A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level 1)

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1 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level 1) Chung-Hyun Lee (Woosong University) Kyong-hyon Pyo (Woosong University) Lee, Chung-Hyun & Pyo, Kyong-hyon. (2003). A study on the effectiveness of online/offline English language learning at university level. Multimedia- Assisted Language Learning, 6(1), Web-based instruction (WBI) has recently caught the imaginations of teachers and students in foreign language teaching and learning (FLT/L), and they have recently become more interested in the use of the Internet or the Web in FLT/L. Undoubtedly, WBI can provide a wealth of learning environments to enrich classroom activities. However, it is still arguable whether WBI can really contribute to the improvement of students' four language skills and their overall language proficiency. There appear to be no research studies into the effectiveness of WBI or online English language learning in FLT/L at any level in Korea. The purposes of this study were, therefore: 1) to develope a proper program that could be adopted for onlineor online/offline English language learning courses; 2) to examine the effectiveness of online/offline English Language Learning; 3) based on the findings, to suggest some solutions and strategies for applying it effectively and efficiently in FLT/L. I. INTRODUCTION The current trend in FLT/L at all levels in Korea and in the world has put an emphasis on the need to learn a foreign language (mostly English), particularly on acquir- 1) This paper was supported by Korea Research Foundation Grant (076-A00030).

2 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 91 ing communicative skills and improving oral proficiency. As well, acquisition of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) skills under the banner of 'globalization' or 'globalism' and the information revolution has become of importance throughout the nation. In this respect, CLT (Communicative Language Teaching), ICT and individualization (or the learner-centered or humanistic approach) in FLT/L assume greater importance, and there is no doubt that there is a need for natural language learning strategies and more open-ended types of activities, such as role-plays, information gap activities, and simulations in a communicative situation, in order to meet the objectives. Teachers also agree that for effective foreign language learning, learners need to be actively involved in an interesting and entertaining way in the learning process (Laurillard, 1987). However, the EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching materials of general or cultural English courses in Korea are usually inflexibly structured, based on written texts and/or worksheets, and/or audio tapes and focusing on acquiring linguistic competence. Therefore, most teachers and students seem to feel that there is a need to make increased use of ICT, particularly computers, CD-ROM multimedia and the Internet in FLT/L in higher education in Korea (Lee, 1999, 2000). This is probably because they think that, unlike written texts, the materials are flexible, interesting, and entertaining. ICT can present all types of media with good quality, e.g., texts, images, graphics, sounds and moving pictures, and make language learning more interactive. These can result in increased interest, enhanced individualization, higher retention of materials, and improved success rates in FLT/L (Perzylo, 1993). Therefore, the application of ICT in FLT/L can offer considerable enrichment of the learning environment over that of conventional media or audio or video. In particular, the Internet has recently become one of the favorite instructional tools for teachers and students in the language classroom, and for the general public. For example, computer conferencing and daily newsheets for relevant items and particular topics are being achieved through the Internet. Now, it offers more powerful functions for use as a tool in distance learning and for searching for various kinds of information and data in FLT/L than those in the last decade. Based on its distinctive characteristics, a well designed WBI program can offer a great number of features conducive to FLT/L, such as interactivity, open system, online search functions, electronic publishing, cross-cultural interaction, global accessibility, learner-controll, ease of use, collaborative learning, online evaluation, etc. (Khan, 1997). Without exception, a number of research studies have also reported that WBI, and recently computer-mediated communication (CMC), provide learners with rich environments and au-

