Issues and Challenges of Malaysian Primary School Teachers in Incorporating Blended Learning in ESL Classroom
Zulaikha Zulkflee1*, Nadhirah Nor Azmi1, Syarifah Syarina Sheikh Kamaruzaman1, Jashwaniee Prakas1, Marina Melissa Ng1, Shereen Shamala Benjamin Jeyaraja1
1 Faculty of Languages and Communication, Sultan Idris Education University, Tanjong Malim, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: zzulaikha@polycc.edu.my Accepted: 15 December 2022 | Published: 30 December 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2022.4.4.11
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Abstract: The emergence of blended learning in this fast-paced technology advancement period has provided educators, particularly ESL teachers with yet another teaching approach option that could be incorporated within their ESL teaching and learning context. This study aims to obtain insights on issues and challenges Malaysian primary school teachers face in the incorporation of this teaching approach. It seeks to answer two main questions; 1) How do Malaysia primary school teachers perceive blended learning? and 2) What are the issues and challenges Malaysian primary school teachers face in the incorporation of blended learning?
This quantitative study utilized an adapted 5-point Likert scale questionnaire survey for data collection. The data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 27 and descriptive analysis was employed to interpret the findings. Participants were 30 ESL primary school teachers from Tanjong Malim, Perak. The findings indicated that primary school teachers reported a positive attitude towards blended learning (M = 4.34, SD = 0.599). Nevertheless, findings indicated that there are issues and challenges on the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms (M = 2.72, SD = 0.939).
Keywords: blended learning, issues and challenges, primary school, ESL, Malaysia
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1. Introduction
Students of this time and age; Generation Z and Alpha in a general sense are amongst individuals who are born into the world of vast technological advancements, intrinsically this led them to be well versed in technology and digital tools. As for that, it is crucial for innovations in ESL pedagogy to be able to accommodate the interests and needs of students in this period. Locally, efforts by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to facilitate teachers in implementing current teaching approaches includes emphasis on developing 21st Century Skills within the Malaysia Education Blueprint as well as the swift development of the Digital Learning Initiative Malaysia (DELIMa) which serves as a one stop portal for teachers and students for online learning. Amongst the menu available on this portal includes; Online Learning, Hybrid Learning, Online Activities, Digital Library and Learning Applications (MOE, 2021) This move proves that the integration of technology is vital and should be encouraged as it brings forth benefits to both students and teachers of the 21st century education scene. An example of this is the perception that teacher-student interaction within a lesson that utilizes technology results in an interactive classroom (Yunus, 2018). One teaching approach that incorporates technology and online tools within a traditional physical classroom is blended
learning (BL). According to Hajan and Padagas (2021), this relatively newly trending teaching approach is able to encourage both student-student and teacher-student interactions as well as lower communication anxiety and foster students to become self-directed and independent learners. Additionally, the combination between physical lessons with online lessons in blended learning is also perceived to be able to make classroom interactions effective and therefore is able to meet the needs of current shifts in the role of teachers wherein teachers serve as a co-partner in knowledge transfer instead of merely serving the role of a content deliverer (Tan, Zakwan and Aziz, 2022).
Tan et al. (2022) in an article that summarizes the implementation of blended learning trend in Malaysia, stated that despite the fact that blended learning is gaining increased attention in this post pandemic era, it is not new pedagogy in Malaysia. Even so, research on blended learning specifically in regard to teacher’s perception is scarce in which there has been no published research on this discipline that focuses on primary school teachers to this date. In a rural setting, Jerry and Yunus (2020) noted in their findings that primary school ESL teachers have limited knowledge of blended learning and as a whole showed mixed reaction towards this teaching approach. Aside from that, teachers also face issues and challenges such as lack of readiness as well as time and resources constraints.
