Investigating Personalized Learning in EFL Context at University Level

Abstract

Students have a variety of ways to comprehend and retain information. Students will fall behind when the teacher uses teaching methods, strategies, and techniques based on one size fits all. Students' choice, voice, learning styles, and preferences are ignored. It is thought that there is a lack of personalized learning (PL) in the education field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), particularly at the university level. The present study aims to investigate EFL students’ satisfaction rate of PL implementation in their classrooms and to investigate the EFL teachers’ viewpoints on using PL for educational benefits. It also aims to investigate the extent of implementing PL factors by the EFL teachers. The researcher used the quantitative research method. In addition, the students’ questionnaire, teachers’ questionnaire, and observation checklist were used as tools to collect data for the study. An analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS version 26. The study participants were 28 EFL teachers and 196 EFL students at the English Language Department in the College of Basic Education at Salahaddin University-Erbil. Besides that, the researcher observed eight EFL modules. The study reveals that PL has many educational benefits, including giving students' flexibility to study at their own pace and adapting the instruction according to each student’s needs. In addition, students with disabilities and handicaps will not be deprived of the learning process through personalized learning. It also concludes that PL is implemented at a very low rate in the EFL classrooms at the English Department in the College of Basic Education at Salahaddin University-Erbil. Further, it reveals that EFL teachers minimally implement the factors related to personalize learning in the classroom