3 92 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level thentic experiences of learning, such as increasing motivation, collaborative learning and social interaction which are meaningful to the learners in the language classroom (Beauvois, 1997; Chun & Plass, 2000; Kelm, 1996; Pelletieri, 2000; Relan & Gillani, 1997; Sullivan & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996, 1999). In particular, Sullivan & Pratt (1996), in their research study of the impact of CMC on student's subsequent writing, reported that a CMC group improved more in their writing ability than a FFC (face-to-face communication) during a semester. However, is web-based learning meaningful learning at all levels? Not all teachers and students are satisfied by the claims of the benefits, and some writers and teachers still take a sceptical view of WBI in Korea. These are probably caused by lack of awareness of the aims and objectives of WBI, lack of effective systems necessary for its implementation, and finally lack of research studies on its effectiveness. In particular, very little research has been done about the effectiveness of WBI or online language learning in relation to learners' overall language proficiency including three or four language skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking at any level in Korea. There have recently been a coupe of research studies based on surveys and case studies into the effects of WBI, but the studies were limited to writing skills or reading skills in FLT/L (Cho, 2001; Kim, 2002; Lee, 2002). In Cho (2001) and Lee's (2002) research studies, the findings show that WBI classes improved more in writing proficiency than traditional classes. Kim (2002), in her case study of CMC-based interaction for collaboration in a web-based English reading course, however, reported that the actual output-performance level achieved via CMC interaction is not quite commensurate with previous expectations, especially not in terms of collaborative learning. On the other hand, there was one attempt to evaluate the effects of CMC on students' oral proficiency using a voice-communication CMC program which was different from other research studies that used text-based CMC programs, though it was a small scale experiment. Kim (2003) carried out her experiment with three different instructional contexts, an FFC-only context, a CMC-only context, and a context where FFC was followed by CMC. The results of the study indicated that no significant context effect was found for the measures of oral proficiency, although there were slight differences between the pretest scores and posttest scores across the contexts (Kim, 2003). Kim (2003) also reported that the mean score differences among the three groups were no longer big enough to result in statistically significant effects, except for the effects of the pretest scores. The purposes of this study were, therefore: 1) to develop a proper program that

4 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 93 could be adopted for online- or online/offline English language education courses; 2) to examine the effectiveness of online (/offline) English language learning (OELL) on a large scale in particular; 3) based on the findings, to suggest some solutions and strategies for applying it effectively and efficiently in FLT/L. In order to pursue the purposes and obtain all the pertinent data, quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. II. The Development and Implementation of OELL 1. Aims There has currently been more emphasis on acquiring communicative skills and improving oral proficiency in FLT/L in the age of globalization and information. A well designed WBI program can serve to make FLT/L more lively and interactive, and offer the opportunity of exposure to authentic language in context. Therefore, the aim of developing an online (/offline) English language learning program is to create rich and realistic language learning environments and to provide students with practice in the four language skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking, and with communicative skills as well. 2. Directions for the Development of the OELL Based on the literature review and a needs analysis, the following directions for the development of OELL were considered: 1) Using the Internet and the Web as communication tools necessary for English teaching and learning; 2) Providing a web-based English teaching and learning space; 3) Creating functional/situational and meaningful language learning environments; 4) Providing learner-centered instruction based on constructivism; 5) Providing learners with a high level of interactivity, interaction between learners and between learner(s) and the teacher; 6) Creating a language learning environment able to enhance learners' motivation, interest, and confidence through developing multimedia contents considering learners' affective variables 7) Developing a model of level-specific curriculum considering learners' ability, needs, and individual differences;

5 94 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level 8) Providing learners with opportunities to use authentic language through authentic resources and tasks; 9) Providing learners with active and flexible learning opportunities allowing them to choose their own activities with lots of sources and to work through them in their own ways; 10) Providing learners with opportunities to use a target language through problem-solving tasks and more open-ended types of activities, such as role-plays, simulations, etc. in a communicative situation, followed by an online class. 3. Implementation of OELL on Woosong World Campus 1) The Virtual Classroom of Woosong World Campus consists of three main teaching and learning materials based on the key textbook such as lecture notes including a variety of activities, audio and video, and other web resources related to the topics and activities in each unit (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). [Figure 1] The Main Screen of Virtual Classroom (

6 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 95 [Figure 2] Virtual Classroom( 2) The Virtual Classroom also has many interfaces such as Memo, the Management of Attendance and Grades, Resource Room, Online Grammar, Online Dictionary, , BBS, Chatting, Q&A, etc. (see Figure 3 and Figure 4). [Figure 3] The Management of Attendance [Figure 4] BBS 3) Students can work asynchronously or synchronously using communication tools, such as , BBS, Memo, and Chatting at the Virtual Classroom (see Figure 5 and Figure 6).

