The Effect of Conventional, Web-based, and Hybrid Teaching of Pre ...

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Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 4 (2), 393-401, 2013(Chamot, 2005). It builds in a self-evaluation phase for students to reflect on their use of strategies before going onto transfer the strategies to new tasks. The Grenfell and Harris (1999) model, however, leads the students througha cycle of six steps, then begin a new cycle. It provides initial familiarization with the new strategies, then hasstudents make action plans to improve their own learning. In the SSBI model, the teacher takes on a variety ofroles in order to provide a scaffold for the students’ learning and using strategies appropriate to their own learningstyle.Although these models may have originally been proposed to be used in language learning classrooms,the utilization of these models can be extended to out-of-class environments. The comparison of these threemodels reveals that the most appropriate one to be used for the purpose of this study is that of Grenfell and Harris(1999) since it lends itself more to the three modes of instruction (conventional, web-based, and hybrid) which arethe focus of this study. This is so because SSBI relies on an extra component (i.e. learning styles) which isdispensed with here, and CALLA places great emphasis on the transfer of strategies from one task type to another(which is also a marginal factor in the present study).Table 1. Models for Language Learning Strategy InstructionSSBI* Model (Cohen, 1998) CALLA** Model (Chamot et al., 1999;Chamot, 2005)Grenfell & Harris (1999)Teacher as diagnostician: Helps studentsidentify current strategies and learning styles.Teacher as language learner: Shares ownlearning experiences and thinking processes.Teacher as learner trainer: Trains studentshow to use learning strategies.Teacher as coordinator: Supervises students’study plans and monitors difficulties.Teacher as coach: Provides ongoingguidance on students’ progress.Preparation: Teacher identifies students’current learning strategies for familiar tasks.Presentation: Teacher models, names, andexplains new strategy; asks students if andhow they have used it.Practice: Students practice new strategy; insubsequent strategy practice, teacher fadesremainders to encourage independentstrategy use.Self-Evaluation: Students evaluate their ownstrategy use immediately after practice.Expansion: Students transfer strategies tonew tasks, combine strategies into clusters,develop repertoire of preferred strategies.Assessment: Teacher assesses students’ useof strategies and impact on performance.*Styles and Strategies-Based Instruction**Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach(Adopted from Chamot, 2008)Awareness raising: Students complete a task,and then identify the strategies they used.Modeling: Teacher models, discusses valueof new strategy, makes checklist of strategiesfor learner use.General practice: Students practice newstrategies with different tasks.Action planning: Students set goals andchoose strategies to attain those goals.Focused practice: Students carry out actionplanning using selected strategies; teachersfade prompts so that students use strategiesautomatically.Evaluation: Teacher and students evaluatesuccess of action plan; set new goals; cyclebegins again.Web-Based Strategies-based InstructionAs an educational tool, technology finds a number of applications in and outside the classroom. Manyresearchers (McCrory, 2006; Oliver & Herrington, 2003; Tu, 2005) observe that the development of onlinetechnologies has brought new ways of learning and teaching. Whereas the traditional mode of instruction includedpresenting and storing information, web-based learning emphasizes communication and knowledge construction.The strongest distinction between the two is the linear approach of the former, which makes learners dependent onthe information received from the instructor, and the recursive approach of the latter, which views learners as coparticipantsin the learning process.Based on the purpose of the instruction and the technical base of a web-based program, the electronicdiscourse can take place synchronously or asynchronously (Sotillo, 2000). Synchronous interaction allows allparticipants to collaborate simultaneously in real time. Some examples are live chats and video conferences.Asynchronous interactions occur in a delayed manner as, for example, in threaded discussions and Web logs.Each has a specific effect on learning. Although collaboration and teacher facilitation are present in both types,asynchronous discussions allow for deeper analyses and integration of material, which is evident in the length ofpostings and expressiveness of the language (Serdyukov & Hill, 2004). Therefore, asynchronous mode appears tobe more suitable for the purpose of time management and quality of responses in this study.A large number of studies on web-based second language writing (Cabot, 2000; Sullivan, 2006; Chuo,2007; Zaid, 2011, to name just a few) have proved the facilitating effect of web-based instruction.396
Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 4 (2), 393-401, 2013Hybrid Strategies-based InstructionThe term hybrid instruction (also called mixed-mode or blended instruction) is fairly new in researchliterature. It refers to combining traditional classes with various forms of out-of-class course delivery (Dziuban,Hartman, & Moskal, 2004). It was with the proliferation of student-centered teaching approach and onlinetechnologies that hybrid learning was noticed by researchers and classified as a unique educational phenomenon.Presently, hybrid learning is known as “a hybrid of traditional face-to-face and online learning so that instructionoccurs both in the classroom and online, and where the online component becomes an extension of traditionalclassroom learning” (Rovai & Jordan, 2004). Some researchers distinguish hybrid instruction from other types ofweb-enhanced or online instruction by the proportion of content delivered online. According to Allen, Seaman, andGarret (2007), a hybrid program is one where between 30% and 70% of the program content is delivered online. Inthis study the hybrid course will consist of a number of class sessions which are complemented by an onlinecomponent which provides additional content material for students’ independent learning.Among the pertinent studies on hybrid pre-writing strategies instruction, the one conducted by Ellis (2008)described the changes in writing skills, evidence of self-directedness, and the use of learning strategies in a hybridlearning environment. It was found that the learners who consistently used the website improved the organizationand content of their writing, regulated their learning, and used more strategies online than in class. The researchalso demonstrated that, for learners who seek increased engagement and higher academic performance, thehybrid format offers more effective ways to advance writing and prepare for mainstream programs.In summary, in this section, the current trends in ESL writing were taken up. One of the aspects reflected inthe current research is the shift from the traditional product-oriented writing methodology to writing as a processthat emphasizes learner-centeredness. Since the latter promotes learner variables such as language learningstrategies, pre-writing strategies are chosen to be investigated in this paper. The incentive to choose pre-writingstrategies derives from the claims of such scholar as Polio and Williams (2009) who contend that “[p]re-writing is anessential component of a process approach…but surprisingly little research has examined prewriting techniques.”Moreover, in order to enhance learning, pre-writing strategies instruction will be implemented in three differentways, namely conventional, web-based, and hybrid format. Although all these three approaches have yieldedpromising results with regards to second language pre-writing strategies instruction, no research has attempted acomparison of these approaches. Such a comparison will unquestionably enable EFL practitioners to employ thebest technique that suits their educational needs and resources.For the purpose of the present study, the following research questions were formulated:1. Does teaching pre-writing activities lead to an improvement in Iranian EFL learners’ written productions?2. Is there any difference between different modes of teaching pre-writing strategies as far as Iranian EFLlearners’ written productions is concerned?MATERIALS AND METHODSThis research was a quasi-experimental study (with three experimental groups and a control group),seeking to figure out the possible effects of an intervention (i.e. conventional, web-based, and hybrid pre-writingstrategies instruction) on EFL learners’ writing in English.ParticipantsTo choose the participants for this study, English majors studying at Islamic Azad University of Shahrekordand Safahan Institute of Higher Education who were taking Advanced Writing Course as part of their bachelor’sdegree were asked to take part in the study. Altogether, they formed an aggregate of 107 students. After explainingthe aim of the study to the students, the researchers randomly chose one of the classes at Shahrekord Universityto be the control group (CtrlG) and the other class became the hybrid group (HG). The writing class at SafahanUniversity was the conventional group (ConG). From these three classes 26 students (15 students fromShahrekord University and 11 students from Safahan University) volunteered to be in the web-based group (WBG).A homogenizing writing test was given to them in order to exclude from the sample those whose writing abilitieswere far below or above the average students. The average score in this test was 12.28 and the standard deviationwas 2.91. Those who obtained a score between two standard deviations below and above the mean were chosenas the participants of this study. Not surprisingly, nearly all the students were in this range (except for 3 studentsfrom the HG) since most of them had not received any formal writing instruction (except for 8 students who hadfailed the course the previous academic year). In the same test, in addition to the prompt, there was an open-397
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