Disadvantages of Blended Learning

The online lectures are too boring. I know I am very poor at English and I need to study more. But the online lectures are too difficult to understand. So I can't concentrate on the lectures (Interviewee G).

Second, students responded negatively as regards "extra workload" with 17.6%; similarly, 8.8% for "required participation in group activities". It seems that some students underestimate in-class learning as less work, but online lectures and online tasks as more additional work to regular class, as Vaughan (2007) forewarned in the challenges of blended learning. According to the author, an opposite term of time flexibility, time management can be a burden that the deadline for online activities should be kept on time. And, students have responsibility for learning that they should take charge in their own learning habits, not being a passive learner.

These individuals' negative beliefs will have influence on forming their negative attitude toward blended learning as addressed in learners' affect in this study (Ajzen, 1991). In an interview, a student negatively responded to the question due to the following reason.

I know blended learning is helpful for my English. But, I don't have much time for required online lectures and assignments at home. There are tons of things to do for my majors and other things. I loved the course, but it was a little bit hard for me to keep up with the requirements (Interviewee C).

Third, considering of 8.8% for "out-of-dated system functions" and 7.4% for

"out-of-dated online lectures", the newest and up-to-date technological systems for online learning are needed. These answers show that learners value the contextual attributes of blended learning systems more than expected.

Forth, students also addressed "lack of variety of the online learning system"

(5.9%) for a disadvantage of blended learning. They revealed their preference for more variety of the system, which means the attribute belonging to the contextual factors may have influence on their impression on blended learning.

Moreover, as in the response of "absence of personal computers or printers"

(2.9%), some students have a difficulty accessing Internet or printing out learning materials; i.e., a lack of accessibility. This reaction implies that the perceived ease of use among contextual factors contains a small but not least amount of impact on learners' performance. All the findings concerned with contextual factors can be enforced by the following excerpts.

The online lecture... When was it filmed? It looks too old-fashioned and out of dated. Not only the online lectures but the web-site needs to be updated, if possible. And... also there are not enough learning materials in the site. I hope it contains a variety of resources related to English (Interviewee A).

The disadvantages? Um... The web site is too old. It should be newly decorated sooner or later. I hope the online system is updated as soon as possible and contains a variety of English-related games (Interviewee F).

Sixth, a minority of the respondents (8.8%) have a hard time in understanding

"high-leveled course content" for them, and some (4.4%) feel troubled in keeping up with "fast-pace of classroom instruction". Still, there are other students (2.9%) who think "the difficulty level of the course content is too low"

for them. As such, students showed exceedingly different patterns when it come to the level of learning content they feel, and the contrasting point of views remind of the differences individual learners have and their perceptional distinctions. These divergent opinions can be also observed in the comments from interviews as below.

At the beginning of the blended learning, I could understand the course content easily. But, as the course progresses, it increasingly gets hard... Umm.. in fact, I hardly understand the back parts of the textbook (Interviewee B).

I've gained more confidence in English during this semester. I think I can manage more advanced content. I feel sorry for the class being finished like this (Interviewee D).

3. Discussion

The results obtained from the qualitative data make the aforementioned findings unassailable and, at the same time, carry a few unexpected findings.

Judging from learners' perspectives on blended learning for English study, both in writing and orally, perceived usefulness, intrinsic motivation, perceived interactivity, and attitude toward blended learning were still valued for them, which is consistent with the findings of the quantitative research and makes them secure. And, anxiety level, perceived ease of system use, and variety of the blended course also hold impact on EFL learners, which was not observable above in the statistical research. Statistic correlation between them was not found: e.g., between college EFL learners' anxiety and academic achievement, between perceived ease of use of technological learning tools and achievement, and between variety of blended course and achievement. Nevertheless, it is understandable that the variables still have modest effects, if not statistically significant. Otherwise, it is assumed that they have unexpected power of explanation of learning satisfaction or language performance, not of EFL learners' academic achievement.

First, the influence that learners' anxiety has depends on various learning contexts, and this variable is very sensitive to individual learners' characteristics.

