Perceptions of Egyptian and Saudi EFL students towards blended learning at the wake of coronavirus pandemic

This research study explored the attitudes of the Egyptian and Saudi EFL students towards blended learning at Port Said and Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz Universities in Egypt and Saudi Arabia respectively. Further, this study investigated the effects of gender on the perceptions. A questionnaire devised in a Google Form was employed to collect data from 87 Egyptian and 60 Saudi EFL students. Results showed that the Egyptian EFL students at Port Said University have negative perceptions towards all blended learning approaches and techniques. The students claimed the inefficiency of these methods to compensate the traditional face-to-face learning. The Saudi EFL students, on the other hand, were totally content with it as they could keep learning without passively influencing their businesses and family affairs. Results also showed that there were significant differences in participants' perceptions of blended learning attributed to gender. Over 58 % of the Egyptian EFL females (m = 22.84) rejected blended learning, whereas 78% of the Saudi EFL females (m =17.73) expressed their sheer satisfaction with this approach.