전자 영어동화의 사회문화 이론적 관점에서의 분석

An analysis of digital English stories from a socio-cultural perspective

This study aims to analyse digital English stories on Internet websites from a sociocultural perspective to suggest ideas to improve learning. A socio-cultural perspective assumes that the interaction between a learner and people around him or her is one of the most influential factors for effective learning. In this respect, the digital English stories which are available on the Internet appear to be weak in supporting English learners’ learning on their own and in maintaining learner’s interest. The current digital English story books enable students to read story books on screen, listen to the narration and watch the animation. Although these features are very convenient compared with the features of paper books, the digital story books could be improved if we adopt socio-cultural theory of learning so that they can support learning by incorporating ideas to promote problem solving or to maintain the learner’s interest. Eighty-six digital English stories were analysed on ten websites using content analysis method. The interactive feature and the supportive function of the digital English story were the main points for analysis. The result shows that most of them have got none or minimal interactive and supportive function. The paper concludes that digital English story books need to improve their interactive features for more effective learning, with enhanced supportive features for interactive learning and learner motivation. The studies on the effects and features of hotspots should follow for the design of more effective digital English story programs.