The Effect Of Blended Learning And critical Thinking On Tertiary EFL Argumentative Writing In China

• Main Author: Wang, Yuling
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/61439/1/WANG%20YULING%20-%20TESIS24.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/61439/

With the rapid development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the blended learning method is widespread in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) instruction. It is viable for tertiary English instructors to utilise online platforms like WeChat and Pigai.org to integrate face-to-face instruction, online learning, and critical thinking training to improve EFL argumentative writing. As no single standard for blending exists, more research reports on blended learning cases are needed. This study aims to examine the effect of blended learning and critical thinking on EFL students’ performance in argumentative writing, and the factors that influence students’ argumentative writing performance in a blended learning environment were explored in the current study. This study used a mixed research method on 66 firstyear undergraduates majoring in English at a university in Chongqing, China. These participants were from two intact classes randomly assigned to the control (N=33) and experimental (N=33) groups. The data on critical thinking skills and writing performance were measured by argumentative writing pre- and post-tests, and the data on influencing factors were measured through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The T-test and Pearson Correlation were used to analyse the quantitative data collected from writing tests and questionnaires. Coding and thematic analysis were employed to analyse the qualitative data from semi-structured interviews. After the intervention, a significant improvement was found in the writing scores of the experimental group.The findings of this study also indicated a significant positive correlation between critical thinking skills and EFL argumentative writing performance in a blended learning setting. Qualitative results showed that the internal factors (such as psychological factors, learning objectives, and skills) and external factors (such as rules, community, division of labor, and devices) influenced EFL students’ writing in blended learning contexts. Moreover, the findings in the current study suggest that the influencing factors (such as subject, rules, community, division of labor, and object) in a blended learning environment have different degrees of positive correlation with students’ writing performance. These findings provide new perspectives to EFL writing instruction, encouraging educators to be more flexible in blending different technologies and critical thinking training in practice to foster students’ writing competence better.