students participating in the program. As previously
mentioned, only 108 students were eventually randomly assigned to one of the two

Figure 2. The interface of ‘‘little angel’’.

 Computer Assisted Language Learning 399

Figure 3. The log files in the teacher interface.

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conditions, the experimental or control group. After the pre-test, 12 weeks on-site
instruction was delivered to the control group while blended learning instruction
combining on-site and online learning was provided to the experimental group. The
four strategies of prediction, clarification, questioning, and summarization were
introduced to both groups during the first four weeks of on-site instruction.
Students’ worksheets in the face-to-face instruction and log files in the online
learning were collected for the investigation of their approaches in reading strategies.
After 12 weeks of instruction, the TOEIC was administered as a post-test of reading
comprehension to evaluate experimental and control group participants’ progress.
Finally, a semistructured interview was conducted by randomly selecting 20 students
from the experimental group in order to investigate their original and new
conceptions of blended learning before and after the remedial reading program.

2.4. Procedure of data analysis

Data were analyzed in terms of the pre-test and post-test, students’ actions recorded
in the log files of the system, students’ on-site worksheets of the reading strategies,
and the semistructured interview. At the first phase of data analysis, paired samples
t-test was adopted to analyze students’ progress in the pre- and post-tests. At the
second phase, content analysis was conducted on students’ actions (recorded in the
log files of the system), students’ on-site worksheets, and the interview responses.
Content analysis is an in-depth qualitative analysis which enabled the researcher
and the research assistant to discover, describe, and make inferences on the
collected data.
According to Patton (1990), four procedures are included in content analysis (1)
coding, (2) categorization, (3) description, and (4) interpretation. Coding is a process
for reducing repeated data and generating meaningful units. In this study, the
researcher and the research assistant first read through transcriptions of students’
actions in the log files of the system, the on-site worksheets, and the semistructured
interview. Meaningful statements such as students’ interactions with their peers were
highlighted, identified, and coded. Then, these meaningful statements were grouped
into categories, such as questions raised by the teacher or the students and questions
raised for prediction, clarification, and summarization. After this, the statements
were described according to the results of categorization. Finally, the main ideas
 400 Y.-F. Yang

were interpreted and conclusions were drawn. The inter-rater reliabilities of students’
statements in the log files, the paper-based worksheets, and the semistructured
interview were found to be 0.85, 0.79, and 0.83, respectively. The disagreement
between the two raters (the researcher and the research assistant) was resolved by
discussion. Data interpretation driven by these research methods is further explained
in the following sections.

3. Results
To investigate how students integrate their on-site with online reading through the
blended formats, the results section of this study first presents the conceptions that 20
experimental group students generated from their on-site and online instruction.
Second, a student in the experimental group with a pseudo name, May, is randomly
selected to demonstrate her employed approaches to comprehending a text in blended
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learning involving on-site and online reading. Finally, students’ reading progress in
the pre- and post-tests for the experimental and control groups are reported.

3.1. Students’ conceptions of the blended remedial reading program

Students’ statements in the semistructured interview revealed their conceptions on
how they improve their reading in on-site (see Table 1) and online instructions (see
Table 2). After experiencing the on-site and online remedial reading instruction,
experimental group students integrated their reading in these two modalities and
generated new conceptions for their future learning in reading (see Table 3). First, in
the interview they stated that rather than learning reading in the traditional
environment where teachers were always the dominators controlling the time for
reading activities in the classroom, students would like to learn reading strategies in a

Table 1. Students’ conceptions of on-site reading practices (N ¼ 20).

Statements Frequency
1. Traditional reading instruction provides a teacher-centered learning 15
environment where the teacher is a knowledge transmitter or an
expert in teaching students grammatical rules, reading strategies,
and providing examples
2. The teacher is the only one to correct students’ errors and provide 15
suggestions so that the teacher is the only model for students to follow
3. In traditional reading instruction, students are passive readers. They 11
just rely much on the teacher’s suggestions
4. Students only take responsibilities for individual learning and do not need 9
to provide suggestions to their peers. They may lack the opportunities
to exercise critical and analytic thinking in social interaction
5. Students cannot interact with peers, and have few chances to view and 4
provide their peers with suggestions
6. It is not convenient for students to write the answers on a paper-based 2
worksheet, as error corrections are hardly shown each time a
correction is made
7. The teacher has to spend much time on correcting all students’ errors; 2
thus, students cannot get the teacher’s comments immediately
8. Students get scores or comments from the teacher only, but what if the 2
teacher is incorrect or subjective?
 Computer Assisted Language Learning 401

Table 2. Students’ conceptions of online reading practices (N ¼ 20).