7 96 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level [Figure 5] Memo [Figure 6] Chatting 4) For the purpose of in-depth collaborative learning, followed by online classes, students are supposed to work with English native teachers in the conventional classroom through a variety of activities including role-plays, simulations, discussions, etc. once a week. III. METHOD 1. Research Questions This study was designed to develop an appropriate online- or online/offline English language learning program and particularly to investigate its effectiveness in FLT/L at university level. In addition, the study aimed to examine the possibilities for the successful implementation of online/offline English language learning in FLT/L, and to suggest some solutions for applying it to the Korean context through the results and discussions. Therefore, three main research questions were addressed as follows, based on the review of literature related to WBI and the current contexts of WBI in FLT/L in Korea: 1) Are the achievement test scores of OELL better than those of offline classes?; 2) What are the teachers' perceptions of the implementation of online English language instruction?; 3) What are the students' perceptions of online English language learning? The concrete subquestions of each main question are as follows. 1) Are the achievement test scores of online classes better than those of offline classes? (1) Are the achievement scores for midterm and final exams of online classes (both daytime and nighttime) significantly different from those of offline classes?

8 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 97 (2) Are the achievement scores for midterm and final exams of online classes (daytime only) significantly different from those of their counterparts? (3) Are the achievement scores for midterm and final exams of online classes (nighttime only) significantly different from those of their counterparts? (4) Are the achievement scores for midterm and final exams of online classes of a particular teacher significantly different from those of their counterparts? 2) What are the teachers' perceptions of the implementation of online English language instruction in the following issues?: (1) Role of teachers (2) Student interaction (3) Teachers' concerns 3) What are the students' perceptions of online English language learning in the following issues?: (1) Effectiveness of Online classes (2) Learning English language skills (3) The improvement of future online implementation 2. The Subjects The subjects were 207 freshmen from 3 departments and at the same time 6 classes and 4 teachers who were working at Woosong University. The details of the subjects are presented in Table 1. Twelve students were recruited for focus group discussions. A sample of three classes to represent online/offline classes was selected as the experimental group: two daytime computer-science major classes and one night civil-engineering major class. Then, the other three classes, the offline classes which had traditional curriculum and instruction, were selected as the control group. To account for the possible initial difference of English proficiency among groups, a pre-test was administered at the beginning of the semester. The averages of the pre-test scores in each class are presented in Table 1. The two groups of classes were carefully chosen to control for a main confounding variable: English proficiency level of the students. Students might vary in proficiency according to their majors and time of classes.

9 98 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level Online/Offline Class (Experimental Group) [TABLE 1] Experimental Procedure Offline Only Class (Control Group) No. of Major Time Teacher Pre-test Major Time Teacher students Computer Science Daytime H 32 (30) 16.2 Computer Science No. of student Pre-test Daytime K Computer Science Daytime K 36 (31) 16.7 Computer Science Daytime K Civil Engineering Nighttime P 28 (27) 15.0 Food Science Nighttime S The pre-test was mainly composed of 6 listening comprehension, 5 conversation-related, 5 reading comprehension, and 4 writing items. The item type of the test was all multiple-choice for the purpose of easy grading, except for the writing items. The scores obtained from the test were not used for final grades. As show in Table 1, no major differences among class scores were found, except that night classes showed lower scores than their counterpart. Initial differences in performance between daytime and nighttime were observed. There were no significant differences of pre-test scores between on/offline and offline-only daytime classes for the Computer Science majors, with a mean of 16.5 and 17.1 for on/offline and offline-only, respectively (p =.13, n.s.). In a similar pattern, no significant difference was found between on/offline and offline-only nighttime classes, with a mean of 15.0 and 14.7 for on/offline and offline-only, respectively (p =.31, n.s.). The statistically nonsignificant differences indicate that the on/offline and offline-only classes were well matched, helping to clarify the interpretation of scores for midterm and final exams. 3. The Data Collection and Procedures A major change on the offline-based curriculum [(Korean bilingual teachers' English Reading 1 (2 credits/2 hours)] and native teachers' Conversation 1 (2 credits/ 3 hours)] was made to implement an online/offline class design as follows: College English 1(A) as an online(/offline) class (4 credits/5 hours) and College English 1(B) as an offline-only class (1 hour). Four offline class sessions in the 15-week-semester were assigned in addition to the online classes to maximize the newly introduced curriculum: 2 classes for regular testing purposes (midterm and final exams) and 2 classes run on the teachers'

