Factors influencing EFL students’ motivation in online learning: A qualitative case study

Motivation is one of the key factors that affect L2 learners’ success and performance in the language learning process; that is why, widely concerns teachers and researchers. Amidst a global health crisis that urged most English preparatory schools across Turkey to carry out their EFL lessons online, the question of motivation attracted even more attention. A qualitative case study was conducted in order to explore students’ perceptions of online teaching and how it affects their motivation over a period of a seven-week-course. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and creative writing samples of 12 students from an intact classroom. Both interviews and creative writing tasks demonstrated that students overall have negative perceptions towards online teaching which they believe has a negative impact on their motivation due to lack of social interaction, a mismatch between expectations and content, organizational problems and the organization of learning environments.

Keywords:

online, motivation case study, student perceptions,

PDF

___

Baker, C. (2010). The impact of instructor immediacy and presence for online student affective learning, cognition, and motivation. Journal of Educators Online, 7(1), n1.
Barbour, M. K., & Reeves, T. C. (2009). The reality of virtual schools: A review of the literature. Computers & Education, 52(2), 402-416.
Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544-559.
Burston, J. (2003). Proving IT works. CALICO journal, 219-226.
Campbell, C., & Sarac, B. (2018). The role of technology in language learning in the twenty-first century: Perspectives from academe, government, and the private sector. Hispania, 100(5), 77-84.
Chen, K. C., & Jang, S. J. (2010). Motivation in online learning: Testing a model of self-determination theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(4), 741-752.
Çebi, A., Güyer, T. Students’ interaction patterns in different online learning activities and their relationship with motivation, self-regulated learning strategy and learning performance. Educ Inf Technol (2020).
De Barba, P. G., Kennedy, G. E., & Ainley, M. D. (2016). The role of students' motivation and participation in predicting performance in a MOOC. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 32(3), 218-231.
Dikilitaş, K., & Bostancıoğlu, A. (2019). Inquiry and Research Skills for Language Teachers. Springer Nature.
Dincer, A., & Yesilyurt, S. (2017). Motivation to Speak English: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective. PASAA: Journal of Language Teaching and Learning in Thailand, 53, 1-25.
Dornyei, Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). The psychology of the language learner revisited. Routledge.
Dörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the language foreign language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 78 (3), 273-284.
Dörnyei, Z. (2020). Innovations and Challenges in Language Learning Motivation. Routledge.
Hartnett, M. (2016). The importance of motivation in online learning. In Motivation in online education (pp. 5-32). Springer, Singapore.
Hartnett, M., St George, A., & Dron, J. (2011). Examining motivation in online distance learning environments: Complex, multifaceted, and situation-dependent. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(6), 20-38.
Hedge, T. (2001). Teaching and learning in the language classroom (Vol. 106). Oxford, England: Oxford university press.
Kyewski, E., & Krämer, N. C. (2018). To gamify or not to gamify? An experimental field study of the influence of badges on motivation, activity, and performance in an online learning course. Computers & Education, 118, 25-37.
Li, L. Y., & Tsai, C. C. (2017). Accessing online learning material: Quantitative behavior patterns and their effects on motivation and learning performance. Computers & Education, 114, 286-297.
Lin, C. H., Zhang, Y., & Zheng, B. (2017). The roles of learning strategies and motivation in online language learning: A structural equation modeling analysis. Computers & Education, 113, 75-85.
Lumsden, L. S. (1994). Student Motivation. Research Roundup, 10(3), n3.
Murday, K., Ushida, E., & Ann Chenoweth, N. (2008). Learners' and teachers' perspectives on language online. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 21(2), 125-142.
Özhan, Ş. Ç., & Kocadere, S. A. (2020). The effects of flow, emotional engagement, and motivation on success in a gamified online learning environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 57(8), 2006-2031.
Richardson, J. C., Koehler, A. A., Besser, E. D., Caskurlu, S., Lim, J., & Mueller, C. M. (2015). Conceptualizing and investigating instructor presence in online learning environments. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(3).
Rubio, F. (2013). The Effects of Blended Learning on Second Language Fluency and Proﬁciency. AAUSC 2012 Volume--Issues in Language Program Direction: Hybrid Language Teaching and Learning: Exploring Theoretical, Pedagogical and Curricular Issues, 137.
Ushida, E. (2005). The role of students' attitudes and motivation in second language learning in online language courses. CALICO journal, 49-78.
Yantraprakorn, P., Darasawang, P., & Wiriyakarun, P. (2018). Self-efficacy and Online Language Learning: Causes of Failure. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(6), 1319-1329.