EFL students' grammar achievement in a hypermedia context: Exploring the role of Internet-specific personal epistemology

With the undeniable growth of the Internet—the most advanced form of hypermedia technology—the study of factors affecting its acceptance as a source for students' academic learning is attracting increasing attention. While there is some evidence that learners' personal epistemology may be linked to their performance within hypermedia technological environments, this link has not been well examined empirically, particularly in EFL/ESL contexts. Therefore, the present study aims to explore the link between EFL learners' Internet-specific personal epistemology and their grammar achievement in a hypermedia context. The study participants were 24 EFL students who were assigned to one of two groups, i.e., naïve and sophisticated Internet-specific epistemology, based on their performance on the Internet-Specific Epistemological Questionnaire (ISEQ). The two groups were homogenous in language proficiency. Both groups received online grammar instruction for 20 sessions and were then tested on the materials taught. They were again given the ISEQ after instruction. The results demonstrated significant differences between the two groups in grammar achievement as well as significant differences between the findings reported here and those of studies on personal epistemology in non-technological environments. The results, however, showed no significant improvement in the participants' Internet-specific epistemology as a function of experience with hypermedia learning.