[LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ] An investigation into challenges of online learning encoutered by English major students at Ba Ria-Vung Tau University

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC BÀ RỊA – VŨNG TÀU -

NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO CHALLENGES OF ONLINE LEARNING ENCOUNTERED BY ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BA RIA -

VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu, tháng 05 năm 2024

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC BÀ RỊA – VŨNG TÀU -

NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO CHALLENGES OF ONLINE LEARNING ENCOUNTERED BY ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BA RIA -

VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

Mã ngành: 8140111

CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS NGUYỄN XUÂN HỒNG

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu, tháng 05 năm 2024

STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP

The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements at this or any other higher education institution To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis has not previously published or written by another person except references

Signature: Date:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am honored and proud to be participating in this Master of TESOL course at Ba Ria - Vung Tau University This course has leaded me to improve not only my knowledge but also raise the awareness about the education field in general and the English language training in particular

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my research supervisor, Nguyen Xuan Hong, Ph.D., for his patience which supported and inspired me to complete this thesis With enthusiasm, dedication, and a wealth of knowledge, he planted the seeds for me to grow up to achieve the quintessence of education He taught me the methodology for conducting my research and guided me on how to present my research in a clear and coherent manner He also guided me from the first steps of conducting my research to complete writing the thesis I am extremely grateful and respectful of him with all my sincerity

Furthermore, I am grateful to the Rector of Ba Ria -Vung Tau University and the teachers of all classes at this university for offering me the opportunities to do the survey and interview with their students

Especially, I would also like to express my deep gratitude to the English major students and the English teachers at Ba Ria -Vung Tau for taking the time to complete the survey and answer my interview questions I thank my fellow colleagues for their encouragements and useful comments

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and friends for their spiritual support during my study and thesis completion They are always by my side, encouraging, and sharing with me to get the current accomplishments

Nguyen Thi Phuong

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on exploring challenges of English major students in conducting online learning at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University Based on previous studies both in Vietnam and abroad, a conceptual framework was designed in five main factors that effected to online learning The research results were found by analyzing quantitative data by introducing survey to 160 English major students and qualitative data by 15 English major students and 10 teachers from the interview The scores were calculated to figure out factors causing difficulties for English major students during online learning Besides, record of interviews was done to support analyzed statistics

The results revealed that difficulties aspect of support is the highest while the lowest belonged to the challenges in aspect of the environment Meanwhile, the challenges in aspect of collaboration were at the second position and the third position is about students’ attitude towards online learning About challenges relating to equipment, the result was at the fourth position which higher than the environment factor Additionally, further discussions and recommendations on challenges that English major students encoutered during online learning was done

Key words: online learning, challenges, difficulties, English major students, Ba Ria – Vung

Tau University

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Context of the study 5

1.3 Purposes of the study 11

1.4 Research questions 12

1.5 Scope and Significance of the study 13

1.5.1 Scope 13

1.5.2 Significance of the study 14

1.6 The organization of the thesis 15

CHAPTER 2 17

LITERATURE REVIEW 17

2.1 Definition of online learning 17

2.2 Types of online learning 19

2.3 History of online learning 21

2.4 Advantages of online learning in English language learning 22

2.5 Challenges of English major students during learning online 26

4.1.1 Challenges in online learning of English major students 54

4.1.2 Perception of English major students toward challenges during learning English online 65

4.1.3 Teachers’ perceptions to the challenges of online learning in teaching English 73

4.2 Discussions 784.2.1 The challenges English major students face during English online learning 78

4.2.2 English major students’ perception of challenges encountered in online

learning at BVU 81

4.2.3 Teachers’ perception about challenges of English online learning/teaching 844.2.4 English major students and teachers’ suggestions during online learning program 86

APPX 3.1 English version iAPPX 3.2 Vietnamese version j

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BVU: Ba Ria - Vung Tau University EL: Electronic learning/ E-learning LMS: Learning Management System F2F: Face to face

MOOC: Massive Online Open Courses

ICT: Information and Communications Technology

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Equipment: One of online learning’s challenges 27

Figure 2.2 Perception: One of online learning’s challenges 28

Figure 2.3 Collaboration: One of online learning’s challenges 29

Figure 2.4 Support: One of online learning’s challenges 30

Figure 2.5 Environment: One of online learning’s challenges 31

Figure 2.6 Challenges of online learning encountered by English major

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 A summary of study procedure and timeline 50

Table 4.1 The overall results of challenges in online learning of English

Table 4.4 Challenges in term of collaboration during online lessons 59

Table 4.5 Challenges in term of supports during online lessons 61

Table 4.6 Challenges in term of the learning environment during online

Table 4.7 English major students’ perception toward challenges of online

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview to the current research including background, statement of the problem, research objectives, scope of the study, research questions, significance of the study, definition of terms mentioned in the research and organization of the study

1.1 Background to the study

Online learning was known as a new educational institution in 1967 by British government (Moore & Kearsley, 2011) At first, it was the use of television and radio to direct access for higher education Two years later in the UK, the Open University began to take shape with a role in supporting the development of the new institution that was the world’s leading national distance education university This Open University enjoyed economies of scale by having more students than any other universities It’s having a strong level of funding, and makes full use of communication technologies to teach a full university curriculum to any adult who wants such an education The UK Open University emerged a world class university as a model of a total systems approach to distance education According to Moore and Kearsley (2011), in the part due to those achievements, online learning has been widely emulated in other countries because of the large scale needed to achieve both quality and cost effectiveness There were many other open universities in the world such as at the Asia area is Al Quds Open University in Jordan, the Andra Pradesh Open University in India, the National Open University in Taiwan, the Open University of Israel, the University of the Air in Japan; at the Americas: Athabasca University in Canada, the Universidad Estatal in Distancia in Costa Rica, the Universidad Nacional Abierta in Venezuela; at the Europe: the Open Universiteit Heerlen in the Netherlands, the Fern University in Germany, the Universidade Aberta in Portugal and at the Australia: the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Despite of differences, these institutions had important similarities in that they were all single-mode distance teaching

institutions The organization focuses exclusively on this method of teaching and learning, recruiting teams of experts to design courses with large enrollments

