Writing instruction through podcasts or traditional classrooms: That is the question!

Abstract

In the history of language teaching, the delivery of instructional materials has been subject to two major fluctuations: from traditional face-to-face instruction to Web-Based Instruction (WBI). Advocating the advantages of WBI, the present study aimed at finding out whether using podcasts can help the Iranian EFL students outperform in their writing skill. To this end, 57 students of English were selected from Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch and the Zand Institute of Higher Education as the participants. After taking a writing pre-test for homogeneity, the participants were divided into two groups of control and experimental. While the first group attended the classroom for writing instruction, the other group received the instruction through podcasts. A post-test of writing was administered after the treatment. The comparison between the participants' performances in the pre-and post-tests of writing revealed that traditional classroom attendance is not a necessary condition for the students' improvement in writing. In other words, if the students receive the instruction out-of-the classroom through podcasts, they can perform equally well in their writing ability.