Multimodal literature and CEFR reading proficiency: Improving literary reading skills in EFL learners

Sukanya Kaowiwattanakul

Abstract


Using multimodal literature, incorporating the auditory, visual, and kinesthetic elements to support the students’ diverse learning styles, enhanced students’ engagement and motivation in an EFL literature classroom. It contributed to a more interactive and productive learning environment, promoting students to gain more comprehension when reading texts. This study investigated the impact of multimodal literature on the literary reading abilities of C1-level EFL students. The participants were ten fourth-year English major students (4 men and 6 women) at a public university in northern Thailand who participated in a course incorporating six multimodal literature-based lesson plans. A pre- and post-literary reading test and a rubric were used to assess students’ literary reading competence. A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was employed to analyse the pre- and post-test quantitative data. The findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in students’ post-test scores (z=2.176, p<.05). These findings are of significance as they demonstrated the significant impact of using multimodal literature as opposed to linear texts on EFL learners’ reading proficiency at the tertiary level. By incorporating the use of multimodal texts into pedagogical practices, the findings of this study can give English teachers and educators a guideline or roadmap for designing curricula that will address the shift in people’s reading habits that tend to rely on modern technology and move away from print reading of linear texts toward digital reading on devices like computers, tablets, and smartphones that offer them non-linear texts in multimodal forms.


Keywords


CEFR; EFL learners; multimodal literature; reading skills

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v15i1.75921

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