Web-Based Courses Improve English-Language Skills of Foreign University Science Students

摘要

Three English courses for first-year Japanese science majors were designed to accelerate reading skills and acquisition of science concepts by using Web-based materials. The Web materials were selected especially for high quality illustrations (graphics, pictures, simulations) that clarified unfamiliar scientific concepts. To evaluate the effect of such materials on students' reading comprehension in English, an experiment compared students' comprehension results from three types of texts: (a) paper text, no illustration (b) paper text with an illustration; and (c) text on Web with more elaborate illustrations. The best comprehension scores were associated with Web materials. The positive effects of the Web materials were especially significant for the most abstract concepts.