Introduction In the heyday of technology, Second Language Teaching and Learning uses technological advances to help students expose themselves to a real and purposeful context

INTRODUCTION

Introduction In the heyday of technology, Second Language Teaching and Learning uses technological advances to help students expose themselves to a real and purposeful context. Computer-mediated collaborative learning is a way to promote interaction both between students and their teachers but also amongst students themselves using authentic input in real tasks Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) requires new approaches which do not ignore the demands of the new technological era (Vlachos, 2014). Βlogs are online journals which motivate students to read texts as well as other students’ posts. In addition, they can skim many texts and posts and find different or similar opinions with those of other authors before expressing their own views with a post. In other words, blogs are incentives for personal writing (Yang, 2009). Not only do they develop their literacy skills but also their e-literacies. Students learn to use the computer; they use search engines to browse the net and they use the word-processor to write a post
It is known that course books in Greece and in most European countries are designed upon the principles of the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). The CEFR mainly promotes the Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT). This study aims to investigate whether the reading and speaking skills of B2 level students can be improved through the teaching of CLT. The CEFR lays emphasis on the development of learners’ communicative language
competences. According to the CEFR, in order to carry out communicative tasks, the users have to engage in communicative language activities and deal with learners’ communicative strategies. The communicative activities should promote interaction, discussion, conversation so that the participants alternate as receivers or producers with several turns. Another aim of the CEFR is autonomous learning which can be promoted if “learning to learn” constitutes an integral part of language learning exposure to the authentic use of language which also contributes to the learning of a foreign language. For this reason, the material of this course book will be adapted in order to be in accordance with the principles of the CEFR and CLT.
To be more specific, an action research will be conducted in an B2 level class of a Private Language Institute in Greece, in order to point out, whether the reading and speaking skills of the B2 level students can be improved through the teaching of the CLT. It is worth noting that the coursebook which is taught in this private institute has not been designed according to the principles of the CEFR and the Communicative Language Teaching Approach.
The This course work is based on describing the general characteristics of B2 level students, such as teaching and learning.
The purpose of the course work is to provide general information, impact, and positive outcomes on the reading and teaching of B2 level students.
The main language material of the work has been gathered from the Internet sources, literary works and the textbooks in English literature of various authors. Thus, writers, their works, the evidence of modernity in words, their definitions and examples in which the words are used, are taken from the authentic English sources, so that the evidence of the research results could be doubtless.
The theoretical and practical value of the paper lies in its applicability to the English literature, and practical English classes.
The structure of the work consists of the Introduction, six plans, conclusion and the bibliography.
An allied science to Enlightenment period is related to English literature which also studies their art, the evidences of their impacts to readers and the inner structure of the works.



1. Theoretical background of the CEFR applied in a foreign language
As far as the research of this dissertation is concerned, an ‘action research’ was carried out in an B1 level class of a Private Language Institute. Swinglehurst, Russell, and Greenhalgh claim that “action research is becoming a popular approach to studying complex social situations such as those found in educational settings, where the focus is on simultaneous into practice ¹(generating knowledge)
and action to improve situations (e.g. designing new curricula or learning activities)”. In addition, Johnson defines ‘action research’ as the “process of studying a real school or classroom situation to understand and improve the quality of actions or instruction”. According to Lim ‘action research’ constitutes a type of educational research aiming at a concrete purpose. Berg supports that “action
research is one of the few research approaches that embraces principles of participation, reflection, empowerment, and emancipation of people and groups interested in improving their social situation or condition”. Mills insists that action researchers are different from traditional researchers owing to the fact that they are obliged to take action and make effective alterations taking into account their
findings. ‘Action research’ differs from various types of research since its target is the comprehension and solution of educational problems which occur in classrooms . Mc Niff highlights that “in action research, researchers do research on themselves” whereas in traditional types of research, “researchers do research on other people”. Brydon-Miller, Greenwood and Maguire mention that ‘action research’ can produce more ‘valid’ results than other types of social research as it tests “knowledge in action”. The design of an action research should not be taken into account in order to create general educational theories. It is common practice for schoolchildren in Greece to learn English as a foreign language in the private sector, also known as foreign language institutes. These institutes abide to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and use the textbooks which are designed according to its specifications. Not only does the CEFR provide a framework for designing curricula and teaching material, but it also gives guidelines as concerning the assessment of each level in language learning.


