Language learning through adaptive graded readers

• Thesis title in Czech: Osvojování jazyka za pomoci adaptivní zjednodušené četby
• Thesis title in English: Language learning through adaptive graded readers
• Key words: Zjednodušená četba|Interaktivní fikce|Adaptivní vzdělávání|Učení se jazyků s podporou počítače|Osvojování slovní zásoby
• English key words: Graded Reader|Interactive Fiction|Adaptive Learning|Computer-assisted Language Learning|vocabulary teaching
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2021/2022
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of the English Language and ELT Methodology (21-UAJD)
• Supervisor: doc. Luca Cilibrasi, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 09.06.2022
• Date of assignment: 09.06.2022
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 14.06.2022
• Date and time of defence: 07.09.2023 09:00
• Date of electronic submission: 09.08.2023
• Date of proceeded defence: 07.09.2023
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: Mgr. Ondřej Fúsik

Guidelines

The present thesis deals with graded readers and their contribution to L2 acquisition, and, more specifically, it investigates their potential in connection with interactive fiction and adaptive learning mechanisms. For the purposes of this paper, an interactive graded reader in three levels of difficulty (based on vocabulary and syntax complexity) will be written, programmed as an interactive script (either in Inkle or another engine), and its effects will be tested on a group of Czech learners of English, as opposed to a control group. The control group will be given a non-interactive version of the reader corresponding to their initial pre-assessed level of proficiency. The theoretical part will introduce graded readers, interactive fiction, and adaptive learning respectively, and will establish a theoretical basis for their use in L2 instruction. The practical part will focus on the experiment and analyse the results. We expect the results to be in favour of adaptive graded readers in terms of greater motivation, closer monitoring during the process, and greater adaptability to the learner’s individual needs and progress in LA. The thesis will be written in English.
Práce bude vypracována v anglickém jazyce.

References

Dehaene, S. (2009). Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention. Viking Adult.
Beech, J. R. (2005). Ehri’s model of phases of learning to read: a brief critique. Journal of Research in Reading, 28(1), 50–58.
Perfetti, Charles & Van Dyke, Julie & Hart, Lesley. (2001). The psycholinguistics of basic literacy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 21. 127 - 149.
Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2019). Comparing L1 and L2 Reading. In Teaching and Researching Reading (pp. 37–61). Routledge.
Grabe, W., & Yamashita, J. (2022). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P. (2018). Reading a whole book to learn vocabulary. ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 69(1), 30-43.
Robinson, P., Mackey, A., Gass, S. M., & Schmidt, R. (2013). Attention and awareness in second language acquisition. In The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 247-267). Routledge.