In Malaysia, although blended learning in both public and private tertiary education institutions has been the aim of the Malaysian Education Ministry earlier as stated in the Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint (MOHE, 2013), its rise within the local education landscape was only recently heighten as educators were driven to explore online learning tools and platforms options that are available upon being hit by the global crisis and forced to temporarily carry out online teaching and learning. As a result, moving forward into the post-pandemic phase, more teachers are aware of the online tools that are both practical and effective within their context, this as a result has led more teachers to adopt the blended learning approach in their classroom instructions. Various research has been done to investigate teachers’ perception and challenges in relation to blended learning. However, most of the existing literature focuses on secondary and tertiary levels of ESL teaching and learning. Therein, blended learning particularly within the context of primary school currently remains underexplored. This lack of literature limits stakeholders from gaining holistic views on blended learning specifically within the context of primary level ESL classrooms.
Hence, this study is conducted to gain insights on the Malaysian primary school teacher’s perception on the integration of blended learning within ESL classrooms. It also investigates the issues and challenges faced by Malaysian primary school teachers in the implementation of this teaching approach. For this purpose, this study addresses the following research objectives for this study:
1) To identify to how Malaysian primary school teachers perceive the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms
2) To identify the issues and challenges faced by Malaysian primary school teachers by the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms
Based on the research objectives, the research questions this study intends to answer:
1) How do Malaysian ESL primary school teachers perceive blended learning?
2) What are the issues and challenges Malaysian primary school teachers face in the incorporation of blended learning in their ESL classrooms?
Limitations of Study
The findings of this research are able to shed light on teacher’s perception as well as the issues and challenges they face in implementing blended learning at a primary level only to a certain extent. Due to the nature of this study, the research is limited to a single locality and as such could not be generalised to the whole population. Aside from that, the quantitative data in this study only reports on the statistical analysis of structured items, it does not provide an in-depth exploration of reasons behind the responses towards each of the items that is able to depict a comprehensive understanding of this area of study.
Significance of Study
Although in the area of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), studies associated with technology incorporated within ESL lessons have always been alive, there have been limited studies that specifically explore areas related to blended learning (Hajan and Padagas, 2021). Aside from that, one recent study that looks at teacher’s experiences and views on blended learning in primary school (Jerry and Yunus, 2021) was focused on a rural district. As for that, this study seeks to add valuable information to the scarce body of knowledge available concerning teacher’s perception as well as issues and challenges they encounter when implementing a blended learning approach in an ESL classroom at the primary level. The findings will benefit ESL teachers interested in adopting this teaching approach as well as the policy makers in designing programs or policies that could effectively support teachers in successfully incorporating blended learning in ESL classrooms.
2. Literature Review
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
This study was conducted based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which was developed by Davis (1989) as presented in Figure 1. The model consisted of two specific variables, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use which were hypothesised as important factors in determining the user acceptance of technology. Nikou (2021) highlighted the link between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use with satisfaction which may impact the continuance intention to use technology in the teaching and learning process. Hence, TAM was used in this study to investigate how ESL primary school teachers perceived blended learning and the challenges associated with its implementation in their classrooms.
Figure 1: Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989)
Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms
Blended learning has been established as one of the effective ways for the teaching and learning of English as a second language. Recent reviews on the incorporation of blended learning in English language classrooms highlighted that the four skills of the English language such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening could be effectively enhanced with the incorporation of blended learning (Hashemi and Si Na, 2020; Albiladi & Alshareef, 2019). This notion is
supported by Rachman, Sudiyono and Phonix (2021) by which they mentioned that implementation of blended learning in the teaching and learning of English was able to improve not only the four language skills, but also their grammar and vocabulary with the incorporation of various authentic media. The findings from a study conducted by Hassan, Abdul Rahman and Azmi (2021) showed that the learners’ writing skills improved significantly with the incorporation of blended learning. Their study on Malaysian polytechnic ESL learners suggested that blended learning was effective due to the interactivity and flexibility of active learning activities in the development of students’ writing skills. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Alnoori and Obaid (2017) noted the effectiveness of blended learning method in the teaching of reading skills to secondary ESL students. Their findings emphasised that blended learning matched students’ learning skills, expanded students’ self-learning time, increased human interaction and considered students’ way of learning in a way that helped sustain students’ interest in learning. Similarly, other researchers have also highlighted the positive effects of blended learning in supporting the betterment of learners’ reading skills (Yudhana, 2021) as well as listening and speaking skills (Menggo & Darong, 2022). Besides, the findings from a research by Albiladi & Alshareef (2019) demonstrated that students who were concentrating on involving in a blended learning mode would do better to academic accomplishment in ESL courses than students who were trained utilizing the face to face method. As such, students in blended learning settings performed better in ESL classes over students in face-to-face settings. The researchers demonstrated that the outcomes showed that the utilization of blended learning has positive effects on students' learning results.
