CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

This chapter will focus on the background to the study, statement of the research problem, research objectives, research questions, research hypotheses, justification of the study, the significance of the study, the scope of the study, the definition of key terms and a summary of the chapter.

Background to the Study

Historically, traditional education (learning) is as old as mankind. This form of education has existed all through the human race before and after the invention of the computer. Learning was initially done using the traditional method, where the teacher and the learners come together in a classroom, where teaching and learning take place. During the last few years, many countries adopted an alternative method of teaching (online) because of the increasing population of learners (high demand for education) and the growth in technology. Online and in-person learning is thus substituting, that is, students who do not have enough time to attend classes on campus prefer the online programme because of its flexibility, offers a wide selection of programmes, accessible everywhere and at all times, allows for a customised learning experience, and more cost-effective, hence making learning much more efficient (Moodley, 2002).

Online education has existed for centuries. According to Maureen et al., (2013), online education has existed since 1728. Before the 21st century, online education was done solely using mail (Bower and Hardy, 2004) as cited by Maureen et al., (2013), but today many other platforms have surfaced.

In the US for example, online education effectively began in the 1880s where schools were authorised to award diplomas and degrees (Maureen et al., 2013). The main form of communication at the time was through the post and this was the main platform for distance education until the invention of the radio (Bower and Hardy, 2004). The University of Chicago was the first institution in 1892 to offer correspondence courses online. This was followed by Pennsylvania state college in 1922 where some courses offered by the school were broadcast over the radio. By 1953, the University of Huston also offered the first televised college courses. Other institutions like the University of Wisconsin started telephone-based distance learning programmes for physicians by 1965.

By 1976, Coastline Community College becomes the first “virtual college” with no campus and all courses broadcast by the 1980’s various online programmes began surfacing all over the US, due to the high percentage of personal internet access. In 1989, the University of Phoenix was founded and was one of the most popular online schools across the US.

In 1997, an interactive learning network was created and released to multiple schools as the first e-learning network promoting learning in this case refers to flexibility to access materials in space and time $ must make use of sound principles. To Rossett (2002), online learning has enormous promises but takes into consideration commitment and resources as well as doing it the right way. That is, proper designing of online learning materials, as well as providing adequate support and making the learner more focused.

In early 2000, most major universities in the world began adding online courses to their curriculum, including some degree programmes. By 2006, Apple introduced iTunes University offering lectures on a long list of topics available to any willing person from 2013- to present audacity and Edx two massive education websites open and offer hundreds of universities to level massive open online courses (MOOC). Presently, there exist more than two million students in the US taking online classes in different programmes. In other parts of the world where technology is far advanced, this form of learning is promoted and is more famous compared to African countries like Cameroon.

According to Power and Gould-Morven (2011), Pitman offered courses in Biblical study to those who were able to send a letter to the UK, not just the residents of his local community during the mid-1880s. This was due to advancements in technology and internet service. In other parts of the world like Africa where technology was still underdeveloped, this system of education was uncommon.

Conceptually, online (off-campus) learning is defined as the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance and/or support learning (OCED, 2005). While keeping a presiding interest in more advanced applications, e-learning refers to both wholly online provision and campus-based or other distance-based provision supplemented with ICT in some way.

Online learning has been coined by many and looked at from different perspectives, including challenges (Rezaei, 2009; Bower, 2001; Mapuva, 2009; Wang, 2015; Mathew and Ebelelloanya, 2016; Fojtik, 2018).  According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2013), online learning involves the use of products, services, or information from the internet to foster learning. According to the commonwealth of learning (COL, 2000), it is a flexible education system that involves the separation of the teacher and learners in time or space and with the use of a variety of media to connect them. Such media may include print, radio and television broadcasts, video and audio cassettes, computer-based learning and telecommunications; but it, however, permits the teacher-learner and/or other learner interaction.

According to Singh and Thurman (2019), online learning is “learning experiences in synchronous or asynchronous environments using different devices such as mobile phones, laptops, with internet access. In this type of learning, learners are independent of their teachers and peers.

Online Class is an operation performed by electronic equipment controlled by a remote central processing system (Tambo, 2003). On the other hand, it is a class conducted over the internet that is online classes which are generally allowing for greater flexibility in completing course work.

Rezaei (2009), observed that the implementation of distance education has many challenges which are caused by various aspects. Some of these aspects include students’ readiness to learn, learning management systems, infrastructure and institutional commitment (Markova et al, 2017). This type of learning system requires students’ readiness to study independently, individual learning readiness of online learning facilities, and psychological preparedness due to its new nature.

On the other hand, in-person (traditional) learning is that in which teaching and learning take place at the same place. That is, the teacher and learners meet at a common point (classroom) during the teaching/learning process. This type of learning takes place at a prescribed period and environment, that is, it is organised and limited to a particular age group in secondary schools but in the university, it is open to all. It is most suitable for young learners as they need to be exposed to an academic environment to be able to grasp concepts (Diara, 2020). Even though more popular, this system of learning is not flexible as such adults and learners already working find it difficult to attend. Other setbacks of this system of learning include lack of confidence of some learners, the longevity of the programme, and course variety.

According to Koch (2014), online learning transforms education from instructor-centred to student-centred where much responsibility is given to the students. This is also known as active learning. Hence, the instructor is more passive than the learner.

According to cook and Steiner (2013), online learning is more likely to succeed when the topic addressed a relevant need; supported collaboration, cooperative work, social interaction; and provide flexible timelines. Clark’s (2000) looked at the role of technology in online learning and to him, technology plays a vital role and as such a significant influence on academic research and practice. Even though Clark’s (1983) claims that technologies are merely vehicles that deliver instruction and do not themselves influence student achievements.