Online learning in higher education has only recently been introduced to Vietnam However, there were only a few fully functional online universities in Vietnam (Do, 2017; Le, 2018) Among them, Funix University was the first online university in Vietnam, officially opened and put into operation in November 2015 Funix University organized and managed teaching and learning activities with a new method called Funix Way Funix University has cooperated with other universities and educational institutions to update expertise and acquire leading experts Another online university in Vietnam was Topica University which opened for higher education in March 2016 Topica Edtech Group is the leading online education provider in Southeast Asia This organization has cooperated with 16 universities in many places in the United States, Philippines and Vietnam

On 31st December 2019, one historical coronavirus named as COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China (World Health Organization, 2020a) At first, the humans simply assumed it as a common flu as ever After that, the infection rate increased and the infection rate spread rapidly, seriously affecting the health of people in Wuhan The situation at that time was that the hospital was overloaded There was a lack of medical equipment and were not enough doctors causing the number of deaths increase continuously At this time, the WHO pointed out that COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic from March 11th, 2020 Since then, it has had a serious global impact on human health, the global economy and education cannot avoid of influence The COVID-19 pandemic has caused to the imposition of strict methods to prevent the spread of the disease on a large scale Social distancing and blockade measures have changed people routine, at the time that the internet plays an important part in assisting work-from-home, online learning, collaboration, social media, entertainment, videos,… (Favale et al., 2020) Along with creativity and adaptation to living in conditions affected by COVID-19 disease, humans have transferred from face-to-face (F2F) formality to other channel such as online learning to support human educational development in the time of social distancing

Higher education in many countries around the world was undergoing a transformation since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred The education sector had to face

to a situation of sharply increasing enrollment with relatively reduced resources, while still ensuring educational quality (Harvey & Knight, 1996) As this innovative field of education strived to foster active, autonomous, and lifelong learners (Candy, 1998); that required learners be equipped with the essential knowledge to achieve the potential of technology Therefore, it was necessary for educators to deeply understand who the learners are and how they learn in this changing situation (Byrne et al., 2002; Price & Richardson, 2003) The transformation was especially relevant when educators concentrated to the issues of improving student learning, rather than racing to meet school or government goals (Kirkwood & Price, 2005) Another highly appreciated driver of educational transformation was advances in digitalization Those advantages included words, sounds and moving images that can be stored, integrated, transmitted and presented as digital media By being able to store data, both teachers and learners can use and reuse them more easily as communication via computers and telecommunications becomes increasingly popular Aspects of education were increasingly mediated through information and communication technology (ICT), both in and out of school On the one hand, this was driven by changes in student characteristics The distinction between full-time and part-time study was becoming faded because many of the constraints that distance education students are now facing are same to those ostensibly engaged in full-time study The characteristic of institution was also changing in higher education On the other hand, modern communication systems and the advent of the website have made its necessary to reconsider the gap associated with higher education, as schools increasingly enroll students from many different places Many based universities now offer study programs to students in different geographical regions A number of global university consortia have been established to offer transnational courses via website in recent years Numerous universities are adopting a blended learning approach in Western countries, which is a merging of F2F and technology mediated learning At present, independent learners can be supported with higher flexibility as their location, accessibility and interaction to educational resources They are also engaged with teachers and peers in various ways which were not possible to be conducted before In sum up, the provision of higher education is changing in both perception and implementation Research and development

in online learning by educators, such as the Open University, is setting the agenda for the use of ICT currently in higher education generally

Although online learning is one of the learning models grew fast in the markets worldwide, it has played a peripheral role in the formal education systems related to higher education in Vietnam Previously in Vietnam, distance learning was used to describe online learning Following the Open University model in the UK, in the early 1990s, online learning was taken shape in Vietnam - the Vietnamese Government opened two Open Universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City These two universities offer distance learning and facilitate the growing demand for higher education among young people and those in rural areas At the same time, most of higher education institutions opened courses in big cities and enrolled students of higher education in Vietnam George (2010) & Thuy (2016) reported in their research that unlike traditional universities, two Open Universities implement distance learning in rural areas Furthermore, specific learning materials would be sent offline to students within just two weeks

As people's access to computers has increased since the late 1990s (Boymal et al., 2007), distance learning has evolved to include CDs and software Nowadays, online learning mainly consists of online materials However, the term distance learning is still officially used to refer to the unusual trend of higher education (MOET, 2017) Therefore, in generally, online learning in university’s courses in Vietnam is still limited Nevertheless, belong to the unprecedented outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the application of online learning in higher education is poised to become much more prominent in Vietnam's learning institutions While the Covid-19 outbreak, some higher education institutions in Vietnam had introduced special policies for students such as tuition reduction, support for laptop purchases and supply broadband internet access Similarly, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group provided free internet to more than 43,000 schools Despite receiving various supports such as internet and laptops, in reality, some students living in rural, mountainous and coastal areas could not keep up with these rapid changes Therefore, traditional distance learning techniques have been applied, such as sending documents to the student's study address The lecturers had also created groups using online chat tools such as Zalo and Facebook to answer students' questions or

advise on assignments From these issues, the MOET (2020a) issued an official document No.1061/BGDDT-GDTrH guiding teaching via the internet, on TV and providing online learning results The COVID-19 crisis has sparked an innovation in Vietnamese higher education, expanding education policy into practice These policies strengthened the efforts of Vietnamese higher education institutions to apply blended learning to their academic approach after the COVID-19 pandemic