Teachers’ Attitude and Perceptions of Blended Learning
Teachers’ attitude and perceptions of blended learning may have been influenced by several facilitating factors such as their perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and social factors including their previous experience with technology, appropriate technical infrastructure and the supportive institutional culture (Nikou, 2021). A study by Jerry & Yunus (2021) indicated teachers had mixed perceptions on blended learning. Their findings showed that the teachers perceived blended learning as technically challenging but favoured its incorporation for better management of classroom activities. In another notion, teachers’ attitude and perceptions could also be the results of their preferences. Prior to COVID-19, albeit advanced education has burned through millions of dollars on informative advancements, frequently advanced education organisation gripes that teachers are not taking on them. A study by Shebansky (2018) claimed that even though the computerised devices were available and accessible, the teachers were not seen using these facilities to execute blended learning. Besides, it has been affirmed that apparent happiness puts emphasis on the delight and inherent good inclination from an explicit way of behaving and utilizing a particular framework is enjoyable and wonderful no matter what any results because of system one use. In a review, teachers' perceived enjoyment can be characterized as students' pleasant involvement with working in a blended learning environment. Since blended learning offers students fun and delight, students and teachers have a ball in a blended learning environment and acknowledge it as a type of course delivery (Birbal, Ramdass & Harripaul, 2018).
Blended Learning Affordances
Past studies on blended learning have highlighted the benefits of blended learning in language classrooms. Ramalingam, Yunus and Hashim (2021) conducted a study to explore the ESL undergraduate university students’ experience and the effectiveness of web-based blended learning activities in improving their skills. Their findings revealed that blended learning was able to improve the students’ 21st century skills which include the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity). This is in line with the findings by Jerry and
Yunus (2021) by which they highlighted the effectiveness of blended learning to increase learners’ engagement, communication and collaboration. In addition, their findings also indicated that blended learning was able to upgrade the teachers’ knowledge and skills, saved time and cost, provided ease of access to information, helped students’ language achievements and promoted self-paced learning among the students. Their claims also reflected similar findings reported in earlier studies by Carver & Todd (2016). Their study on primary and secondary school teachers’ perceptions of the benefits and barriers on technology use in classroom instructions revealed that regardless of the lack of technology and equipment availability as well as their limited knowledge and skills, they still chose to use technology with the belief that it helped increase students’ engagement and academic abilities. To support the claims above, Kawasaki (2020) stated that blended learning permits students to practice and learn all the four language abilities; reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
However, Kawasaki (2020) also claimed that one major test of teaching English online is that in spite of the fact that students can work on speaking and listening, giving them reading and writing practice is more troublesome. Nonetheless, blended learning permits students to rehearse every one of the four abilities. On the off chance that students are paying for exposure with an instructor, it is generally best to permit them to work on speaking and listening simultaneously and afterwards set reading and writing as a nonsynchronous piece of work.
Challenges in the Implementation of Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms
Garcia-Ponce and Mora-Pablo (2020) stated that, nonetheless, the advantages of a blended learning classroom are not without possible downsides. Their study on pre-service teachers in Mexico highlighted that lack of familiarity with blended learning made the participants lose motivation to involve in blended learning activities. This is supported by a study by Jerry &
Yunus (2021) on Malaysian primary school teachers which revealed that teachers’ limited exposure and knowledge on blended learning was the major challenge in the successful implementation of blended learning in the ESL classrooms. Another challenge in blended learning implementation in the ESL classrooms is highlighted by Rachman et al. (2021) in which they revealed that teachers had to spend more time to create more materials for both the offline and online classroom sessions. They also reported that teachers faced difficulties in selecting the appropriate online material to match the students’ level of proficiency.