Statements Frequency
1. As peers’ comments differ from each other, students have to surf on the 16
Internet, discuss with peers, or view other peers’ texts to get more
specific ideas
2. Students can receive a lot of feedback and suggestions from different peers 10
3. Students can learn a lot through collaborative learning in which they can 8
discuss texts with each other
4. In online reading instruction, students are active in discussing the texts, 5
which provides the students opportunities to exercise their critical thinking
5. I, myself, have increasingly become an active learner because rather than 4
simply receiving the teacher’s comments, I have to comment on peers’
reading
6. Students are the facilitators for each other. In order to give useful 3
suggestions, they have to check and learn the reading first
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7. Students have more chances to view and analyze peers’ texts. By doing so, 3
they can learn different reading skills, perspectives, grammatical rules, and
social skills at the same time
8. The online reading trains my ability of critical thinking. For example, when 3
I receive peers’ suggestions, I must think whether the comments are
appropriate for my text. In addition, I have to provide useful opinions
to peers as well
9. The online reading helps me a lot in reading comprehension and translation. 3
In addition, I extended my world knowledge by reading the texts from
different domains

Table 3. Students’ new conceptions of future reading (N ¼ 20).

Statements Frequency
1. I prefer a blended learning environment where I can talk to my 17
classmates about my reading difficulties and progress
2. I prefer blended learning in enhancing my reading ability because it 15
allows me to have more chances to practice what I have learned.
I can reduce my learning anxiety
3. I like to share my feelings and difficulties with my classmates or 15
teachers. Their comments are always very helpful
4. In order to familiarize themselves with the reading strategies, students 15
should have sufficient time to practice the reading strategies both
on-site and online
5. I regard it as very important to have the reading process data so that 10
I can understand my reading problems
6. It is helpful to view the more-proficient peers’ reading process 10
through the logs files. Their reading process can serve as a learning
model for me in reading
7. I think good reading instruction should focus on students’ reading process 8
8. I like the peer discussions in the blended learning instruction because peers 4
have points of views which are different from mine. Therefore, I can
learn more from peer discussions

context in which they can take charge of their time in order to have more
opportunities to practice the reading strategies.
Second, students recognized the importance of the process data (log files) for
them to actively engage in their reading process; through it, they could reflect on
 402 Y.-F. Yang

their usage of the reading strategies, predicting, clarifying, questioning, and

summarizing, and problems in employing them. Students indicated that by
comparing the reading process of theirs with those of their peers, they could obtain
different perspectives in terms of employing the reading strategies from the more-
proficient readers and subsequently discover their own deficiency. Finally, compared
to the traditional classroom setting where students only generate one or two
questions for discussions and receive general feedback from teachers or peers,
students emphasized that the effective reading instruction should support the group
discussions in which students can share and discuss their reading strategy usages and
difficulties with each other. Through the online group discussions, they could receive
individual feedback and generate specific questions to support their peers’ reading
strategy usages or difficulties. From students’ integration of their on-site and online
learning, it was noticed that students knew how to take control of their reading both
in on-site and online instruction for future learning in reading.
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3.2. Students’ approaches to the blended remedial reading program

As experimental group students with blended learning generated new conceptions, a
student with a pseudonym, May, was randomly selected from the experimental
group to illustrate her employed approaches to comprehending a text in blended
learning involving the on-site and online reading.

3.2.1. May’s reading in on-site instruction

In the on-site instruction, May’s approaches to reading an English text, including
prediction, clarification, questioning, and summarization, were shown in one of the
worksheets (Figure 4). At first, she predicted the main ideas of the text by reading the
title ‘‘Who’s at the Wheel?’’ (see Appendix 1) and stated ‘‘the text is about auto
driving, that is, where a car could be driven by itself.’’ Next, she read the first
paragraph and clarified what she did not understand through questioning strategies
(these were not documented in the worksheet). After finishing reading the first
paragraph, May summarized the first paragraph as ‘‘People drive on Newland Street
and slow down when they see a police officer’’. In reading the second paragraph,
apart from the strategies of prediction, clarification, question, and summarization,
May evaluated her previous prediction and made modifications by stating
‘‘Incorrect, this paragraph is describing the mannequin police officer’’.
While May’s employed approaches were revealed by her paper-based worksheet,
the drawback of the on-site instruction was its inability to record the process of how
May made prediction, asked for clarification, generated questions, and wrote sum-
maries in reading the text. Without reading the process data, peers and the teacher often
could not identify the difficulties May had faced in each reading strategy usage and
were unable to support her with new approaches to overcome the difficulties.

