Details of Research Outputs

The use of technology to support teaching and learning has been expanding exponentially over the past decade. A plethora of e-learning toolkits is now available to facilitate students’ autonomous learning. Researchers have argued that students are more independent and motivated when they learn via an electronic mode rather than through face-to-face interaction in a traditional classroom setting. Drawing on this perspective, this chapter examines one digital learning tool designed to improve listening skills and also enhance autonomous learning in a TESOL content course offered to a group of English major students from multilingual and multicultural backgrounds in an English-medium instruction (EMI) university at China’s southern province. The digital learning tool was uploaded to iSpace (a Moodle Learning Management System) for students to view and practise listening. Employing a mixed methods approach, this chapter reports the use of the digital learning tool and the extent to which it improved autonomous learning among multilingual students. The findings reveal that students had mixed reactions towards the use of the digital learning tool. The chapter also offers insights to pedagogical and research implications of using technology as a teaching and learning tool for training English language teachers.