The impact of students' sense of community on the effectiveness of an online IELTS listening course : a qualitative inquiry

Abstract

In the context of the growing trend of Chinese students wanting to study abroad, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam has become one of the most popular standardised language exams with thousands of Chinese students preparing for IELTS listening, reading, writing, and speaking tests every year.

This qualitative classroom inquiry evaluates the effectiveness of an online IELTS listening course and explores how the instruction of L2 (second language) listening strategies proposed by Vandergrift (1997, 1999) facilitated students’ listening performance. It also examines the impact of online classroom community on students’ online learning experience and how online interaction helps the development of students’ sense of community.

A total of seven adult students of English as a second language were enrolled in a four-week online IELTS listening course which was taught completely on the Internet through Sina Weibo and Wechat. During the course, online interaction between students and the teacher was observed and analysed. These participants finished a reflective pre-test and post-test so that their listening performance before and after the course could be examined. Pre-course and post-course interviews were also designed to collect students’ perceptions of the course effectiveness and online interaction.

The results of the study suggest that lower-level English learners rely more on cognitive strategies during listening comprehension, and advanced learners make use of both metacognitive and cognitive strategies to facilitate their listening. Besides, lower-level learners are also capable of acquiring metacognitive strategies in a short period of time whereas their metastrategic awareness might not be fully developed. It has also been found that strong sense of community has a great impact on students’ online learning experience. Students with stronger sense of community feel less isolated and learn better than those without a community spirit because they are less likely to drop out and have more opportunities to access help from the other community members. For an online community to flourish, both close relationships among group members and academic achievements are needed and equally important.