Role of Multimedia-Aided EFL Classrooms in Promoting Learners’ Interaction and Participation in Tertiary-Level Bangladeshi Students

Abstract

With the expansion of technology, multimedia has now reached every periphery of human life. The teaching-learning scenario in Bangladesh is no exception. There is hardly any higher educational institution that is devoid of multimedia. Technology is deemed a powerful tool for aiding EFL classroom instruction, as Joshi (2012) mentions how multimedia classrooms enhance “students’ chances for interacting with diverse texts, which further provide them a firm background in the tasks and contents of mainstream courses.” The intended study will, therefore, investigate technology’s role in promoting EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners' classroom interaction and participation in Bangladesh's public and private universities. This study explores whether EFL students can concentrate and learn better when multimedia is used in the learning process. This study will further investigate EFL learners’ attitudes toward multimedia-based classrooms. A survey questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGDs) will be used as part of a mixed-method design. The thematic analysis technique will be used to look at the qualitative data, while MS Excel will be used to look at the quantitative data. The outcome indicates positive attitudes among students towards multimedia-infused lectures in EFL classrooms in terms of participation, interaction, and understanding of the content.