Engaging university students in an ESL live broadcast

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to analyze the engagement of community members in an English as a second language (ESL) live broadcast. A platform for encouraging language and culture learning in ESL was planned and implemented. Research purposes were to explore the following aspects for engaging students’ participation: operation-monitoring, planning and implementation, incentives and motives, interactions with multiple formats and challenges. Design/methodology/approach The platform used for the ESL live broadcast was Open Broadcaster Software Studio. Through the live videos and instant messages delivered by the network, real-time interactions from different virtual sites were achieved. Observations and operation documentation were recorded. Interviews with the teacher, the library administrator and the students were carried out for collecting data. Inductive analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data from the different sources. Findings It was observed that the ESL broadcast reached a great number of users weekly. To engage the ESL broadcast community, efforts to monitor and plan for implementation were made. Students were encouraged by both external incentives and internal motivation. Managing the connectivity problems was essential for guaranteeing the quality of the real-time interactions. From their experiences, the participants were positive about the broadcast approach to learning ESL. More diverse topics and alternatives for oral interactions in the class are suggested in future implementations. Research limitations/implications The implementation of the ESL live broadcast provides a model for inviting members within the university community to engage in the language and culture learning. The research is preliminary and is limited to a specific university. Future research on diverse learning settings is needed. Originality/value The findings of this study will contribute to the research in streaming media interactions. The case might be applied to other settings and other subject domains.