Hence, even though anxiety does not prove its significance statistically, it can affect English learners in some ways. Taking a few prior studies as an example, it was reported that anxiety has a negative correlation with receiving, processing, and producing second language information (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991). Also, Bailey (1983) explained the mechanism that inordinate anxiety and competitive spirit produce the avoidance of language learning, accordingly, leading to continued under-achievement. However, in Jung's (2015a) study conducted in

technology-enhanced smart learning contexts, the anxiety variable did not prove its effectiveness in language learning. The inconsistent results of the studies are also ascribed to the different research environments. While the affective factor that learners can sense bears more important weight in traditional research settings, its power can diminish in more complex, technology-mediated learning environments. Furthermore, as Lee's (1999) remark, students with the beginner level of achievement remarkably feel far more anxious than those with a high level, and feeling anxious about a foreign language is ascribed to various classroom situations. This is why the results can be different from depending on learners' levels or individual characteristics.

Next, some learners' perceptions on blended learning show that learners put more value on the contextual attributes of the instructional technology system than expected earlier statistically. In fact, it is well known that learning environments and contextual factors have impact on learners (Plouffe et al., 2001; Song et al., 2009). Most of all, although there continues to be controversial ambiguity over the direct effect of perceived ease of use, it can be identified by the qualitative research that the variable does have its subsidiary role. At least, it is obvious that the easier a system is to use and interact with, the greater would be a sense of efficacy and personal control for users to carry out the behaviors needed to operate the system. In a word, perceived ease of using an instructional system in the blended learning context can affect learners' attitude and intention in the language learning process, if not achievement, as studied by early researchers (Adams et al., 1992; Davis, 1989; Venkatesh &

Morris, 2000).

Furthermore, although variety of the blended learning course demonstrated 'no significance' in the statistics, a lot of reponses as above indicate the importance of this variable in the blended learning context cannot be overlooked. Chan and Teo (2007) asserted that individuals tend to focus on the function, quality or value of a system. Yet, this incongruence may partly be explained by preceeding studies. Jung (2012) investigated key ubiquitous learning environmental and learning material factors including variety, and provided evidence that variety has

impact on English learner's feelings of using ubiquitous learning as well as learning performance. The following year, the author also empirically examined smart learning attributes, and asserted that both interactivity and variety affect English learners’ intention to use. Accordingly, it seems that the variety variable influences learners' affective domain or passes through perceived usefulness.

Last but not least, the college EFL learners perceived the level of course content as either easy or difficult. The mixed opinions should be reckoned with.

In order to satisfy individual learners' needs and the varied levels, it is necessary to equip the online learning system with a variety of contents and resources for foreign language learning. Supplying a diverse selection of materials and data for EFL learners who have different levels and different settings will make it possible for them to have a good impression on English learning with technology.

Particularly, in light of the marginality of theories and findings of the variety variable presented in academic research until now, there is a growing need for establishing more clear frameworks and guidelines as to the variable in e-learning and blended learning environments.

All the findings from both the quantitative and qualitative research put together, blended courses for English learning should be designed to incorporate a variety of modes, methods, and modalities appropriate for learners. Especially for students with low-proficiency, two modes of face-to-face and online learning must necessarily be provided in balance, whether face-to-face dominant blending or vice versa. That is not only because the students perceived usefulness of online learning as the biggest attraction of blended learning but because they can be also motivated and relieved by enjoyment of face-to-face instruction in classrooms. Also, a multitude of learning methods and strategies should be embedded in blended courses, such as structured and unstructured learning contents, teacher-centered, collaborative, and individual learning forms, and so on. In particular, since the students surveyed perceived interactivity as helpful for English learning, it is advisable to include the format of collaborative learning in blended courses. In addition, blended courses should employ suitable

learning technologies as well as a lot of classroom and online learning modalities. When adopting the technology tools, it is important to consider not only the perceived usefulness and perceived interactivity revealed as significant in statistics but also the perceived ease of use and variety. English learners may be influenced by such contextual factors that constitute a blended leaning environment in some ways in the learning process. And it is also imperative to consider the variety of learning contents in order to realize customized learning for EFL learners according to individual different levels. With all of modes, methods, and modalities incorporated together, blended courses would provide desirable leaning environments to enhance learners' motivation and attitude with provisions of active interactions and a variety of learning resources, as mentioned earlier (Dugdale, 2004; Hativa & Becker, 1994; Osguthorpe & Graham 2003; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Schacter & Fagnano, 1999).