E-Tools to Assist EFL Learners' Writing Skill: Wikis, Weblogs, and Podcasts
محورهای موضوعی : language teaching
فاطمه بهجت
1
(Abadeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abadeh, Iran)
مرتضی یمینی
2
(Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran)
کلید واژه: foreign language learning, Podcasts, Web-Based Instruction, Weblogs, Wikis, writing skill,
چکیده مقاله :
One of the promises of web-based education is to help students take control of their learning pace as the basic requirement of language learning is being life-long. The purpose of the present study was to find out which of the e-tools -- weblogs, wikis, or podcasts -- can better help EFL learners excel in their writing skill. To this end, 156 Iranian sophomore students majoring in English and studying at Islamic Azad University, Abadeh and Shiraz Branches and the Zand Institute of Higher Education were selected based on random sampling as participants. As the design of the study was a pre-experimental one, there were three experimental groups involved but no control group. Before the instruction, the participants were given an essay writing test, whose results were used to divide them into three groups. Two of the groups received in-class instruction and were assigned out-of-class activities through weblogs and wikis. The third group received the instruction through podcasts. The treatment lasted for two and a half months and at the end, another essay writing test was given to all groups. A two-way ANOVA for the comparison of the participants' gain scores indicated that using the tools available on the Internet could lead to improvement in the EFL students writing abilities, and gender was not a determining factor. The study reveals the fact that web tools, in general, and blogs, wikis, and podcasts, in particular, can foster EFL students’ writing skills and teachers can use them as supplements in their language instruction.
هدف از انجام تحقیق حاضر این بود که اولا کدامیک از ابزارهای اینترنتی موجود از قبیل بلاگها، ویکی ها و پادکستها میتوانند بطور موثرتری به یادگیری نگارش دانشجویان زبان انگلیسی کمک کنند ودوما آیا جنسیت دانشجویان نقش مهمی در عملکرد بهتر آنان ایفا میکند یا خیر. بدین منظور، 156 دانشجوی سال دوم رشته زبان که در دانشگاههای آزاد اسلامی واحد شیراز، آباده و غیرانتفاعی زند تحصیل مینمودند انتخاب شدند. پس از اینکه دانشجویان به سه گروه تقسیم شدند ، یک پیش آزمون نگارش گرفته شد و نتیجه نشان داد که همه دانشجویان از نظر توانایی نگارش انگلیسی همگون هستند. به هر کدام از این سه گروه آموزش نگارش با استفاده از ابزار اینترنتی ویژه ای داده شد: یک گروه از طریق وبلاگ، گروه دوم ویکی و سومین گروه پادکست. پس از یک دوره دوماه و نیم، دانشجویان دریک پس آزمون نگارش شرکت کردند. مقایسه اختلاف نمرات پیش و پس آزمون نشان داد علیرغم اینکه که قدرت نگارش دانشجویان در هر سه گروه افزایش داشته، از نظر آماری تفاوت عملکرد آنان در گروههای مختلف معنادار نبوده است. بدین ترتیب، هر سه ابزار اینترنتی به یک نسبت به یادگیری نگارش دانشجویان کمک نموده است. از طرف دیگر نتایج حاصل از این تحقیق نمایانگر این بود که جنسیت دانشجویان هیچ نقشی در عملکرد آنان در گروههای مختلف نداشته است. نتایج حاصله از این مطالعه به مدرسین زبان کمک میکند تا از ابزارهای موجود در اینترنت بخصوص ابزارهای یاد شده، در جهت ارتقاء دانش زبانی فراگیران ،صرفنظر از جنسیت آنان، استفاده نمایند.
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