Enhancing Reading Comprehension and Summarization Abilities of EFL Learners Through Online Summarization Practice

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of online summarization practice on the reading comprehension and summarization abilities of EFL learners. Thirty-five EFL learners read and summarized expository passages using an online tutoring program called WriteToLearn. Upon online submission of their summaries, the learners received instant automated feedback and had multiple opportunities to revise summaries. Another group of 34 learners serving as a comparison group read the same passages and did comprehension exercises which required them to provide answers to comprehension questions in writing. Both groups took a reading comprehension test and a summarization test once before and once after the four-week training. The results showed that while the two groups exhibited significant improvement in micro-level and macro-level reading comprehension and summarization, the online summarization group performed significantly better than the comprehension exercise group in macro-level reading comprehension and summarization after training. The findings suggest that online summarization practice is superior to the traditional procedure of answering comprehension questions for helping learners enhance reading comprehension and summarization abilities.