Reading authentic EFL text using visualization and advance organizers in a multimedia learning environment.

Table 7 shows that the (A+Q) group only significantly outperformed (A+D) in the immediate terminology test. Regarding the effect of animation compared to static visuals alone, to our disappointment, (AN) did not perform significantly better in any of the tests than the (SV) group, consistently for immediate and delayed tests. However, the provision of advance organizers of either type to accompany animation did have a marginal effect compared to not having provided it at all, as students in (A+D) and (A+Q) groups both scored higher in delayed drawing test than students in the (AN) group. Students in the (A+Q) group also scored higher in the delayed identification test than the (AN) group. Descriptive types of advance organizers only showed a marginal effect compared to static visuals alone as the (A+D) group outperformed the (SV) group only on the immediate and delayed drawing tests and scored higher in total score in the delayed test.

Main effects of RPL

The main effects of the reading proficiency level were observed in two of the immediate criterion tests, i.e., terminology and comprehension tests, and the total test score. As indicated in Table 8, high RPL students significantly outperformed low RPL students in terminology and comprehension tests. High RPL students also have a significantly higher total score.

The main effect of RPL was observed in three of the delayed criterion tests, drawing, identification, and terminology tests, and the total score. As indicated in Table 9, high RPL students outperformed low RPL students at a statistically significant level in all but the comprehension test; in addition, high RPL students also had a significantly higher total score.

DISCUSSION

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of different cognitive strategies employing a combination of visuals and advance organizers in facilitating EFL/ESL learners' reading comprehension of authentic material. The underlying theoretical assumption was that comprehension may be facilitated by inclusion of varied types of visuals that assist in the selection, organization, and integration of information, and that advance organizers provide a cognitive structure that enables existing schemas to be connected and integrated with new ones. The present study also examined the role that learners' reading proficiency may play in learning from authentic material presented in a multimedia learning environment and its interactive effect with the proposed cognitive strategies on students' learning. A discussion of findings pertaining to each research question is described in the following.

Research Question 1. What are the relative effects of different cognitive strategies combing advance organizers and visualizations on ESL/EFL learners' reading comprehension of a multimedia-based authentic text?

The results of this study regarding the treatment effect can be summarized as (1) Animation embedded with a question advance organizer (A+Q) is more effective than static visuals alone (SV). Students assigned to (A+Q) performed better on all immediate and delayed criterion subtests as well as a higher total score than those assigned to the (SV) group except the immediate terminology test for which (SV) is superior to (A+D). (2) Animated visuals were found to be equally effective as static visuals. This study did not support the use of animation in facilitating reading comprehension of authentic material. Students receiving (AN) treatment did not perform significantly better in any of the criterion posttests than those who received (SV) treatment, indicating that animation alone did not have an effect in assisting with the understanding of the material as expected. This finding was valuable. While advances in technology have made dynamic presentations of visuals easy and possible, the cost associated with the development of animation must be evaluated against its effectiveness. (3) A question advance organizer is only marginally more effective than a descriptive advance organizer. Students assigned to (A+Q) outperformed those in (A+D) only in immediate terminology test, indicating the qualitative features of learning that these two types of advance organizer can induce may be of little difference and therefore failed in resulting in significant improvement of comprehension. (4) Provision of advance organizers of either type to accompany animation did have a marginal effect compared to not providing them at all.

The results indicated that students in (A+D) and (A+Q) groups both scored higher on the delayed drawing test than students in the (AN) group. Students in (A+Q) group also scored higher on the delayed the identification test than the (AN) group.

In sum, this study found no superior effect of animation in assisting with the comprehension of authentic reading material. Static visuals/pictures are equally effective in assisting learners' comprehension of the material. Nevertheless, the most important finding of this study was that, with the addition of a question advance organizer, animation was a more effective cognitive strategy to enhance reading comprehension of authentic material. The finding suggests that animation alone is no better than static pictures; however, when complementing the animation with a question advance organizer, or in the case of the delayed drawing test a descriptive advance organizer, its effect was noticeable. Students receiving animation plus question advance organizer significantly outperformed the static visual alone (SV) group in all of the immediate criterion posttests (except terminology test) and all three delayed criterion posttests. It was plausible that the question advance organizer embedded in the animation assisted students in focusing on critical information represented by the animation. Previous researchers indicated that learners, when presented with the animated instruction, were not able to "... effectively attend to the animation" or were "... distracted by the combination of visual and verbal information presented to them" (Rieber, 1990, p. 81). Owens & Dwyer (2005) also found that learners failed to focus on critical aspects of the animation that depicted important concepts. They were not able to effectively interact with the animation and fully benefit from it. Wilson and Dwyer (2001) suggested in their study that learners be given sufficient and appropriate prompts that help them focus on essential and critical aspects of the information. The present study echoes previous studies in that certain pedagogical strategies needed to be used to complement animation for students to benefit from its robust representation. Different types of questions or questioning strategies can be used to engage learners in deeper cognitive information processing and therefore enhance their learning. The effects of questions or questioning strategies lie in the fact that the "... explicitness of the questions and ... relationship to instruction ... focus [the] learner process on question-specific information" (Osman & Hannafin, 1994, p. 5).

Research Question 2. Can cognitive strategies, i.e. visuals with advance organizers embedded in a multimedia-based authentic text compensate for low reading ability?