WebQuests in EFL reading/writing classroom

Educators agree that writing can be a valuable tool for learning because when students read and write, they process and use that information to create a product. Educators also recognize that Internet resources can also be a valuable learning tool for students to find information and apply them in learning. Among many Web-based applications in education, WebQuests have become popular learning tool, which makes use of Internet resources. WebQuests are also increasingly becoming popular in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading and writing because they provide learners authentic and collaborative tasks. As students do the WebQuest tasks, they find the information, read and write about it and complete the task. With this in mind, the researcher designed a university reading/writing course to integrate WebQuest tasks into EFL reading/writing instruction. The primary purpose of this study was therefore to compare the effects of WebQuest on Turkish EFL university students' reading and writing performance. One freshman class, as the experimental group, used WebQuest. Other class, as control group, received traditional teacher-led tasks. The findings indicated that the experimental group scored higher on reading scores than did the control group. On the other hand, both groups scored equally on writing scores. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.