A Grounded Theory Exploration of Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs): Understanding Students’ Viewpoints

Robert Li-Wei Hsu
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Robert Li-Wei Hsu: Graduate Program of Hospitality Management, School of Hospitality Management, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Kaohsiung City 81271, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been called the biggest innovation in education in 200 years for their unique attribute of being open and free to any individual with Internet access; however, their high dropout rate has led many people to be concerned or dubious about their effectiveness and applicability. The applicability of MOOCs in English for specific purposes (ESP) courses (in this case, hospitality English) needs more empirical evidence; the present study intends to help fill this gap and extend our current understanding of this issue. This study followed a grounded theory methodology to develop a theoretical model based on a constant dialogue between collected data and the literature. The results suggest that most participants had positive perceptions of language MOOCs (LMOOCs) in general, but some doubted their applicability. Most participants said they would continue to use LMOOCs for learning, depending on the attributes of specific courses. Based on the extracted data, a conceptual model for the applicability of LMOOCs is proposed.

Keywords: language massive open online course (LMOOC); grounded theory; affordance; functionality; flexibility; convenience; hospitality English; English for specific purposes (ESP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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