Belong to the renovation of information technology and to deal with the emergency of COVID-19 disease, Ba Ria - Vung Tau University (BVU) in particularly and other schools in Vietnam in generally had to make decision to adapt with changing situations Starting online learning brought many difficulties for both educators and learners in teaching and learning This opens an opportunity to explore variables and continue the education, (Hargis, 2020) However, there are additional variables encountered, which included the different frameworks, the considerable number of teachers and students involved, school lacked equipment, teachers lack online teaching experience, students are not have perspective towards learning online and challenges for them to acquire knowledge This brief review of background informs the present study to investigate the online learning challenges of English major students in BVU

1.2 Context of the study

The widespread of the COVID-19 epidemic has led to the government's decision to close educational institutions around the world, (Mukhtar, 2020) This assessed the readiness of educational institutions in a emergency response situation To cope with this difficulty, people needed the help of modern technology including hardware, software and the internet to enable effective online learning Such closure has created a new transformation for the learning environment and all above was online learning, so that learning was not interrupted Many organizations have been interested in the way how to ensure delivering content via online, how to engage learners, and how to evaluate learners' competency Although the COVID-19 epidemic has been a danger to global humanity, on the contrary, coping with difficult situations has motivated organizations to invest in online learning

Online learning systems are comprised of web-based software for delivering, monitoring, and managing classes via the internet This system involved implementing advances in technology to orient, design and deliver learning content Moreover, this system also facilitated exchanged communication between students and instructors Online learning systems contained various attributes such as bulletins, whiteboards, polls, surveys, quizzes, discussion forums, chat rooms, that allowed instructors and students to communicate online easily They can provide effective and convenient ways to reach learning objectives Mukhtar (2020) described in Pakistan, the universities were using Edmodo, Moodle, Microsoft Teams, Google suites as LMS by the side with local applications for video conferencing Other video conferencing solutions were used usually were included Zoom, Skype, WebEx and Adobe connect, etc

COVID pandemic happening from 2019 is a motivation on pushing online learning by applying technologies into education which create the online environment for learners Teräs et al (2020) showed the research on the unprecedented impact of learners, there were more than 1,500,000,000 students worldwide from primary to university level out of school on 9 April 2020 Due to the closing of all activities that gather a large number of people, affected over the world communities have been forced to seek quickly adapts in different digital learning platforms (Jandrić, 2020) Most of organizations have make rapid transfer from direct method to online approach This have set many requirements related to national educational policies, facilities, theoretical basic and premise While teachers have to change their working environment to online teaching instead of traditional types of classrooms and lecture halls The rapid transition has also exposed gaps and shortcomings in the approach online learning has not been applied in educational institutions before (Teräs et al., 2020) Online learning can take many different forms, including more innovative and engaging forms of pedagogy than the more commonly used knowledge delivery and assessment processes Therefore, online learning should not be considered a pedagogy in its own right

Online learning is an approach which is used in many countries around the world as a method to keep continuous development of education Online learning often understood as distance education where both teachers and students work on a media with the support

of internet connection to delivery study materials, instruction, and students’ performance from separate places of participants Online learning is also considered as self-study when students receive tasks and assignments from instructors by technology applications Short term of quick applying online platforms may cause to challenges for all teachers and students

Dhawan (2020) reported the educational institutions included schools, colleges, and universities in India were based on traditional platform of learning They followed the ordinary format of F2F lectures in existing courses Even academic institutions had also started blended learning, however, there were still various schools stuck with teaching pedagogies The outbreak of a disease called COVID-19 caused by a Coronavirus arose suddenly This status created challenges for the whole education system around the world and required academic institutions to switch to online teaching methods quickly Previously, a large number of educational facilities were hesitant to shift classical teaching methods, however, they had no other choice at that situation but to completely switch to online teaching and learning

Digital transformation is not a novel phenomenon, and it has been accompanying higher education institutions for some years (Kopp et al., 2019; Leszczyński et al., 2018) Kopp et al (2019) expressed in the context of higher education institutions, digital transformation can be seen as the synthesis of all the digital processes necessary to implement the transformation, by giving higher education institutions the opportunity to actively apply digital technology in an optimal way Cameron & Green (2019) also mentioned that this process consists of preparing a complete strategy, establishing the trust, thinking about processes, integrating and strengthening all stakeholders In the other side, Hiltz and Turoff (2005) proved that these modern transformations in the education field would be seen as revolutionary and progressive changes to the characteristics of the higher education sector This transformation was also seen as a process of fundamental change in educational institutions over the next 50 years Whereas the transformation has shifted F2F curriculums that use objective, teacher-centered teaching methods for thousands of domestic universities to online programs what use the integration of digital technology to enhance collaborative, learner-centered pedagogy for hundreds of universities operating

worldwide The COVID-19 pandemic has kick-started the digital transformation of higher education Due to the crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, transformation in higher education often take years cause of different regulations and management has been presented rapidly in a limited number of days (Strielkowski, 2020) This has also turned the building of online learning as a disruptive process

The widespread outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced most educational institutions globally to transfer traditional learning style to online learning form, Thach (2021) mentioned This situation of pandemic leads to many great changes in humanity, especially in educational field A large number of class and school at all levels were suspended and started to conduct online pedagogies In the process of implementing this online academic, all countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic became testing site for online learning activities This has created a large scale for testing online teaching and learning over the world It caused to a significant influence on students and most serious for those who were previously unfamiliar with online learning Thach (2021) determined main factors of prediction to learners’ satisfaction The findings showed that although learners evaluated online learning opportunities the most in historical times, they mentioned to the collaboration and interaction were limited Learners were also expected instructors could improve teaching methods Meanwhile, educational institutions in the West had conducted online learning programs before and were ready to cope with the change, many educational institutions in developing countries were starting to approach these online media through free applications like Zoom, Google apps, MS Teams or others to delivery classes However, these temporary online lessons were unlikely to match with learners’ satisfaction of who has never been trained in online academy before Lowenthal et al (2020) & Nagar (2020) described a number of studies were conducted worldwide during this time In many different aspects of online learning such as technological achievements in implementing online teaching as well as the effectiveness of online learning for participants In terms of technology, it seemed that applications such as Zoom, MS Team, Google Meet and Skype have been chosen by numerous organizations, however they also had problems with the security of internet and bandwidth for not only learners but also teachers, talked (Joseph et al., 2020; Mukhtar et al., 2020) The major aim of

