THE EFFECT OF WEBQUESTS ON THE WRITING AND READING PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

WebQuests are increasingly becoming popular in teaching English as a foreign language since they provide learners with authentic and collaborative tasks. The aim of this study was to explore whether using WebQuests is effective in enhancing writing and reading performance of students at a university level. The experimental groups were taught through traditional instruction with the elements of WebQuests as additional reading and writing activities. The control groups had the traditional ESL lessons only. Significant differences occurred in the experimental groups in reading and writing performance in the post-tests. Comparing these results with those of the pre-tests, the authors draw a conclusion that using WebQuests can enhance students' reading and writing performance. The findings of this study indicate that WebQuests have potential in enhancing reading and writing abilities of students.