5.1 Limitations of the Study
Although the use of CBLI is a factor that contributes to the improvement on EFL students’ general and academic
English reading comprehension, there are several limitations in the research design. First, the subjects were only 101
English majors at I-Shou University, who might have a higher level of English proficiency and more opportunities to
practice English than non-English majors. Therefore, the results of this study might not be generalized to all university
students. Second, the genres of the reading selections were restricted to short stories and poems; as a result, the research
findings may not be generalized to other reading genre, such as drama, fiction, etc. Third, this study was conducted over
a short period of time, so the findings may be different from those of a similar study carried out over a long period.
Finally, many other factors, such as the subjects’ genders and individual differences, social background, and motivation
were not taken into considerations. Thus, in interpreting the results, we should also bear in mind that those factors might
have affected students’ reading performance. In future research, it is recommended that larger and randomized subjects
with other non-English majors or different educational levels should also join in the research, in order to increase the
level of generalization and get a clearer picture of the effect of CBLI on EFL students’ reading comprehension.