A Study of Chinese Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes toward Learning an Online English Course through MOOC at a Private University in Beijing

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the Chinese undergraduate students’ attitudes toward learning an online English course through MOOC from affective, behavioral and cognitive dimensions and whether MOOC features and Chinese cultural values influenced their attitudes. The quantitative results, collected from 380 Chinese students at a private university in Beijing selected through stratified random sampling, revealed that they had positive attitudes toward learning the online English course from both three dimensions at a high level and that both MOOC features and Chinese cultural values influenced their positive attitudes at a high level. The qualitative findings, garnered from 18 of them, also supported the quantitative results in that the students preferred studying English on asynchronous and synchronous platforms, providing them with their own learning space, non-face-to-face communication with the lecturer, and a cultural sense of face keeping, concurrently allowing them to learn online English actively and perceptually improve their English skills. Valuable insights for Chinese lecturers of English were provided and replicated studies in different contexts were recommended for future research.