THE INTEGRATION OF WEB 2.0 TOOLS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

The present study aims at investigating the integration of Web 2.0 tools among EFL high school teachers in English language teaching. To evaluate the state of art in the Moroccan context; both, quantitative and qualitative data is collected with the help of a questionnaire and an interview administered to forty seven high school teachers in Fes city. The results of the study revealed that the integration of Web 2.0 tools in English language teaching is still in its infancy stage since only 12,77 % of the whole sample make use of Web 2.0 tools in their teaching practices; especially, YouTube, and Facebook. This study also shows that the use of Web 2.0 tools among teacher is limited either to providing online resources for students or as teaching aids in classrooms. The low percentage of high school teachers who use Web 2.0 tools in their teaching practices is attributed to the challenges that hinder the integration of Web 2.0 tools in English language teaching. This is so, because 93,62% of teachers state that there are certain challenges that hinder the integration of Web 2.0 tools in English language teaching. These challenges according to the respondents are categorized into the lack of knowledge in using Web 2.0 tools in teaching, the lack of digital materials in classrooms, and their negative attitudes toward the integration of Web 2.0 tools in educational purposes. Based on the findings of this study some pedagogical implications are directed to EFL teachers, and educational policy makers.  Article visualizations

Distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Moroccan university students

Because of COVID-19, distance learning was adopted by the majority of educational institutions as a strategy to ensure the continuity of education. In Morocco, forcing students to change their traditional learning methods has put them through an unprecedented learning experience. This study aims at investigating Moroccan university students of English experiences with distance learning during the pandemic in terms of readiness, satisfaction and perceived barriers. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers relied on an exploratory descriptive approach through a self-developed online questionnaire involving 138 respondents. The results indicate that students’ readiness to engage in distance learning was found to be at a moderate level. Additionally, the participants reported a low level of satisfaction with their experience of distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, they preferred face-to-face learning over distance learning. Lack of previous experience with distance learning, lack of needed technology and inadequate internet connection were found to be among the major barriers to distance learning during the pandemic. Furthermore, the respondents expressed concerns on issues related to motivation, interaction and lack of technical skills. The findings of this study were discussed and compared to the findings of other related studies

The Effects of the Flipped Classroom Model on University Students’ Writing Proficiency

This study seeks to investigate the effect of the flipped classroom model on university students’ writing proficiency. To evaluate the state of the art in the Moroccan context, this study utilizes a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design with control groups. The sample of this research consists of (148) first-year university students enrolled in the department of English studies. This sample is divided into experimental and control groups to meet the objectives of the research design. For the purpose of data collection, this study uses a pre-test and a post-test of writing achievement. The data collected for this research is analyzed using independent samples t-tests. The findings of this study disclose that the flipped classroom model has a significant positive impact on students’ paragraph-writing skills in general and on the writing of most of the paragraph’s constructs in particular. The findings of this study suggest that English language teachers need to adopt student-centered teaching/learning models that integrate face-to-face with online learning modalities in order to improve students’ writing proficiency

Assessing Moroccan University Students’ English Learning Motivation: A Comparative Study

This study seeks to survey whether students are motivated to learn English or not and to evaluate the differences within and between three most known universities in Morocco, involving a private one, in terms of students’ English learning motivation. Moreover, factors that make a student more motivated to learn English were investigated. This study examines motivation of university students according to their institution, gender, and other variables. Assessment of university students’ motivation was by scores on items from the Academic Motivation Scale. The sample consisted of 329 undergraduate students from three different Moroccan universities. The most important finding was that participants in general are quite motivated to learn English with a score of (M = 3.80) with regard to the overall score using a 5-point Likert scale, and a higher level of introjected extrinsic motivation (M = 4.11), which means that they do such tasks because they are supposed or asked to do them. Moreover, factors such as how students consider university, their location during the academic year, and their decision behind choosing to go to university were found to affect students’ motivation