DOES BLENDED INSTRUCTION MATTER FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LEARNERS? A STUDY ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

In the 21st century, Texas schools continue to experience exponential growth in their numbers of English language learners (ELLs). At the secondary level, high school ELLs are expected to take and pass the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness End-of-Course (STAAR/EOC) exams as part of their cumulative graduation requirements. Additionally, ELLs' performance on the STAAR exams at all grade levels significantly impacts their schools’ and districts’ adequate yearly progress (AYP). Subsequently, many schools and districts in the state continue to explore innovative ways to help ELLs effectively and efficiently acquire the academic English they need to succeed in school. This study examined a high school that piloted English as a Second Language (ESL) English and Reading courses delivered through a blended method of instruction in order to determine if the method increases students’ language acquisition at a greater rate than students taking ESL English and Reading courses delivered via a traditional method of instruction as measured by Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) reading tests.
Results indicate that there were no statistically significant differences in TELPAS 2013 reading scores between the group that received the blended method of instruction and the group that received the traditional method of instruction. The same was true in terms of STAAR English II reading scores, the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. ANOVA and ANCOVA did indicate a significant effect of TELPAS 2012 scores on TELPAS 2013 scores. Likewise there was a significant effect of STAAR English I reading scores on STAAR English II reading scores. Further, results indicated that there were significant differences in TELPAS 2013 reading scores based on instructional level, age, STAAR English I reading scores, and STAAR English II reading scores, but there were not significant differences based on gender and years in U.S. schools. As for STAAR English II reading scores, there were significant differences in scores based on instructional level, years in U.S. schools, and TELPAS 2012, yet no significant differences based on gender and age