Theoretically, the study was guided by Fleming’s VAK / VARK Theory by Fleming and Mills (1992), The study also made use of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and the Learning Style,

the Achive Learning Theory and the Behavioural Learning Theory.

The VAK / VARK Theory, according to Fleming (2006), is used to assess the category of people’s communication preferences. VARK stands for visual, A stands for aural, R stands for reading/writing, and K stands for kinaesthetic. VARK learning style model is a learning style that has been modified from the VAK model to the VARK learning style by Fleming in 2006. This learning style is modified by classifying students into four different modes. The modes based on different senses, namely visual, aural, reading, and kinesthetic, and the name of the model itself, originated from those senses prefix letters (V, A, R, and K). According to Ismail (2010) dividing students according to mode is necessary so that the effectiveness of each lesson to different VARK learning modes can be observed. The VARK model can be used by teachers to help with strategies of how best to plan and promote student learning based on their type of learning style. Teachers can also help students understand their preferred learning style and maximize their learning by focusing on the mode that benefits them the most.

The study also made use of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and the Learning Style. These theories explain the interaction between human developmental stages, learning processes, and experiences. According to Kolb (2000), learning style is not a fixed trait, but rather a differential preference for learning that varies slightly from situation to situation.” Simultaneously, there is some long-term stability in learning style. This theory is relevant to this research because it illustrates how important it is to design a course that can fit students’ learning styles, as well as adjust online course design to accommodate these styles.

The Behaviorist Learning Theory is perhaps the oldest of the learning theories used by many educators of the past to teach and instruct learners. According to this theory, learning is an observable change in the behaviour of the learner that originates from external conditions. Thus, this theory is all about provoking reactions from learners and detecting any changes in behaviour. Things that invoke a reaction and a change in an old behaviour are repeated until they become new behaviour. The behaviour learning theory is used in e-learning courses in the drag and drop exercises to classify concepts into different categories. Feedback is all-important in this theory, as it helps in the evaluation of correct and appropriate behaviour.

The Active Learning Theory is another theory that guided the study. It is used in e-learning programs these days as learners learn best when they learn by doing. The Active Learning Theory postulate that learners should be actively engaged or involved in the learning procedure to learn better. Interaction, gamification, quizzes, exercise are all elements of the Active Learning Theory.

Similarly, the Felder-Silverman Learning Styles Model (2002) was also adapted for this study. This model categorizes learning styles into four dimensions: process and perception. Felder and Silverman have developed an online independent device called the Learning Styles Index (LSI) to evaluate preferences on four scales of the model of learning styles (Felder, 2002).

Contextually, According to Nick (2020), as of 12th May 2020, Cameroon was the country with the world’s highest weekly coronavirus infection rate (12%). The spread of this virus in Cameroon began on the 6th March 2020, it did not leave the education sector unaffected. As such, it led to a significant impact on schools (UNESCO, 2020) and a lesser extent on higher education institutions in Cameroon. There was the need to help learners complete the 2019/2020 academic year and at the same time curb the spread of the pandemic since education is at the heart of the country’s top priorities (Prime Minister, 2020). The most disturbing situation here was how to create a conducive learning environment added to the ongoing crisis especially to the Anglophone areas who were already suffering from too much hardship. According to Bellen (2016), the main question was how to establish a classroom environment in a time of crisis and confinement.

In the Cameroon context, many media were used as learning platforms such as skype, google classroom, zoom, and to a lower extend WhatsApp. The implementation of this type of education system met a lot of challenges; firstly because it was new and also because of the low level of technology (poor internet).

In Cameroon online education has existed for more than a decade but only became popular in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the University of Buea for example, online (distance education) was introduced in 2008 to help upgrade the knowledge and skills of nursery and primary school teachers (Alemnge, 2015). Commonwealth of Learning (COL,1998) financed a baseline study in Cameroon in compliance with the request of the minister of National Education (Peku, 1998) as cited by Nkwenti (2016).

The Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) Yaoundé embarked on an online programme to improve the teaching ability of teachers to teach French as a second language (FSL) which ended unsuccessful (Nkwenti, 2016). Apart from the University of Yaounde, in the 1990s, the University of Dschang also introduced online studies at the faculty of Agronomic sciences.  In 2008, the University of Buea also introduced distance education to help upgrade the knowledge and skills of teachers of Nursery and Primary schools to degree level (Alemnge, 2015).

Statement of Research Problem

The in-person system of education has existed for centuries. In recent years, the world has chosen an alternative system of education (online learning). This can be due to advancements in technology and the discovery of the internet. While other countries, enjoyed learning using the online platforms, Cameroon irrespective of its attempt to incorporate online education as an alternative to the traditional system, has still to fully implement it.

During the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic, Cameroon was badly hit and this affected the country’s economy, the educational sector was not left unaffected. In an attempt to support learners during this period and also to curb the spread of the virus, education stakeholders called for the use of online platforms as the only possible way of fighting the pandemic. According to the Minister of Education interviewed with the Crtv (Crtv, 2020), distance learning has come to stay. This system of learning was new to the majority of students and teachers and as such learners faced a lot of difficulties in an attempt to attend classes. Some of the learning platforms were not popular as learners and teachers found them unfriendly.

The researcher had noticed that students have been complaining about the online learning system and would like to assess to see which is preferable. So, the researcher wants to investigate the most suitable and preferred method of learning of the University of Buea students.

Objectives of the Study

Main Objective

To find out Online Second Language teaching-learning during the Covid-19 period in the University of Buea

Specific Objectives

1. To find out if there is any difference between Online Second Language teaching-learning during the Covid-19 period and those taught using an in-person approach.
2. To find out if learners find it difficult to study ESL online during the Covid-19 period.
3. To examine if lectures provided online on ESL and those taught in person have no difference.

Check out: Linguistics Project Topics with Materials