EcoLit Aru
Developing Digital Eco-Reading Texts Based on Aru Islands Ecotourism to Support EFL Students’ Critical Reading
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31004/anthor.v5i6.1611Keywords:
EcoLit Aru, Digital Eco-Reading Texts, Aru Islands Ecotourism, Critical Reading, EFL Students, Digital LiteracyAbstract
English reading instruction in archipelagic regions remains constrained by the scarcity of materials that are relevant to the local context. The texts used in class are largely generic and therefore do not represent the cultural identity and ecotourism potential of the region, which limits students’ motivation to read. This study aims to develop EcoLit Aru, a bank of digital eco-reading texts grounded in the ecotourism potential of the Aru Islands, and to appraise its feasibility as a foundation for strengthening the critical reading of EFL students. The study employed Educational Design Research across five stages: needs analysis, blueprint and guideline development, student-produced texts, expert validation with revision, and a limited trial. The participants were fifteen second-semester students of the English Language Education Study Programme at PSDKU Aru, Universitas Pattimura, selected by purposive sampling; two students did not complete their texts, so thirteen texts were analysed. Data were collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires and expert validation sheets, and were analysed descriptively. The results show thirteen digital eco-reading texts in English grouped into four themes: conservation and marine ecotourism (31%), local wisdom, culture and tradition (31%), social history and religious harmony (23%), and agrotourism and local food security (15%). Material and media experts judged the texts very feasible, and the limited trial recorded positive responses, placing the product at Technology Readiness Level 4. EcoLit Aru is suitable for use in Extensive Reading courses and is recommended for further development into digital multimedia in the next stage of the study.
References
Beckett, G. H., & Slater, T. (2018). Project-based learning and technology. In The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching (pp. 1–7). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0427
Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., Felten, P., Millard, L., & Moore-Cherry, N. (2016). Addressing potential challenges in co-creating learning and teaching: Overcoming resistance, navigating institutional norms and ensuring inclusivity in student–staff partnerships. Higher Education, 71(2), 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9896-4
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. Jossey-Bass.
Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge University Press.
Facione, P. A. (2011). Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Insight Assessment.
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Gilster, P. (1997). Digital literacy. Wiley.
Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2019). Teaching and researching reading (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Graves, K. (2000). Designing language courses: A guide for teachers. Heinle & Heinle.
Hafner, C. A., Chik, A., & Jones, R. H. (2015). Digital literacies and language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 19(3), 1–7.
Hafner, C. A., & Miller, L. (2019). English in the disciplines: A multidimensional model for ESP course design. Routledge.
Kemenristekdikti. (2016). Panduan pengukuran tingkat kesiapan teknologi (TKT). Kementerian Riset, Teknologi, dan Pendidikan Tinggi.
Krajcik, J. S., & Blumenfeld, P. C. (2006). Project-based learning. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 317–334). Cambridge University Press.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2021). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New literacies: Everyday practices and social learning (3rd ed.). Open University Press.
McKenney, S., & Reeves, T. C. (2018). Conducting educational design research (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Mercer, S., & Dörnyei, Z. (2020). Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms. Cambridge University Press.
Misiaszek, G. W. (2018). Educating the global environmental citizen: Understanding ecopedagogy in local and global contexts. Routledge.
Nuttall, C. (2005). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language (New ed.). Macmillan.
Plomp, T., & Nieveen, N. (2013). Educational design research: An introduction. In T. Plomp & N. Nieveen (Eds.), Educational design research—Part A: An introduction (pp. 10–51). Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development.
Renandya, W. A., & Jacobs, G. M. (2016). Extensive reading and listening in the L2 classroom. In W. A. Renandya & H. P. Widodo (Eds.), English language teaching today: Linking theory and practice (pp. 97–110). Springer.
Retnaningdyah, P., Aminin, Z., Mustofa, A., Munir, A., & Nugroho, A. (2025). Pelatihan penulisan bahan ajar membaca ekstensif bertema ekoliterasi bagi guru Bahasa Inggris SMP Kota Surabaya. Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 2(2), 147–156.
Richey, R. C., & Klein, J. D. (2007). Design and development research: Methods, strategies, and issues. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Serafini, F. (2014). Reading the visual: An introduction to teaching multimodal literacy. Teachers College Press.
Stibbe, A. (2015). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge.
Tomlinson, B. (2014). Materials development for language teaching (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury.
United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations.
Yuli, Y., & Mulyono, Y. (2025). Pengembangan dan efektivitas model pembelajaran digital berbasis kearifan lokal untuk meningkatkan pemahaman membaca mahasiswa. Advances in Education Journal. https://journal.al-afif.org/index.php/aej/article/view/230
Zein, S., Sukyadi, D., Hamied, F. A., & Lengkanawati, N. S. (2020). English language education in Indonesia: A review of research (2011–2019). Language Teaching, 53(4), 491–523. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000208
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Siti Rahmawati Kahar, Yulia Josina Ulorlo, Maria Jomima Ngosiem
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
