Department of English Language, College of Arts and Sciences, Methnab, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
F1000Res. 2022 Mar 30;11:369. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.109454.1. eCollection 2022.
ELT scenario in Saudi Arabia has undergone a sea change since the pandemic. With an aim to maximize resource utilization and ensure wide learner base, college students (male and female) are taught simultaneously, the former in a face-to-face mode and the latter in an audio-only mode. The nomenclature given to this unique classroom design by the researchers is Lateral Multimodal Learning (LML), one which has its own advantages and disadvantages. This mode of learning puts a great deal of pressure on the teachers as they must attend to a huge number of students with different needs and levels of competence, whereas it ensures best utilization of infrastructural and human resources by the administrations. Being a newly developed educational model, it is important to assess the efficiency of this type of learning. This study evaluates the model from the point of view of students (99), using a questionnaire, and that of teachers (06), using semi-structured interviews. The results show that Saudi female students present high perceptions of learning via LML (M=4.03); are satisfied with this type of learning (M= 3.81) and the aids applied in learning via LML (M= 4.02). Findings also show moderate perceptions on the difficulties they encountered while emerging in LML mode (M =3.39). Furthermore, the study shows correlation between the four domains, i.e., perceptions, satisfactions, challenges, and aid. The highest correlations were between perceptions and satisfactions (r=.719); perceptions and aids (r=.659), and satisfaction and aids (r=.656). The teachers' interviews show their agreement on the efficacy of LML as being professionally fulfilling and one that they would like to continue with in the future too. The study concludes with recommendations, which would be of great benefit and help for all parties or stakeholders involved.
自疫情以来，沙特阿拉伯的 EFL 情景发生了翻天覆地的变化。为了最大限度地利用资源并确保广泛的学习者基础，男女大学生同时接受教学，前者采用面对面模式，后者采用仅音频模式。研究人员为这种独特的课堂设计赋予了一个名称，称为横向多模态学习（LML），它有其自身的优势和劣势。这种学习模式给教师带来了很大的压力，因为他们必须照顾到具有不同需求和能力水平的大量学生，而这确保了管理层对基础设施和人力资源的最佳利用。作为一种新开发的教育模式，评估这种学习类型的效率非常重要。本研究从学生（99 人）的角度使用问卷，从教师（6 人）的角度使用半结构化访谈，对该模型进行了评估。结果表明，沙特女学生对通过 LML 进行学习的看法很高（M=4.03）；对这种学习方式感到满意（M=3.81），并对通过 LML 进行学习所采用的辅助手段感到满意（M=4.02）。研究结果还表明，她们在 LML 模式中遇到的困难的看法适中（M=3.39）。此外，该研究还显示了四个领域（即看法、满意度、挑战和辅助手段）之间的相关性。相关性最高的是看法和满意度（r=.719）；看法和辅助手段（r=.659），以及满意度和辅助手段（r=.656）。教师访谈显示，他们同意 LML 的有效性，认为这是一种有成就感的教学方法，他们将来也希望继续使用这种方法。该研究最后提出了建议，这将对所有相关方或利益相关者都非常有益和有帮助。
