The Effects of Blended Learning on Chinese Undergraduate EFL Students' Reading Achievement And Engagement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51200/ijelp.v6i1.4559Keywords:
Blended learning, EFL reading achievement, student engagementAbstract
The present study aimed to examine the effects of blended learning on Chinese undergraduate EFL students’ reading achievement and engagement. To achieve the objectives, a quasi-experimental research was carried out. It involved 82 junior EFL participants who were divided into a control group and an experimental group in a Chinese university. Only the experimental group was taught with blended learning in EFL reading activities, whereas the control group retained the conventional F2F EFL reading instruction. Both groups received the Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) and the Higher Education Student Engagement Scale (HESES) test during pre- and post-tests. After a twelve-week treatment in the experimental group, independent sample t-test and ANCOVA analyses were utilized to compare the pre- and post-test results of both groups. According to the findings of the study, blended learning showed a significant positive effect on Chinese undergraduate EFL students’ reading achievement and the overall student engagement in which students’ academic engagement, cognitive engagement, social engagement with teachers, and social engagement with peers presented more effective results in blended learning than that in conventional learning, although students’ affective engagement indicated no statistically meaningful difference. Therefore, blended learning as a popular learning normality in the digital era can be adopted in EFL reading class for optimizing EFL reading comprehension and activating student engagement in a sustainable manner.
References
Allen, I. E., Seaman, J., & Garrett, R. (2007). Blending in: The extent and promise of blended education in the United States. Sloan Consortium.
Bonk, C. Jay., & Graham, C. R. (2012). The handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs. John Wiley & Sons.
Bonner, E., Garvey, K., Miner, M., Godin, S., & Reinders, H. (2023). Measuring real-time learner engagement in the Japanese EFL classroom. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 17(2), 254–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2021.2025379
Chen, D., & Chen, Z. (2022). The triple realm of EFL reading: Base on the horizon fusion theory. Foreign Language Education, 6, 77–82. https://doi.org/10.16362/j.cnki.cn61-1023/h.2022.06.003.
Cheng, H., & Wu, Y. (2023). An analysis of evolution in the theoretical and practical studies of Chinese college English reading (1992-2021). Journal of Xi’an International Studies University, 31(1), 54–58. https://doi.org/10.16362/j.cnki.cn61-1457/h.2023.01.015
Christenson, S., Reschly, A. L., & Wylie, C. (2012). Handbook of research on student engagement (Vol. 840). Springer US. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310773130
Elahi, A., & Heidar, M. D. (2021). The impact of integrating blended learning with task-based language learning on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Language Horizons, 5(1), 125–144. https://doi.org/10.22051/LGHOR.2020.32604.1351
Feng, X., Wu, Y., Cao, J., & Guo, L. (2021). Designing blended learning activities for the internet plus age. Distance Education In China, 557(6), 60-67+77. https://doi.org/10.13541/j.cnki.chinade.2021.06.007
Fisher, R., Perényi, Á., & Birdthistle, N. (2021). The positive relationship between flipped and blended learning and student engagement, performance and satisfaction. Active Learning in Higher Education, 22(2), 97–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787418801702
Ginting, D. (2021). Student engagement and factors affecting active learning in English language teaching. VELES: Voices of English Language Education Society, 5(2), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v5i2.3968
Guo, Y., Xu, J., & Chen, C. (2022). Measurement of engagement in the foreign language classroom and its effect on language achievement: The case of Chinese college EFL students. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 0. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0118
Halverson, L. R. (2016). Conceptualizing blended learning engagement. Brigham Young University. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5981
Henrie, C. R., Graham, C. R., Davies, R., Fischer, L., Gibbons, A., & Larsen, R. A. (2016). Measuring student engagement in technology-mediated learning environments. Brigham Young University.
Hiver, P., Al-Hoorie, A. H., Vitta, J. P., & Wu, J. (2021). Engagement in language learning: A systematic review of 20 years of research methods and definitions. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211001289
Huang, M., Kuang, F., & Ling, Y. (2022). EFL learners’ engagement in different activities of blended learning environment. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 7(1), 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00136-7
Ma, J., & Zhou, Q. (2019). An empirical study on the dimensions and factors of college student engagement in blended learning environment. Research in Educational Development, 39(Z1), 54–65. https://doi.org/10.14121/j.cnki.1008-3855.2019.z1.010
Nerantzi, C. (2020). The use of peer instruction and flipped learning to support flexible blended learning during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Management and Applied Research, 7(2), 184–195. http://ijmar.org/v7n2/20-013.html
Philp, J., & Duchesne, S. (2016). Exploring engagement in tasks in the language classroom. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 50–72. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190515000094
Pitaloka, N. L., Anggraini, H. W., Kurniawan, D., Erlina, E., & Jaya, H. P. (2020). Blended learning in a reading course: Undergraduate EFL students perceptions and experiences. Indonesian Research Journal in Education (IRJE), 4(1), 43–57. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.22437/irje.v4i1.8790
Rahimzadeh, L., & Gilakjani, A. P. (2022). Investigating the effectiveness of blended learning in reading proficiency: Evidence from intermediate EFL learners. Knowledge Management and E-Learning, 14(4), 489–509. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2022.14.025
Ren, Q. (2023). The predicative effects of learning engagement on learning outcome satisfaction in English classrooms. Modern Foreign Languages, 46(4), 540–551. https://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/44.1165.h.20230420.0929.010.html
Shin, Y., Park, J., & Lee, S. goo. (2018). Improving the integrated experience of in-class activities and fine-grained data collection for analysis in a blended learning class. Interactive Learning Environments, 26(5), 597–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2017.1374980
Skinner, E. A., & Pitzer, J. R. (2012). Developmental dynamics of student engagement, coping, and everyday resilience. In In Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 21–44). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_2
Valiathan, P. (2002). Blended learning models. Learning Circuits, 3(8), 50–59. https://www.purnima-valiathan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blended-Learning-Models-2002-ASTD.pdf
Wolf, D. F. (1993). A comparison of assessment tasks used to measure FL reading comprehension. The Modern Language Journal, 77(4), 473–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1993.tb01995.x
Yudhana, S. (2021). The implementation of blended learning to enhance English reading skills of Thai undergraduate students. English Language Teaching, 14(7), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v14n7p1
Zhoc, K. C. H., Webster, B. J., King, R. B., Li, J. C. H., & Chung, T. S. H. (2019). Higher education student engagement scale (HESES): Development and psychometric evidence. Research in Higher Education, 60(2), 219–244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9510-6
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Total Views: 239
| 
Total Downloads: 212
