Employing Differentiated Instruction in the EAP Reading Comprehension Classrooms: An Exploratory Study of University Students’ Burnout in the Blended Context

Abstract

This study endeavors to explore the effect of performing DI in blended context on Iranian EAP reading learners and find out a relationship between differentiating in teaching and academic burnout. First, 72 participants who were homogenous in terms of language proficiency and reading knowledge were divided into four groups: three experimental groups and one control group. Those students whose scores were with deviation from (-1 to +1) of the mean were selected as a participants of this study. The students in the control group were taught conventionally using the reading passages in their book, whereas, the experimental groups’ learners were taught by both conventional methods and online methods. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in a way that learners in experimental groups outperformed the students in the control group. further, the results showed that there was no significant sign of chronic stress and burnout among EAP reading students of this study, but according to the three symptoms of burnout in Burnout Questionnaire, it is obvious that the higher rates of burnout (Exhaustion) was related to the Kinesthetic group as a control group and the higher rates of Personal Achievement was related to the Visual group as an experimental group. The findings of this study will benefit EFL teachers as well as material developers.