Advantages of Blended Learning

Above all, the highest percentage (36.8%) of those surveyed reported that an advantage of the blended learning course lies in "usefulness of online learning".

The respondents think of online lectures as useful for preview and/or review of regular class; that is, more exposure to and input of English. Surprisingly, the response exactly corresponds to the result of quantitative research that perceived usefulness has a significant effect on achievement; thus, verifying the definition that blended learning is a blending of online and offline strengths, and instilling more conviction into the results of this study. It can be more supported by these comments from the interviews.

I think online learning is useful in the way that I can study English whenever and wherever. And online learning is helpful for English study. I think it is a good idea to study English more with computers (Interviewee I).

When I was absent from the offline class, I could take the online lecture to make up the missing part. So online learning is necessary. I think blending the two methods is useful anyway (Interviewee B).

On the other hand, 12.6% of the students responded what they favor in blended learning course is "enjoyment of on-site instruction". Unlike those favoring online learning, they are intrinsically motivated by face-to-face classroom learning. And the fact that they perceive enjoyment as important in blended learning is closely connected to the statistic result; since the perceived enjoyment is regarded as the same concept as intrinsic motivation by previous researchers (Agarwal & Karahana, 2000; Igbaria et al., 1996; Moon & Kim, 2001;

Venkatesh & Bala, 2008; Webster, Heian, & Michelman, 1990). The perceived enjoyment was also mentioned in an interview as below.

I enjoyed blended learning class. In particular, I loved the classroom instruction part. And I liked the instructor and I liked learning activities in the classroom. Ah... I'm not saying I didn't like online learning, though. It was good as well. (Interviewee J).

Third, 10.5% of the respondents expressed a sense of relief concerning

"easier level of course content" as expected and, 9.5% of them felt relieved at

"detailed explanations given in the classroom". Both seem to be ascribed to individual affective factors such as low self-efficacy and anxiety, considering their beginner level of English proficiency. Because of their low-confidence in English, they feel anxious about the course level of difficulty, and at ease about more manageable level. Apparently, to them, personal support obtained through face-to-face encounters would be favored over self-directed learning (SDL). The participants in interviews lend weight to those arguments referred to so far, as described in the following excerpts.

In fact, in the first place, I was so worried about college English, but thank to easy explanations of course content in class, I could make myself at ease. The instructor always gave me full explanations of difficult parts kindly in the classroom (Interviewee C).

If I don't understand something when studying online at home, I feel pent-up about it. On the contrary, in onsite class, I can straightly get an answer from the instructor. So I prefer offline class in that regard (Interviewee H).

Fourth, the respondents regard group activities as beneficial in blended learning, seeing the results of 6.3% and 4.2% for "getting a help from peers"

and "getting close with peers", respectively. The answers are a thread of connections with the impact of perceived interactivity identified in the statistical analysis. Besides, students' positive perception on instructor's "feedback on submitted assignments" (2.1%) has the same vein with perceived interactivity.

Therefore, it can be said that students consider benefits from collaborative learning with peer learners, and enjoy interactions with instructors. This can be supported by the excerpts as follows.

I like blended learning in the part of group activities. In usual class, I

have to just sit still and listen, so I easily get bored. But, in blended class, I could participate in various activities and learn English actively.

I think this method is much more effective than usual. I wish other classes changed like this way (Interviewee A).

The group activities were interesting for me. I liked discussing something in groups and playing games against the others. I think I like to compete and collaborate with one another in real time (Interviewee E).

Fifth, it is notable that students perceive the benefits from contextual attributes of the blended learning system, which is perceived ease of use IT. To illustrate, the positive opinion of "ease use of online learning" (4.2%) can be explained of the perceived ease of use that was treated as a key valuable in this research.

Plus, students mentioned "convenience in submitting assignments online" (4.2%) and "no limitations of time and place in online learning" (2.1%) as to good points of blended learning. Theses two responses also appertain to the meaning of the key valuable in Davis' (1989) TAM.

Sixth, a small proportion of the respondents gave answers of "variety of blended learning course" (3.2%) and "visual-based media used in classroom learning" (3.2%). Although the factor of variety exploited in this study did not prove its significant effect on learning outcomes, it seems to have slight effect on students' learning process in blended learning. It can be back up by the following comment.

In other classes, all is needed is just listen to lectures and submit papers to the professor. But this blended learning course seems to have a variety of components such as online contents, learning activities, learning tools, and materials. I feel like having learnt English alive (Interviewee D).