10 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 99 teaching and students' learning needs such as quizzes and checking Workbook 1. Therefore, the online(/offline) class can be described as online English language learning focused on grammar, reading, listening and writing rather than online/offline English language learning in practice. The aims of native teachers' College English 1(B) was to improve students' speaking skills dealing with the different parts of the textbook. Multimedia computer rooms were assigned for the online/offline classes in order to ensure students' full access to computer facilities. Students logged onto the system at the assigned time for the realization of synchronized online instruction and learning. However, the originally planned distance learning mode for nighttime classes were not put into practice due to a technical problem in automatic recording of attendance. In order to answer the research questions, a mixture of two research methods were utilized: quantitative and qualitative methods. Firstly, for the review of the achievement scores of College English 1(A) (in both midterm and final exams; a full 40 points each) between offline classes and online/offline classes, descriptive statistics were obtained. Next, statistical testing was implemented using t-tests in order to compare the differences if any, between the achievement scores. Secondly, teachers' reflections on the following categories of issues were collected from online/offline classes only: the characteristics of the class procedures/curriculum, and self-evaluation of the class. Teachers' logs and note-taking were chosen as the means of gathering information. This qualitative method was expected to complement the findings obtained from the statistical analyses and also to shed richer and more in-depth insights in understanding the numerical results. Finally, student focus group discussion was carried out at the researchers' office to obtain information in depth which could not be extracted from experimental research. Note-taking and audio-recording were chosen as the means of gathering data and information. 4. Data Analysis The data gathered from the combination of quantitative and qualitative research were analysed as follows. Firstly, the quantitative data from the experiment were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) for Windows Version 10. The t-test was used to compare the means of two groups, the experimental group (online/offline classes) and the control group (offline classes), and to determine whether significant differences existed between the two groups. The significance level was set at.05 (p <.05) to test the null hyphotheses in this study. Descriptive statistics were reported and followed by the significance level for each item. Secondly, the qualitative da-

11 100 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level ta from teachers' self-reflections and student focus group discussions were presented descriptively to supplement the quantitative data. IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. Quantitative Analysis 1) Achievement Scores The descriptive statistics on the achievement scores in the midterm exam are summarized in Table 2. The results of the analysis for t-tests on the various research questions are also presented in the Table 2. The variances of the two samples (online/offline and offline) were checked by the Levene test because a t-test is not robust on the violation of the homogeneity assumption. The Levene tests on the various research questions showed that the two groups were homogeneous in variance. First, for the first question at the most general level (all offline control classes vs. all online/offline experimental classes), the difference in the performance of the two groups for the midterm exam was found to be significant (t = 5.28, p <.00). In a similar trend, all the analyses for the following sub-research questions produced significant differences between the two groups. Offline only classes showed significantly higher scores on the midterm exam than their counterparts. It is interesting to note that, from the findings for research question 4, there was a significant difference between classes having the same teacher, favoring the offline classes. [TABLE 2] Descriptive Statistics & t-tests for Midterm Exam Scores N Mean Std Dev. t Sig 1) All Offline Vs All Online/Offline ) Daytime Offline Vs Daytime Online/Offline ) Nighttime Offline Vs Nighttime Online/Offline ) Teacher K Offline Vs Teacher K Online/Offline

