Poster Session A Survey of Student Opinions about EFL Communication Classes Online and in the Classroom more

This poster presents the results from a survey of university students' attitudes to studying English in both classroom and online environments. It specifically focuses on EFL classes that used a communicative language teaching (CLT) approach. The questionnaire survey was administered to 327 non-English major students at a science and engineering university in northern Japan. The questionnaire included an open response section asking students to write about their experiences of learning communicative English both online and in the classroom. A total of 43 valid responses were received. Thematic content analysis was used to identify seven main themes from the written data: Advantages of classroom classes; Technical issues; Study materials; Breakout rooms – benefits; Breakout rooms – problems; Student health and welfare; and Preferred learning environment. This analysis of the written responses showed that students considered the classroom-based pedagogy to be more effective, particularly in terms of peer involvement and interaction. However, students also highlighted certain benefits of online learning, particularly access to materials and opportunities to interact with a diverse array of students. Findings from the survey have significant implications for how students experience communicative language learning and how teachers can best enhance this experience.