Promoting extensive reading in a blended learning modality: Students’ perceptions

Abstract

Reading in foreign language is a difficult ability to foster and a boring task for some students. That is why teachers should look for attractive ways to promote it. The objective of this research is to characterize students’ perceptions towards the use of a blended learning modality to promote extensive reading, as well as to know if they consider having meaningful reading comprehension when working with it at the Bachelor of Teaching English at the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla. To analyze this phenomenon, a cross-sectional quantitative study was accomplished with a Likert-scale questionnaire and the TOEFL examination test as instruments. The results characterize the subjects’ perceptions as identifying the blended learning modality like a suitable learning resource to promote extensive reading as well as another technology-based instructional delivery environment with special attributes that empower meaning reading-learning experiences since their tutor was available inside and outside the classroom to help them in their extensive reading process. Besides, they did extensive reading in shorter periods for specific purposes like pleasure, information, and general understanding. Finally, they found that working in this modality promotes cognitive processing if the tasks are pedagogically designed.