Improving Reading Skills of Khon Kaen University Graduate Students via Web-based Lessons

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to examine Khon Kaen University graduate students’ reading skills after learning via web-based lessons and to investigate the attitudes of Khon Kaen University graduate students towards learning via web-based lessons to improve their reading skills. The participants were 63 graduate students who enrolled in 411 711 Reading in English for Graduate Students course in the first semester of academic year 2016. The instruments used in this study were 1) the pretest and the posttest, 2) web-based lessons, 3) the questionnaire, and 4) the interview. The data were statistically analyzed by using SPSS program to find out mean (M), standard deviation (S.D.), and t-Test. The results from the open-ended part of the questionnaire and the interview were analyzed by content analysis. The research findings indicated that the mean scores of the posttest were significantly higher than the pretest which means that students’ reading skills were significantly increased at 0.05 level after learning via web-based lessons. In addition, guessing meaning from context is claimed as most developed among all reading strategies. According to the analysis from the questionnaire and the interview, the results showed that students’ attitudes towards learning via web-based lessons were at high level. Students revealed that the web-based lessons are interesting, fun, and useful for improving their reading skills. Students also suggested that web-based lessons were appropriate to be integrated as to develop other English skills.