Effect E-mail exchange on Omani students EFL writing skills
مؤلف
Al-Balushiyah, Khulood Said Rashid.
الملخص الإنجليزي
The present study investigated the effect of e-mail exchange on Grade 7 Basic Education students' EFL writing skills and attitudes. This study adopted a quasi-experimental 2x2 factorial design in which the factors were the treatment (authentic e-mail method/ imaginary e-mail method) and gender (male/female). The study was supplemented with a qualitative part that dealt with the content of the participants' e-mails and the researcher's observation during the implementation period. The population of this study was Grade 7 Basic Education Cycle 2 male and female students taking English as a foreign language (EFL) during the second semester, 2012/2013 academic year, in Muscat. The study was conducted with 129 male and female students from two schools in the Muscat governorate. The experimental group (62 male and female students) wrote letters and exchanged them via e-mail with non-Arab e-pals (55 male and female students) for ten weeks on specific topics. The control group (67 male and female students) wrote letters to imaginary characters of their own choice on the same topics but did not send them via e-mail. The study was conducted to answer the following research questions:
1. Is there a significant difference in the English writing test scores between the experimental and the control groups after using e-mail exchange ?
2. Is there a significant difference in the English writing test scores between male and female students in the experimental and the control groups after using e-mail exchange?
3. Is there a significant interaction between the treatment and gender?
4. Is there a significant difference in attitude towards e-mail exchange of the experimental group before and after using e-mail exchange?
5. Is there a significant difference in attitude towards e-mail exchange between male and female students in the experimental after using e-mail exchange?
Participants in the two groups were pre- and post tested using a writing test. The experimental group answered an attitudinal survey towards e-mail exchange. The statistical analysis of the data revealed the following results:
1. The results of the post writing test showed that there was no significant difference
between the experimental group and the control group.
2. A comparison between pre-test and post-test scores within each of the experimental group and the control group showed that there was a significant difference indicating that the two groups performed better on the post-test.
3. Additional investigation indicated a relatively strong positive correlation between the post-test scores and the number of written e-mails by the experimental and the control groups. Another investigation indicated that high level students wrote more e-mails than low level students in the two groups.
4. The results of the attitude survey revealed that the experimental group developed a
positive attitude toward e-mail exchange.
The findings of this study encouraged the researcher to recommend important research areas for further investigation into EFL e-mail exchange.