Based on the review of related literature, it is evident that studies on the implementation of blended learning in ESL context were mainly done at secondary and tertiary level of education.
To the researchers’ knowledge, the availability of studies conducted in the primary ESL context is still scarce. In addition, the teachers’ perceptions on the implementation of blended learning might have changed after they experienced online teaching during the pandemic COVID-19.
Hence, it is important to investigate the current notion of blended learning implementation among the teachers, particularly in the primary ESL context.
3. Methodology
This study was conducted using a survey method. According to Torrentira (2020), a survey is the most common data collection technique in quantitative research. It refers to a process which required the participants of the study to personally respond to the structured questionnaire produced by the researcher. Survey was chosen because it was a familiar research tool in social studies (Braun, Clarke, Boulton, Davey & McEvoy, 2020) including education.
Participants
A total of 30 participants participated in this study. The participants were ESL teachers from primary schools in Tanjong Malim, Perak. The participants were selected based on convenience sampling. According to Creswell & Creswell (2018), convenience sampling allows researchers to select the participants conveniently based on their availability and willingness to participate in the study. The participants had the experience of teaching online during the school closure due to the pandemic COVID-19.
Instrument
A questionnaire was used to collect the data for this study. The questionnaire consisted of three parts including the background information (Part I - 3 items), teachers' perceptions on the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classroom (Part II - 15 items) as well as the issues and challenges faced by the teachers in blended learning incorporation in the ESL classroom (Part III - 15 items). The questionnaire required the participants to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement to each statement based on a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The questionnaire included items which were adapted from Moukali (2012) and Jerry & Yunus (2021). Moukali’s questionnaire was originally designed to investigate the factors that affect faculty attitudes toward adoption of technology-rich blended learning at a university in Saudi Arabia. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the 3 dimensions in Moukali’s questionnaire, namely ‘attitudes’, ‘barriers’, and
‘incentives’ ranged from 0.75 to 0.95. Meanwhile, Jerry and Yunus’ instrument which was replicated from a study by Larsen (2012) was used to examine primary school teachers' experiences and views on the application of blended learning in their English language instruction in Betong, Sarawak. The instrument had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.78 to 0.902 for its five scales namely 'emancipatory activities', 'co-participatory activities', 'qualia', 'information structure and design' and ‘facilitation scale’.
For the present study, all the items in Part II (items 1 to 15) and items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the questionnaire were adapted from Moukali’s instrument while items 8, 9, 14 and 15 in Part III of the questionnaire were adapted from Jerry and Yunus’ instrument. The context of the questionnaire was changed to suit the objectives of this present study by which the words ‘faculty’ and ‘administrator’ were changed to ‘teachers’. The negatively worded items in Moukali’s ‘barriers’ dimension were also changed into positive ones to show a clearer indication of the teachers’ perceptions on the issues and challenges related to the implementation of blended learning in their ESL classrooms. The instrument was piloted with 10 non-participating teachers and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for Part II and Part III were at 0.973 and 0.969 respectively, indicating a very high level of reliability.
Data Collection Method
Data for this study was collected using quantitative data collection procedures (Creswell, 2012). Firstly, the participants and site for data collection were selected. Then, a survey questionnaire was designed to answer the research questions. After that, the reliability of the instrument was determined through a pilot study. The questionnaire was then administered online through Google Form since it is convenient, safe and feasible (Torrentira, 2020). The researchers included information of consent in the questionnaire and all the participants consented to participate in the study. The data collection took one week to complete and they were analysed quantitatively using statistical software.
Data Analysis Method
Once the data were collected, data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics software Version 27. All 30 participants completed the questionnaire without any missing items.
Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data for all three parts of the questionnaire. The data for the participants’ background were presented using percentages while mean scores and standard deviations were used to interpret the data for the teachers’ perceptions on the implementation of blended learning as well as the issues and challenges on the implementation of blended learning in the primary ESL classrooms.
4. Findings
The findings for this study are discussed based on the research objectives which are to identify what are the Malaysian primary school teachers’ perceptions on the integration of blended learning in ESL classrooms and to identify the issues and challenges faced by the Malaysian primary school teachers by the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms.
Demography of the Respondents
Out of the 30 teachers who responded to the questionnaire, 23 (76.7%) of the teachers are female and only 7 (23.3%) of them are male teachers. As for the age range, the highest frequency is from the age between 31 to 40 years old with the frequency of 12 (40.0%).
Teachers aged between 21 to 30 years old were about 11 teachers which makes up a percentage of 36.7%. Next is teachers age between 41 to 50 years old, with the frequency of 4 teachers and percentage of 13.3%. The remaining 3 teachers are more than 50 years old with the percentage of 10.0%. In terms of teaching experience, 8 teachers have the experience of less than 5 years (26.7%) and another 8 teachers have between 5 to 9 years of teaching experience with the same percentage of 26.7%. The result also indicates that 7 (23.3%) of the teachers have between 10 to 14 years of teaching experience and 5 (16.7%) of them have between 15 to 20 years of teaching experience. The least percentage for about 6.7% consists of 2 teachers with more than 20 years of teaching experience.
Malaysian Primary School Teachers’ Perceptions on the Incorporation of Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms
The results of the findings below are aimed to answer the first research question on Malaysian primary school teachers’ perceptions on the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms. The results are discussed based on the highest mean score of the items to the lowest mean score.
Table 1: Teachers’ Perceptions on the Incorporation of Blended Learning in ESL Classroom N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Item A1: Blended learning is important
in the primary ESL classroom.
30 3 5 4.50 .630
Item A2: Blended learning supports collaborative learning in the primary ESL classroom.
30 3 5 4.50 .572
Item A3: Blended learning helps pupils to learn English in a convenient way.
30 3 5 4.50 .572
Item A4: I am interested in implementing blended learning in my ESL classroom.
30 2 5 4.40 .770
Item A5: Blended learning increases pupils’ English language achievement.
30 3 5 4.37 .669
Item A6: Blended learning considers the differences in learning styles of pupils.
30 3 5 4.40 .675
Item A7: Blended learning facilitates the tracking of pupils’ English language performance.
30 3 5 4.23 .728
Item A8: Blended learning makes better use of class time.
30 2 5 4.20 .847
Item A9: Blended learning gives pupils access to class materials at any time.
30 3 5 4.33 .661
Item A10: Blended learning gives pupils more media resources (e.g. audios, videos, etc.).
30 3 5 4.47 .571
Item A11: Blended learning helps in evaluating pupils’ achievement.
30 3 5 4.30 .596
Item A12: Blended learning provides better communication for pupils and instructors.
30 2 5 4.27 .740
Item A13: Blended learning improves pupils and instructors’ technological skills.
30 3 5 4.37 .669
Item A14: In the last two years, my perceptions toward blended learning have become more positive.
30 1 5 4.13 .900
Item A15: I prefer teaching English using a blended learning approach in my ESL classroom.
30 2 5 4.10 .845
Overall Mean 30 2.60 5.00 4.3378 .59909
Valid N (listwise) 30
Table 1 shows the mean scores and standard deviations for each item listed. It is indicated that Item A1 has the highest mean score of (M = 4.50, SD= 0.630) which shows the teachers strongly agreed that blended learning is important in the primary ESL classroom. With a mean score of 4.50 (SD = 0.572), the teachers also strongly agreed that blended learning is able to support collaborative learning among pupils in the primary ESL classrooms (Item A2).
