Effect of using process writing moodle based activities for teaching writing on the writing performance and attitudes of Omani students
Author
Al-Abriyah, Badria Mohanna Nasser
English abstract
The present study investigated the effects of using Moodle-based activities such as Wikis and e-forums in developing EFL (English as a Foreign language) learners' writing performance using a process-oriented approach to teaching writing. The population of study consisted of grade twelve learners in the government public schools in the Sultanate of Oman during the academic year 2007-2008. The sample of the study consisted of two grade twelve classes taking the English Elective course in one of the girls' government schools in Muscat region. The total number of the sample was fifty-one learners; twenty-six in the experimental group and twenty-five in the control group.
A test as well as a questionnaire were used as the instruments of the study. Firstly, the test was administered as a pre-test to ensure the equivalence of the control and experimental groups in language proficiency. Then the experimental group was taught using Moodle and the control group was taught using the traditional way. At the end of the course the same test was administered to both groups as a post-test to measure learners' achievement following the completion of the course. Secondly, the attitude questionnaire was used to assess the experimental group students' attitudes towards learning process writing using e-learning tools. The results of the study can be summed up as follows:
• There was a statistically significant difference between learners' achievement
in the experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group
who took the course online using the e-learning tools.
• The experimental group learners had positive attitudes towards learning
process writing using Moodle-based activities A number of recommendations for future EFL teaching using process-oriented approach and online learning tools are made and a set of suggestions for further research are proposed.
