| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 103 === ABSTRACT
English writing has been regarded as the most difficult learning aspect among senior high school students in Taiwan. Most of them take it for granted that writing is merely for exams only, so they give up trying to learn when they cannot get better scores on their exams. In fact, writing skills can be learned just as can speaking ability in an authentic writing environment. The online course “Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade (Fundamental English Writing)” (CEW) has provided a full-fledged version of English writing teaching for EFL students. Through the above course, which was designed for beginners of academic written English, we not only can discover what students really need in their writing course at school, but also conclude with the findings for the five research themes, as described below:
1. The pedagogy of the online writing courses: The content of the online video lectures and reading materials is attractive to and comprehensive for senior high school students.
2. The feasible methods to enhance students’ English learning motivation: In the conventional classroom, students enjoy less interaction between teachers and peers. The CEW course provides a systematic platform for peer assessments and discussion forums to elevate students’ ELM for writing freely.
3. The effects of the cross-cultural learning experiences: Most of the five interviewees agreed that the modules of the online course have improved their English writing, reading, and listening abilities simultaneously, and it is an efficient way to increase one’s cross-culture learning experiences from abroad through attending such online courses.
4. The constraints of the online learning: Interviewees agreed that good time management, genuine interest and motivation are the main elements needed to finish the course. For this reason, it would be better to have an on-site teacher guide them through the course.
5. The possibility of flipped learning with online courses: All of participants recognize that it is feasible to combine this online course with an on-site classroom in a flipped learning environment, provided that teachers are properly train.
The researcher hopes that this qualitative research study, based on interviewees’ practical experience attending such an online course, will help EFL teachers realize this type of course can improve students’ listening, reading and writing abilities and enhance their ELM in authentic environment from abroad.
Keywords: MOOCs, English learning motivation (ELM), EFL, peer assessment, flipped learning, authentic writing.
|
|---|
