on the similarities and differences between homework assignment in online and face-to-face efl classes

Homework is an essential means of learning a language which can improve or impair the process. in the recent years with the advancement of technology, education has moved towards virtualization. this, in turn, may have some consequences on assigning homework. in other words, assignments useful in face-to-face classes may not necessarily be applicable to online classes. in this research we intended to examine the similarities and differences between homework assignments in online and face-to-face environments based on the attitude and behavior of iranian english teachers in language learning institutions. with the assumption that a change of medium can vary the requirements of language learning a questionnaire was prepared based on characteristics of homework as classified by cooper (2015). the questionnaire was delivered to as many english teachers as possible to answer it based on their experience of online and face-to-face classes. then, the answers were compared to determine the differences and similarities between homework assignments in face-to-face and online efl classes. the results of the study showed that currently in the eye of the participants of this research there are no significant differences between homework assigned in online vs. face-to-face classes. as the two media enjoy different environments and features it would be very helpful to see the feedback and effectiveness of different homework types in the two media and compare the results. such comparison would be helpful in devising and developing media-specific homework.