Factors Affecting Interaction in Online EFL Courses: A Multiple Case Study of Instructors’ Perspectives

Abstract

A variety of factors might impact on interpersonal interaction between instructors and students in an online course. This study seeks to explore the opinions and attitudes of six EFL instructors working at various universities in Turkey regarding the factors they believe increase interaction in their online courses and to contribute to the pertinent literature. Within the scope of collaborative research, the use of purposeful sampling technique and semi-structured interviews with the participants provided the best opportunity to describe the attitudes and opinions of these instructors who were assigned to teach online in an emergency remote teaching environment due to the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19. The end result includes a variety of factors and strategies influencing interaction that can be used by novice and experienced online instructors aiming to influence interpersonal interaction in their online courses. While all the participants expressed the need to provide higher quality interactions during the online courses, the obstacles they face in their efforts to reach the desired level of interaction were the main agenda of the interviews. They discussed the role of course structure factors, environment and media effects, feedback and assessment techniques, and discourse facilitators, which constituted the main themes that were categorized into codes emerging from the interview data.

Keywords

• Factors and strategies
• interpersonal interaction
• online courses

Çevrimiçi İngilizce Derslerinde Etkileşimi Etkileyen Faktörler: Öğretim Elemanlarının Görüşlerine İlişkin Çoklu Bir Vaka Çalışması

Abstract

Çevrimiçi bir kursta eğitmenler ve öğrenciler arasındaki kişilerarası etkileşimi çeşitli faktörler etkileyebilir. Bu çalışma, Türkiye'de çeşitli üniversitelerde görev yapan altı çevrimiçi yabancı dil olarak İngilizce dersleri veren öğretim elemanının çevrimiçi derslerinde etkileşimi artırdığına inandıkları faktörlere ilişkin görüş ve tutumlarını araştırmayı ve ilgili literatüre katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır. İşbirlikli araştırma kapsamında, amaçlı örnekleme tekniğinin kullanılması ve katılımcılarla yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmelerin yapılması, koronavirüs pandemisi (COVID-19) nedeniyle bir acil uzaktan öğretim ortamında çevrimiçi eğitim vermek üzere görevlendirilen bu öğretim elemanlarının tutum ve görüşlerinin betimlenmesi için en iyi fırsatı sağlamıştır. Nihai sonuç, çevrimiçi derslerinde kişilerarası etkileşimi etkilemeyi amaçlayan deneyimli ve deneyimsiz çevrimiçi öğretim elemanları tarafından kullanılabilecek etkileşimi etkileyen çeşitli faktörler ve stratejiler içermektedir. Tüm katılımcılar çevrimiçi kurslar sırasında daha kaliteli etkileşim sağlanması gerektiğini ifade ederken, istenen etkileşim düzeyine ulaşma çabalarında karşılaştıkları engeller görüşmelerin ana gündemini oluşturmuştur. Görüşme verilerinden ortaya çıkan kodlar halinde kategorize edilen ana temaları oluşturan ders yapısı faktörlerinin, çevre ve medya etkilerinin, geri bildirim ve değerlendirme tekniklerinin ve söylem kolaylaştırıcılarının rolünü tartışmışlardır.

Keywords

• Faktörler ve stratejiler
• kişiler arası etkileşim
• çevrimiçi kurslar

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