Exploring motivation and design effectiveness of individualized English as a Foreign Language blended training programs in a French organization.
Abstract: This communication’s objective is to present findings of a field research comparing the effectiveness of four types of English as a foreign language (EFL) training designs. Training modalities included individual or group face-to-face sessions, virtual phone classes, and autonomous e-learning activities. French collaborators (N = 142) of a company from the health industry completed motivation surveys and took the online BULATS business proficiency test at the end of training. Trainees who followed blended training programs obtained higher BULATS scores than those who only used face-to-face sessions, but results are moderated by participants' pre-training proficiency level. Training design had no influence on satisfaction, but low e-learning acceptance influenced the choice of face-to-face sessions. Accessibility to the e-learning platform was related to an increase in autonomous study time, in particular when the program did not contain face-to-face sessions. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.
Presider: Kurt Ackermann, Hokusei Gakuen University Junior College