delivering these applications was to hold on ordinary courses in online environment during social distancing Moreover, this aim also met the needs of learners and instructors that to be seen and support each other, reported by Lowenthal, et al (2020) Along the same lines of statement, one research by Nagar (2020) was conducted on students' perceptions towards e-learning (EL) and the effectiveness of online lessons was found That result was highlighted to the use of learning technology equipment appropriately which were the main factor contributing online learning effectively Vietnam was praised by world news as one of country had good organized disease control program in the world, but such as many other countries, this rigid method had negative impact to people of all stripes, social classes and special to those who were studying Vietnam country has had a longest holiday in modern life Therefore, the government offered many educational institutions begin to enlarge online classes for students, and television stations also supported to delivery online lessons on TV Bich (2020) revealed in her research about the statistics according to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), even though universities responded promptly to the epidemic situation at that time, half of these institutions could not conduct online teaching in a systematic and professional way due to lack of careful preparation for the system using for teaching and learning online.

Most Vietnamese higher academic institutions tried to switch to online platform during the COVID-19 outbreak (Thach et al., 2021) Vietnam's MOET issued official documents guiding the teaching of most subjects on TV shows (MOET, 2020) At a higher level of education, while some institutions were familiar with this form of online teaching with a certain level of readiness, such as having a LMS, but most other institutions had not been approached delivering lessons to the online program by the use of digital and technical devices like Google applications The applications using video for meeting were preferred by most institutions as a good choice because not every learner and instructor were well equipped LMSs in their schools As well as the Zoom or Google applications were more economical, user-friendly, and capable of providing multiple educational tools in one application Educators and teachers considered delivering these emergency courses via internet using devices, the experts in educational sector said meeting through video application and equipment could not interchange the full function of LMS The conversion

of courses from F2F to online responded to the policy of government that even though schools were closed, classes continued to be maintained Along with this online learning program, many obstacles were highlighted including the available of technological and digital of institution for both learners and instructors, the environment for teaching and learning, the interaction and collaboration to ensure online learning quality as well as learners’ perception or the support for all everyone involved in this process Once students were brought to the center of the learning, it was important to proceed research on the issues that impact learning quality in online learning to inform investment, correct and deploy online teaching and learning in the future

Belonging to Cox et al (2015) & Kuo et al (2014), students experienced and expressed their satisfaction in online learning through various aspects Nevertheless, the studies in online interaction were depended on Moore’s (1989) design defined the root specifically Moore's (1989) distributed online collaboration into three major kinds: content to learner, learner to learner and instructor to learner They discovered these kinds of collaboration were the main factors that contributed to improving students' ability and competency Thereby, it should be conducted to increase the satisfaction of all people involved in online process Kuo et al (2014) also provided that the interaction was always been considered as an important factor for learners’ satisfaction which built learning effectiveness by the use of internet, digital technique, self-modification, teaching methods as long as support from educators for ensuring online learning

Dinh & Nguyen (2020) showed that the pandemic has had a tremendous impact on various areas of human life and especially affected people health and social life in over countries In Vietnam, nationwide social distancing regulations have shifted traditional F2F learning to online learning for at least few months, creating significant challenges for both lecturers and social work students Based on the reality that most social work courses require practical form and F2F interactive components while many students have limited access to technological resources simultaneously The results of Dinh & Nguyen (2020) showed that students encountered many problems when participating in online courses due to the quality of internet access such as interrupted connection and low sound quality Despite being new to online learning, most students reported not much difficulties and

institution’s support was available for their online learning Therefore, there was a need to establish a long-term strategy improve interactive activities and practices for online learning

In another research by Nguyen (2020), under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, educators called for online learning practices and the opening of educational applications as well as encouraged teachers to reach learners remotely to minimize the risk of disrupting education Most universities in Vietnam in general have temporarily switched to online learning Vietnamese education has been trying to promote the spirit that even if students have to miss school, their learning will not be interrupted (Nguyen, 2020) The research idea arose when there were many different opinions from teachers and learners about mandatory online courses after the social distancing period Predicting the future of online learning in Vietnam and the expectations of this online learning will hopefully provide educators with insights for timely implementation of local education (Van et al., 2021)

In the context of BVU, English majors have been acquainted with learning applications through the internet and used multi-technology devices for their learning As soon as the COVID-19 epidemic occurred, the university promptly upgraded its management software to be compatible with online teaching and learning, continuing to grant Microsoft Office 365 accounts for all students, training students to learn on Microsoft Teams, in which, there is a full function of tracking, statistics, testing and evaluation of each module since 2020 The university has also organized training courses on compiling lectures and online teaching methods for all lecturers, issued detailed instructions for students to participate in online classes and examinations At the same time, a number of practical courses has been implemented through simulation software All that gained to equip both teachers and students the standard knowledge to adapt with emergency situation at the current time as well as complicated changes in the near future

