الفهرس 
Background and ProblemOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 305 |  |  |
| | | from | 305 | | |
Abstract
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter V
Summary and Recommendations
This chapter deals with the summary, conclusions, pedagogical implications, limitations, recommendations of the study, and suggestions for further research.
5.1 Summary of the Study
5.1.1 Statement of the Problem
Most EFL secondary school students find difficulties in critical reading and creative writing. Studies conducted in the field of critical reading and creative writing skills were few. Therefore, it was essential for investigating critical reading and creative writing skills and integrating them into EFL learning and teaching. The challenge of learning these skills would be greater if students were usually exposed to traditional teaching methods and approaches. As a result, learning critical reading, and creative writing would be solitary and boring, so students’ attitudes toward learning them might become very poor.
Blended learning was difficult in the past because it was not regularly used at school before. Moreover, EFL teachers did not have the chance to utilize modern technology-based strategies or theories that could help students to read critically and write creatively. Nowadays, the use of blended learning becomes possible and fundamental, especially during COVID 19. Blended learning based on social constructivism principles could improve students’ performance in critical reading and creative writing and might also promote their satisfaction toward learning them.
The problem of the current study was that the Palestinian secondary school students in general and 11th grade secondary students in particular, had poor critical reading and creative writing skills. They also had insufficient and inconvenient opportunities to practise them. The textbook ”English for Palestine” doesn’t provide sufficient activities based on critical reading and creative writing. Therefore, the researcher found that the use of blended learning based on the principles of social constructivism theory would be very effective in teaching and learning these skills.
5.1.2 Results of the Study
After implementing the blended program based on social constructivism, scores of the study groups in the pre-post critical reading and creative writing skills test were analyzed and compared. Moreover, students’ satisfaction with the blended program was analyzed. The results indicated the following:
1. There was a statistically significant difference at (a ≤0.05) between the participants’ mean scores in the overall results of the pre and post-test in critical reading performance due to the use of a blended program based on the social constructivism theory in favor of the pos-test.
2. There was a statistically significant difference at (a≤ 0.05) between the participants’ mean scores in the overall results of pre and post-test in creative writing performance due to the use of a blended program based on the social constructivism theory in favor of the post test.
3. There was a statistically significant difference at(a ≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of the control group and the experimental group in the post-test in the critical reading skills in favor of the experimental group.
4. There was a statistically significant difference at (a ≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of the control group and the experimental group in the post-test in the creative writing skills in favor of the experimental group.
5. The use of the blended program based on the social constructivism theory had positive impacts on students’ attitudes.
5.1.3 Findings of the Study
- The blended program based on social constructivism enhanced 11th Grade secondary school students in critical reading skills.
- The blended program based on social constructivism enhanced 11th Grade secondary school students in creative writing skills.
- The blended program based on social constructivism increased 11th Grade secondary school students’ cooperation and collaboration.
- The blended program based on social constructivism motivated 11th Grade secondary school students to read more critically and write creatively.
- The blended program based on social constructivism affected 11th Grade secondary school students’ attitudes towards blended learning positively.
- The blended program based on social constructivism promoted 11th Grade secondary school students’ skills in using technology.
- The blended program based on social constructivism increased 11th Grade secondary school students’ engagement and enrollment in online and face-to-face meetings.
- The blended program based on social constructivism encouraged 11th Grade secondary school students to be information navigators through the internet.
- The blended program based on social constructivism increased 11th Grade secondary school students’ self-efficacy and confidence in learning English,
5.2 Conclusions of the Study
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a blended program based on social constructivism theory in enhancing critical reading and creative writing skills. Despite the limited time and sample of the study, some unique and interesting conclusions can be highlighted through this study.
The analyses of the results of the present study revealed that the participants achieved the main aims of the study program as their performance level in critical reading and creative writing was improved due to the blended program. The results proved that participants seemed to have opportunities to improve their performance in critical reading and creative writing skills. The program enriched students’ vocabulary, knowledge and skills. This appeared in the post-test answers rather than the pretest, because they used what they had learned in the units and more. As a result, they were able to discuss, debate, and give their opinions freely without any hesitation. Students’ ability to interpret, infer, analyze, judge, and evaluate a text was developed exponentially.
Critical reading also necessitates the readers’ ability to discover the author’s competence, intention, attitude and bias. So the program provided students with different texts that present different views on the same matter which invited students to discuss and debate different issues. Visualizing, or making mental images, students were able to relate what they read (abstract) to something concrete like a visual image, a feeling, a sound, a smell, or a taste. Moreover, the broader understanding of creative writing skills through the identification of relevant contributing skills could serve as a foundation for the development of improved creative writing instruction and elements for students that have proven effective in the development of creative writing skills in general. Furthermore, the program expanded students’ imagination, this appeared when they were writing and using imagery, sensory details, metaphor, and figurative language and ideas.
