Abstract:
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The study subsumes both quantitative and qualitative research
methods with the objective of investigating the effects of active
learning on EFL learners’ interaction, autonomy and achievement.
The researcher has employed two tools for data collection, tests and
participant observation. The quantitative research utilizes a pre-tests
and a post-tests as mediated with treatment courses to uncover overt
change on behalf of the subjects’ (learners’) performance. The
treatment courses which incorporate active learning were delivered
to a fresher sample of the subjects of two faculties: the School of
Management and the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of
Khartoum. Each group of the subjects constitutes a whole class, yet
the students were put into two sub-groups. The subjects of the study
were 259 with 72 male students. The means of test grades of the
learners’ interaction, autonomy, and achievement shifted from: 3.67,
3.85, and 37.8 in the pre-test to 12.9, and 12.1 and 74.5 in the posttest respectively. SPSS was used for quantitative data analysis. For
the qualitative methods, detailed remarks and features on the class
presentations by the students were observed, video-taped, and
reported. Qualitative participant observation helped to demonstrate
the learners’ capabilities in adopting active learning techniques
during their presentations. The results of both qualitative and
quantitative methods conclude that active learning can improve EFL
leaners’ achievement, inspire increased interaction, and generate
independent learning. Moreover, the results approve the flexibility
and the entertaining nature of active learning which may qualify to
be an up-to-date interest to educators, course designers, and teachers
of English language at university level. An additional finding is that
female subjects outperformed male ones regarding interactive skills.
Thus, further research on this area may investigate: the effects of
such interactive characteristics as gender, residence, origin, and type
of admission on the allocation of active learning as well as its
implementation in science classes or applications at school level |