12 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 101 The descriptive statistics and findings of t-tests for the final exam are presented in Table 3. Sets of comparisons are the same as those from the previous analyses on the midterm exam. At about the 6-week-interval the mean achievement scores in general decreased slightly as compared to the midterm exam. It could be more or less explained by the difference in the test difficulty. However, the performance of the offline only classes is significantly higher than that of the online/offline ones in a consistent manner throughout all 4 research questions. [TABLE 3] Descriptive Statistics & t-tests for Final Exam Scores N Mean Std Dev. t Sig 1) All Offline Vs All Online/Offline ) Daytime Offline Vs Daytime Online/Offline ) Night Offline Vs Night Online/Offline ) Teacher K Offline Vs Teacher K Online/Offline Qualitative Analysis 1) Teachers' self-reflections The following are the teachers' self-reports on their participation in the online/offline classes for the two research categories: the characteristics of the class procedures/curriculum, and self-evaluation of the class. However, their voices are rather free and are not restricted to the pre-set research questions, which enabled the researchers to collect more valuable feedback for the improvement of the continued online/offline classes in the following semester. Since there were only two teachers' verbal reports available, no efforts were made to identify a certain pattern of ideas for generalization. The data were collected 3 weeks after the semester ended. There were two Korean bilingual teachers engaged in the online/offline classes. Firstly, teacher P with a TESOL MA has three semesters of experience teaching the freshmen English conversation class. She taught in the nighttime class. Teacher H is also a holder of a TESOL MA with longer experience in teaching than teacher P.

13 102 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level Teacher H's class met during the day, two days a week for one and half hours per class. Teacher P's class met at night one day a week for three hours straight with no break time. Even though the offline classes met once every four weeks, those class hours were not effectively utilized due to the unclear instructional goals set at the beginning of the online/offline class implementation. The main activities assigned for the offline classes were exams such as quizzes, checking Workbook 1 and the midterm. Teacher P filled the remaining hours after the exams with covering some of the sections in the workbook at random. Teacher H spent a lot of time in reviewing items on the quizzes. In other words, most of class activities that should have been carefully planned were carried out ineffectively due to the teachers' inexperience with online/offline English language instruction. At the beginning of each class online, when students started to log onto the system, they were asked to send a memo message to indicate their attendance. They were also asked to send a memo before logging out to inform the teacher of their leaving at the expected class finish time. Since attendance was one of the criteria for grades, students voluntarily followed the policy with no problems. Students were encouraged to send a memo message with any class concerns and to chat with the teacher while they were having video lectures online. However, they were for the most part silent and rather unwilling to have interaction with the teacher. The teacher had memos from the students less than 5 times other than those indicating attendance. In spite of the teachers' great efforts to encourage teacher-student and student-student interaction, it might have been that students did not take the teacher's encouragement for active interaction with her and with other students in a serious manner. There were infrequent chatting or memos or messages from a few students who were motivated to take the course; however, their main purposes for doing so were nothing but checking on their assignments or answers for some exercises. Online classes require students' voluntary participation and active involvement in their own learning activities. First-year Korean university students are not ready nor prepared for this particular mode of learning. It is unfortunate to observe that most students show passive need for teachers' direct guidance or control, feeling burdened by the responsibility inherent in autonomous learning. More interestingly, the teachers also had passive attitudes towards the online instruction without taking any special measures for the improvement of this difficult situation. Most of the time the teacher tried to believe that the students were motivated to study the assigned video lectures each week. As time passed, however, after the mid-term exam, the students realized that the role of

