Questioning the Text: Advancing Literary Reading in the Second Language Through Web-Based Strategy Training

Abstract

This study assessed language learners' perceptions of an instructional approach to literary reading in the second language. The approach under investigation is based on a Web tutorial that teaches questioning strategies. Seventy-eight German students enrolled at a state university in the United States participated in the study. Questionnaire data suggest that most of the learners perceived the approach positively in regard to its impact in facilitating the development of literary reading competencies in the second language. Students with positive perceptions about the Web tutorial were more likely to report a positive affective response to the literary texts and a higher motivation to continue the study of German beyond the university's foreign language requirement.