assessing the effects of funds of identity on l2 learners’ willingness to read e-books

Objective: this study explores the effect of recruiting topics highly valued by students along with the interest-igniting mode of reading texts in the site of practice, collectively framed as funds of identity (foi), on willingness to read (wtr).methods: to this end, three groups of students were recruited. over a 17-session extracurricular experiment, all the three groups received books in and out of tune with their foi, elicited through an initial-semester researcher-made questionnaire. one group (n = 20) received e-books with few interactive features, the second group (n = 20) received e-books with no interactive features, and the third group (n = 20) received print books. wtr and attitude changes toward e-books were assessed using initial- and final-semester questionnaires. students were also required to send summaries of their readings and keep journals throughout the experiment. they finally gave a post-treatment interview.results: qualitative sets of data in juxtaposition with quantitative ones lent support to the positive influence foi and e-books—as on-site emerging foi—exercised on wtr and attitude change toward e-books.conclusions: foi operationalized through e-books increased learners’ wtr. in light of the patterns of changes observed, foi of students are suggested to be taken into consideration for obtaining better educational results.