A WEB-BASED MULTIMEDIA APPROACH TO LITERATURE IN MALAYSIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS: DESIGN AND LEARNING PREFERENCES

The inclusion of literature in the English language curriculum of Malaysian secondary schools has paved the way for the growth of literature in Malaysian English Language Teaching (ELT). The addition of literature in Malaysian ELT is seen to benefit learners in three areas, namely language development, cultural enrichment and personal growth. In addition to the traditional teacher centred approach used to teach the subject, other approaches could also be used to make this subject more enjoyable and interactive. Multimedia is one such alternative to make literature more interesting for learners. This study is part of a research project currently being undertaken by the researchers in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. This study will discuss the development of a web-based multimedia platform for the Form 4 Literature component currently taught in Malaysian Secondary schools. The study will also discuss student perceptions of the web-based multimedia literature platform, gained via questionnaires, as well as pedagogical implications of the use of this platform, to give educators a foretaste of the potential of multimedia towards enhancing and developing learners’ interest in learning literature.