Scaffolding in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) vs. Scaffolding in Face-to-face Programs in IELTS Writing Task: Test-takers’ Perceptions in Focus

Subject Areas :

Rezvan  Narimani ¹ (Department of English, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran)
Fariba  Rahimi Esfahani ² (Department of English, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran)
Sajad  Shafiee ³ (Department of English, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran)

Received: 2023-08-22 Accepted : 2023-08-31 Published : 2023-10-01

Keywords: IELTS, perceptions, scaffolding, L2 writing, MOOC,

Abstract :

AbstractThis research sought to investigate IELTS test-takers' perceptions of obtaining scaffolded MOOC-based training. To accomplish this purpose, 50 IELTS candidates were chosen through convenient sampling and assigned to one of two groups: a MOOC-based teaching group (MG, n = 25) and a face-to-face instruction group (F2FG, n = 25). The MG test-takers were exposed to FutureLearn, while the F2FG test-takers were given identical materials in person. Scaffolding took the form of visual aids, pre-teaching the necessary terminology, drawing on the participants' past knowledge of a subject, modeling what they were requested to write, and providing them with the sentence patterns needed to complete the IELTS Writing Task 2. The writing pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups were examined using a one-way ANCOVA, which revealed that the MG learners outperformed their F2FG counterparts significantly. The perception questionnaire results revealed that MG students liked MOOC-based education for their writing courses. The implications and applications of the current study's results are provided at the end of the research

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