CC BY-NC-ND
0Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 118 (2014) 251 - 258
SoLLs.INTEC.13: International Conference on Knowledge-Innovation-Excellence: Synergy in Language
Research and Practice
A preliminary study on the influence of a Literature online support system (LitOSS) on Malaysian learners5 motivation
Adzuhaidah M.Taha*, Thang Siew Ming
School of Language Studies & Linguistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43650 Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
This paper is based on a preliminary study designed to explore the influence of a Literature Online Support System (LitOSS) on motivation to learn English literature. LitOSS was introduced to a group of Form 4 students from a secondary school in Malaysia in the hope of enhancing their motivation to learn English literature which many of them perceived as difficult and uninteresting. 25 students were selected to undertake a questionnaire (i.e. an adapted version of WebMac Sr. 4.0) designed to assess the effectiveness of the motivational design of the system. This was supported by a focus group interview conducted on five randomly selected students to explore the influence of this online support system on students' motivation. The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) of language learning and Keller's (1987) ARCS Model were used to frame the study. In general, this study revealed that LitOSS had enhanced students' motivation in learning literature. More in-depth findings from the study will be shared in this paper to enable a better understanding of the effects of this system on the students.
© 2013 The Authors.PublishedbyElsevier Ltd.
Selection and peer-review underresponsibilityof UniversitiKebangsaanMalaysia. Keywords: learning strategies; literature; motivation; motivational design; online support system
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000-0000 . E-mail address: adzu@seriputeri.edu.my
1877-0428 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.034
Introduction
Literature is a component in the English Language syllabus which has not been much emphasized in the Malaysian Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools compared to the other four basic skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Though its introduction dated back to 1989 as an obligatory component in the English Language paper, literature had not been tested in the public examinations until 1995. This constituent, which comprises poems, short stories, dramas and novels, since then had been part of the English Language paper and made compulsory for students from Form one to Form five. This move was in line with the Ministry of Education's aspiration as reflected in the objectives outlined in the KBSM syllabus specification.
"Language for aesthetic purposes enables learners to enjoy literary texts at a level suited to their language proficiency and develops in them the ability to express themselves creatively" (KBSM English language Curriculum Specifications, 2003).
Literature learning and teaching has always been rather daunting as students have always perceived the learning of literature as being difficult and uninteresting. A study on literature learning among secondary school students conducted by Gurnam (2003) revealed that students found the teachers dull and boring and the activities introduced uninteresting. She also discovered that teachers tended to use only worksheets and workbooks in teaching literature. The researcher in her experience as an English teacher of 17 years has also found the use of the traditional 'chalk-and-talk' teaching technique to be a common practice among English teachers. This can be attributed to the very examination-oriented system of education in Malaysia that required the teachers to cover all the essential topics to prepare students for the final examination. This scenario is also evident in the elite, high-performing secondary school where this research study was situated. Thus, to address this worrying situation, the English Language Panel of this school introduced a Literature online support System (LitOSS) using the existing online learning platform to support the course.
The online support system using Moodle platform has been used to teach all subjects including English Language commencing year 2010. The system has also been used to teach English Literature for two years and the feedback from teachers and students has generally been positive. However, no empirical study has been undertaken to determine its effectiveness hence the pertinence of this preliminary study. The fact that there is a dearth of research pertaining to literature learning and technology in the Malaysian secondary school context (Sivapalan & Wan Fatimah, 2010) especially in the use of an online support system makes this study crucial and timely. This preliminary study which attempts to explore the influence of a Literature online support system (i.e. LitOSS) in promoting students' motivation in learning literature is guided by the following research questions:
a. How do the learners perceive the motivational design of the literature online support system?
b. How does the implementation of LitOSS affect students' motivation in learning English literature?
The proposed conceptual framework
The conceptual framework for the study is underpinned by Keller's (1987) ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction) Model for increasing motivation. This model has its roots in Bandura's (1996) Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) which provides a theoretical foundation for the study of students' behaviour and attitudes. SCT in turn, has its root in the learning theory of cognitivism. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework adopted in the study.
Figure 1: The conceptual framework of the study
Keller's (1987) ARCS Model for increasing motivation will be used to examine the motivational design of LitOSS. It refers to 'the process of arranging resources and procedures to bring about changes in motivation' to learn. Keller (1987) classifies the main concepts and theories of motivation into four aspects, gaining learner attention, establishing the relevance of the instruction to learner goals and learning styles, building learner confidence in determining the learning success and ensuring satisfaction in the instruction by managing learners' intrinsic and extrinsic outcomes. The acronym ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) is derived from this motivational process.
