Exploring EFL Learners’ Autonomy in Reading Comprehension: Computer-Assisted Versus Conventional Contexts

This study explored the autonomy of advanced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in reading comprehension through scaffolding and jigsaw in computer-assisted and conventional language learning contexts. After being homogenized through the reading section of the DIALANG proficiency test, 80 female, advanced EFL learners with the age range of 21 to 45 were selected as the participants of the study. They were randomly assigned to four groups; experimental group A (scaffolding in a conventional context), experimental group B (scaffolding in a computer-assisted context), experimental group C (jigsaw in a conventional context), and experimental group D (jigsaw in a computer-assisted context). Next, the autonomy in the reading comprehension (RC) questionnaire, which was designed and piloted by Ebadi and Shirzad (in press), was administered as the pretest. Then, the learners in each group took part in autonomy in reading comprehension training courses for three months (16 sessions). After the treatment, the same autonomy in the RC questionnaire was administered as the posttest. One-way ANCOVA was used to analyze the quantitative data. The results revealed that although both jigsaw and scaffolding approaches were successful in both conventional and computer-assisted contexts from pretest to posttest, the scaffolding method proved more effective. Moreover, both the scaffolding and jigsaw approaches were more effective in the computer-assisted environment compared to conventional contexts, with the scaffolding CA approach outperforming the jigsaw CA technique. The findings’ implications for learners, teachers, and syllabus designers are discussed in both contexts.