Abstract

OSORNO GONZALEZ, Jaime Alberto  and  LOPERA MEDINA, Sergio Alonso. INTERACTION IN AN EFL READING COMPREHENSION DISTANCE WEB-BASED COURSE. Íkala [online]. 2012, vol.17, n.1, pp.45-59. ISSN 0123-3432.

This article reports the positive and negative effects of an EFL reading comprehension distance web-based course based on four models of interaction (Bouhnik & Marcus, 2006; Moore, 1989). The methodology used was a case study, and researchers used five different data collection instruments and the tools from the platform Moodle to collect them. Some of the positive findings include: language improvement, individualized assistance, a friendly environment, and a different teacher's role. Conversely, some of the negative results are: the number of exercises, anxiety, limited feed-back, lack of interaction among students, and the absence of a tutorial guide. In conclusion, it is suggested that web-based courses balance the number of exercises, give deeper feed-back, encourage interaction among students, and design a tutorial.

Keywords : interaction; EFL reading; MOODLE platform.

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