Motivation and related studies on motivation in an online context
Motivation refers to "the reasons underlying behavior" (Guay, Chanal, Ratelle, Marsh, Larose, & Boivin (2010, p.712). A review of motivational literature in online contexts indicates the usefulness of Moodle in motivation enhancement. A study by Piteira & Costa (2006) on the usability of the LMS Moodle implemented in an online course in relation to motivation in a university in Portugal revealed that the online course using Moodle platform as well as Moodle-facilitated provided activities such as quizzes, lessons and chats were well accepted by students. Likewise, ChanLin (2009), in her study of a 12-week web-based course at Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan discovered that the design and implementation of web-based activities were helpful in motivating students to learn online. Her study which integrated Keller's ARCS Model in the designing and implementation of lessons revealed that students were optimistic about the innovative learning approach pertaining to online literature learning is scarce internationally; in the local context the scarcity is even more apparent. Nevertheless, there are studies on online learning of English in Malaysia and they all highlighted the benefits of this mode of learning in promoting motivation and autonomy ( Pramela Krish & Wong, 2009); Thang & Bidmeshki (2010)).
Description of the components of LitOSS
LitOSS comprises seven literature topics following the Form 4 KBSM literature syllabus. All learning activities for each topic are either text-based materials on literature or multimedia resources such as graphics and videos. The materials uploaded onto LitOSS can be divided into three categories: compulsory materials such as literature notes and exercises provided by the Curriculum Development Centre; teacher-developed, additional materials and finally, materials from the World Wide Web for enrichment activities. All materials were either uploaded using MS Words, Power Point and PDF files or hyperlinked to other sites in the World Wide Web. Learning tools available on Moodle such as 'assignment', 'forum', 'chat' and others, which allow the integration
of a wide range of resources to create and upload materials, have also been used to enhance literature learning. Figure 2 illustrates a screen shot of one of the topics (i.e. poem- He had such quiet eyes) in LitOSS.
9 ? £SFCTtON D) UIFRflniRP
He had such quiet eyes - Bibsy Soenharjo
You Tube: "He had such quiet eyes" -f* « O ^ Youlube He had such quiet eyes 2 -I* -V H o * w
Youlube on tragic baby dumping -i- S O • w ES Synopsis —V ~ O ' S Pil Exercises —- © .»ffi l^j Notes in PowerPoint 4- — ^ — O * ffi
idioms on eyes ■:• —sua O * ® lEjl He had such quiet eyes © * &
Biogs on the poem - C> • G-
!M1 To tail in Sove or not to I ;I' in Eove -i- —■ r1 o * 4S IP Wnte a love poem -i- —S № O tffi l-^ He had such quiet eyes 'i' O
Q Reflection on the poem -I- —•y' — © .»as
Fig. 2: Screen shot of a sample lesson in LitOSS
Research design
This preliminary case study adopted the mixed methods approach that was dominantly qualitative. The minor quantitative component was based on an adapted version of Small's (1999) Website Motivational Analysis Checklist (WebMac). This was administered on 25 Form 4 (16 years old, female students) from the elite (i.e. high performing) secondary school after 12 weeks of implementation of the LitOSS. The students were demographically classified into three categories: urban, suburban and rural according to their parents' place of residence. Stratified purposive sampling based on the students' English language sets or level of proficiency (A-good to G- weak) was used to ensure a balanced number of students from each strata was included as sample population. The students were familiar with Moodle-based online support system as the system has been in place for two years. For the qualitative component, five students from the same population participated in a focus group interview. The adapted WebMac Sr. 4.0 was used to gain insight into students' perceptions of the motivational design of LitOSS. The system was assessed according to the following three categories: highly motivating, needs some improvement, needs much improvement. Prior to analyzing the data, the internal consistency of the instrument was measured using Cronbach Alpha reliability test and the value was found to be 0.82 (p> 0.70) which confirms the reliability of the instrument.
Results
Findings of the study can be divided into two themes namely the motivational design of LitOSS and changes in motivation For the first theme, both quantitative and qualitative data had been utilized to discuss the findings, whereas only qualitative data had been used to substantiate the latter.
Motivational design of LitOSS
First, for the analysis of the questionnaire, box plot statistical analysis in SPSS v. 19 was employed to ascertain the respondents' perceptions on LitOSS's motivational design based on Keller's ARCS Model. Findings from the adapted WebMac Sr. 4.0 revealed very positive responses from the respondents for all four constructs (i.e.: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) as illustrated in figure 3 below indicating the respondents' beliefs that LitOSS was highly motivating in its design. The aspects of confidence and satisfaction had been rated as the most important criteria.
Fig. 3: A boxplot on students' perception of the motivational design of LitOSS
Additionally, the positive feedbacks in the interview (i.e. qualitative data) had also illuminated the highly motivating design of LitOSS in all four criteria. However, unlike findings in the quantitative data which highlighted the aspects of confidence and satisfaction, the interview revealed that attention emerged as the most important motivating criterion followed by relevance and confidence. The respondents cited 19 features offered by LitOSS, classified under attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction, as contributing towards their motivation to learn literature. Table 1 demonstrates the number of occurrences of statements of each feature according to the four criteria.