1.3 Purposes of the study

Online learning in current is not only a channel for teaching and learning by the deal with COVID-19 disease but also can be integrated into official curriculum at the higher

education Online learning can be signified as instruction conducted on a digital and technology device to support learning (Clark & Mayer, 2016) This definition included three parts related to the what, how and why of online learning Regarding to what, it was presented like material includes words in spoken or printed form and in graphics such as diagrams, photographs, illustrations, animations and videos In the term of how, the online learning was mentioned as a device which was using computer-based such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet, smartphone, or virtual reality devices Concerning to why, that was the goal of instruction which caused specific changes in learners' knowledge Online learning has grown as teaching increasingly has moved from ordinary media such as books and F2F lectures to computer-based media such as animation, instructional videos, hypertext, illustrations, educational games and simulations, (Clark & Mayer, 2016) Online learning enables more flexible and easier learning using a variety of innovative approaches that support learning wherever students are, but what is needed are research-based principles of how to best take advantage of these new features The problem of facing these challenges in online learning includes many influencing factors such as advances in teaching technology that have outpaced advances in the necessary science of teaching, attitudes students' online learning, the learning environment, the collaboration and interaction between teachers and learners as well as the support of educational institutions to determine the best use of online learning

This study is aimed to find out the challenges that BVU English major students are currently facing when learning English via online learning environment, which is an urgent issue to figure out the quality of learners' learning In addition, the research results revealed the perception of both English students and teachers to those difficulties On that basis to make suggestions to find acceptable solutions to make the online learning effectively

1.4 Research questions

The purposes of this study are to explore the challenges English major students face during online learning at BVU To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the following research questions are addressed:

(1) What are the challenges English major students at BVU face during online learning?

By this study, it was focused on the aspects of English major students’ challenges in taking part in learning online Online learning was seen as a channel to delivery lectures and to support teachers and students’ interaction This domain was implemented since the year 2020 From the year 2020 to 2022, students have to acquainted and adapted with this online learning flatform, therefore, there existed advantages and challenges for both learners and instructors In the period of late 2022 to present, students were set up the perception on online learning system A survey was processed on 160 participants who are English major students in foreign language faculty of BVU The questionnaires were designed by closed-ended questions leading aspects of difficulties for English students when joining online program Besides that, 15 students in those reported their experiences, attitudes, and awareness of online learning program via an interview by open ended questions Further, another interview with 10 English teachers supported to bring out

qualitative result for this research The result reveal what types of challenges in learning online that English students had to deal with mostly and then delivery suggestions to improve inconvenient situation aim to enhance education quality

However, there also have the limitation in this research such as the variable was focused on English major students at the context of BVU merely This research resource was developed from previous domestic and foreign studies, which would be mentioned in more detail in chapter 2 The researcher pointed out main factors that have a significant impact on online learning of majored English students However, this research does not investigate specifically the challenges of instructors or educators and non-English major students towards online learning Therefore, future researches can be directed towards solving the difficulties for non-English major students or the challenges of teachers in conducting online teaching in order to promote students’ learning result through the online environment

1.5.2 Significance of the study

This research was necessary to conduct because online learning is seen as an official learning style in the world in general and even in Vietnam as well as Asia countries in special Since the epidemic appeared in late 2019, students have to gradually get used to the new way of learning At first with much confusion and lack of training, students saw online learning to deal with the epidemic in a brief time However, the circumstance of the epidemic was getting worse in Vietnam, especially in the southern provinces, including Ba Ria - Vung Tau province from the middle of 2021 at when people were prohibited from leaving their homes, social distancing policy was imposed without prior notice of the expiry By the actual status, students had to accept online learning as an official learning method with the instruction from the MOET At this time, there were many schools, businesses and other establishments using the internet causing network congestion, disconnection, or unstable connection Therefore, the psychology of the learners was depressed, the learning results were reduced also In addition, students had a lack of knowledge due to the time limitation of online classes and the incomplete methodologies of communicating online Special, academic achievement had not been evaluated fairly

learning When figuring out the factors affecting English learning through online learning programs, it supported the educators to offer specific and prompt support plans to motivate learners to achieve better results in their study

In theoretically, this study contributes to the theory of challenges that students had to face to in online learning process Getting results from the findings of online learning challenges contributed to solve difficulties and enhance learners’ perception in online learning The research also discovered the awareness of teachers and learners on these difficulties which is the key to figure out backlog issues in BVU that helps the educators to increase English teaching and develop English skills for learners The expectation in this study is for the educators to distinguish the difficulties of English language students, thereby creating conditions to help students overcome difficulties and be able to use the online learning effectively for future study

The results of this study benefit other studies for its conclusions and further recommendations for future analytical considerations Taking the research results on students’ perceptions addressed an overview through online learning that encouraged the higher education to boost technological sector moving forward Findings from this study may provide insight into the common factors influencing English major students in online learning as well as how these factors influence online learning in the context of BVU In practically, this research result can be applied for teaching and learning English major or even to develop online learning in unspecialized English faculties Furthermore, this search results are expected to contribute to other schools in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province Thus, this study is absolutely important and necessary to be conducted accordingly

1.6 The organization of the thesis

The thesis is presented in 5 chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings and Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations

The thesis shows the findings from reviewing the literature related to online learning The article describes the definition, types, and the development history of online learning as well as advantages and challenges for students majoring in English by learning online

Chapter 3: Methodology

The thesis presents the methods which was used in the research such as research design, specific participants, instruments, description of data collecting methods, data analysis and research processes

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion

The thesis presents research results, analyzes research results, discussions and evaluations

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations

The last chapter is the conclusion of the thesis It includes the main points presented in the previous chapters, the implications of the findings, pedagogical implications, the limitations of the study, and some suggestions for further research

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, a discussion of definitions of online learning is presented, then there are more details about types of online learning or different names of online learning The history of online learning is also showed in this chapter to show up the development of technology in use of teaching and learning, especial in English language education In all aspects, there are lot of advantages of processing online learning into the official program and challenges of both learners and educators when applying digital technologies into education This research provides knowledge of online learning and shows the reality of online teaching model in the world and more specifically in learning English at the university level Thus, all gain to highlight the research gap for the current study

