Arab Educational Information Network

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of using Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on developing EFL secondary school students’ listening and speaking skills and their self-directed learning. The study adopted the quasi-experimental design with one experimental group pre-posttest. The sample of the study consisted of 20 students of the 1st secondary stage at Future Language Schools in Tanta who represented the experimental group and was taught through the MOOC. Data was collected through using the following instruments: course topics checklist to determine the most interesting topics that students would like to practice during the course, pre-post EFL listening comprehension skills test, pre-post EFL speaking skills test with speaking assessment rubric and a self -directed learning scale (SDLS). Findings of the study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group students on the pre and post administrations of the listening and speaking tests in addition to the self-directed learning scale in favor of the post administration. The effect size of the course was found to be high and it was recommended to use MOOCs as an effective technique in teaching EFL skills. (Published abstract)