MALAYSIAN LEARNERS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSES

With more emphasis given to the concept of lifelong learning, the number of learners
who enroll for distance and online learning programmes in local tertiary institutions
has increased. The flexibility of the online learning mode enables learners to prepare
themselves to develop confidence and to learn with greater independence. This paper
reports the findings of a study on the teaching and learning and technology factors of
online English language courses at UNITAR (University Tun Abdul Razak), a virtual
university in Malaysia. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed
in eliciting data via a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. Specifically, the
paper reports on learners‘ perceptions towards the teaching and learning as well as
technology factors during the online English course they were engaged in. The
findings with regard to the perceptions of the learners brought more new
perspectives which could be incorporated or taken into consideration for an online
language learning programme.