2. TEACHING B1 LEARNERS
After a few months of teaching EFL, the children in my various classes were able to name the pictures I held up on my flashcards, point to the correct object, and happily sing along every time we learned a new song. I remember that it was at about this point that I started wondering about what to do next. I’ve written a blog or two about this, with information about lines of development. These WIDA Can-Do statements are useful, because they are written out per year level. but they have the disadvantage that they are not entirely aligned with the CEFR. What I see these days is that assessments will align with either de WIDA or the CEFR, and the CEFR is what is often used in Europe.
The Reading and Writing paper has eight parts and 42 questions. Candidates are expected to read and understand different kinds of short texts and longer, factual texts. Text sources might include signs, brochures, newspapers, magazines and messages such as notes, emails, cards and postcards.
Parts 1 to 5 focus on reading skills, including underlying knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. The exam includes tasks such as answering multiple choice questions, selecting descriptions which match different texts, and identifying true or false information.
Parts 6 to 8 focus on writing skills, including underlying knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. The exam includes tasks such as completing gapped sentences, writing a short informal letter of 35 – 45 words based on 3 given instructions, and producing a longer piece of writing – either a long informal letter or a story of about 80-100 words.
The CEFR has the advantage of being internationally known, but until now, it had the distinct disadvantage that it had been written for adults, and not for children. That meant that there were no descriptors of language interaction for the very young learner. There was no way to describe a child’s language progress before it had reached the B1 level, or Pre-A1.
The Council of Europe has been working hard on this issue, and put together some detailed banks of descriptors and sample language behavior for this group of learners. These documents can, however, be a bit daunting, so I made a brief excerpt of language behaviors that we might see in the classroom. This excerpt is very brief, but I’ve noted the pages where I got it from, so one can find more expansive information about each descriptor.
For instance, under “overall listening comprehension, (p. 24)”, one reads “Can follow slow and carefully articulated speech, with long pauses to assimilate meaning.” The more detailed information in the original text includes concrete examples, such as: “I can understand a simple description of a room.” “I can follow a short story if I listen to it and look at it several times,” or “I can understand when someone speaks about the weather in simple, short sentences, e.g. ‘Today it is snowing.'”
The CEFR was developed during the 1960’s when the Council of Europe aimed at facilitating communication amongst its member states. Their purpose was to establish that all citizens learn both their native language as well as other languages of the member states. During the 1970’s, the focus was on developing a positive stance towards language learning. Thus, learning objectives were developed in the form of ‘can-do’ statements in order to reinforce learners’ autonomy, independence and motivation. It was imperative that objectives dictate what learners could do, even in the lowest levels (Council of Europe). By the 1990’s, a full framework had been developed for language learning, teaching and assessment aiming at plurilingualism, positive enforcement in learning, design of textbooks and transparency in testing criteria. It divided language proficiency into six levels; two Basic A levels (A1, A2), two Independent B levels (B1, B2) and two Proficient C levels (C1, C2) (Council of Europe).
Teaching B2 learners is different from teaching adults. According to Klein young children tend to change their mood every other minute, and they find it extremely difficult to sit still. On the other hand, they show a greater motivation than adults to do things that appeal to them. In addition, Ashworth and Wakefield (2005, p.3) claim that all young children are highly motivated to learn language. Harmer (1985; cited in Sosiowati, 2003) says that young learners are curious, like to seek teacher approval, tend to be bored very easily, and do not like sitting and listening for a long time. However, the curiosity and sufficient notices and appreciation from their teacher will motivate them to do
something. Furthermore, they require constant changes of activities; and they
need to be involved in something active and appreciated by their teacher.
Students will be more successful if teachers match the teaching style to their learning style. Verster, cited in Sosiowati says that young learners may prefer either visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), kinesthetic (moving) or tactile (touching) way of learning. These learning styles will then lead to different approaches or methods used by teacher in the classroom.

3. DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO
TEACHING READING
Reading is central to the learning process. To access critical information from enormous data banks, students will need to be able to read complex
material with a high degree of comprehension (Parkay and Stanford, 1998, p.445).
Learning to read can begin from text level; from sentence level; from word level; or from letter level. Each starting point has produced approaches to teaching reading that can be used in the foreign language classroom.
“Emergent literacy” describes the phenomenon in which children seem to learn to read without any teaching, gradually, and through exposure to text and to reading. When children spends lots of time being read to from interesting and appropriate books, some will begin to work out for themselves the patterns and regularities that link spoken and written text. Cameron (2001, p.146) mentions the features of emergent literacy that are most relevant for foreign language teaching. They are:
(1) children choose the books they want to hear and read;
(2) children are motivated by choice and by the quality of the writing they
encounter;
(3) children often choose to read the same book many times, and this is a valuable learning experiences;
(4) meaning comes first because the child understands the story as a whole;
(5) from this overall meaning, attention moves to whole words and letters, beginning with initial consonants, then final consonants, then vowels in the middle;
(6) the link between reading and oral skills is very strong because children adopt and play with the language of the story;
(7) parents can be involved with their children’s language learning through reading aloud with them.
4.RESULTS in B1 level lerners
This section presents the instruments which were applied in order to collect the data and findings for this research, as well as the results of this small-scale research. The results are analyzed in the sequence they were applied within the research.
First of all, the results of the pre-test will be presented. The collection and the analysis of the result, after the intervention, constitute the fourth stage of this ‘action research’, as mentioned by Susman. ²The interpretation of the findings of this research is the last stage of this ‘action research. It is clear from Table 1 that half of the students wrote 60-80 points, one third of the students wrote between 60-50 points whereas only the 20% of the students acquired 80-100 points in the pre-test. We can conclude that the average number of students wrote for 60-100 points. It is a satisfactory number which also shows that half of the students are at the same language level. However, two of the ten students acquired 80-100 points and one third of them wrote for 60-50 points. This confirms that they are a mixed ability class as the students are not of the same language level. Taking into consideration, the findings of the Pre- test, we can conclude that the students have not developed their reading skills according to their language level.
To begin with, comparing the results of the pre-test and the results of the post-test we can conclude that the reading skills of the control group have not improved. The results of the post-test indicate that there was a slight decrease in comparison to the results of the pre-test. It goes without saying that the lowest marks are in the first task, as most of the students did not answer this question
correctly. This is,perhaps, due to the fact that the students do not comprehend the reading text because of the unknown words which exist. What is more, in the second task the students’ marks are low, as the majority of them do not fill in the correct gap with the correct sentence which is missing. It is obvious that they are not familiar with this type of communicative activity such as jumbled sentences. Moving on to the third and fourth activities which are writing activities, we can conclude that the students of the control group present weaknesses, as they cannot form full sentences and not all the sentences which they do form make sense. In addition to this, their vocabulary is very poor and limited.
After the completion of the adapted lessons, the same post-test was handed out to the five students of the experimental group.Indicate that the students had developed their reading abilities after theywere taughtthe adapted -communicative - material. the students acquired the highest marks in the first, third and fourth activity³. This means that they were able to comprehend an unfamiliar reading text and give valid and accurate answers and express their opinion meaningfully. However, we should mention that we anticipated higher grades from the experimental group which was exposed to authentic and communicative material.
The semi-structured interviews constitute the last part of this research. The semi-structured interviews were used as a means of triangulation of the research results. It is worth noting that the interviews aimed mainly at the evaluation of the development of the students’ speaking skills as well as the students’ expression of preferences regarding the English lessons they have taught. Thirty- five questions were replied by the students of both groups, eighteen of them were open-closed and the rest were closed questions. This variation of questions was chosen for the needs of this specific interview and because of the pre-intermediate level of students. Moreover,an attempt was made to make the process of the interview interesting and not tiring for the students. Even though the students were willing to participate during the interview process, they could not hide the anxiety and stress they felt. The interviews which were recorded by the teachers who were also the researchers, were also conducted face-to-face between the students and the teachers/researchers, so that they could see things like the facial expressions of the students, their gestures, their facial grimaces, the pauses in their answers and what these pauses denoted, etc.