Table 1 Number of occurrences of statements in the motivational design of LitOSS
Criteria
Features
Number of statements
a. interesting system
b. good design
c. interesting assignments / exercises
d. hyperlinks that make learning authentic and interesting
e. interactivity
2 2 5 12 3
a. relevance to KBSM literature syllabus
b. opportunity to know the writers better
c. helps to understand literature
d. gives a different perspective on being a learner
e. applicability of knowledge and values gained to real life
fi nfo
a. self-paced learning
b. proper content arrangement
c. informative
d. self-access learning
e. user-friendliness
Satisfaction a. good content b. functioning hyperlinks c. clear graphics d. a one-stop literature learning centre 2 2 1 3
Total 58
Under attention, students cited interesting system, good design, interesting assignments/exercises, hyperlinks that make learning authentic and interesting and interactivity as motivating features in LitOSS. Additionally, the most preferred feature is the hyperlinks which make learning authentic and interesting. Their preference was depicted in the following excerpts. "LitOSS is very good system too because... it helps me to understand more about the literature because it has the links to Youtube that I can see on my own the scenes" and "LitOSS... they have the links to every topic... and also many links that link to youtube, forum, and blogs, and it varies so... so it's how we study and it makes things more interesting/or us...".
Another feature, the assignments/exercises in LitOSS, was also described as interesting and 'fun' and this had motivated respondents to do the exercises even without teachers' instructions. An example of this feature was seen in the excerpts "...then, the assignments... it's fun, it's interesting to do...I would do it myself even without the teacher telling me to do". In addition, the respondents were also attracted to the exercises due to the varieties provided. "...in the exercises itself there are many other different activities that you can do, like bingo, and there's idioms... activities like that can really catch otherpeople's attention... ".
Self-paced learning was another feature illuminated as elevating students' confidence to utilize the system, thus facilitating literature learning. "I think that LitOSS has helped me get more interested in literature because of its self-interactivity, self-paced learning". Another student described it as "...I particularly like about the system is that we can go on at our own pace...we don't have to wait for other people to understand the literature component before we can move on...". This feature had given the students freedom to learn at their own speed without too much control from their teachers. It was also discovered that the respondents viewed LitOSS as a one-stop literature learning centre, hence making it convenient for them to learn literature effectively.
Changes in motivation to learn literature
The qualitative data further demonstrated that LitOSS did have a positive influence on the students' motivation towards literature learning. Findings revealed significant changes in students' motivation to learn literature after LitOSS implementation. Table 2 illustrates the sstudents' responses on their experience in literature learning before and after using LitOSS.
Table 2 Students' responses on their literature learning experience before and after using LitOSS
Respondent Statements before using LitOSS Statements after using LitOSS
1. Sarimah ... I'm quite interested in literature but not our syllabus...but not the literature in our syllabus.... ...after looking through...going through all the things in LitOSS,... yes it makes me more interested in literature in the syllabus.... for me it changes my attitude ...
2. Hanim In the beginning I love to learn literature but when the LitOSS is exposed to me, I begin to be more interested to learn literature because I found it very interesting ... ...when the LitOSS is exposed to me, I begin to be more interested to learn literature...
3. Anisah ...yeah...being a typical teenager, learning is not one of my favourite things to do... Literature to me is quite ok ... ...but after using LitOSS, it does give you a different perspective on being a learner... I think that LitOSS has helped me get more interested
in literature...
4. Faridah ...actually I'm not good in literature... I think it (LitOSS) does change my attitude...
5. Putri ...before, whenever I learn literature, I always found literature to be quite boring and teachers when they teach, they just teach by the books and they just give lots of handouts... I think the system does change my attitude into a more positive ... ... and yes, I think it does change my attitude towards literature..
Conclusion
Data generated illuminated the usefulness of LitOSS in literature learning by engendering a positive influence on learner motivation. The system had succeeded in enhancing students' motivation towards literature learning. The finding that online English course is motivating in many ways is consistent with two studies conducted locally (Pramela Krish & Wong (2009); Thang & Bidmeshki (2010)) and another two acquired at the international context (ChanLin (2009); Piteira & Costa (2006)).
All respondents unanimously concurred that the design of LitOSS were highly motivating in all four aspects namely attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. Specifically, the respondents felt that LitOSS had encouraged them to learn and the materials provided in LitOSS were of great relevance to the KBSM Literature syllabus. They also expressed that the system had boosted their confidence to learn literature. The feature they were most satisfied with was the "hyperlinks" which they described as making learning authentic and interesting. They also found the assignments / exercises useful as they offered opportunity for self-paced learning and deeper understanding of literature.
