The Effectiveness of the Integration of Blended Learning and Task-Based Learning Instructional Models on English-Reading Skills of Undergraduate Students in Guangxi Province

บทคัดย่อ

The present study had 3 primary objectives: 1) to investigate the factors influencing the English reading skills of undergraduate students in Guangxi Province 2) to confirm the appropriateness of instructional model for English reading skills based on blended learning and task-based learning approaches specifically tailored for undergraduate students in Guangxi Province and 3) to assess the effectiveness of the instructional model developed in objective two on the reading skills of undergraduate students. The research methodology was structured into three distinct phases: Phase I: studying the internal and external factors affecting English reading skills gathering data through questionnaires administered to 190 undergraduate students and interviews conducted with 9 lecturers in Guangxi Province; Phase II: developing an instructional model integrating blended learning and task-based learning for English reading skills based on instructional model development theory and the findings from Phase I, plus rigorous evaluation against four standards: utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy by 5 experts using an instructional model evaluation form; and Phase III: investigating the effectiveness of the developed instructional model – putting it into practice through lesson plans for experimentation. Data collection encompassed pretests and posttests. Statistical analysis techniques such as percentage calculations, means, standard deviations, interpretation, paired t-tests for dependent samples, developmental score and content analysis were employed to analyze the collected data. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows: 1) Two types of factors influencing English reading skills were identified based on data from undergraduate students. These factors were categorized as internal and external. Internal factors received a high rating with a mean score of 3.84, while external factors were also rated highly with a mean score of 3.95. The top three factors with the highest mean scores were learning environment (x̅ = 4.03), usage of instructional methods (x̅ = 3.95), and teacher (x̅ = 3.88). Conversely, interest and liking for English received the lowest mean score (x̅ = 3.82). Insights from interviews with lecturers further categorized internal factors as interest and liking for English and students' learning activities, while external factors encompassed teachers' attitudes toward the English reading course, teaching methods and materials, environments and management, and evaluation. 2) The instructional model developed for enhancing English reading skills among undergraduate students in Guangxi Province comprised five key components: principle and rationale, learning objectives, content, teaching methods and materials, and evaluation. Following a thorough program evaluation, which considered utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy, experts unanimously confirmed the suitability of this model for further implementation. 3) The implementation of the developed instructional model had a positive impact on students' English reading skills. Statistically significant improvements were observed at a significance level of 0.05, with an average relative developmental score of 56, indicating a high level of development. Teacher observations also indicated that the integration of blended learning and task-based learning instructional models for reading skills was observed and judged to be of satisfactory quality. Furthermore, students' self-assessment results revealed that the integration of blended learning and task-based instructional models had a positive effect on their English reading skills, as reported by the majority of students.