Students’ perceptions of the use of Moodle in English language teaching and learning at the Namibia University of Science and Technology

Abstract

Competency in the English language is a challenge in the Namibian education sector at large and at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. Moodle could be used to enhance students’ English language proficiency, but some researchers in the field argue that the use of Moodle remained undesirable across the disciplines at the institution under study. It was thus essential to investigate and establish students’ views regarding the use of Moodle for improved educational practice in English as a Second Language. The main objective of the study was to investigate and establish how students involved in English language service courses at the institution under study used Moodle as an e-learning tool to enhance ESL teaching and learning. The sub-objectives arising from this main objective were to investigate how students involved in English language service courses used Moodle features for enhanced English as a Second Language teaching and learning, to establish successes students have experienced in the process of using Moodle, and to identify challenges that students experienced in the process of using Moodle. The study adopted a social-constructivist approach as a lens to investigate and understand how students’ interaction with Moodle as a mediating tool impacted the development of their English language skills. The research employed a case study design that involved classroom observations and focus group interviews with eighteen students who were purposely selected. The students who participated in the research were students doing one of the three English language courses offered in the Department of Education and Languages, and they had to be students using Moodle for English language teaching and learning during the period of data collection. Four key themes emerged from the analysis of data: the uses of Moodle and its mediating tools, impact of Moodle on the English language skills, the challenges constraining the use of Moodle in English language teaching and learning, as well as suggestions for improved educational practice. The research revealed that although efforts had been made to use Moodle in English language teaching and learning at the research site, there was still a need for enhanced interaction with Moodle and its sub-tools to create better opportunities for both comprehensible input and comprehensible output to develop students’ English language skills.