The Effect of Teaching General English Course Content Using WebQuest on Students’ Learning and Retention

Subject Areas : Educational management

Vahid Mirzaeian ¹ , Seyed Hassan Talebi ² , Maryam Roubdari ³

1 - ELT Department, Faculty of Letters, Alzahra University
2 - Dept. of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities and social sciences, University of Mazandaran
3 - Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Neka Branch, Iran

Received: 2020-02-27 Accepted : 2020-05-13 Published : 2020-06-21

Keywords: Learning, English Language, retention, Web quest,

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of WebQuest, as one of the new technological tools in teaching various sciences, including foreign languages, on learning and teaching general English language in the university environment. The study is applied in terms of purpose and quasi-experimental in terms of method. From the total statistical population of students, which was 133 undergraduate female students of Alzahra University in the general language course, using simple random sampling method, two classes of 25 people, one as a control group and the other as a experimental group, were selected and the amount of learning and retention were examined with one pre-test and two post-tests. The experimental group was trained using a WebQuest, and the control group learned course content using traditional method. After two months, a researcher-made test was given to measure learning, and after a month, the same test was given to students for retention. The data showed a significant difference between the results of both students' learning and retention compared to the traditional group, and it can be concluded that the use of this technology is effective in teaching and learning.