Abstract:
The present research investigates the effects of the blended learning method on EFL learners’
motivation and academic writing proficiency through conducting a case study on students at
the English Department at Larbi Ben Mhidi University. The study hypothesizes that when
blended learning is used in teaching academic writing, learners would be more motivated, and
that blended learning increases their proficiency in academic writing. To test these research
hypotheses, both exploratory and experimental methods of investigation are conducted. The
study uses the social networking site ‘Facebook’ and integrates it within the blended learning
framework. For that purpose, a checklist of academic writing is designed and compared with
the programs of academic writing that are used along the three years of undergraduate study.
In addition, questionnaires are addressed to a sample of learners and teachers at the English
Department, and a quasi-experimental implementation is carried out with a control group and
an experimental group of second year students. The control group is taught in a fully physical
setting whereas the experimental group is taught using a blended learning methodology. The
study results indicate that the programs are not comprehensive in teaching the ‘academic’
writing genre. The research findings show that learners’ motivation increased considerably
after the experiment of blended learning, and that the experimental group significantly
outperformed the control group in their academic writing proficiency. Hence, it is
recommended that both teachers and learners take advantage of modern technology to
enhance motivation, keep up with developments in modern teaching methods using
Information and Communication Technology, and consequently improve learners’ proficiency
development in academic fields and foreign language learning.