After carrying out the semi-structured interviews, the teachers/researchers focused on the most noticeable facts. To be more specific, most of the students of the control group had difficulty in expressing their opinion in English, consequently, they answered in Greek. In addition to this, they did not understand all questions in the English language, as a result the questions were carried out in Greek again. What is more, some questions were repeated due to the fact some interviewees did not
comprehend them. It goes without saying that the majority of the students hesitated to express their opinion or had difficulty in thinking of an appropriate answer. These difficulties could be justifiable as the answers were not prepared in advance by the students. Last but not least, the researchers pinpointed that the students made grammar and vocabulary errors, errors in syntax, both in Greek and in English and in used the wrong pronunciation in some words. To conclude, the students of the
control group were not familiar with speaking activities and they were also not fluent speakers of the English language.
The students of the experimental group replied in the oral questions more fluently and confidently than the students of the control group. However, this does not mean that they did not make language errors during the interviews.⁴ It is worth mentioning that they made some grammar and intonation errors too, yet they answered to the point. As concerning some of the questions, a few of their replies were considered irrelevant. Some of the students felt more comfortable answering in English, even though the questions were asked both in English and in Greek.
5.DISCUSSION in B1 level
Results indicated an overall robust and significant improvement in understanding reading texts related to general and academic English. We also saw a significant
difference between the pre-and post-test online and grammar tests. Additionally, we found that confidence levels in reading both for Academic and General English material were high. It is, therefore, possible to include reading as an educational tool in regular courses as it provides the possibility of further improvements in
English teaching and learning. Interestingly, the use of reading as the leading English didactical tool is a different methodological experience⁵. It motivates students to learn and understand reading material related to university courses and increases their ability to understand more technical and general vocabulary. This teaching approach might be conducive for the improvement of writing, vocabulary development, listening, and oral skills and can expand students’ knowledge in their majors. Pluck (2013) in her findings stated that including the reading of academic and scientific articles in teaching English can be more challenging for university students. However, the benefits of this type of approach are noteworthy and
feasible to carry out. We contend that challenging university students as well as language instructors when dealing with teaching methodologies must be the core of
any English Program offered at the university level. The results also show that when giving the students the possibility of reading what they are interested in or what
they are studying in their majors, chances of success in understanding English material and confidence levels in reading increase
Feyen (2014), Ramírez (2013), Vanegas, in Meyer’s report (2014), and Krashen (1985) recommend including the practices of intensive and extensive reading as well as writing practices in our English courses. Reading and writing are the two most crucial core language skills used by the English language program offered at UC’s Psychology School. Reading is taken as the foundation for the development of the other language skills as mentioned by Richard & Smith (2002) who argue that developing the reading habits, encourages the knowledge of grammar
structures and vocabulary, and nurtures the love of reading. Participants reported that writing summaries, making oral presentations, and discussing and making
analyses of what they read during the semester gave them the possibility of developing their overall English language skills.⁶ The listening component of the program was achieved through listening to the instructors, peers, video presentations, TED Talks, and YouTube songs. To sum up, reading generated the possibility of offering a variety of activities that allowed students to practice the
four primary language skills. Additionally, we noticed sudden changes in students’ motivation, levels of selfconfidence, engagement, and changes in their attitudes
toward learning English. However, looking at the results shows us that some
participants indicated that the readings assigned for this English course were very extensive and that there was a lot of new and challenging vocabulary to understand. The study done by Pluck (2013) showed similar results. This approach presented new challenges and demands, but there were obstacles to overcome to gain the significant benefits that it offered to this type of student population.
6.IMPLICATIONS about B1 level and lerners
Reading should occupy an essential and significant place in the English teaching and learning process and be incorporated more frequently in regular language courses at university levels. It is recommended not to underestimate students’ capabilities and linguistic transfer skills that add to this type of educational strategy, where the main emphasis is the understanding of academic and scientific material related to their majors. Similarly, language instructors should be more aware that some students nowadays enter university much better prepared in English language. They should also realize that English reading comprehension is one of the most evaluated skills in almost all the entrance examinations in most foreign universities and graduate programs at the national or international level. Therefore, our students need to take more advanced, demanding, and challenging English courses that genuinely prepare and enable them to take international standardized tests such as the TOEFL, GRE, CEFRL, and so on for admission to foreign universities or master or doctoral programs offered worldwide. Using reading to teach EFL might catapult students from being ready for more significant and more rewarding challenges. Nevertheless, an EFL instructor must be a role model. A language teacher, whether at a university, high or elementary school level, who does not read, cannot be a good example and will not be able to motivate students to read. Therefore, good reading teaching habits must be mandatory as part of any EFL training to increase the level of students’ motivation to read. There are numerous EFL methodologies mentioned by research about teaching English as a foreign language that responds to different approaches, paradigms, interests, contexts, and realities (Menezes, 2013). It is evident to Ecuadorian English instructors that not all students who are pursuing university majors intend to study their master or doctoral programs in English-speaking countries or become pure researchers. On the contrary, the main concern and intention of most of them are passing the three mandatory English language courses, currently to reach the B1 level, to comply with one of their undergraduate requirements for graduation. Therefore, our work as university professors should be to make these groups of students realize and consider the enormous
possibilities that knowing English can offer them. If students do not have the intention to pursue graduate studies within or outside the country where English is
required, they should at least be aware of and ponder upon the enormous benefits that learning another language represents, not only in academia but also in their
professional and personal lives. Consequently, we think that reading can be used as an educational tool and must be included in the daily practice of teaching and learningforeign languages at university levels, for it can serve to better students’ English learning skills. The authors argue that reading can enhance the rest of
language skills, and the motivation to learn this foreign language at the university level because our student populations already have an acceptable level of literacy in
L1 which affects the literacy skills that learners can transfer from L1 to L2 reading (Grabe & Stoller, 2002). Finally, we conclude by inviting language instructors to
consider the possibility of incorporating reading as a useful didactical tool for language instruction and conducting further research on this critical issue with
bigger populations and in different universities, schools, and contexts.

