Performance, Interaction, and Satisfaction of Graduate EAP Students in a Face-to-Face and an Online Class: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Before arriving in a host country, international students may be motivated to complete some institutional requirements online. Many studies address computer-assisted instruction for second-language students, but few focus on fully online English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing courses. This comparative case study, grounded in action research, examined the extent to which a fully online version of a graduate-level EAP course offered to international students at a North American university achieved comparable outcomes to a face-to-face version. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of study participants’ performance and course evaluations indicated that the outcomes and student satisfaction of both cohorts were comparable. However, an examination of the participants’ final research papers and online interactions revealed differences and challenges. Based on these findings, it is recommended that future online courses provide more instruction on source integration, library research, and building an interactive learning community. Overall, the findings suggest that when carefully designed, assessed, and refined, fully online courses hold strong promise in EAP academic writing contexts.
 Les étudiantes et étudiants internationaux tiennent parfois à remplir certaines exigences institutionnelles en ligne avant de se rendre dans leur pays d’accueil. L’enseignement assisté par ordinateur pour les apprenantes et apprenants d’anglais langue seconde fait l’objet de nombreuses études, mais peu d’entre elles portent sur des cours d’écriture d’anglais académique (EAP) complètement dispensés en ligne. Entièrement basée sur la recherche-action, la présente étude de cas comparative fait état du degré de comparabilité des résultats d’un cours d’anglais académique de deuxième cycle complètement présenté en ligne à des étudiantes et étudiants internationaux inscrits à une université nord-américaine et des résultats obtenus lorsque le même cours était dispensé en personne. Une analyse quantitative et qualitative des rendements des participantes et participants et du cours lui-même a indiqué que les résultats et le degré de satisfaction des étudiantes et étudiants des deux cohortes se valaient. L’examen des rapports de recherche finaux des participantes et participants et celui des interactions en ligne ont toutefois révélé des écarts et des défis. Sur la base de ces constatations, il est recommandé que les futurs cours en ligne fournissent davantage d’instructions sur l’intégration des sources, sur les recherches en bibliothèque et sur la construction d’une communauté d’apprentissage interactif. Dans l’ensemble, les constatations de l’étude suggèrent que, s’ils sont soigneusement conçus, évalués et peaufinés, les cours complètement dispensés en ligne sont très prometteurs dans des contextes d’écriture en anglais académique.

Exploring autonomous language learning behaviors through video sharing and online discussions in higher education

“…According to Stanchevici and Siczek (2019), a number of students commented on interaction with their peers and instructor as a valuable element of the class. We attribute this to the extent to which the instructor thoughtfully embedded interactive elements into the classes and made certain that students had multiple Stanchevici's project is consistent with the results of this project because, during the course, we, as the guiding teachers, had to incorporate technology-assisted activities such as gaming in order to encourage more interaction.…”

Motivational Regulation for Learning English Writing Through Zoom in an English-Medium Instruction Context

“…For discussion and report assignments, by contrast, the students preferred asynchronous online classes. The diverse effects of the context should be visible when class contents taught through diverse online stations are relevant to learners' personal goals (Stanchevici & Siczek, 2019). The effectiveness of the online learning context is thus dependent upon ample concerns with individual learners as well as technical support.…”

Process genre approach to L2 academic writing: An intervention study

“…The findings show that both native and non-native writers benefit from work with corpora, especially in rhetorical, formal, and procedural aspects of genre knowledge. Stanchevici and Siczek (2019) converted a face-to-face course of English for Academic Purposes into a fully online mode and compared its effectiveness. They claim they achieved comparable outcomes in both versions of the course.…”

“…The quality of academic writing courses can be boosted by employing technology (see also Cotos, Link, Huffman, 2017;Ho Pham, 2019). Although we realize the courses can even be converted to be fully online without a negative effect on the quality (Stanchevici, Siczek, 2019), we prefer the blended variant that proved beneficial in our course. A combination of contact sessions and support in VLE Moodle, which enabled text sharing as well as other materials for self-study, observational learning, and asynchronous communication, contributed to the overall satisfaction of the graduate students, including those who followed the combined mode of the study program.…”