5.3 Pedagogical Implications of the Study
The results of the experimental group proved that using a blended program based on social constructivism affected students’ performance in critical reading and creative writing significantly. In this study, there was integration between the use of the blended program and social constructivism techniques and also integration between critical reading and creative writing skills. Strategies that were used such as cooperation, collaboration, flipped learning, jigsaw, Frayer model and others were well-liked by students. These strategies encouraged the students to regularly attend the meetings and work enthusiastically when doing their tasks. Moreover, activities designed by the researcher were very authentic, resembling real-life situations and culture, this, in turn maximized students’ interaction during the implementation of the program. Activities and tasks were learners-centered provided students with the opportunity to be independent and self-efficacy. Furthermore, the blended program highlighted the importance of using technology in learning and navigating knowledge via the internet. It also encouraged using useful techniques such as problem-solving, negotiation, and discussions.
Accordingly, students of the experimental group who instructed and taught via such techniques rarely got tired and bored. In addition, the material of the program was rich of different resources such as; youtubes, pictures, powerpoint, texts, audio, and other enrichment materials. As a result, students’ performance in critical reading and creative writing developed. Above all, the great consistency between the teacher and the researcher in carrying out the program helped in having significant results in both skills. Teachers at schools can design different blended programs that are based on social constructivism theory to teach different skills of the English language.
Additionally, through using social constructivism-based activities, students were feeling comfortable to read critically and write creatively. They practised reading and writing skills authentically. They delivered main and supporting ideas, identified cause and effect relationships, distinguished between facts and opinions, made comparisons and contrasts, made inferences, and made judgments and gave opinions. Moreover, they were interested in writing expository essays, personal narrative stories, and journals. Students were excited and ready to do more home assignments and tasks in a collaborative environment in the classroom, at home, and online as well.
5.4 Limitations of the Study
The researcher encountered some difficulties while applying the program: First, logistical barriers related to Wi-Fi and tool access that might cause constraints for the successful integration of the blended program. Some students had to go to an Internet café and pay money to attend the meetings. The researcher solved this problem by paying the money to those Internet centers. Second, the absence of some students as a result of COVID-19, so the researcher recorded the meetings and sent them to students. Third, the heavy load that students had to encounter because they had other online and face to face meetings and home tasks. By continuous praise and encouragement, the researcher minimized such challenges. Fourth, the researcher was officially forbidden to attend face-to-face meetings regularly and observe the implementation of the program because of the spread of COVID 19. So the researcher had to call the teacher before and after each meeting to discuss how implementation was going on.
5.5 Recommendations
5.5.1 Recommendations for Teachers
- Teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) should encourage their students to practice writing journals weekly at least because learners express their feelings and ideas freely out of stress and fear.
- Teachers should design activities that are based on social constructivism strategies because students learn better in social interaction.
- Teachers should be trained on teaching through visual strategies and web-based contexts.
- The present blended program can be adopted for developing critical reading and creative writing teaching skills of in-service teachers taking into consideration any needed modifications.
- There is a need to move from the traditional method in teaching into new modern teaching which is mostly based on blended learning.
- Teachers should give students a safe and unthreatening learning environment that enables them to read independently and critically in English.
5.5.2 Recommendations for the Decision Makers
- The Ministry of Education in Palestine should emphasize using critical reading and creative writing in the early stages of learning to overcome the weakness in reading comprehension and the fear of writing.
- Curriculum developers are invited to enrich textbooks with activities that enhance students’ critical reading and creative writing and how to implement them.
- Ministry of Education should encourage EFL teachers to implement cooperative learning and social skills because learning is a social process.
- EFL curricula should be modified in the light of the current trends based on online learning and research.
- Critical reading and creative writing should be given more attention in schools and university courses.
- Supervisors should encourage teachers to pay more attention to student’s social skills, critical reading and creative writing skills.
5.6 Suggestions for Further Research.
In light of the results of the study, conclusions and recommendations, the following suggestions for further research should be considered:
- Conducting blended learning on other skills of EFL such as speaking and listening.
- Conducting the current study on university students who learn English as a foreign language.
- Replicating the present study. It could be replicated on other samples and over a longer period for a further test of its hypotheses.
- Suggesting a training program to familiarize EFL teachers with the pedagogical implication of how to design activities based on critical reading and creative writing skills