This present study has offered an alternative to address the issues highlighted by Gurnam (2003) and (Marzilah & Sharifah Nadia, 2010) in teaching literature in secondary schools. This new approach could largely reduce students' dependency on teachers as students should be able to explore the literary texts independently and diversify their learning approaches. The online collaborative learning also reduces students' anxiety, hence increasing their confidence to learn literature despite the complexity of the literary discourse itself. Students were also free from any specific focus on vocabulary or pronunciation practices. These motivating features of LitOSS are evidence substantiating that a literature online support system can be a viable, worthy alternative to diversify the teaching and learning of literature to secondary school students. Despite the promising findings, it is also vital to acknowledge that there is always the potential for error in self-analysis or understanding of the questionnaire despite the explanation given. Likewise, in the interview, error in recall or perception of certain motivation engaged may also pose as another limitation of the study.
However, from the theoretical perspective, the current study had added to the existing literature on online literature learning in the context of secondary school, particularly in the local context. It has demonstrated the efficiency of a support system in enhancing motivation to learn literature. The findings have further reinforced findings on the importance of integrating motivation into the instructional design as proposed by Keller's ARCS Model (Akdemir & Colakoglu, 2008). It is also consistent with that of ChanLin's (2009) whose study was also underpinned by Keller's ARCS Motivational Model. Finally, all the findings were supported by Bandura's (1996) Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) which proposed that the learning environment (i.e. the online learning environment in this case) is an influencing factor in learning. Nevertheless, there is always the likelihood that discrepancy in the teaching approaches to LitOSS as different teachers teach different classes (though teachers' role is reduced to that of facilitator), may have different effects on students' motivation to learn literature. This may affect the overall findings and is an area worthy of further investigation in future studies.
References
Akdemir, O. & Colakoglu, O.M. (2008). Measuring Motivation in the Instruction Developed for Blended Courses. In J. Luca & E. Weippl (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2008 (pp. 10-15). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.http://www.editlib.org/p/28369. [ 2nd November 2011]
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A .social-cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1996). Social cognitive theory of human development. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International
encyclopedia of education (2nd ed., pp. 5513-5518) Oxford: Pergamon Press ChanLin, L.J. (2009). Use of Learning Strategies in Web-based Project Tasks. In G. Siemens & C. Fulford (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp. 16771682). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Guay, F., Chanal, J., Ratelle, C. F., Marsh, H. W., Larose, S., & Boivin, M.(2010). Intrinsic, identified, and controlled types of motivation for school subjects in young elementary school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 711-735. Retrieved from
http://www.motivation.chaire.ulaval.ca/webdav/site/crcmrs/shared/pdf/2010/Guay,%20Chanal,%20Ratelle,%20Mar sh,%20Larose,%20Boivin_2010.pdf Gurnam, K. S. (2003). Literature in the language classrooms: Seeing through the eyes of learners. In: Ganakumaran & Edwin Malachi (eds.). Teaching of literature in ESL/EFL contexts. pp. 88-110. Petaling Jaya: Sasbadi-Melta ELT Series.KBSM English language Curriculum Specifications. 2003. Ministry of Education, Malaysia KBSM English language Curriculum Specifications. (2003). Ministry of Education, Malaysia
Keller, J. M. (1987). Development and use of the ARCS model of motivational design. Journal of Instructional Development,
10(3), 2 - lO.Retrieved from official John Keller's website, http://www.arcsmodel.com/ Marzilah A. Aziz, Sharifah Nadia Syed Nasharudin. (2010) . An Investigation On Approaches Used To Teach Literature In The ESL Classroom: A Case Study Of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Desa Skudai, Johor Bahru. Unpublished Article. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia http://eprints.utm.my/11115/[. 10th September 2011] Piteira, M. & Costa, C.(2006). Evaluation of perceived usability: the e-learning platform Moodle. CIAWI / IADIS, Murcia, Spain. October 6-7
Pramela, K & Wong B.E. (2009). Malaysian learners and their perceptions towards online English Language Courses.
Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. Vol. 10 (2). pp.203-224. Retrieved from https://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde34/articles/article_12.htm. ISSN 1302-6488 Sivapalan,S. and Wan Fatimah,W.A. (2010). A Web-Based Multimedia Approach to Literature in Malaysian Secondary Schools: Learners' Preferences. European Journal of Social Sciences, 12(3). http://www.eurojournals.com/ejss_12_3_01.pdf Small, R.V.(1999). Website Motivational Analysis Checklist (WebMAC) Professional. Fayetteville,NY: Motivation Mining Company.
Thang, S. M. & Bidmeshki, L. (2010). Investigating the perceptions of UKM undergraduates towards an English for science and technology online course. Computer Assisted Language Learning 23(1). 1-20