3.2.2. May’s reading in the online system

As previously mentioned, the reading process of each student was hardly recorded in
the on-site practice. For example, in on-site instruction, May wrote the questions she
generated but what difficulties she encountered in generating questions were
unknown. In contrast, the online system not only recorded what approaches May
 Computer Assisted Language Learning 403
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Figure 4. Worksheet depicting May’s utilization of the reading strategies.

Table 4. May’s reading process of the first paragraph recorded in the log files.

Reading
Pg. process Reading strategies
1 Before Clarification
Clarify the meaning of ‘‘stress’’
Add ‘‘stress’’ into notebook
Prediction
Make title prediction ‘‘Where stress comes from and the author might
share how to release stress’’
During Clarification
Clarify the meaning of ‘‘stress’’, ‘‘assignments’’, ‘‘normal’’, and ‘‘manage’’
Annotation
Mark topic sentence ‘‘Many college students feel a lot of pressure from
their assignments and tests’’
Mark other important sentence ‘‘some students know how to manage
their stress better than others’’
After Summarization
Write the first paragraph’s main idea ‘‘Many college students feel a lot
of pressure from their assignments and tests’’
Questioning
Post a question ‘‘Most students could avoid stress. What
characteristics do these students have?’’

Note: Pg. ¼ paragraph.

 404 Y.-F. Yang

had employed but also what difficulties she had encountered in the reading process.
According to the log files in the online system, May’s employed approaches during
her reading process are shown chronologically in Table 4. At first, May read the text
‘‘College Studies and Stress’’ (see Appendix 2). The system raised a question, asking
May to make a prediction after she read the title. Before she made the prediction, the

Table 5. May’s actions in the online discussion forum.

Content of discussion
Question Response
May: Most students could avoid stress. P1: They would be positive ones
What characteristics do these students P2: Let it be.
have? P3: Think positive. Try to face and solve
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May: Expect making a schedule for
everything. Is there any way to
manage time well?
May: How does one schedule a time to
exercise within a limited time frame?
May: Is there any other way to get
more information without
counseling?
P9: In your personal experience, how
do you release your stress?
Teacher: Why is managing stress so
important?
P10: Where does stress come from?
P5: Is there any other way to release
stress?
problems
P4: Be positive
P2: Sleep less so you would have more time
to do things
P5: Skip classes which are not important and
use that time to study
P4: Be healthy so you can do other things
May: Try to finish your assignment in class to
reduce the loading
P2: I really don’t have a mood when I have not
finished my work
P3: Go swimming
P6: I would exercise when I have time
P7: Talk to classmates, or teachers
P2: Talk to friends
P8: Share your stress with your family
May: Sleep, travel, or play with my cat
May: So you won’t hurt others or others won’t
hurt you when you are under lots of pressure
May: For me, stress comes from my school work
when I can’t come up with an idea on what to
design or when I can’t finish my design
assignment on time
May: Transfer the stress into motivations

Table 6. Paired-samples t-test on the pre- and post-tests of the experimental group.

Paired samples statistics – Pair 1 Mean N Std. deviation Std. error mean
Pre-test 184.12 54 38.19 13.60
Post-test 239.61 54 52.46 21.66
Paired samples correlations – Pair 1 N Correlation Sig. (p)
Pre-test and post-test 54 0.597 0.000
Paired samples test – Pair 1 t df Sig. (two-tailed) (p)
Pre-test and post-test 714.89 53 0.000
 Computer Assisted Language Learning 405

