Students’ attitudes towards Cambridge Unlock Workbook : English Intermediate I Level at Birzeit University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of English Intermediate I students at Birzeit University (BZU) towards Cambridge Unlock online homework. It also aims at evaluating the effectiveness of the online activities, from the students’ perspective, in regard to their in-class language learning skills; reading, writing, listening, speaking, and vocabulary building. The sample for this study is 200 undergraduate students at BZU who were placed at English Intermediate I level. A questionnaire was given to the students during the second month of their second semester. The overall results of the students’ responses showed inconclusive attitude towards online homework. Only 22.5% of the students thought it was more helpful than traditional homework. While an average of 66% of students’ responses showed that the online homework was beneficial to their in-class language skills activities; reading, vocabulary, and listening; an average of 48% only stated that it was effective in improving their writing skills. In addition, the written comments on the online program provided by a total of 141 students showed a negative attitude towards the online homework program with only 20% who stated that it was beneficial to their language learning.