The Impact of Integrating Blended Learning with Task-Based Language Learning on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

Task-based language learning and blended learning have become an ideology in modern EFL teaching and are considered to be an effective trend in teaching English as a foreign language. Thus, the present study explored the effect of integrating blended language learning into task-based language learning on Iranian male and female intermediate EFL learners' reading comprehension ability. Initially, four groups including two experimental groups and two control groups were formed. The two experimental groups were taught through blended integrated task-based language learning. In so doing, Staker and Horn's (2012) blended learning model was integrated into Ellis' (2017) task-based model in order to improve participants' reading comprehension ability. In this innovative approach, learners were involved in a series of offline and online focused and unfocused task-based reading comprehension activities, whereas the control groups were taught through conventional reading comprehension methods using traditional reading strategies. Accordingly, the results of ANCOVA indicated that learners in the experimental groups obtained considerably higher scores than those in the control groups. Further, the results of two-way ANOVA depicted that there was no substantial difference between the female and male learners across groups. Finally, the pedagogical implications of this study suggested that curriculum designers and materials developers can incorporate the innovative notion of integrating blended learning into task-based language learning method to transform the learning environment into more student-centered classrooms. More importantly, the teachers can develop learners' critical thinking and metacognitive skills by designing interactive reading comprehension online tasks.