Influence of Using Electronic Textbooks and Language Immersion Teaching on Primary School Students’ Interest in English Language Learning

Abstract

Creating an effective, full English teaching environment is the goal of most English language teachers. Primary school English teachers in Taiwan usually use full English immersion or bilingual teaching environments in tandem, here with the content and vehicles provided by electronic textbooks (e-textbooks). However, there is growing concern over what kind of learning environment effectively promotes students’ interest (i.e., liking and engagement) in English language learning. Is student interest greater in full English immersion teaching or traditional bilingual teaching? Does greater interactivity with e-textbooks increase students’ interest in learning? To answer these questions, an eight-week English language teaching study was conducted using a quasi-experimental research method. The study subjects were fifth-grade students in a primary school in Taiwan. The experimental group (129 students) was taught using full English immersion and an e-textbook for content and evaluation. The control group (128 students) was taught using the same e-textbook but with a traditional bilingual teaching method. Because the students had different perceptions of the interactivity of the e-textbook, the students’ perceived interactivity of the e-textbook was divided into two groups based on the median. Therefore, a 2 × 2 factorial design was created comprising the two teaching methods (full English immersion versus traditional bilingual teaching) and the two levels of interactivity of the e-textbook (low versus high). No significant differences were found between full English immersion and bilingual teaching in terms of students’ liking and engagement. Students who perceived the e-textbook to be more interactive were found to have increased their liking and engagement more than students who perceived the interactivity of the e-textbook to be low.