An Investigation into the Role of Blended Learning as a Motivational Factor to Enhance Learners’ Paragraph Writing The Case of third-year Students of English at Biskra University.

Abstract

Abstract The mastery of language skills is the most recommended requirement for successful language learning. This mainly concerns the writing skill. In the same vein, the success of the language learning process is also linked to motivation. Therefore, it has been observed that the majority of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners have difficulties in writing since they lack the necessary motivation to perform better in this skill. Hence, in this study, we raised the following questions; will the use of Blended Learning (BL) improve learners‟ writing performance? And could this method be a source of motivation for these learners‟? In addition, what are the teachers‟ attitudes towards such a strategy? Following this investigation, we hypothesised that the implementation of BL would enhance learners' level in paragraphs writing. In addition, we advanced that this method could increase their motivation towards the writing skill. The aim behind conducting this study is to investigate the effects of BL method on EFL learners‟ motivation to improve their performance of paragraph composition and to elicit EFL teachers‟ attitudes towards it. This study targeted EFL learners at Biskra University and the third-year students as a sample. As for this investigation, we chose a volunteer sampling technique. To check to what extent the proposed hypotheses are valid, we believed that a Mixed-methods approach is the most suitable. In relevance to this approach, three data collection methods were selected: a test, a students' questionnaire, and a teachers' interview. After the analysis and interpretation of the obtained data, the findings revealed that BL can help in the improvements of EFL learners' writing and motivation. The findings also indicated that the majority of EFL teachers