1. What is Blended Learning?

According to the article “Blended Instruction for EFL Learners: Engagement, Learning
and Course Satisfaction” by Aysel Şahin-Kızıl, Blended learning, in its basic sense,
refers to a design which combines self-paced learning generally through web based
applications and face to face classroom teaching (Alonso, López, Manrique, & Viñes,
2005; Oliver & Trigwell, 2005). Although blended learning may mean different things to
different people (Driscoll, 2002; Motteram & Sharma, 2009), a commonly used definition
in higher education context is “the integrated combination of traditional learning with web
based online approaches” (Oliver & Trigwell, 2005). Blended courses inherit the
convenience and flexibility of fully online courses without eliminating interactional
aspects of face to face language lessons; therefore, this course design is generally
considered the “best of two worlds” (Dziuban, Hartman, & Moskal, 2004; Sitter et al.,
2009).

2. What do students perceive on the implementation of Blended Learning?

Based on a case study conducted by Şahin-Kızıl regarding students’ perception

on the implementation of Blended Learning through Moodle, 84% of the respondents
agreed or strongly agreed that the use of Moodle helped to make the course work and
activities interesting. Additionally, most of the students found activities challenging. The
fact that the activities were varied both in number and content only through the blended
design by making use of Moodle helped to address diverse interests of students. Having
students interact with each other and with the language itself also contributes to the
sense of engagement in the learners (Meltzer & Hamman, 2004 as cited in Şahin-Kızıl,
2014). With regard to this aspect of the present study, 75% of the students responded
positively, which can be attributed to the use of Moodle as it allowed students to interact
at any time and place, and provided them with a plenty of language activities to
accomplish that cannot be realized in a-two-hour class time (Şahin-Kızıl, 2014).
Another case study of students’ perceptions on the implementation of Blended
Learning was conducted for two years by Kaoru Kobayashi at a University in Japan.
Data were collected from 79 first year students and 62 second year students enrolled in
the authors’ classes in the blended learning EFL program using CALL courseware. As
Kobayashi explained in his article, It appears the first year students were more satisfied
with the online component than the second year students. The results show that,
although weak, there were correlations between the first year students’ perceptions of
the use of the online component and their final exam scores. Weak correlations
observed between the students’ final exam scores and their perceptions of online
English learning programs in general indicate that students with higher English levels
perceive online learning programs as being more useful than students with lower final
exam scores. In addition, students of both years were asked to give their positive and
negative comments about the online component of blended learning. The breakdown of
the positive comments showed that:
a. 61% of the first year and 52% of the second year students highly evaluated the
online component as listening material.
b. 86% of the first year and 70% of the second year students indicated that the online
component was useful in reviewing the class because they could work at their own
pace, listened an unlimited number of times, and used pause and replay.
c. Most of the students had good enough computer skills to use the online component
for listening practice.

Regarding what they disliked about the online component, the students’ negative
perceptions concentrated on the program’s operability.
a. 56% of the first year and 62% of the second year students were unsatisfied with the
program’s navigating functions.
b. 83% of the first year and 78% second year students thought that it took too much
time to move to a different screen.
(Kobayashi, 2011)