The effectiveness of audio books on the reading comprehension of selected texts by university EFL students at different proficiency levels

Abstract

This study mainly investigated the effectiveness of audio books on the reading comprehension of selected texts by university EFL students. This study also aimed to find out whether a difference in students‘ reading comprehension as a result of exposure to audio books emerges based on their proficiency levels. Lastly, students‘ attitudes toward audio books were also investigated in the study. This study was conducted over three weeks, with the participation of 82 students from four classes at elementary and intermediate levels at Anadolu University School of Foreign Languages. One of the classes at each level was selected as the control group and the other class was designated as the experimental group. The control group students were assigned to read three graded readers, one book per-week, while the experimental group students were assigned to read the same books and listen to the accompanying audio CDs outside the classroom.In order to investigate the effectiveness of audio books on the reading comprehension of university EFL students, reading comprehension tests, which were prepared for each book separately, were administered to the control and the experimental group students after each one-week reading period. In order to address the first research question, the mean values and standard deviations were calculated and compared between the control and experimental groups. The test results of the elementary and the intermediate level students were compared to explore any difference in the effectiveness of audio books on reading comprehension according to their proficiency levels. Following each reading comprehension test, the experimental group students were administered a questionnaire with the intent to find out their attitudes toward using audio books. Analysis of the test data revealed that audio books are effective in the text comprehension of university EFL students, and they appeared to have a greater effect on students at intermediate level than they did at elementary level. The results from the questionnaire showed that the experimental group students had positive attitudes toward their experience with audio books. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of audio books, suggesting that teachers can incorporate them as an alternative approach to traditional extensive reading implementation.