Abstract:

English language teaching and learning are currently viewed as developing transferable skills. Undoubtedly, learning a foreign language one develops a set of skills necessary for their future work and career. Within the set of such skills, writing has the potential of being an effective diagnostic tool as it helps to track the progress of forming productive skills.

To assist the development of writing skills we decided to analyse if the course organisation has an impact on learner’s success in writing. At present blended and online learning are getting a lot of attention. Thus, we decided to compare the impact of traditional, blended and online education on the development of learners’ writing skills.

In the framework of our current study, we divided learners into three groups according to the form of course organisation. First, all the learners took a placement test (with grammar and vocabulary, listening and speaking sections) to make sure they are of the same level. Learners taking part in the research showed their language proficiency at Pre-Intermediate level (A2 according to Common European Framework of Reference to Languages). Moreover, to verify their correspondence to the level and discover areas to improve, the learners had to do the adaptive DIALANG test. Although there were a few cases of lower or higher levels of skill development, the learners proved their level of language proficiency.

Then, students were divided into several groups. In the case of a traditional framework, the lessons were organised following a typical communicative method procedure, with writing being an essential part of the course. The groups with blended learning had to follow the same routine in the class as learners from a traditional learning group. However, their homework was mainly set online with the help of Rosetta Stone software. Learners had the deadlines to adhere to complete the online tasks. There were also groups learning online with the help of aforementioned software, both in class and at home. The teachers provided guidance and helped when students faced difficulties in process of their learning, as well as conducted skills assessment and monitored homework performance. With similar content of the course and the level of the participants’ language proficiency the primary difference between the groups lay in the way of organizing the course.

In the course of the experiment three tests (Cambridge English: Key) were offered to the learners. The test results showed a slight increase in the mean score of writing performance. The results were higher in the case of traditional and blended learning. Another important indicator is the amount of learners who failed or did not perform the task at all. The general trend shows the rise in the number of writing test-takers. The success rate in most cases goes up, regardless of the course organisation.

Summing up the results, it can be concluded that purely online course organisation does not effectively promote the development of writing skills in the context of university studies. On the other hand, traditional and blended learning show better results in developing learners’ writing skills.

Keywords:

EFL, transferable skills, higher education, writing.