CHALLENGES FACING ORAL EXPRESSION CLASSES IN A BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT The Case of second Year Students of English at Mohamed Khider University of Biskra

Abstract

In the outbreak of the global COVID-19 epidemic, universities throughout the world have quickly implemented blended learning as a way to continue education while managing the crisis's obstacles. Blended learning, a novel strategy that mixes in-person instruction with online learning, has emerged as a potential method of providing educational information to students. This new paradigm has motivated academics and researchers to investigate its potential advantages and efficacy in a variety of academic areas. The current research investigation focuses on the difficulties of enhancing speaking skills using the blended learning method among second -year LMD English students at Mohammed Kheider University of Biskra. Recognizing the importance of successful communication in the setting of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), the study seeks to discover the problems that students and teachers suffer from using blended learning method in oral expression sessions and provide them with solutions that could help them to develop a system that encourages them to become more competent and proficient in their course. We wonder that adopting blended learning may provide certain problems that hinder the learning process and that learning through blended learning has an impact on learner success, which may be positive or negative. In order to answer these questions , a descriptive method is used to achieve this research work two questionnaires were administered to thirty second year EFL students and ten oral expression teachers that have blended learning in their actual lessons previous years , allowing for a greater understanding of the issues they have when applying BL at the University of Biskra. The findings from the data collection tools demonstrate that, despite the challenges that teachers and students confront during oral expression sessions utilizing BL, second-year students' speaking abilities have been positively strengthened as a consequence of the blended learning strategy. Blended learning has shown to be a viable option for sustaining educational programs and promoting student advancement.