CONCLUSIONS

Young learners of English, as a foreign language, are exposed from their early years of learning to reading and writing in English through the textbooks they use. Concerning the students’ reading skills, the texts in the coursebook are not authentic. As far as writing skills are concerned, students usually must read a model text and produce a similar piece of written language without having a real audience and purpose in mind. This is where technology comes in, and to be more specific, Computer Assisted Language Learning. Nowadays, young learners are familiar with using the computer and the internet for various reasons, such as to play computer games and to find information on the internet for school projects.
In this research, students were familiar with technology and the internet. But the same does not occur with the use of blogs. None of the students knew what a blog was. After they had been involved in blog lessons, they were eager to express their own point of view by writing in English, by collaborating with their classmates and by helping each other. Finally, the affective factor is of equal importance. At the beginning the students who participated in this research were a bit anxious about using a blog. As time went by, they started becoming used to it and felt relaxed and creative while using it. In conclusion, the use of blogs proved to be helpful in enhancing students’ literacy skills. There were some obstacles in the process, yet blogs proved to encourage the learning of English, as a foreign language, in the specific language center in which they were applied. Good teachers have to recognize that children learn in different ways and require different strategies. High-quality and interesting book can be the most valuable and effective material or resource for the teacher to enhance the children’s reading ability. The stories from the book which are read aloud by adult can be the source of language exposure for children.
That is one of the proofs that the role of the parent or teacher in supporting reading progress is crucial. In addition, research shows that reading to children has many other positive outcomes. In conclusion, there are three important points for children reading success, namely: (1) innovative and suitable approach, (2) effective material, and (3) parent or teacher. All these three elements are critical in order to teach all kids to read.
An action research was chosen to carry out this study. More specifically, an A2 level class, of a Private Language Institute, was the experimental and control group, upon which this research was conducted. In other words, the A2 level class was divided into two groups, the control and the experimental group.
First of all, a pre-test was given out to the students of both groups in order to measure their reading skills. The results showed that the students’ level was average, as half of the students acquired 60-80 points.
Ten lessons were carried out to students of both groups. In the control group, the material of the course book which is taught in this Private Language Institute was applied. To the other group, also known as the experimental group, new adapted material was designed based on the principles of the CLA and the CEFR. After the completion of the ten lessons, a post-test was handed out to the students of both groups so as to measure the students’ improvement in reading as well as the students’ language development. The results of both groups were not the expected ones.
As far as the control group was concerned, the post-test pointed out a slight drop concerning the grades they had acquired in the pre-test. The grades of their pre-test were higher than the grades of the post-test. We can conclude from the results of the students’ post-test that their reading skills did not improve.
On the other hand, the post-tests of the experimental group indicated that the students improved their reading skills, as there was a slight improvement in the grades they acquired. The last part of this research included the carrying out of the semi-instructed interview in which the students of both groups participated.
The semi-structured interview, showed two things, firstly that the students of the experimental group were more interested in, and excited with, the material which was applied to them, by the teachers who were also the researchers, in communicative language teaching. And, as was expected, the control group was neither excited with, nor interested in, the conventional coursebook material which was applied to them. This last group of students, the control group, also showed
limitations and errors in language production, in contrast to the students of the experimental group who were more fluent and communicative.

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WEBSITES
1: Website for B1 Preliminary

2.Website for B1 Preliminary for Schools
2: http//Free Children's Stories.us
3: "Cambridge English recognition | Cambridge English".
4: http//www.Online Storytime by Barnes and Noble.com
5: http//www.ABC.com

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3^ Beglar, D., Hunt, A., & Kite, Y. (2012). The effect of pleasure reading on Japanese university EFL learners' reading rates. Language Learning, 62(3), 665-703. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00651.x

4^ Bernal, M. & Feyen, J. (2017). Preliminary response from the Faculty of Psychology students of the University of Cuenca to the modified EFL teaching approach. Maskana, 8(1), 61-69.

5^ Bernal, M. & Feyen, J. (2017). Preliminary response from the Faculty of Psychology students of the University of Cuenca to the modified EFL teaching approach. Maskana, 8(1), 61-69.

6^ Burt, M. Peyton, J. K., & Adams, R. (2003). Reading and adult English language learners: A review of the research. Washington DC.: