A Study on Different Input Modes and EFL Learning: The Effects of Fairytale-based Activities on English Writing

Multimedia learning contains multiple input such as words(e.g., spoken or written text) and pictures (e.g., photos or diagrams). By comparing the three input modes – a combination of textual and pictorial input, auditory and pictorial input, and textual, auditory, and pictorial input – this study investigates the effects of fairytale-based activities on EFL writing. A total of 71 Korean university students were divided into three groups: Reading with Pictures (RP: n = 27), Listening with Pictures (LP: n = 24), and Reading and Listening with Pictures (RLP: n = 20). During 15 weeks, RP group was requested to read fairy tales with pictures while LP group was asked to listen to them with the same pictures. RLP group read and listen to the same tales and given the same pictures. There were IELTS-based writing pre- and post-tests. After the treatment, a perception survey was administered. Paired samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were employed for the data analysis. The findings showed significant mean score changes between the pre- and post-tests. Group differences were also witnessed at a statistically significance level. All participants positively perceived fairytalebased English learning activities. Pedagogical implications and limitations are addressed based on the results.