Students’ attitudes towards blended language courses: A case study

Abstract

In an effort to create enriched language learning environments, language teachers, program and course developers, and publishing companies have long sought novel ideas and alternatives. Thus, a wide range of information and communications technologies, which have manifested themselves in the form of virtual learning environments, web-based platforms, or mobile-assisted applications, have been embraced in the field. With the introduction of new means and platforms for delivering instruction outside the classroom, blended learning, combining e-learning and conventional classroom methods as well as providing room for student control over the learning process, has gained popularity as a promising option. In this case study, which focuses on a group of second-year English language students at a School of Foreign Languages, the goal was to investigate students' attitudes towards blended learning with reference to six learning aspects: learning-flexibility, online-learning, study-management, technology-use, classroom-learning, and online-interaction (Tang & Chaw, 2013). Students' responses to the attitude questionnaire were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis as well as internal consistency tests among subscales. A subsequent focus group meeting was held with a group of 15 students to attain qualitative data on their views and attitudes towards blended learning with respect to their experiences and expectations. Highachievers had a tendency to hold positive attitudes towards all learning aspects while low-achievers required more face-to-face in-class time, interaction and study management support, pointing to possible links among such variables as language proficiency, learner autonomy and attitudes towards blended learning and highlighting how critical student characteristics and attitudes could prove in the implementation process.

A Grounded Theory Exploration of Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs): Understanding Students’ Viewpoints

“…The development of education technology has changed drastically; hence, such a statement may not reflect the views of all students today. Nevertheless, traditional ways of teaching and learning still have something that cannot be replaced by technology; perhaps blended education, which integrates traditional instruction and technology, is more suitable for language learning [95]. Last but not least, the affordances of MOOCs may also cause some unexpected outcomes for learners; for example, MOOCs lead to laziness because they grant learners too much latitude in pursuing outcomes and completing assignments, lowering their motivation to finish the course.…”

“…Future studies should explore these issues from the perspective of psychology and neuroscience in order to provide more diverse examinations of the applicability of MOOCs in hospitality English. Empirical evidence in recent studies [95][96][97] shows that in a blended model, online and face-to-face learning can complement each other and optimize the applicability of LMOOCs.…”

A Systematic Review of E-Learning in Teaching And Learning of Speaking Skills

“…Although majority of the studies have shown positive attitudes towards e-learning, one past study revealed that e-learning is only suitable for students who preferred to work individually as e-learning centred on individualised learning environment (Yalman, Basaran & Gönen, 2016). Another study done by Karaaslan and Kılıç (2019) showed that e-learning is less suitable for the low achievers although high-achievers were seen to have shown positive attitudes towards e-learning in all learning aspects. The reason is because low achievers need more face-to-face guidance, interaction and learning support, thus this result suggested that the users' academic achievement could have an impact on their attitudes towards e-learning.…”

A grounded theory exploration of language massive open online courses (LMOOCs): Understanding students’ viewpoints

“…The development of education technology has changed drastically; hence such a statement may not re ect the views of all students today. Nevertheless, traditional ways of teaching and learning still have something that cannot be replaced by technology-perhaps blended education, which integrates both traditional instruction and technology, is more suitable for language learning (Karaaslan & Kılıç, 2019). Last but not least, the affordance of MOOCs may also cause some unexpected outcomes for learners; for example, MOOCs lead to laziness on the part of learners because they grant learners too much latitude in pursuing student outcomes and completing assignments, lowering the motivation for learners to nish the course.…”

“…Empirical evidence of recent studies (Du & Wang, 2019;Karaaslan & Kılıç, 2019;Pikhart & Klimova, 2019) shows that a blended model that makes the most of both online and face-to-face learning can complement each other and optimize the applicability of LMOOCs.…”