Similarly, Item A3 shares the same mean score (M= 4.50, SD = 0.572) when most teachers strongly agreed that blended learning helps their pupils learn English conveniently. Moreover, the teachers agreed that blended learning gives their pupils more media resources such as audios, videos, etc. This is indicated from Item A10 whereby it shows a high mean score (M=
4.47, SD = 0.571). The teachers also show their agreement to Item 4 in which they are interested in implementing blended learning in their ESL classroom (M = 4.40, SD = 0.770), and Item A6 in which they agreed that blended learning considers the differences in learning styles of pupils (M = 4.40, SD = 0.675). Besides, the teachers agreed to Item A5 stating that blended learning increases pupils’ English language achievement (M = 4.37, SD = 0.669) and Item 13 which claims that blended learning improves pupils’ and instructors’ technological skills (M = 4.37, SD = 0.669).
With reference to Table 1, teachers agreed that blended learning gives pupils access to class materials at any time (Item A9). This is shown from the high mean score (M = 4.33, SD = 0.661). The teachers also agreed that blended learning helps in evaluating pupils’ achievement (Item A11, Mean = 4.30, SD = 0.596) and provides better communication for pupils and instructors (Item A12, Mean = 4.27, SD = 0.740). Also, a mean score of (M = 42.3, SD = 0.728) shows that the teachers agreed to the claim that blended learning facilitates tracking pupils’
English language performance (Item A7). Furthermore, the teachers show their agreement that blended learning makes better use of class time in Item A8 (M = 4.20, 0.847). They also agreed
that in the last two years, their perceptions toward blended learning have become more positive in Item A14 (M = 4.13, SD = 0.900). Lastly, with a high mean score (M = 4.10, SD = 0.845), it is indicated that the teachers prefer teaching English using a blended learning approach in their ESL classroom (Item A15). Overall, the teachers show highly positive feedback towards the incorporation of blended learning in primary ESL classrooms. This is evidently shown through the overall high mean score of 4.34 (SD = 0.599).
Issues and Challenges Malaysian Primary School Teachers Faced on the Incorporation of Blended Learning in ESL Classrooms
The findings below aim to answer the second research question on the issues and challenges Malaysian primary school teachers face on the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms. The results are discussed based on the highest mean score of the items to the lowest mean score.
Table 2: Issues and Challenges on the Incorporation of Blended Learning in ESL Classroom
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.
Deviation Item B1: I have enough technology
experience to implement blended learning in my ESL classroom.
30 1 5 2.60 1.102
Item B2: I have enough technical support for blended learning implementation in my ESL classroom.
30 1 5 2.47 1.106
Item B3: I receive sufficient technical training to implement blended learning in my ESL classroom.
30 1 5 2.30 1.149
Item B4: Technological infrastructure at my school is ready for the implementation of blended learning.
30 1 5 2.40 1.070
Item B5: Internet access is available at my school for the teachers and pupils.
30 1 5 2.67 1.061
Item B6: Technological devices (computers/ notebooks/ tablets) are available at my school.
30 1 5 2.40 1.133
Item B7: Implementing blended learning does not increase my workload.
30 1 5 2.87 1.167
Item B8: Using blended learning does not make English more demanding to teach.
30 1 5 2.97 1.159
Item B9: Blended learning enables me to manage classroom activities more efficiently.
30 1 5 3.07 1.172
Item B10: My school uses a good learning management system (LMS).
30 1 5 2.77 1.165
Item B11: My pupils have enough technology experience to participate in blended learning.
30 1 5 2.67 1.093
Item B12: My pupils have technological devices (computers/
notebooks/ tablets/ smartphones) at home.
30 1 5 2.63 1.129
Item B13: My pupils have the internet at home.
30 1 5 2.83 1.147
Item B14: Using blended learning in the ESL classroom is time-effective.
30 1 5 2.97 1.129
Item B15: Using blended learning in the ESL classroom is cost-effective.
