Effectiveness of Blended IAET Model in Promoting Higher Vocational Students’ English Reading Comprehension: A Parallel Cluster-Randomized Controlled Study protocol

Background: Increasing efforts have been focused on improving higher vocational students’ English reading comprehension with blended teaching model. There is limited literature focused on improving higher vocational students’ reading comprehension through the typically designed teaching model. Intercultural awareness experiential teaching (IAET) model is designed for higher vocational English reading classes by integrating three levels of intercultural awareness reflected in the reading materials of the textbook into the blended teaching process.   Aim: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the IAET model and to assess the impact of this model on promoting higher vocational English learners’ reading comprehension.   Method: This study examines the improvement of higher vocational students reading comprehension using the intercultural awareness experiential teaching (IAET) model as an intervention. The intervention has been implemented for two months with two hours per week designed to improve higher vocational students’ reading comprehension in one higher vocational college of Henan province in China. 52 Students has been randomly assigned to the intervention group that will receive the IAET model and the control group with traditional teaching model. The feasibility was determined based on the effectiveness level of IAET model as measured by reading comprehension tests and semi-structured interviews. Independent sample T test and Welch t-test in SPSS 27 were used to compare the pretest and posttest reading comprehension scores in the control group and the experimental group.   Findings: The findings showed that the IAET model has a large impact on the improvements of reading comprehension scores obtained from pre-test and post-test of the control group and the experimental group.   Discussion: IAET model teaching method that can promote higher vocational English learners’ English reading comprehension systematically. During the implementation of IAET model, higher vocational English students have actively immersed themselves in cultural knowledge of reading materials and strive to comprehend them thoroughly. Moreover, the implementation of the online provision and practice tasks has also promoted students’ reading comprehension by utilizing their fragment time after classes.   Contribution: The findings of this study provided an effective method for higher vocational English teachers to improve students’ reading comprehension systematically which is the implementing of the IAET model in China.