Effectiveness of Interactive Multimedia Environment on Language Acquisition Skills of 6th Grade Students in the United Arab Emirates

Y

15

Grade 6; Matched Groups; Cognitive Style; Foreign Countries; Elementary Education; Second Language Learning; English (Second Language); Second Language Instruction; Multimedia Materials; Multimedia Instruction; Computer Peripherals; Educational Technology; Teaching Methods; Pretests Posttests

0092-1815

This study investigated the effect of interactive multimedia (IMM) program on students' acquisition of some English as a second language (ESL) skills. An interactive multimedia CD-ROM was used with ninety 6th grade ESL students in Al-Ain Model School 2, United Arab Emirates. Students were selected and divided into experimental and control groups (46 and 44 participants respectively). Pre and post tests were administered to examine the effect of the IMM program on developing students' ESL skills. In addition, using Witken's test, participants were classified according to their cognitive styles into field-dependent (FD) and field-independent (FI) learners. Results showed that there is no significant difference between IMM users and non-users in the overall ESL skills. However, when the participants were investigated in terms of their cognitive learning styles, results showed a significant difference between field dependent learners and field independent learners in the experimental group in favor of field-independent learners. Implications of the effect of IMM on students' learning with different cognitive learning styles are discussed and recommendations for future research are presented.

Author

48

2007

EJ760715