30 1 5 3.17 1.117
Overall Mean 30 1.60 5.00 2.7178 .93934
Valid N (listwise) 30
Table 2 presents the results on the issues and challenges Malaysian primary ESL teachers faced in incorporating blended learning in their classrooms. It is presented through the mean scores and standard deviations for each item listed. The results indicated that the highest mean score is a moderate 3.17 (SD = 1.117) from Item B15. It shows the teachers were uncertain that using blended learning in the ESL classroom is cost-effective. The teachers also show their uncertainty towards Item B9 claim that blended learning enables them to manage classroom activities more efficiently (M = 3.07, SD = 1.172) and Item B8 claim that using blended learning does not make English more demanding to teach (Mean = 2.97, SD 1.159). It is also indicated that teachers were unsure towards the statement in Item B14 that using blended learning in the ESL classroom is time-effective (Mean = 2.97, SD = 1.129) and that the implementation of blended learning would not increase their workload (Item B7, Mean = 2.87, SD = 1.167). Besides that, it can be seen that the teachers were unsure if their pupils have internet at home (Item B13, Mean = 2.83, SD = 1.147). The teachers were also uncertain if their school uses a good learning management system in Item B10. This is shown from the mean score of 2.77 (SD = 1.165). Based on Item B11, the teachers were unsure if their pupils have enough technology experience to participate in blended learning (Mean = 2.67, SD = 1.093). The teachers were also uncertain to the claim in Item B5 that internet access is available at their school for the teachers and pupils (Mean = 2.67, SD = 1.061), and in Item B12 whereby the pupils have technological devices such as computers, notebooks, tablets and smartphones at home (Mean = 2.63, SD = 1.129).
Furthermore, Item B1 shows a low mean score of 2.60 (SD = 1.102). It is indicated that the teachers disagreed that they have enough technology experience to implement blended learning in ESL classrooms. Item B2 also shows a low mean score of 2.47 (SD = 1.106) in which the teachers disagreed that they have enough technical support for blended learning implementation in their ESL classroom. Also, a mean score of 2.40 (SD = 1.133) denoted that the teachers disagreed with the claim that technological devices such as computers, notebooks and tablets are available at their school (Item B6). Similarly, the teachers show disagreement towards the claim in Item B4 that technological infrastructure at their school is ready for the implementation of blended learning. This is indicated through the low mean score of 2.40 (SD
= 1.070). Finally, the lowest mean score of 2.30 (SD = 1.149) from Item B3 indicates that the teachers show disagreement that they receive sufficient technical training to implement blended learning in ESL classrooms. Generally, based on the low overall mean score (M = 2.72, SD = 0.939), there are issues and challenges faced by the Malaysian primary ESL teachers in incorporating blended learning in ESL classrooms.
4. Discussion
Blended learning environments have grown in popularity during the past decade. Teachers have been prompted to reevaluate how they use technology and resources in the classroom. This is a result of the integration of blended learning in education. Blended learning is found to be in sync with Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) in this study. A user's perception of the technology's usefulness and ease of use is measured in TAM. From this study,
teachers believe students' attitude toward utilising a certain piece of technology ultimately influences whether or not they will actually go ahead and do so. This coincides with the study conducted by Nikou (2021).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives held by ESL teachers regarding the incorporation of blended learning into ESL classrooms and the associated challenges. Based on the obtained results, the majority of teachers agreed that blended learning is essential in the primary ESL classroom, which contradicts the findings of a study conducted by Jerry and Yunus (2021); teachers have conflicting views about blended learning. According to the results of their study, the teachers thought blended learning was challenging from a technical standpoint which aligns with the finding of this study.
The teachers acknowledged that there is a limited amount of support and materials for blended learning that may be utilised in the classroom.This is because teachers felt blended learning makes use of many different kinds of educational resources, including infographics, photos, videos, tables, and graphs. Hence, students will have an easier time focusing, absorbing, and incorporating the material they have learnt due to this.
