A Comparative Study of English Performance in Online versus Traditional Education among Middle School Students in Zoucheng, China
- Shuran Zhang , PhD Candidate, Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia, 43400.
- Norlizah Che Hassan , Dr., Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia, 43400.
- Roshafiza Binti Hassan , Professor, Dr., Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia, 43400.
- Xiao Huang , Zoucheng No. 12 Middle School, Zoucheng, China, 273500.
- Yujie Long , PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia, 43600.
- Cuiyun Wang , PhD Candidate, Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia, 43400.
ABSTRACT
Aim: The primary objectives of this study were to assess the impact of two distinct educational models online education and traditional education on English performance skills scores, and to investigate whether gender has a significant influence on these outcomes. Method: The study sample comprised students from classes taught by the same instructor before and after the shutdown period. To evaluate the differences between the two educational models, an Independent-sample t-test employed, while gender-related calculations performed using MANOVA. Results: The findings revealed that English performance in online education (Mean = 65.73, p = .022) was superior to that in traditional education (Mean = 58.05). Specifically, scores for listening (Mean = 14.81, p = .050), reading (Mean = 28.61, p < .05), and vocabulary (Mean = 4.95, p = .029) were higher in the online education model compared to traditional education (Mean listening score = 13.63, Mean reading score = 23.27, Mean vocabulary score = 9.72). However, there was no significant difference in writing scores (p = .075) and grammar scores (p = .263) between the two models. Regarding gender, neither gender alone nor the interaction between gender and the education model significantly affected English performance (p = .077). Nonetheless, there were weakly significant differences observed in listening scores (p = .021) and writing scores (p = .033). Conclusion: This study highlights the relative advantages of online education and explores the impact of gender interaction with educational models on English performance. It also finds no significant statistical impact of gender differences on English performance, thereby contributing to the ongoing development of online English education.