A Content Analysis of English Grammar Instruction websites with a View towards Materials Development

By the advent of World Wide Web in 1990, a wide range of web pages came into existence and changed many aspects of human life. Recently, a number of English websites with the slogan of online English language teaching have emerged. Yet, the content of them is proliferating, too. In this regard, a content analysis was conducted on 240 websites containing English grammar instruction, and the results were coded and the summarized under the following headings: the proficiency level, the presence of exercises, the sequence of choosing topics, and the modality of websites. Data collection and analysis of the results were done following the steps of Kripendorff (1989) within the framework of material development. Moreover, the researchers tried to consider all the websites as a whole to compare them with theoretical underpinnings of teaching grammar. The results show that the content of websites are somehow consistent with theoretical underpinnings of teaching grammar; however, they mostly follow the traditional methods of grammar instruction. The result of categorization under the above-mentioned headings showed that most of the websites are designed for educational purposes and they explicitly teach grammatical topics in a deductive manner. The tabulation of analysis for levels, modality, sequence, and the availability of exercise are displayed and discussed. The findings of the present study could be used by English language teachers, learners and curriculum designers who intend to use internet-based authentic materials for the teaching and learning of English grammar. Suggestions for further research are also discussed.

Content Analysis, Grammar Instruction, Online learning, Material development