However, the findings from Shebansky's (2018) study indicate that, despite the fact that computerised equipment was available and easy access to them, the teachers were not observed making use of these facilities to carry out blended learning. This is despite the fact that there was computerised equipment available. As a result of these findings, it is clear that teachers have limited knowledge and experience when it comes to incorporating blended learning into their classrooms. On the contrary, in this study, it needs to be acknowledged the fact that despite most teachers' lack the expertise in blended learning, teachers were still able to incorporate blended learning into their teaching practices is commendable. However, a direct consequence of this is there are not many opportunities for students to engage critically with the material they are learning. As a result, there will be a paucity of student-friendly digital resources and activities that are not digital for students (Nikou, 2021). Hence, there are few opportunities for students to interact with the content they are studying.
In view of the above, the findings acquired during this research were consistent with the conclusions drawn from other studies that were very similar to this. According to Alnoori and Obaid (2017), the flexibility of blended learning, which allows for the use of a range of technologies, enables teachers to lead and manage their students' utilisation of technology which helps to prevent the technology from being misutilized or exploited in an ineffective manner (Yudhana, 2021). Blended learning tends to be more effective when compared to conventional techniques utilised. From the findings, blended learning can also assist students in enhancing their organisational, study, and academic abilities in the classroom. This is supported by the study conducted by (Carver & Todd, 2016). According to Carver & Todd, there has been an increase in the utilisation of blended learning in the classroom due to the fact that it fosters and increases the learning and engagement of the students.
5. Conclusion and Recommendations
An examination of the study conducted is to identify how Malaysian primary school teachers perceive the incorporation of blended learning in ESL classrooms and also the issues and challenges faced when incorporating blended learning. The findings revealed that, in general, the primary school teachers displayed highly positive feedback towards the incorporation of blended learning in primary ESL classrooms. Although the findings revealed such highly
positive feedback, it also indicated that the primary school teachers underwent different types of issues and challenges when incorporating blended learning in their ESL classroom. To highlight a few of the issues and challenges that obtained low mean scores from the findings are the primary school teachers felt that they did not receive sufficient technical training to implement blended learning in the ESL classrooms, they were uncertain if the technological infrastructure at their school is ready for the implementation of blended learning and they were not sure if there are sufficient technological devices available at their respective schools to conduct blended learning.
Considering the findings obtained from this study, it may offer insights into the difficulties teachers face when utilising technology for instruction in ESL classrooms. The results from this study also indicated that teachers are interested to utilise and implement blended learning to personalise education, pique interest, and boost engagement. It is vital to consider that as more teachers implement blended learning in their teaching, students’ academic attainment will improve, contributing to a positive societal change in learning.
In light of this, it can be said that the findings from the current study's scope are crucial to ensure that the Ministry of Education plays its role in implementing blended learning in ESL classrooms. It is recommended for the relevant authorities to take progressive steps in making sure that technology is incorporated in a meaningful way to configure teaching and learning in various fields of studies.
Therefore, in order to successfully adopt blended learning and resolve technological issues, teachers should acquire further training and professional development in this area. Through this, these primary school teachers are able to obtain specialized training on how to use computers and the internet for the purpose of incorporating blended learning in their ESL classroom. To add on, continuously upgrading and developing their literacy rate on the usage of technology is also vital. Besides that, future research can also be conducted on the adoption of blended learning which focuses on other aspects such as gender, student’s perspective, student’s score rating and the student’s respective experience in using information technology.
Taking into account the findings of this study, the researcher would suggest to further look into the effect of implementing blended learning with students from different levels of proficiency and age groups. Besides that, an intensive study could also be carried out on the primary school students focusing on the four skills; reading, writing, speaking and listening of the English language. To add on, the primary school teachers could also weigh and consider the different types of blended learning models that are readily available and consider which model is deemed to be suitable to be used in regards to the CEFR-aligned curriculum that is being practised in school these days. Finally, identifying the types of digital tools that are widely used among the primary school teachers in the ESL classrooms during the implementation of blended learning could also be beneficial input to further assist teachers in the teaching and learning of English language. Besides that, the primary school student’s perspective on blended learning should also be explored. It is suggested for an extensive qualitative study to be carried out on these primary school students in order to further explore their experiences and expectations of the implementation of blended learning.
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