2.1 Definition of online learning

Online learning is understood as accessing learning through the use of technology, (Moore et al., 2011) There are the common between the name calling as distance learning, EL or digital learning and online learning The origin of the term EL was coined in the 1980s as a term for the use of web-based, web-delivered or web-hosted technology tools EL not only covers content and instructional methods delivered via CD-ROM, the internet but also includes audio, video and interactive TV While distance learning is used as an official program by distance education It is used to describe the providing access to learning for those who are geographically distant As computers became involved in the delivery of education, distance learning was defined the delivery of instructional materials which using both print and electric media Though distance learning is held at various times in separate places and uses various forms of instructional material, there is the limitation associated with distance

According to Kumar et al (2018), digital learning is perceived to be an educational tool which has capable to change the way of higher education It is recognized as an instructional practice that is effectively used by technology to strengthen student’s learning

experience Digital learning can facilitate new strategies and formats for online learning environment The similarity among these different naming is the internet-based Online learning can be described as wholly online learning whereas others simply reference the technology medium or context with which it is used Currently, online learning is considered an updated version of distance learning that improves access to educational opportunities for learners who are not eligible for traditional schooling All these learning methods are digitized and used in the education environment Instructional materials are the text, image, video, lecture currently can be delivered via digital technology such as internet media These models of learning provide opportunities to facilitate educators and students in teaching and learning

By the impact of COVID-19, online learning is highlight as a medium for delivering material and instruction from teacher to students Learners use many types of technology applications to support their learning which create collaboration in online learning environment According to Clark and Mayer (2016), online learning is related to instructor’s guidance conveyed on media or equipment via internet that is expected to keep learning continuously The delivery can range from computer, laptop, tablets, or smartphone to achieve instructional goal Imania (2019) views online learning as a form in the delivery of learning program which is reflected on technology through the internet connection The accesses for learning are taken place in many places out of school with the hope that can facilitate learners to achieve knowledge (Watson et al., 2012)

Online education is defined as a form of distance education using an integrated computer and the internet as a distribution channel, where the interaction time must span at least 80% of the course content delivered online (Allen & Seaman, 2008; Shelton & Saltsman, 2005) The other names which are considered as online learning and are used interchangeably covers EL, digital learning, cyber learning, or even virtual learning (iNACOL, 2011) Online learning facilitates education environment from creating interaction or communication between the learner and their instructor or peers using digital equipment Collaboration of multimedia technologies and the internet supports to improve the quality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services Learner can get learning materials or watch learning program through video via this kind of learning The

communication becomes easier to arrange by discussion about the time only, thus, with only one click of the mouse, all participants can start learning immediately

In this research, online learning is mentioned as a model of distance education in which a course is established and designed to delivery fully knowledge, keep education continuously and adapt to social distancing because of Corona disease The online learning program was conducted at BVU at the beginning of COVID-19 appearance, it was used to create the spaces for communication, transfer learning material to students, delivery teacher’s instruction, and make interaction to engage learner

2.2 Types of online learning

There are theoretical models and implementation models of online education proposed by scientists around the world in different approaches Some typical models can be mentioned as synchronous, asynchronous, blended, and massive online open courses (MOOC)

Synchronous works like F2F course, classes are scheduled for a specific day and time In synchronous approach, students must commit to being able to attend online classes follow schedules However, both teachers and students have the flexibility to log into classroom from any location in case of internet covering (Benshoff & Gibbons, 2011) Each person who enters the online classroom have to visible to every participant staying in the room The computer screen is divided into three sections: one section is used to present instruction and content like PowerPoint, video, learning materials; other section displays participants where teachers can manage and monitor learners’ manner; and one section provides a place for instructor and students to compose their comments Watt (2016) reported that teachers used live streaming video and audio for synchronous interaction Although the geographical distance is narrowed thanks to the internet, the synchronous approach cannot be considered F2F learning because the term “distance” still exists in this approach

In asynchronous approach is known that teachers and students do not have regular classes This approach allow students are able to access to the course through the internet at any convenient time Teachers’ instruction and communication are almost conducted by

email, school’s website and task or assignment via many kinds of digital applications Garrison (2000) addressed asynchronous collaboration may well be formulated from distance education The lectures are designed to allow work group to share and exchange knowledge, ideas, opinions on various themes The topics are submitted into the discussion which is organized and viewed by author All members of the course have the same opportunity to submit their discussion, respond to an item already submitted, and give the comment on responses In the asynchronous mode, participants are able to read and respond to each other without being logged in at the same time, Jaffee (1997) The teachers or educators applying asynchronous model are in a flexible mode to operate the discussion at any time They may also respond to the students’ submissions or create new assignment topic conveniently

The approach of blended learning is the combination between two above mentioned approach as well as F2F classroom and online learning experiences integrated Blended approach is used in many countries including Vietnam (Loi & Oanh, 2020) This model combines F2F and online learning, students can both experience online learning and participate in direct classes that taking advantage of both learning methods while minimizing the disadvantages of both Blended learning is a type of formal education where learners receive partial delivery of content and instruction online under the control of time, place, learning schedules and part of it is a direct classroom learning experience Garrison & Kanuka (2004) settled blended learning as an effective and low-risk strategy for universities to launch digital technical equipment to the forthcoming of education There is considerable the concept of integration filters out strengths of synchronous and asynchronous learning activities Garrison and Kanuka also revealed the particular effectiveness of blended learning is its ability to facilitate a community feature Community brings stability, cohesive influence that balances open communication and limitless access to information on the internet Communities also facilitate free and opened dialogue, critical debate, negotiation, and agreement, which are highlight in higher education

A MOOC integrates the connectivity of social networking, the facilitation of an expert in the specific field and the collection of accessible online resources for free, McAuley et al (2010) The most important of MOOC is building up the active engagement

number of hundred to thousand participants Although it may share the conventions of a regular course, such as predefined progress and weekly topics to review MOOCs typically charge no fees, have no prerequisites other than internet access, have no predefined expectations for participation, and have no formal recognition MOOC would spread through an online social network The main web address can be used to establish the application process, outline proposed course schedules, provide support and communication methods However, individuals can continue to use the hub website to strengthen their engagement, or they can turn it into their own blogs to grow and maintain relationships via social network applications They negotiate and identify collaborative topics, networks, and goals with people who share common interests and concerns

