EFFECTS OF MALL IN BLENDED LEARNING ON IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS' READING COMPREHENSION

THIS STUDY AIMED AT INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF MOBILE DEVICES IN BLENDED LEARNING ON IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS' READING COMPREHENSION. TO THIS END, A GROUP OF 40 INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS STUDYING ENGLISH AT A PRIVATE LANGUAGE SCHOOL IN ESFAHAN WERE SELECTED. THE NELSON PROFICIENCY TEST WAS THEN ADMINISTERED TO ASCERTAIN THE HOMOGENEITY IN TERMS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY. THEY WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL. AFTER A WARM UP, THE CONTROL GROUP WAS TAUGHT BASED ON TRADITIONAL METHODS OF READING WITHOUT MOBILE DEVICES WHILE THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WAS ASKED TO DISCUSS TEXTS IN CLASS AND CONTINUE TO DO SO OUTSIDE OF CLASS USING VIBER APPLICATION ON THEIR MOBILE PHONES. THE DATA WERE COLLECTED THROUGH A PRETEST-POSTTEST DESIGN AND THEN STATISTICALLY ANALYZED USING THE T-TEST. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT USING BLENDED LEARNING HAD A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE LEARNERS' READING PERFORMANCE. TO DETERMINE THE PARTICIPANTS' PERCEPTION ABOUT BLENDED LEARNING WITH MOBILE PHONES, A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS EMPLOYED, THE RESULTS OF WHICH REVEALED THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WERE HIGHLY SATISFIED WITH THE ACTIVITY THEY EXPERIENCED. THE OUTCOMES OF THE STUDY CAN HELP STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND SYLLABUS DESIGNERS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT STUDENTS' LEARNING NEEDS.