The Covid-19 pandemic creates physical barriers and raises issues about online learning and course design. These must be overcome in order to continue teaching three English language support papers in a transnational education programme. This autoethnography explores online communication strategies and their effect on students’ learning experience. Moodle logs, teacher observations and other qualitative data from the first year of emergency online teaching were evaluated. This analysis prompted several improvements to communication strategies. Additional forum activities, scaffolding and feedback have had a positive effect, and increased use of informal communication via WeChat has bolstered learner persistence. These findings can be applied to the design of other online and blended courses, especially those linked to English language teaching in China.
AdamsT.E.HolmanJ.S.EllisC. (2015). Autoethnography. Oxford University Press.
2.
AguinisH.RothH.A. (2005). Teaching in China: Culture-based challenges. In AlonI.McIntyreJ.R. (Eds.), Business and management education in China: Transition, pedagogy and training (pp. 141–164). World Scientific.
3.
Al-SubaieiM.S. (2017). Challenges in mixed ability classes and strategies utilized by ELI teachers to cope with them. English Language Teaching, 10, 182–189.
4.
BaldaufR.B.Jr.KaplanR.B.KamwangamaluN.BryantP. (2011). Success or failure of primary second/foreign language programmes in Asia: What do the data tell us?Current Issues in Language Planning, 12, 309–323.
5.
BaoW. (2020). COVID-19 and online teaching in higher education: A case study of Peking University. Human Behaviour and Emerging Technologies, 2, 113–115.
6.
BethuneS.J.BrownsonS. (2014). Decreasing student procrastination and increasing student retention through the use of email and multimedia tools in online courses. In San Francisco International Business and Education Conference Proceedings. Article 168. The Clute Institute.
7.
BootheD. (2020). Transforming the ICT learning environment for English language learners. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 20, 22–25.
ChanS. (1999). The Chinese learner: A question of style. Education and Training, 41, 294–305.
10.
ChangH. (2016). Autoethnography as method. Routledge.
11.
ChenL.WangN. (2010). Attitudes to distance education in China. In BaggaleyJ.BelawatiT. (Eds.), Distance education technologies in Asia (pp. 111–126). Sage.
12.
ChilcoatG.W.StahlR.J. (1986). A framework for giving clear instructions: Effective teacher verbal behaviour. The Clearing House, 60, 107–109.
13.
CortazziM.JinL. (1996). Cultures of learning: Language classrooms in China. In ColemanH. (Ed.), Society and the language classroom (pp. 169–206). Cambridge University Press.
14.
DaviesJ.A.DaviesL.J.ConlonB., et al. (2020). Responding to COVID-19 in EAP contexts: A comparison of courses at four Sino-foreign universities. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 2, 32–51.
15.
DirkxJ.M. (2001). The power of feelings: Emotion, imagination, and the construction of meaning in adult learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2001, 63–72.
16.
DubeyS.PiroskaB. (2019). Exploration of factors affecting learners’ motivation in e-learning. International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 5, 1269–1275.
17.
EllisC.BochnerA.P. (2003). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject. In DenzinN.K.LincolnY.S. (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 199–258). 2nd edition.Sage.
18.
FeekeryA.J.CondonS.M. (2021). A response to COVID-19: Recognizing subcultures in the unexpected online student cohort. Frontiers in Communication, 6, 642275.
19.
GreenhowC.GalvinS. (2020). Teaching with social media: Evidence-based strategies for making remote higher education less remote. Information and Learning Sciences, 121, 513–524.
20.
HaP.L.LiB. (2014). Silence as right, choice, resistance and strategy among Chinese ‘Me Generation’ students: Implications for pedagogy. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 35, 233–248.
HoD. (1976). On the concept of face. American Journal of Sociology, 81, 867–884. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2777600 (accessed December 2021).
23.
HofstedeG.HofstedeG.J.MinkovM. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. 3rd edition.McGraw-Hill.
24.
Holman JonesS.AdamsT.EllisC. (2013). Coming to know autoethnography as more than a method. In Holman JonesS.AdamsT.EllisC. (Eds.), Handbook of autoethnography (pp. 17–47). Left Coast Press.
HuangJ.BrownK. (2009). Cultural factors affecting Chinese ESL students’ academic learning. Education, 129, 643–653.
27.
HuangM.ShiY.YangX. (2020). Emergency remote teaching of English as a foreign language during COVID-19: Perspectives from a university in China. International Journal of Educational Research and Innovation, 15, 400–418.
28.
LiJ.WangL.FischerK.W. (2004). The organisation of Chinese shame concepts. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 767–797.
29.
LiuN.-F.LittlewoodW. (1997). Why do many students appear reluctant to participate in classroom learning discourse?System, 25, 371–384.
30.
LiuX.LiuS.LeeS.-H.MagjukaR. J. (2010). Cultural differences in online learning: International student perceptions. Educational Technology and Society, 13, 177–188. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/jeductechsoci.13.3.177.pdf (accessed December 2021).
31.
MaréchalG. (2010). Autoethnography. In MillsA.J.DureposG.WiebeE. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of case study research: Volume 1 (pp. 44–46). Sage.
32.
MeiB.BrownG.T.L.TeoT. (2018). Toward an understanding of preservice English as a foreign language teachers’ acceptance of computer-assisted language learning 2.0 in the People’s Republic of China. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 56, 74–104.
33.
MellatiM.KhademiM.AbolhassaniM. (2018). Creative interaction in social networks: Multi-synchronous language learning environments. Education and Information Technologies, 23, 2053–2071.
34.
MiliszewskaI. (2007). Is it fully ‘on’ or partly ‘off’? The case of fully-online provision of transnational education. Journal of Information Technology Education, 6, 499–514.
MurakamiC.ValvonaC.BroudyD. (2012). Turning apathy into activeness in oral communication classes: Regular self- and peer-assessment in a TBLT programme. System, 40, 407–420.
PetersM.A.WangH.OgunniranM.O., et al. (2020). China’s internationalized higher education during COVID-19: Collective student autoethnography. Postdigital Science and Education, 2, 968–988.
40.
PiersonH.D. (1996). Learner culture and learner autonomy in the Hong Kong Chinese context. In PembertonR.LiE.OrW.PiersonH.D. (Eds.), Taking control: Autonomy in language learning (pp. 49–58). Hong Kong University Press. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jc12n.10 (accessed December 2021).
41.
RaoZ. (2013). Teaching English as a foreign language in China: Looking back and forward. English Today, 29, 34–39.
TalidongK.J.B.ToqueroC.M.D. (2021). Facing COVID-19 through emergency online education anchored in Khan’s framework: Case of Philippine teachers in Xi’an, China. European Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Education, 2, e02104.
49.
TangH.Carr-ChellmanA. (2016). Massive open online courses and educational equality in China: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange, 9, 49–66.
50.
TriandisH.C. (1995). Individualism and collectivism. Taylor and Francis.
VaiM.SosulskiK. (2016). Essentials of online course design: A standards-based guide. 2nd edition.Routledge.
53.
WangM. (2007). Designing online courses that effectively engage learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. British Journal of Educational Technology, 38, 294–311.
54.
ZhangY. (2013). Power distance in online learning: Experience of Chinese learners in U.S. higher education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14, 238–254.
