Effects of a Personalized Reading Software Program on the Development of Language Learners’ Reading Comprehension

The current study explored the effects of a personalized reading software program designed based on language learners’ learning style on the development of their reading comprehension. Forty Iranian K-9 students were selected through convenience sampling and were assigned into control (n=20) and experimental (n=20) groups. Both groups’ entry level of English reading proficiency was assessed by reading paper of Cambridge A2 Key exam. Reading was taught to both groups for 10 sessions using a researcher-developed software program. The experimental group used the reading software designed based on users’ cognitive profile (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) with customized instructional scenarios. The control group used a version of the same software that did not include any user-tailored teaching materials. Both groups took part in reading paper of A2 Key again at the end of the experiment. The data were analyzed using One-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results revealed a significant difference between participants’ reading comprehension at the end of the experiment in favor of the experimental group. The finding highlighted the role of learners’ diversity in the success of computer-assisted learning environments, and has certain implications for software developers and language pedagogues.