Exploring the Impact of Online Peer Discussions on EFL Reading Comprehension

With the rapid advancement of technology, integration of computer-mediated communication (CMC) has been widely used in recent English as a foreign language teaching and learning. Despite the prevalence of online CMC discussions, previous studies have not drawn conclusive results, and empirical evidence on how online discussions affect student reading comprehension is limited. Thus, the purpose of this study was to conduct a quasi-experimental research to investigate how asynchronous and synchronous discussions influenced the reading comprehension of 50 university students in a Taiwanese collaborative learning context. A quasi-experimental design was conducted with multiple observations before and after the intervention. Research instruments included reading comprehension tests, a questionnaire survey, and a semi-structured interview. Major findings suggested that most of the participants used the synchronous discussion mode more frequently than the asynchronous mode when performing online reading tasks. Nevertheless, with increased asynchronous discussions, students' reading comprehension scores and satisfaction increased as well. Although the learners generally accepted both online discussion modes, the interview results revealed several drawbacks as well as advantages of the online discussion environments. Limitations of the study and implications for instructional pedagogy and future research were presented and discussed.