This study focuses on the synchronous approach as well as the platform is mostly popular used by many organizations, public and private schools at the current situation with the impact of Corona epidemic BVU in particularly, both teachers and students communicate and work through synchronous approach to delivery learning material, give instruction, make presentation, and create group discussion Asynchronously mode is opened based on task or assignment The other issues of material are exported by digital application by online environment

2.3 History of online learning

Online learning (OL) is one type of electronic learning (EL), it derived from EL In the 1990s, people started using electronic learning in teaching and learning, it included applications which support educated environment such as software, tools, video, e-book, CD-ROM, radio, and so on In the late of 20th century, people approach to internet connection along to website, the key word online learning appeared belonging to learning activities with the help of system software such as LMS and learning content management system After that to the current time, by the development of mobile devices, learning through technology called mobile learning is the trend of education (Duc, 2020)

Kentnor (2015) recommend distance education is defined as a method of teaching where the student and teacher are physically separated It can be used a combination of technologies, content, and internet in which including email, audio, video, digital devices,

assignment, and the internet (Roffe, 2004) Current version of distance education is online learning, which uses computers technologies and the internet as the delivery platform with at least 80% of the course content delivered online (Allen & Seaman, 2011; Shelton & Saltsman, 2005)

A study of Kentnor (2015) report features of online learning history in the United States The use of computers in education increased during 1980s as the evidence that many companies used computer program for meeting and training (Rudestam & Schoenholt, 2009) In 1989, online educational programs began using CompuServe at Phoenix University Since then, in 1991, the World Wide Web was announced, and Phoenix University became one of the first schools apply online learning program by the internet (Kentnor, 2015) From that created the premise for other organizations and colleges or universities to follow One charity, the Alfred P Sloan Foundation, a nonprofit organization, developed an asynchronous learning network in 1992 to explore alternative educational options for those unable to attend traditional classroom According to online education continues growing, this foundation also funded organizations that provided online programs to maintain and improve the quality of online learning environment Schools in higher education began experimenting online learning in the early to middle of 1990s

Nowadays, students are increasing approach to online learning both in formal and informal contexts, (Mayer, 2019) So, the design of online learning will continue to be important practical and theoretical challenges

2.4 Advantages of online learning in English language learning

When considering the use of modern and innovative technologies, it is essential to consider the extent to which these technologies support learner-centered teaching Papalia (1976) pointed out that education has been moving in a learner-centered direction for decades The approach to redesigning lesson plans and teaching methods to create a foreign language classroom was more student-centered than 40 years ago These methods provided the foundation for communicative methods in language teaching and learning Current technology allows language educators to effort toward greater learner-centeredness and

personalization Learner-centricity is an approach that benefits from technological innovations that impact personalized experiences, social activity and enhanced accessibility to digital data Teachers must become familiar with a variety of online and F2F learning contexts to be appropriately prepared for future more difficult and complicated issues in this area The online platform had guidance which cover all the rules of grammar to learn foreign language, especially English language skills The audio function of online learning allows students to hear the voice of a native English speaker, then they read along mentally, and finally they can practice reading aloud or interact with each other They can improve their ability by reading a variety of article topics in their courses The result will help students improve their accent, reading comprehension skills and communication practice The students will listen and find answers to check their understanding of the learning material Lessons progress from easy to be advanced and provide tutorials by many topics At the time learners decide to take part in a course, they have to review learned material previously cause each lecture is built on the previous one Nedeva & Dimova (2010) summarized the general advantages of online learning in English learning were that students can join comfortable at anywhere as long as they have computer connected to the internet, learners have the flexibility in time arrangement to participate in discussions at any time of the day, students can also learn at their own place by providing different methods of learning activities Flexibility is seen as the most advantage of online learning because it can facilitate the education available in everywhere and at any time based on the learners’ need Online platform can be taken at home, at the workplace, on travel, everytime of a day which convenient learners Learners interested in online learning because it accommodates diverse types of learning styles They earn the advantage of technology when learning at their own place Students can also learn through a variety of activities that they can apply many different learning styles on it Learners can integrate online learning into their busy schedule such as incorporate online learning to their trip, business, vacation, or other classes Even they have a job, they could also arrange and participate in online learning right at their desk Several decades ago, technological Online learning freed learners from the limitations of time and space which were used in F2F learning It was expressed that online learning has been shown to develop database

and take less time As Lee (2002) said that similar to F2F dialogues, synchronous exchanges via online provide a receptive learning environment where learners get the input, participate in suppling comments and provide outputs The interactive exchange via online benefits the learner variety opportunities to use the target language by using both words and structure in different situations, which is crucial role for second language acquisition Indeed, using synchronous approach enhances communication skills as well as second language acquisition of learners

Various studies indicated that English learners were interested to take different advantages by online learning Warschauer (1999) pointed out students engaged written conversation to discuss ideas, reflect and ask questions about their online learning experiences with the use of computer support Computer-assisted discussion aided the transmission of interactions by helping to overcome the traditional dichotomy between speech and writing Therefore, in effect, computers and technical devices allowed students to collaborate, interact, respond quickly to each other, was even more responsive than speech in that multiple students can write their comments at the same time without need to wait for each person to give feedback Online learning also had long-term retention as learners can read, review, or response on written comments either in direct conversation or analysis later The English students earned from computer-assisted discussion, it has proved especial effectiveness with who are hesitant to take part in speaking exchanges but join in communicating via online devices more frequently, (Warschauer, 1999) These benefits enable fuller and more democratic participation by all involved people as it creates the reflective collaboration that is a key component of successful learning programs

