The present study aims at investigating whether the incentives and awards in digital libraries have an impact on private primary school students’ reading motivation in foreign language classrooms. A quantitative research methodology was chosen in order to collect numerical data to reveal the extent of incentives and awards features such as star system, gamified rewards, certificates and badges in digital library on students’ reading attitudes. A questionnaire was designed by the researcher for the purpose. Later, the attitudes of the students towards incentives and rewards and the number of the books that students have read were correlated to investigate whether there is a relationship between them. The sample of the study comprised of 41 grade 5 students from two private primary schools in Erbil (Iraq, KRG). The obtained data analysis was performed through SPSS 25 statistical software. The findings reveal that the incentives and rewards in digital library system positively influence the students’ attitudes towards reading. Furthermore, the number of the books that the students read in 2019-2020 academic year, and the effect of the incentives and rewards on students’ reading motivation are correlated significantly. This research might be beneficial for language teachers to see how students can be motivated to read and enhance their reading skills utilizing technological tools, also for curriculum designers to consider the effectiveness of digital library on students’ reading skill development.
Key words: awards, digital library, foreign language classrooms, incentives, reading attitudes, reading motivation
Extensive Reading (ER) is described as an individual's voluntary and unrestricted reading of huge amounts of material or long texts for the sake of general comprehension and pleasure from the content. Digital libraries offer rich content and ample digital aids that student may get benefit while reading independently. These aids can help, encourage, and motivate children because of the digital additions that traditional books lack. They may be able to make reading books more entertaining for children by using bright animations and introducing them to print and pictures in an enjoyable way. Accordingly, the present research aims to examine the attitudes of private primary schools' students towards an extensive reading program in digital library. A qualitative research methodology was selected to reveal the perceptions and preferences of the students. The collected data analysed through thematic analysis. The research participants are 10 students from grade 5 and 6 in a private primary school. This study might be useful for instructors to see how students react extensive reading program in digital library and technological features embedded to it, as well as curriculum designers to think about the impact of digital libraries on students' reading habit development.
Practice teaching for pre-service teachers is a crucial affair before starting their carrier. It is considered one of the fundamental elements of whole teaching programs of education faculties since the teacher candidates find the opportunities to observe and practice their theoretical knowledge through practice teaching programs in schools. Within this context, the present research sought to reveal the reflections of the education faculty’s seniors on practice teaching course utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. A private university’s English Language Teaching department’s seniors in Erbil were selected by convenience sampling as research sample, and 31 students participated in the questionnaire. A semi-structured survey used for this study including the parts of demographics, knowledge, skills and dispositions, field experiences and practice teaching, quality of instruction and two open-ended questions. The results indicated that most of the students expressed their positive reflections on their internship program. They believe the internship programs enable them to enhance their teaching skills and prepare them for real classroom atmosphere before graduation.
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