Developing English Majors’ Comprehension of Literary Texts and Online Self-Regulated Language Learning Skills via Literature Circles 2.0

Abstract

To cope with the virtual learning mode that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed and driven by the desire to enhance students’ ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate their online learning, the current study sought to digitalize the Literature Circles model and investigate its effect on developing English majors’ comprehension skills of literary texts and online self-regulated language learning skills in an EFL context. Literature Circles 2.0 was adopted to teach the Literary Reading course that includes five short stories and a one-act play. To achieve the purpose of the study, two tools were implemented: Test of Literary Reading Comprehension Skills and Online Self-Regulated Language Learning Skills Questionnaire (Barnard et al., 2009). Sixty English majors, divided into two equivalent groups, participated in the study. The control group studied the course using the traditional teaching method, teacher-centered, which relies on lecturing, whereas the experimental group studied the same course using the Literature Circles 2.0, whereby students worked autonomously in an online virtual environment. The study results revealed the significant effect of Literature Circles 2.0 on developing the students’ comprehension of literary texts as they were demonstrated to be involved personally and emotionally in the active learning process of the course. Meanwhile, the students of the experimental group displayed a significant mastery of the online self-regulated language learning skills. Based on the students’ significant improvement in processing, comprehending, and extracting the meaning of literary texts, the study concluded that the Literature Circles 2.0 proved to be an effective approach to promoting students’ comprehension of literary texts. Therefore, the study conclusively recommends the use of Literature Circles 2.0 in teaching such texts.

Implementing virtual literature circles for developing English learners’ vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension

“…Similarly, Hinds (2019) conducted action research on third-grade students which indicated that literature circles had a significant positive impact on reading comprehension. Kassem (2022) investigated the literature circles strategy using a literary reading comprehension test and an online self-regulated language learning skills test. In Kassem (2022) Meniado ( 2016) conducted a study on a group of EFL Saudi students and reported that there was no association between metacognitive reading techniques and reading comprehension, in contrast to earlier findings on reading strategies.…”

“…Kassem (2022) investigated the literature circles strategy using a literary reading comprehension test and an online self-regulated language learning skills test. In Kassem (2022) Meniado ( 2016) conducted a study on a group of EFL Saudi students and reported that there was no association between metacognitive reading techniques and reading comprehension, in contrast to earlier findings on reading strategies. Furthermore, Meniado (2016) claimed that motivation for reading and comprehension did not correlate, but that motivation for reading and reading methods did.…”

Effects of Explicit Reading Strategy Instruction on Grade 9 Students’ Achievement in Reading Comprehension

“…Kassem [13] conducted a study on developing English majors' comprehension of literary texts and online selfregulated learning skills via Literature Circles 2.0. The study targeted enhancing students' ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate their online learning and digitalized the literature circles model and investigated its impact on developing English majors' comprehension skills of literary texts and online self-regulated language learning skills in an EFL context.…”

“…It is recommended that training on scaffolding reading strategy needs to be given to English language teachers and students. Some other reading scholars (for example, [13,19,[28][29][30][31]) conducted studies on reading at universities and their claims show that they refer that students' language skills are not well cultivated in elementary and high school; especially, their reading comprehension skills-the core for other academic subjects-that is the reason students who join university seem to be inefficient to read and comprehend a given reading text. Even, their analysis further implies that a great effort is needed to be made in the elementary and high school reading comprehension instruction curriculum to improve students' reading comprehension skills.…”

“…All those models have been influenced by ESL/EFL reading theory and instructional practices. Various scholars (for example, [2,[10][11][12][13]) have explained the importance of reading comprehension instruction in enhancing students' reading comprehension skills. If reading comprehension instruction plays a vital role in enhancing students' reading comprehension skills, teachers are expected to employ explicit reading strategy instruction to let learners comprehend a given reading text designed for their grade level.…”