Effectiveness of a multimodal approach during online reading strategy instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a multimodal approach in which an additional camera was used to deliver online explicit reading strategy instruction. Targeting 20 Japanese beginner-level EFL college students taking online Zoom lessons during one academic semester, two research questions were investigated: (a) To what extent does online reading strategy training using a camera to show the teacher’s pointing gestures enhance beginner-level students’ comprehension of written texts?; and (b) How do beginner-level students perceive the teacher’s online reading strategy training? The results showed that the multimodal explicit strategy instruction increased students’ attentional focus, encouraged them to use target reading strategies, and facilitated their understanding of the reading texts. The students’ responses to a self-reflection questionnaire and interviews showed that their perceptions of this online reading strategy instruction were positive. Further, they reported that their ability to comprehend English texts improved over the length of the course.