Teaching writing skills in EFL classes with blending learning

Abstract

Blended learning has become an emerging trend in the field of education and has caught the attention and interest of many researchers as a new approach to encourage students in their learning process, especially during COVID-19 disruption. Blended learning is also known as 'hybrid learning', 'mixed-learning or 'flipped learning' in the literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of blended learning for improving EFL students', from the eleventh grade, English writing skills and the student's perception of the blended learning environment at a high school. In this study, a mixed-research method was used. The quantitative data was collected through an online questionnaire, pre-test, and post-test writing scores written by 92 participants, and the qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 8 volunteer participants. Data were analyzed with SPSS t-tests and content analyses. The research findings showed that blended learning had a significant effect in improving participants' writing skills. Participants significantly outperformed in writing exams. The participants had a positive attitude and perspective towards using blended learning in EFL classes. The limitations of blended learning highlighted by the minority of the participants were the burden of the online activities and lack of internet or mobile device accessibility. Further research on blended learning models in EFL classes in the K-12 context is highly recommended.

A Systemic Review (2014–2023) on the Mobile-Assisted Blended Learning for English as a Foreign Language Education with a Focus on Empirical Studies

“…Elementary [54] Junior High [65,75] Senior High [55,62,67,72] Secondary Not Specified [64] It is evident from Table 4 that MABL in EFL is particularly favored in higher education research, with a total of 16 studies conducted with university students as the research participants. In the majority of studies [24, 53, 56, 59-61, 63, 66, 68-70, 73], researchers employed MABL in a specific or comprehensive four-skill English language course and validated its effectiveness.…”

“…Among the selected articles, four studies were conducted in a high school context. Three of these studies [62,67,72] aimed to enhance students' English writing skills by utilizing MABL, while the fourth study [55] upgraded MABL to the mobile blended active language learning (MBALL) approach and investigated its impact on the critical reading skills of Thai high school students. Participants in each study demonstrated a positive attitude toward this innovative approach.…”

“…Schoology [59,68,71] Edmodo [64,66,67,72,73] Edpuzzle [65] Blackboard Mobile [74] Vocabulary App Angličtina Today [57] Listening App Sefl-developed MBCL Website [60] Smart English [63] Not Specified [24, 55,56,62] As demonstrated in the table above, SNA and LMS were two categories that researchers in MABL for EFL significantly favored. Eight studies utilized social A Systemic Review (2014-2023) on the Mobile-Assisted Blended Learning for English as a Foreign Language Education with a Focus on Empirical Studies networking apps in either online or offline EFL classes.…”

“…Several studies did not specify the mobile platforms or applications used in their research [24,55,56,62]. In these studies, researchers no longer adhered to a specific platform.…”

“…Table 6 demonstrates the distribution of education levels across various platforms and applications. Senior High [65] Junior High [75] Elementary [54] Learning Management System (LMS) Higher Education [58, 59,66,68,71,73,74] Senior High [65,67,72] Not Specified [64] Vocabulary App Secondary Vocational [57] Listening App Higher Education [60,63] Not Specified Higher Education [24,56] Senior High [55] Junior High [62] A Systemic Review (2014-2023) on the Mobile-Assisted Blended Learning for English as a Foreign Language Education with a Focus on Empirical Studies…”