INTEGRATING INTERNET RESOURCES INTO EFL CURRICULA, USING THE WEBQUEST MODEL, TO ENHANCE GRADUATE STUDENTS' READING AND WRITING SKILLS FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES

The current study investigated the effectiveness of integrating internet resources into EFL curricula, using the WebQuest model, to enhance graduate students' reading and writing skills for research purposes in the Faculty of Education. The reading and writing needs for research purposes of the students in the target group were identified. They served as a basis for designing webquests-based projects to develop the research reading and writing skills identified. The study attempted to exploit both the constructivist and cooperative approaches through the use of project-based teams. It adopts an eclectic approach to the enhancing reading and writing for research purposes through training graduate students to design EFL instructional materials for teaching English at different level and reflect upon this experience. The instruments used were:

A) A pre and post-test to measure students’ research reading and writing skills;
B) A rubric to evaluate the appropriateness of the tasks used in the pre- and posttest;
C) Teacher logs to evaluate the different activities of the program;
D) A teacher’s journal to record teacher’s observations and students’ reactions; and
E) Students’ response papers.

The program was applied on post-graduate students, English majors, in the Faculty of Education. The group comprised forty-five male and female students.
The findings indicated that integrating web resources into EFL curricula, using the WebQuest model, was effective in enhancing students' reading and writing skills for research purposes and provided a positive learning experience. It is thus recommended that EFL teaching practitioners adopt the WebQuest model in making use of web resources for their instruction.