Exploring the Interactions and Perceptions of EFL Instructors in the Saudi Online Learning Environment

Abstract

With the proliferation of online teaching and learning in Saudi tertiary education, the role of the instructor during students' second language (L2) interaction has been seen as crucial in the online environment. However, it is yet to conclude how to promote L2 interaction between EFL instructors and their students when they interact in instructor-student online exchanges. The aim of the current study is to examine and understand the interactions and perceptions of EFL instructors to help enhance their interactions with their L2 students in the Saudi online environment. Three EFL instructors interacted online with their Saudi EFL students for a whole semester to discuss argumentative topics in the discussion forum. Data were collected through the transcripts of online interactions and one-to-one structured interviews. A content analysis approach was employed and a template for analysing online interactions was developed during the study. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed for data analysis. The findings show that the three instructors played different interactional roles when they interacted with their students in the online discussion forums. Instructors observed that their students paid attention to linguistic errors and improve their L2 output when they interacted in instructor-student online exchanges. Instructor online presence and language corrective feedback given by instructors appeared to influence Saudi students to pay attention to the linguistic accuracy of their interactions and improve their language in the online environment. Some implications for EFL instructors have been pointed out by the researcher to help foster online L2 interaction between EFL teachers and Saudi students. More research is needed to help understand how to promote L2 interaction between EFL teachers and L2 students in the online environment. Instructor-Student L2 Interaction Several L2 studies have investigated teacher-student interaction in the L2 context (e.g., McNeil, 2012; Mercer, 1995; Swain et al., 2011; Zhao & Bitchener, 2007). For instance, it has been pointed out that scaffolding occurs in 'teacher-student L2 interaction' and is seen as useful for second language acquisition (Swain et al., 2011). The assistance provided by the teacher as 'the expert' is evident in L2 contexts and has been found essential for language learning (e.g., McNeil, 2012; Mercer, 1995; Zhao & Bitchener, 2007). Zhao and Bitchener (2007) found that there were more reactive form-focused episodes (FFEs) in teacher-learner interactions than in learner-learner interactions and they attributed this to the fact teachers were observed to be more active than learners in responding to learners' linguistic errors. Zhao and Bitchener (2007) stress that " [i]t is more often the teacher than other learners who realizes that learners are making systematic errors on a given form and who responds accordingly, either in the form of explicit or implicit feedback " (p. 433). This shows that the role of the instructor during students' L2 interaction is seen as central for L2 development. Conversely, students in Zhao and Bitchener's study were found to engage more frequently in pre-emptive FFEs in learner-learner interactions than in teacher-learner interactions. Zhao and Bitchener (2007) explain that " learners were more likely to ask questions of each other than of their teacher " (p. 444). This indicates that L2 students may feel reluctant to interact with the teacher frequently and this may be because of the status of the instructor as the knowledge authority. Based on their results, Zhao and Bitchener (2007) suggest that L2 teachers should try to provide L2 learners with more opportunities for attempting incidental FFEs but they " are not advocating that teachers regularly focus on form if there is a risk of it inhibiting language fluency " (p. 445). T. Zhang et al., 2007) and thus this role is also examined in the present study. For instance, instructors play a major role in facilitating students' L2 interactions in CMC (Sotillo, 2000). They engage with L2 students by reframing questions, scaffolding, and providing implicit corrective feedback through modelling. Sotillo (2000) found that the role of the instructor was essential for promoting the efficacy of students' L2 learning in CMC. She argues that the role of the instructor can " affect the learning outcomes and effectiveness of the students' language learning experiences " in CMC environments (p. 106). Paiva and Rodrigues-Junior (2009) lend support to this argument by observing how instructor supports students' online interactions and they point out that learning in the discussion forums originated from the interaction and collaboration between instructors and their students. In the L2 literature, the instructor has been seen to play a central role in promoting students' L2 learning in instructor-student CMC interactions (e.g., Alwi et al., However, how EFL instructors interact with their students in instructor-student online interactions has not been fully explored. The present study sought to answer the following questions to examine and understand how EFL instructors interact with Saudi students in the online environment.