Impact of Collaborative Reading Annotation System on EFL/ESL Learners on A Digital Platform: A Case Study of Tertiary Level Students in Bangladesh

Abstract

The year 2020 is a significant milestone in the history of human civilization. Due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the whole world literally came to stand still. The loss of human lives, the financial setback, new-norms of social behavior, potential threat to the progress of education and the mass paranoia have forced the world order to re-consider the traditional lifestyle and values. As a part of this re-consideration, Bangladesh with the aid of Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BDREN) came forward to offer the Zoom platform to all the educational institutions in the country for free in order to continue the progress of education. As a result the screen time of all the students increased. They started to spend considerable time reading electronic materials and media. Nevertheless, many studies show that screen-based reading tends to lead students to surface reading, attention deficiency and that results in poor comprehension. This study, thus, explores the use of a collaborative reading annotation system (CRAS) that enhances digital reading performance on an online platform. A group of thirty low-achievers in a Short Stories course was selected and CRAS was introduced to them. At the end of four months’ intensive instruction, a significant change in their performance was noted. Moreover, the group showed a remarkable interest in the reading tasks and high learning satisfaction.

Keywords: Collaborative Reading, Reading Strategies, Digital Reading, EFL/ESL teaching/learning strategies

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-18-07

Publication date:June 30^th 2023