14 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 103 the teacher was only that of an assistant and that it was impossible for her to check individual's learning process via the online class. At last, students seemed very attentive and responsive to the teacher's online instruction, but it was very rare to find such attitudes in the offline class. Three more distinctive problems with the online classes to be noted are as follows. Firstly, due to the limited interaction with students, the teachers had difficulty in identifying students' needs, individual differences in the English proficiency level, speed in the learning process, and so on. Secondly, the teachers had the wrong idea about students' attendance rates at the beginning. Students sent multiple attendance memos to cover for absent classmates. It was impossible to check the false attendance at the system level. Thirdly, there was a constant problem that students sent their assignment and answers to exercises copied from other classmates during the online classes. Since the assignments were also collected online, it was easy for students to cut and paste others' work instead of doing the exercises by themselves. 2) Student focus group discussions (1) Perceptions on Online English classes When students were asked to evaluate if they learned more online or in the classroom, there was a balance in the responses. Half of the students stated that they learned online better. The reasons that students stated in favor of the online delivery method included being able to work with greater flexibility in terms of places and being able to work at the students' own learning pace. One student put an emphasis on a convenience of the online class that he logged on the cyber class at work without having to undertake the hassle of making to class with an hour of driving. Next, there was more consensus on the strength of the online class that students engaged in learning with more autonomy, since learning materials and resources were all available on the internet. Students' learning was under their own control, repeating the class lectures on video with no limit, going back to the sections whenever having trouble understanding, and, furthermore, directly asking questions to the teacher who was standing by in the same cyber space. In addition to the online activity, students had more discussion channels with teachers for further questions such as using and memos. On the other hand, those who were in favor of the classroom setting had equally powerful points for their preference. Several students said that they learned more in a face-to-face classroom since there was not as much interaction with the instructor in

15 104 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level the online classes. They felt that the offline classes were more likely to offer the narrowing of what had to be studied. Besides, a few students pointed out that online classes tended to be more favorably accepted by students who exhibit a certain level of self-motivation and self-organization. There is a challenge that students involved in the online classes drop out more easily and frequently than students in traditional classes. On the average, first-year Korean university students who are enrolled in the general English classes, as newcomers to a new learning environment have less study skills, less learning motivation, less time management techniques, compared to students at higher levels. Students are simply too busy with their life other than study; consequently, they find the primary responsibility on themselves to learn burdensome in the online learning. (2) Perceptions on English language learning This discussion topic is closely related to several questions as follows: 1) Can online English language learning provide students with sufficient variety to maintain their interests?; 2) Can it enhance students' learning motivation?; 3) Can it make it easier to learn a foreign language?; 4) Can it help students to reinforce language skills?; 5) Can it give students the authenticity of spoken language?; 6) Can it offer a wide range of learning and practice opportunities?; 7) Can it supply activities which are adjustable to the students' needs? Listening to students for a more detailed story in their English language learning aspect in particular was perceived to be a worthwhile step to developing better structures and content of the online materials. The first question produced an intriguing discussion. Many students agreed that the online class initially captured their attention with more efficiency and novelty, and then the attention tailed off as the semester proceeded. Students fancied themselves on a rather new idea about language learning and teaching, and experiencing new multimedia materials in such a new learning environment as the cyber classroom, and, as a result, being a successful language learner. However, students realized that the contents of the learning materials on the web were structured in the same way for each chapter. They viewed online activities as a continuation of the learning process derived from the offline classroom. The second question concerning whether the classes were enhancing learning motivation resulted in similar results as for the first question. Half of the students were positive and negative about the online and offline class methods, respectively. Working independently with the use of class materials available on the internet was one of the major factors that enhanced the learning motivation. Students noted that they were quite

