Effect of Synchronous Virtual Learning Environment on Reading Comprehension of Undergraduate EFL Students

International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research

دوره 12، شماره 45، مهر 2023، صفحه 71-83   

نوع مقاله: Research Papers

شناسه دیجیتال (DOI): 10.30495/jfl.2023.703270

نویسندگان

Javad Akbari؛ Hossein Heidari Tabrizi^* ؛ Azizeh Chalak

English Department, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

چکیده

Virtual learning has been defined as any system of education and instruction that brings together participants who are separated by geographical distances or time. Significantly, in a virtual learning environment, interactive telecommunications systems are utilized to connect learners, resources, and instructors. As such, the present study sought to investigate the possible effect of a synchronous virtual learning environment on the reading comprehension of undergraduate EFL university students. To this end, from the population of students majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran, one control group, and one experimental group were non-probabilistically selected based on their availability. Indeed, thirty students were chosen for the control group and thirty students were nominated for the experimental group. Live interactive teaching rooms were utilized in the experimental group during the term, whereas asynchronous instructional practices were adopted in the control group within the study. According to the results of paired samples t-test, the experimental group, which was instructed by live interactive teaching rooms over the term, had better performance at the end of the period as compared to the beginning of the term. Moreover, the independent samples t-test showed that the students' scores on the post-test in the experimental group were higher than those of the control group. Evidently, the results of the present study may have practical implications for EFL teachers, online instructors, distance education programmers, materials developers, and syllabus designers. 

کلیدواژه‌ها

Asynchronous Virtual Learning Environment؛ Distance Education؛ Live Interactive Teaching Rooms؛ Reading comprehension؛ Synchronous Virtual Learning Environment

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