1601 freshman students were enrolled in 4 EFL courses (reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary) taught in the past 5 years using Blackboard and Nicenet. In each course, students were divided into an experimental and control group. Control groups received traditional in-class instruction and experimental groups received a combination of in-class and online instruction. Before instruction, experimental and control groups were pre-tested. In each online course, discussion threads and internet resources related to the topics, skills and structures taught in class were posted. Significant differences were found between pre- and post-test scores in reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary courses. The achievement level was higher among active participants who posted threads and shared in the discussion than students who were just browsers and did not post anything; and between members of the latter group and those students who were not registered in the online courses at all. Online instruction had a positive effect on experimental students’ achievement regardless of the type of Online Course Management System used (Blackboard and Nicenet). Although, each experiment in each skill course was repeated for 2-4 semesters, significant results were obtained. Achievement was lower in semesters in which online courses were not used at all. Results show that in learning environments where technology is unavailable to students as a supplement to in-class techniques helps motivate and enhance EFL students' learning and development of their reading, writing skills and grammatical, vocabulary knowledge in English as a foreign language.
Prof. Reima Al-jarf
King Saud University
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf
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