Yang & Chen (2007) and Mutambik (2018) testified that learners using online learning to get English language in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing Al-Menei (2008) examined the effectiveness of computer-assisted English writing skills toward in Saudi Arabian students His research demonstrated a significant improvement in the writing ability of Saudi EFL students when they used computer-assisted programs to correct their grammar and write their paragraphs, because the setting of online learning provides plenty of time for students to reflect and focus Online learning offers an unprecedented opportunity when it comes to develop learners’ reading skills thank to the

unlimited online materials (Brandl, 2002) Online information allows learners to push the boundaries of textbook-based learning by the way of promoting access to knowledge from anywhere and at anytime Authentic language listening opportunities were also exuberated on the resources online Romeo (2008) found the importance of listening exercises for understanding sentence and sound available through online applications He supplied evidence showing that when using syntactically complex propositions, learners change their approaches to studying and understanding Furthermore, Yang & Chen (2007) mentioned that online learning supports learners to enhance their competency in English speaking skill through connecting with other people in digital world Students interested in online course more than the ordinary environment because the traditional English platforms were fully domination of the mother language Farzi (2016) stated that computers and software can supply guidance for students to fix their mistakes in second language learning Besides, technology applications enabled learning English quickly and take positive aspects of linguistic property In addition, it can also help learners engage in their pronunciation by the way of verbal exchange, then learner can recognize the real English language by that environment (Yang & Chen, 2007)

When online learning is personalized, it encourages students to seek out information using relevant links and websites around the world Learners can find information suitable for their personal circumstances and situations by referring to them Online learning allows learners to choose learning materials that suit level, personal interests to get the learning goals When talking about personalization, online learning is understood about making more interesting for the participants because it only concentrates around needed information

Applying online learning can enhance technological competence for groups of people participating together Gaming has also been discovered as an instrument to promote collaboration in experiential learning contexts for genuinely use of the target language (Gee & Hayes, 2011) Practical activities based on game proved to support autonomy and promote engagement (Gee, 2003) Studies determined that learning using games can promote participants' willingness to earn its advantages such as engagement, comfort, confidence and interaction to achieve curriculum goals

Students can build a group to delivery tasks and exercises then take discussion With the text notes inside this group, learners try self-study The construction of electronic material for learning English is made follow each stage of schedule and conform to the curriculum of the English program The students also take an active part in conducting English language study during the development stage of online learning Self-study through electronic content can be absorbed and reinforced for English skills such as diversifying vocabulary, developing reading comprehension skills and learning grammar through integrated lessons

2.5 Challenges of English major students during learning online

Although online learning is widely known, the applying of online learning into teaching and learning is still a new field In formal training, online learning is used in the form of support or combination for traditional classroom learning As Kirkwood & Price (2014) said that technology and media using in online environment can enhance learning and teaching in higher education Recently, under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of countries around the world began to take a serious view at online learning, the government began to introduce policies on online teaching and learning to meet the needs of learner and respond and maintain human learning during the long-time period of social distancing

The results of other studies declared online learning program can be used in higher institution and school successfully It also showed the reliable technical environment and the available support in this environment Bacow et al (2012), Bolliger & Wasilik (2009) reported there were some institutions which may be hesitant to adopt different models of online learning method Cause of the fear of change, these schools concerned to students’ outcomes in the new learning environment, worried about the reliability of technologies, workload issues and many other factors related to the internet By Betts & Heaston (2014), they stated that the university has not placed instructors and learners on training for online curriculum previously Educational facilities may not have enough resources including recording platforms at schools and at home as well as lack of instruction to record and present in a way that is accessible to learners The issue is not only mentioned to the ability

of educational facilities to deliver online learning, but also concerned to the need of learners to access to the internet, such as a computer, a laptop or a smartphone what not all learners have The high cost of initial online development and distribution was a barrier to those planning to offer online services, Allen & Seaman (2007)

Figure 2.1 Equipment: One of online learning’s challenges

The life of students in college cannot be narrowed down and bounded to a conversation or exchanged series of dialogues via messages, claimed by Skulmowski (2020) Biswas (2020) argued that demonstration based on student reaction to social media they experienced challenges related to a lack of appropriate attitude in learning, discipline and convenient environment for online learning Shlossberg & Cunningham (2016) noticed that one of the obstacles in online learning was to improve the awareness of community In order to explore good learning environment, Shlossberg & Cunningham (2016) declared findings showed the importance of enhancing perception to digital engagement and collaboration Bao (2020) pointed out that an article in a Chinese university inspected that overlooked factors, such as body language, tone of voice and other aspects are virtually impossible to convey through text-based EL forms for an EL to achieve the same educational goals as traditional goals It is essential to delivery multimedia to achieve semi-realistic interaction by the teachers’ gestures, body language and voice Moreover, the

important is that students need to keep suitable attitude to work with instructors to create an effective online community Belonging with that, English major students have to face to a challenge of enhancing perception toward online learning about having a good attitude and discipline It is the cause that attitude should be considered as a vital part of the online learning process

Figure 2.2 Perception: One of online learning’s challenges

Skulmowski & Rey (2020) claimed that interactive learning media which permits a responsive plan of instruction yet interactively has been seen as a reason for the cognitive load Using video technology these days can be seen as an indicator of the interest in multimodal learning The evidence is that tools and programs that provide online courses and the social sense began to be used strongly after COVID-19 pandemic However, according to Kizilcec et al (2015), they stated a large-scale study found that seeing the instructor’s face in educational videos did not affect learning It proved trying to recreate real-world classrooms faithfully by digital methods is a mistake, and it also showed that digitalization requires university instructors to rethink about their online teaching Educators should change teaching plans according to real situations to create a learning environment that attracts student cooperation Thanks to that, it helps students interact more with the content and topics of the lesson as well as interact with classmates through the support of modern technological devices The challenge of collaboration should not be only about shaping the form of classes digitally, but students have to find effective methods to provide themselves with information they need and suitable chances to apply knowledge

Attitude