The Effect of Pre-class Content Delivery Techniques on Inferential Reading Comprehension: The Case of Flipped Classrooms (Research Paper)

The present study explored the impact of various techniques of pre-class content delivery in flipped classrooms on Iranian EFL learners’ inferential reading comprehension. In addition, the students’ perceptions toward the flipped learning experience and WhatsApp application as the online platform for the delivery of course contents were rigorously examined. To this end, ۷۲ homogeneous intermediate EFL learners from one language institute in Iran were randomly assigned into four equal groups. The techniques being evaluated in these four flipped classrooms were attending video conferencing meetings, listening to audio podcasts, watching PowerPoint slides, and the combination of all the aforementioned ones, respectively. To elicit the required data, multiple sources of instruments, including Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT), reading comprehension pre-and post-tests and a semi-structured interview were used. The results of descriptive statistics demonstrated that while the participants’ scores of all groups increased in the reading comprehension post-test, blending various techniques of pre-class delivery contributed most in improving the participants’ performance. However, the increase in the final scores of the PowerPoint group was insignificant. The results of one-way ANOVA analysis demonstrated a significant discrepancy among the four groups after the treatment. Post hoc comparisons indicated that the significant difference only occurred between the blended and PowerPoint groups. The results of qualitative data showed that most interviewees favored learning English in a flipped learning environment and they were also satisfied with the quality of pre-class content delivery via WhatsApp. Based on the findings, the study also offers important implications for future research.

کلیدواژه ها:

EFL learners ، Flipped classroom ، Inferential Reading Comprehension ، pre-class content delivery ، WhatsApp app