Research On The Effect Of Computer-assisted English Academic Reading Instruction On Esp Learners’ Self-regulation And Perception

Over the years,there has been enormous increase in integrating computers as support tools to facilitate learners’ engagement and promote learners’ motivation as well as cultivate their self-regulation in foreign language learning curriculum.While lots of studies have been done in English as foreign language contexts,few studies have been conducted on the impact of educational technology on English for specific purposes(ESP)learners.For this purpose,this study was carried out to enable ESP learners to benefit from academic reading under computer assisted language learning(CALL)environments.The current study adopts action research methodology to explore the effectiveness of computer-assisted English academic reading instruction on ESP learners’ online self-regulation and perception.Using a mixed research method,this study also investigated the relationship between ESP learners’ online self-regulation and their attitudes toward online learning through CALL teaching activities.Quantitative data were collected from two surveys,the online self-regulated English learning(OSEL)questionnaire and the attitudes toward computer-supported English learning environments(ACELE)questionnaire,among191 university students in Northeast China.Qualitative data obtained from students’ learning diaries,classroom observation and follow-up interviews are used as supplement to give further explanation to the research questions.The results demonstrated that the majority of students hold positive attitudes toward online learning in terms of ease of use,perceived usefulness,self-efficacy,affection,and behavior.Students’ attitudes and self-regulation have been improved through the whole teaching experiment.It also confirmed the positive correlation between students’ online self-regulation and learning attitudes.This study highlighted the positive role of students’ learning behavior as one of the factor of attitudes for explaining their online self-regulated learning.As a result,the findings indicated that the CALL environments had potential effects on ESP learners’ self-regulation and learning attitudes,and to a great extent,there is a certain interaction between students’ attitudes and self-regulation in this study.Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed in the end.