Optimization strategy of interaction design for foreign language asynchronous online learning

Abstract

With the development of mobile communication technology and the outbreak of COVID-19, the much-anticipated online learning has ushered in a new growth peak. Among them, online language learning, a segmented field of online learning with a relatively long development, has a vast market scale and is expanding at a high growth rate. Nowadays, numerous participatory video websites offer high-quality foreign language online courses. Learners favor these courses because they can use the fragmented time for conducting asynchronous online learning regardless of space and time. However, foreign language learning has strong interactive and practical characteristics, while the current websites have insufficient functional support, resulting in low learner engagement, less sense of gain and unsustainable learning. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the needs of foreign language learners to design more targeted website features and optimize the asynchronous online learning experience. We select a typical website (Bilibili) in China and summarize four types of foreign language courses on the website according to the teaching method, teaching duration, teaching content, and interface: lecture course, circumstance course, demonstration course and resource course. Through behavior analysis, sentiment analysis, and topic detection, we analyze the danmaku data of each type of course to obtain the learners' behavior patterns, text sentiments, and hidden topics effectively. Combining the course type and data analysis, three learners' needs are summarized: the learning need to imitate and follow the teacher, the interactive need for frequent communication with teachers or study partners, the emotional need for a sense of ritual in class and the desire for participation and presence. With this as the foundation support, we propose three directions of targeted interaction design optimization strategies for participatory websites. Increase the multimodal interaction function, such as writing and voice following, and dual channels to help learners imitate language learning. Increase teacher-student and student-student interaction functions such as voting selection and optimizing the form of information feedback from teachers and learning partners. Enhance the ritual of online learning and improve the learning function system of the website such as designing interactive buttons at the beginning and end of the course, and visualizing course learning records. It is expected to provide suggestions for developing and reforming participatory websites to optimize the learning experience of foreign language asynchronous learning and to provide a scalable perspective for the optimization of other learning subjects.