Learners’ perspectives on interaction in a language MOOC

Napat Jitpaisarnwattana,Hayo Reinders,Pornapit Darasawang

doi:10.29140/jaltcall.v17n2.472

Abstract

Learners’ perspectives on interaction in a language MOOC

Highlights

IntroductionLanguage Massive Open Online Courses (LanguageMOOCs or LMOOCs) have attracted a lot of interest from various stakeholders in foreign language education
Since their emergence, Language Massive Open Online Courses (LanguageMOOCs or LMOOCs) have attracted a lot of interest from various stakeholders in foreign language education
The analysis is presented in four main parts: 1) The frequency and patterns of interaction in and out of the LMOOC, 2) The reasons encouraging super users to interact with other learners in the LMOOC, 3) The reasons preventing learners from interacting with other learners in the LMOOC and 4) The benefits of interacting with other learners on learners’ language learning

Summary

Introduction

Language Massive Open Online Courses (LanguageMOOCs or LMOOCs) have attracted a lot of interest from various stakeholders in foreign language education. LMOOCs can be classified into two main types xMOOC and cMOOC While the former involves the provision of short videos, followed by closed tasks and comprehension quizzes, the latter is more learner-centred and offers more opportunities for interaction and greater flexibility. There are several pedagogical and practical benefits that this education model entails These include opportunities for personalised learning experiences, increased exposure to the target language, additional learning options to complement a F2F course and access to a large community of language learners who share similar learning goals. Despite these potential benefits, in practice these opportunities have not yet been realised by the learners. This resulted in a low level of interaction between learners in several LMOOCs (Martin-Monje et al, 2018; Rubio, 2015)

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Conclusion