A framework for developing community and promoting language use in the online English as a second language learning environment

Abstract

With online learning currently as an integral component and globalised online learning as part of the nation’s agenda, a framework that provides a complete picture of the teaching and learning of English in the online medium is needed. However, there is a dearth of studies to illuminate online teaching when the focus is on community and language use. As such, this research employed a hermeneutic phenomenology research design that required accessing and making sense of the experience of the English language teacher and learners participating in an online English as a second language (ESL) learning environment. Guided by purposive sampling, the participants involved were 25 first year undergraduates and one English language teacher with Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) training and experience teaching English with technology. The instruments used were teacher’s journals, interviews, online forums, and surveys. The sense-making process of both the qualitative data and the quantitative data were based on the principles of content analysis, constant comparison analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), and using Transana 2.22. The findings revealed the online practices of the teacher and learners as they engage in the twin processes of teaching and learning, developing community and promoting language use in the online ESL learning environment. Specifically, the findings that emerged from all sources of data indicated the following: teaching in the online ESL learning environment entailed establishing the learning environment and providing scaffolding to support learning; the community was developed due to the prevalence of self-disclosure and the centrality of task-oriented discussions in the online ESL learning environment; and language use was promoted by managing the logistics of the online activities, and using prompts to sustain the interaction in the online activities. The results obtained were used to formulate a socio-pedagogic framework for the online ESL learning environment. The framework suggests that interaction with the learning environment and interaction in the learning environment are key, and the phases contributing to the interactions in the forums are orientation, socialisation and learning. The study also revealed theoretical and methodological implications for second language acquisition research, implications in the ESL online instruction, and recommendations for future research.