The Quantitative Analysis of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for Learning English

Abstract

English is an international language for intercultural communication on the Internet, in the field of business and trade. MOOC are an effective means of the formation of English language skills in the conditions of distance learning and blended learning. The purpose of THE research is a quantitative analysis of the online courses for learning English, which are presented on the international (Udemy, Alison, FutureLearn, edX) and Ukrainian (Prometheus and EdEra) online platforms. During the research, we used quantitative research methods, which involved direct observation of the number of online courses on popular MOOC platforms as of January 2023. The similar criteria for comparing MOOC were the number of online courses, level of training, cost, and type of the course completion document. The analyzed online platforms contain 1675 courses on learning English. On the analyzed MOOC 1350 online courses (80.5%) are payable. Users can enroll on the courses of such levels as Beginner (699 courses, 41.7%), Intermediate (336 courses, 20.1%), Advanced (66 courses, 3.9%), and the courses without a specified level of training (574 courses, 34.3%). It was found that online courses provide additional options like Subtitles, Quizzes, Practice Tests, and Video Transcript, which help to learn English better. In the future, it is planned to study the influence of some elements of online courses on the quality of students’ training and their educational motivation during blended learning.