Exploring the Difficulties and Challenges of the Local Macao English Language Learners towards the Online Synchronous One-on-one English Learning Class

Abstract

With the development of technology, the number of English learners who opt for online learning has been increasing. In the past, students had a tendency to download English materials and watch online videos for improving their English skills. Recently, thanks to a shift to online learning, students have been making more use of online synchronous oneon-one English classes to improve their English at leisure. Although this type of learning mode is becoming more and more popular, the study of the difficulties and challenges of English learners in such a field has been under-explored. This study attempts to use a qualitative approach to interview two English learners of different backgrounds to better understand the difficulties and challenges they encountered when using such a learning method. The two interviewees conclude points ranging from the learning aspect, distant feeling, signal delay, instability of the learning software and hardware that lead to technical problems. Certain measures to avoid the problems are also suggested in this paper.