The effects of using blended learning approach on EFL students' essay writing at Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia

Blended learning approach has become an emerging trend in the field of education and has caught the attention and interest of many educators and researchers as a new approach to encourage students in their learning process. Although there have been some studies on the effectiveness of blended learning in teaching and learning of English writing skills in ESL and EFL contexts, yet the exploration of this important topic has been scarce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To fill in this gap, the study reported in this thesis attempted to examine the impact of blended learning approach on improving Saudi EFL students' English essay writing skill at Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia. The sample of the study consisted of 70 EFL English major students. They were purposely chosen from the English department, Shaqra University. In order to study the effect of blended learning, an experimental research design was deemed appropriate. The experiment was conducted for six weeks (November-December 2018). The experimental group was taught using the blended learning approach whereas the control group was taught through conventional method. A pre- and post-essay test was used to measure the effect of the blended learning approach on essay writing skills. Results of the study revealed that there were significant differences in the scores of the control and the experimental groups in favour of the experimental group. The results and implications for teaching writing to Saudi students and similar English language learners are discussed.