16 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 105 used to the learning environment where a minimized amount of interactions with the instructor and classmates was required for the successful course completion. In contrast, several students preferred the offline class portion on account of more interactions and varieties of activities in the classroom. Skilled teachers utilized the different level and amount of class activities, making a keen observation of how well students followed class goals. Students appreciated this flexibility for the choice of pace and content of activities. Regarding the rest of the questions if online/offline classes were conducive to English language learning, students' responses were rather indecisive, with the belief that one semester is too short to reliably evaluate the improvement of their proficiency level. Breakdowns of language skills (grammar, reading, listening, and writing) were given for an easier approach to putting a yardstick on the development of English proficiency. Firstly, offline classes were evaluated as more preferable under the teacher's guidance for various learning activities and richer explanations of troublesome grammar. The quantity and quality of grammar sections were not simply enough for effective applications with few exercises available. Secondly, however, students found the learning materials for listening useful and helpful to develop a sense of listening as dialogues of situations were presented in the format of videos and several listening exercises were provided. Students repeated their listening whenever their needs and interests occurred. As opposed to the ample opportunities given to the listening activities on the internet, students felt the offline class was not as effective. Students' repeating practice in effort is more accountable for developing the listening skill rather than follow the teacher's lecture in the classroom. However, students indicated that they were not patient enough to keep up the activities on their own. As a result, a mixture of online and offline classes is necessary for basic to lower intermediate language learners. Thirdly, the student evaluation of reading and writing skills was worthwhile for special attention. The class materials shown via multimedia for the reading part were designed after the 'top-down' reading theory. According to the theory, students are trained to develop reading skills such as finding main ideas, inferring, and so on as well as understanding the text. Passages in the reading section were presented with exercises for reading skills. However, given the level of the students' language proficiency, students complained that they had much trouble with the reading materials online and sometimes had to repeat the same reading in the offline class. Online content developers in the future need to add more details and activities that can help students have meaningful learning, taking the recommendation from the perspective of students into consideration. In short,

17 106 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level the interactive mode of top-down and bottom-up processing is necessary for reading, and there should be a balance of top-down and bottom-up excercise types. (3) Opinions on the improvement of future online implementation Students were given several categories of areas that, they believe, need improvement for future online implementation as follows: technical and pedagogical aspects of the online learning. The overall evaluation of online classes in terms of technical supports was positive, indicating that it was easy to log onto the systems and access and use the utilities in a rather friendly cyber classroom. Above all, the majority of students seemed to share the class procedures online such as knowledge of time management, writing memos, and engaging in chatting for discussions in the end. However, a few students commented that the teacher's role in the online class was a bit monotonous, sometimes focusing too much on the role as a manager of the class for its full operation. The teacher's attitudes in the online class are more likely to be impersonal and tending to control the flow of the instruction with rigidity in contrast to those in the counterpart. Face-to-face interactions in the classroom made it possible for students to undertake more lively and flexible experiences. In other words, they enjoyed the offline class for the one-to-one, whenever necessary, learning opportunities. Online teachers are encouraged to monitor student progress closely and make timely efforts to contact those who fall behind, making interactions (student-student and teacher-student) mandatory and part of the assessment. Then, students could develop a sense of community in online classes and participate in the activities more actively. In the same vein, students also found some class activities offered in the offline class more entertaining and interesting. One student noted that the teacher provided many chances of the role-play activity starting from role-playing with the original script in the dialogue to that with the modified one. Even though there were its corresponding speaking activities online, it was difficult for students to put them into proper practice without proper teacher's directions and assistance. An interesting comment that most of the students in the focus group discussion agreed with was that teachers in the offline class at times made funny remarks or told students stories about their personal lives. Students noticed the teachers' decisions for activities that ranged outside the class objectives. Those activities were even appreciated as an important class management skill as an effective attention-catcher. In fact, the activities can be one of the advantages of WBI. However, the activities and management strategy were not used in the online classes effectively. In addition, for the level of student participation in online classes, a great variation

