Impacts of Blended Learning on Students' Engagement in Classroom Oral Activities

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of blended learning on student engagement in oral activities in class. The study participants were first year Moral education students at Hawassa College of Teacher Education in Ethiopia. The researchers used a quasi-experimental design by purposively selecting two intact groups. Data were collected using a pre-intervention survey as a pretest, a post-intervention survey as a posttest and classroom observations. The researchers analyzed the data using inferential and descriptive statistics in SPSS version 27, and a t-test was used to compare the mean differences between the two groups. In addition, the effect size was calculated to determine the magnitude of the intervention and a multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine which feature of blended learning contributed most to increasing students’ engagement in oral activities in class. Finally, the results showed that the participants in the experimental group significantly increased their engagement in classroom oral activities and showed a positive attitude towards blended learning. Most of the features of blended learning, with the exception of assessment and face-to-face instruction, contributed to the increase in student engagement. Therefore, English teachers should use blended learning, combining conventional and digital teaching methods to increase student engagement in the classroom.