Interactions between human and computer networks: EFL college students using computer learning tools in remedial English classes

Abstract

This study aims to explore how EFL college students perceive some educational computer programs in terms of their effectiveness in learning, their user friendliness, and the role these computer programs can play in students' learning process. Online language learning was viewed from a marketing service perspective. The researcher collected data from the online remedial English classes she offered. Students taking the course are low-achieving language learners. Qualitative data were collected from online interactions between students and students and between students and the teaching assistants or the teacher, interviews with the students, questionnaires filled out and documents submitted online by the students. Data collected for the study were analyzed according to the procedure specified in the grounded theory, including data collection, note-taking, coding, memoing, sorting, and writing. Findings of this study showed that there is a gap between how low-achieving EFL college students and language teachers view computer learning programs. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.