18 Chung-Hyun Lee & Kyong-hyon Pyo 107 was shared among students. Some students honestly spoke of their passive attitudes in the online learning. Those students with a low level of motivation in language learning felt it burdensome that successful online leaning needed greater responsibility and more self-regulation of materials on the internet than offline. Students were not supposed to simply sit and follow the teacher's steps; instead, they had to work through materials provided in the online classes by their own clicking behavior. Since students spent more time with their own self-study than with interaction with the teacher and the classmates, it was students themselves who contributed to their learning in the online method. As a result, students ended up playing around at other internet sites irrelevant to the class activities and showed a minimally required level of participation. Students mentioned that with the big class size the teacher was so busy monitoring and interacting with a group of students with relatively high learning motivation that the rest of the students were safe to stay out of the class. Most of the students recognized that they were not maximizing the opportunity of taking online and offline classes in combination. They felt that an external apparatus to elicit some learning pressures was necessary. On top of the strengths of online classes that reviews of learning materials were possible virtually countlessly and the learning materials were much richer and more interesting with the advances of the modern technological developments, the key to success was students who were able to manage the demands of their classes along with their responsibilities at work and/or at home. V. CONCLUSIONS Language teachers and learners have noticed rapidly growing interest in online English language learning as a way of developing learner-centered instruction and making maximum use of up-to-date ICT. In this current trend, some people in practice regard the use of multimedia and ICT as a requisite or even a panacea in the field of language learning and teaching. However, the fantasy is not based on a systematic evaluation of learners' achievement nor generated from a comprehensive consideration of research or classroom studies. Lee, Shin & O (2002) established a cyber campus-based online/offline learning and instruction community and a curriculum program for its implementation. In the current study, then, an experimental study on the effects of the new learning mode was conducted using achievement test data. The data were, unexpectedly, all favoring the traditional class mode. Finally, participating teachers' reflections and students' discussion

19 108 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level were collected to explore reasons for rather the unsatisfactory results of online/offline English language learning. The students presented a wide range of positive and negative opinions regarding their online learning experience. The flexibility of the courses, increased access to materials, and efficiency of the courses were prevalent themes in favorable student comments. In addition to this students also cited the ability to participate in classes where they could be open, without embarrassment as a favorable component of the class. However, there were a significant number of negative opinions toward online English language learning. Problems with being disciplined, technical difficulties, and a decrease of interaction with the instructor and classmates were all cited as negative in this mode of learning. To conclude, a successful implementation of online(/offline) classes is based on the two underlying assumptions that students' learning needs do exist, and that teachers have appropriate training specifically for online instruction. It is easy to see that online classes would be more effective for certain groups who reached minimally functioning levels of English proficiency and have motivation for their own learning. It is indispensable to choose a group of students who would maximize their learning opportunity through a screening process, i.e., self-regulated learners. Also when listening to the teachers in this project, one cannot overemphasize the importance of proper teacher training. Carefully designed teacher training sessions, especially workshop-based training should be provided to the teachers with sufficient methodological - including comprehensive and systematic guidelines for constructing a meaningful learning environment - and technical knowledge and skills to make the most of ICT. Through the process expected technical and instructional troubles should be also shared in advance. REFERENCES Beauvios, M. H.. (1997). Computer-mediated communication (CMC): Technology for improving speaking and writing. In M. D. Bush & R. M. Terry (Eds.), Technology-enhanced language learning (pp ). Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company. Cho, D. (2001). A study on a web-based English composition class. English Teaching. 56(2) Chun, D. M., & Plass, J. L. (2000). Networked multimedia environments for second language learning. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based Language Teaching: Concept and Practice (pp ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kelm, O. (1996). The application of computer networking in foreign language education: Focusing

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21 110 A Study on the Effectiveness of Online/Offline English Language Learning at University Level Warschauer, M. (1996). Motivational aspects of using computers for writing and communication. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp ). Honolulu, Hi: University of Hawaii. Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center. Warschauer, M. (1999). Electric literacies: Language, culture, and power in online education. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Key words: WBI, online, offline, program development, English teaching and learning Author and Chung-Hyun Lee, chlee@llion.woosong.ac.kr Kyong-hyon Pyo, khpyo@llion.woosong.ac.kr Revised version received in May, 2003