log files show that May checked the online dictionary to clarify her unknown word
‘‘stress’’. This revealed her encountered difficulties in predicting. After making the
prediction for the title, she started to read the first paragraph. The log files also show
her annotation for the topic sentence and other important sentences in the first
paragraph. This provided a clue for the teacher to understand how May summarized
the paragraph and how she generated a question for peer discussion after reading.
It was found that May employed the same approaches – prediction, clarification,
questioning, and summarization, in the on-site and online reading. However, action
details for each approach could be revealed by the log files only. Another example is
shown when May entered the online discussion forum after finishing reading the
entire text. As shown in Table 5, May’s interactions with peers and the teacher in
group discussions were recorded. The question she proposed when reading the first
paragraph was answered by four peers (P1, P2, P3, and P4). The following three
questions she proposed were discussed by different groups of peers (P2, P4, and P5;
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P2, P3, and P6; and P2, P7, and P8), which indicated May’s discussion with various
peers online. In the online discussion forum, May not only generated questions for
her peers to discuss, but also answered each question from her peers and the teacher.
These extensive interactions were not revealed in the on-site instruction.
From May’s employed approaches shown in the worksheet and log files, several
differences were found. First, May’s reading process and her difficulties in using the
reading strategies were well recorded in online practices whereas these were missing
in on-site instruction. In observing and reflecting on her own reading process
recorded in the log files, May could compare her reading process with those of her
peers. By comparison, more-proficient students’ reading process and strategy usage
served as good models for May to follow. Second, the numbers of questions
generated in the on-site and online practices were different. In on-site practices, May
only generated one question for peer discussion, while she proposed and answered
more than one question in different group discussions online. More interactions and
assessment occurred between students and the teacher and among students
themselves than those of the on-site instruction. This deepened May’s thinking
and reading in comprehending a text.

3.3. Students’ reading progress in integrating conceptions of and approaches to

blended learning
In order to reveal students’ progress in the experimental group for blending learning,
differences between scores of the pre- and post-tests were investigated. A paired-
samples t-test was employed to determine whether there was a significant difference
between the pre- and post-test scores in the experimental and control groups. The
results shown in Table 6 indicated that the mean score of the experimental group (54
students) on the post-test (239.61) was greater than that on the pre-test (184.12), and
there was a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores
(t ¼ 714.89, p 5 0.001). Similarly, control group students’ pre- and post-test scores
from the same tests were measured (Table 7). The results indicated that there was not
a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores of the
students in the control group. In the post-test (Table 8), there was a significant
difference between the two groups (t ¼ 2.89, p 5 0.005). The results showed that
students in the experimental group improved and performed better on the TOEIC
reading test after participating in the blended learning remedial reading program.
 406 Y.-F. Yang

Table 7. Paired-samples t-test on the pre- and post-tests of the control group.

Paired samples statistics – Pair 1 Mean N Std. deviation Std. error mean
Pre-test 182.08 54 39.03 16.38
Post-test 194.62 54 39.83 18.56
Paired samples correlations – Pair 1 N Correlation Sig. (p)
Pre-test and post-test 54 0.423 0.002
Paired samples test – Pair 1 t df Sig. (two-tailed) (p)
Pre-test and post-test 71.89 53 0.058

Table 8. Independent t-test of the pre- and post-tests of the two groups.

N M SD SE F t df p
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Pre-test
Experimental group 54 184.12 38.19 13.60 2.35 0.90 106 0.113
Control group 54 182.08 39.03 16.38
Post-test
Experimental group 54 239.61 52.46 21.66 3.68 2.89 106 0.004*
Control group 54 194.62 39.83 18.56

Note: *p 5 0.01.

4. Discussion and conclusion

The results of this study indicate that blended learning is effective in enhancing
students’ reading proficiency through the well-managed combination of on-site and
online instruction. Students in the experimental group perform significantly better on
reading than those in the control group since they could not only generate new
conceptions for integrating on-site and online learning, but also, through
externalizing their reading process online, were able to reveal their approaches in
the reading process. This is different from previous studies that often remain
doubtful regarding the effectiveness of blended learning, as students in blended
learning often encountered the difficulties of managing time, organizing learning
materials, and interacting with peers or teachers (Aycock et al., 2002; Bonk, Olson,
Wisher, & Orvis, 2002). In this study, by controlling the on-site and online learning,
students generated new conceptions of and approaches to enhance their reading in
the future. Based on their new conceptions of and approaches to learn reading
strategies, this study found the three significant factors to help students integrate
their on-site with online learning. The three factors are stated as follows.
First, it is highly possible that students will face the problem of cognitive
overload when they cannot integrate what they have learned from the on-site
instruction with the online practice (Leacock & Nesbit, 2007). To solve this problem,
the online learning should be first designed to allow students to practice what they
learned from the on-site instruction anytime and anywhere. Students can take
control of their reading by following their own pace and proficiency level in choosing
the reading strategies or materials in which they are interested. Then, students can
also be developed into independent learners for their future reading who can
schedule and manage their reading time, approaches, and attitudes to achieve their
reading goals.
 Computer Assisted Language Learning 407

