Blended Learning, Computer-based, and Conventional Reading Instruction Affecting EFL Learners' Self-regulation and Critical Thinking

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the effect of instructional techniques (blended learning, jigsaw, and scaffolding) on Iranian EFL learners' self-regulation and critical thinking. To this end, 171 male and female intermediate-level Iranian EFL learners were selected based on cluster sampling. Initially, the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) was administered to the participants to make sure that there were no significant differences among the participants in terms of their language proficiency level. The participants were in five groups; each group was randomly assigned to a different treatment condition. Two questionnaires were used twice in this study, at the beginning of the course as a pretest and at the end of the course as a posttest. The ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) procedure was used to analyze the obtained data. The results indicated that these techniques have more or less the same effect on learners' self-regulation both in conventional and computer-based contexts. It was also found that the conventional scaffolding technique is significantly more effective on critical thinking than the conventional jigsaw and the blended learning groups. However, in the computer-based context, blended learning turned out to be more effective on critical thinking than computer-based jigsaw, which was, in turn, significantly more effective than computer-based scaffolding. These findings may have pedagogical and theoretical implications for language learners, teachers, educational systems and policy makers.

Self-regulation, Critical thinking, Collaborative Learning, Blended learning, Jigsaw, scaffolding