Second, providing students with the reading process data (log files) to observe
their reading process in strategy usages is also significant in order to support students
in integrating their on-site with online learning. In this study, the process data
provided students with opportunities to view their peers’ externalization of reading
strategy usage. This turned students into active learners, as they were able to analyze
and reflect on their own reading process. Through reflection, students identified their
difficulties in employing the reading strategies of prediction, clarification, question-
ing, and summarization, which might impede their reading comprehension. By
comparing their own reading process with that of the more-proficient readers,
students could also adopt better approaches to process their reading tasks.
Finally, social interaction is important for students in their integration of the on-
site and online reading. This study indicated that many students appreciated the
interactive learning environment supported by the online system, in which they could
discuss their reading difficulties with peers and obtain individual feedback from
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different students. Rather than relying on the teacher as an authoritative figure to

provide answers or feedback, students expected to receive multiple answers or
perspectives from discussing with peers. Once there was a disagreement with each
others’ answers, they could propose questions and ask for clarification immediately.
While this study proves the effectiveness of blended learning in remedial reading
instruction, as the post-test scores of the students in the experimental group were
significantly higher than their pre-test scores, and provides a model for successful
blended learning, some suggestions are provided for future research. As this study
focused on students’ reading in the on-site and online learning, future studies can
explore the role of the teacher in blended learning. For example, future studies can
investigate the teachers’ perceptions toward their role in blended learning in order to
realize how teachers facilitate students in integrating their on-site with online learning.
Future studies can also focus on the teachers’ changes in their teaching conceptions
and approaches after experiencing blended learning in a reading program.

Acknowledgements
This article was supported partially by the National Science Council in the Republic of China,
Taiwan (NSC 99-2410-H-224-021).

Notes on contributor
Yu-Fen Yang is currently a professor in the Graduate School of Applied Foreign Languages
at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. Her research focus is
mainly on learning psychology of reading and writing, computer-assisted language learning,
language education for special needs, and language assessment. She has published many
manuscripts in British Journal of Educational Technology, Computers and Education,
Computers in Human Behavior, Educational Technology and Society, and Computer-Assisted
Language Learning.

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Appendix 1
On-site Practice Text
Who’s at the Wheel?
There is lot of traffic in Chevy Chase Village, Maryland, and some people drive too fast. They
step on their brakes and slow down on Newlands Street, though. This is because they see a
police car with a police officer inside.
The man in the car is named Officer Springirth. He has worked on this street 24 h a day,
seven days a week, for two-and-a-half years. He doesn’t get paid overtime. In fact, he doesn’t
get paid at all. How can Officer Springirth do this? Simple-he isn’t a real man. He is a
mannequin.
The police force in Chevy Chase Village has 10 people, with 5 cars. Officer Springirth sits
in one of the cars. Before Officer Springirth people broke into 16 cars in two months in Chevy
Chase Village. When the police department put Officer Springirth on the street there were no
more break-ins in that area. Compared to neighboring villages, the crime rate in Chase Village
is very low.
Downloaded by [McMaster University] at 19:02 23 April 2013

The most important effect Officer Springirth has is reducing traffic accidents. There is
heavy traffic on the busy road to Washington, and a lot of people go above the speed limit.
When they see Officer Springirth, they slow down to the speed limit of 30 miles an hour. In
Officer Springirth’s second year on the job the number of traffic accidents fell form 175 to 157
People who see Officer Springirth are fooled. He looks exactly like a real police officer, as
he sits at the wheel of his car wearing a cap and sunglasses. But people who call him for help
are in trouble. Officer Springirth can’t help them-he doesn’t any legs.

Appendix 2
On-line Practice Text
College studies and Stress
Many college students feel a lot of pressure from their assignments and tests. To feel stress is
normal. However, some students know how to manage their stress better than others.
If you want to manage your stress you should try your best to mange your time. A
schedule can help you to manage your time. In your schedule you can write what you have to
do and when you have to do it. Another way is to use ‘‘bits of time’’. When you have a fifteen-
minute break you can write down some ideas for your report in a small notebook. It is also
useful to speak to your professor. If you have too much work, you can ask him/her for more
time. Your professor will give you more time if you have a good explanation. You can use
these and other ways to manage your time. However, besides controlling your time, you also
need good health.
For good health, you should do several things. You should have a good diet. A good diet
has enough, minerals, vitamins and other nutrients. It is also important to sleep enough and
exercise regularly. Besides these ways, you should also try to relax yourself. You can read a
book or magazine or massage yourself before you sleep. Most people forget to relax, but
relaxing is also important for good health.
By managing your time and having good health, you will be able to manage your stress
better. If you need more information about stress, you can contact the counseling center at
your university.