Journal

of Educational Technology
& Online Learning
V o lu m e 4 │ I s s u e 1 │ 20 2 1
http://dergipark.org.tr/jetol

Factors influencing EFL students’ motivation in online learning: A qualitative

case study
Esra Meşe a * , Çiğdem Sevilen a
a
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University, Turkey.

Suggested citation: Meşe, E. & Sevilen, Ç. (2021). Factors influencing EFL students’ motivation in online learning: A qualitative case study.
Journal of Educational Technology & Online Learning, 4(1), 11-22.

Article Info Abstract

Keywords: Motivation is one of the key factors that affect L2 learners’ success and performance in
the language learning process; that is why, widely concerns teachers and researchers.
Online learning Amidst a global health crisis that urged most English preparatory schools across Turkey
Motivation to carry out their English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lessons online, the question of
Distance education motivation attracted even more attention. A qualitative case study was conducted in order
EFL to explore students’ perceptions of online teaching and how it affects their motivation
Case study over a period of a seven-week-course. The data was collected through semi-structured
interviews and creative writing samples of 12 students from an intact classroom. Both
interviews and creative writing tasks demonstrated that students overall believe online
education has a negative impact on their motivation due to lack of social interaction, a
Research Article mismatch between expectations and content, organizational problems and the
organization of learning environments. Pedagogical implications are listed.

1. Introduction
Due to the Covid health crisis, educators and students have been left with their feelings of uncertainty and
the online courses in this context were implemented on a short notice. In such a climate of unpredictability
surrounding online teaching, naturally many questions emerged as to its effectiveness, its impact on the
teachers and students. The guiding question for the researchers in this study was students’ motivation in a
virtual platform which was new for all stakeholders. Understanding the factors that have an impact on
students’ perceptions could also help administrators to make informed decisions about the course and
organizational design as well as guide professional development workshops for instructors.
The situation could be best explored through research that helps reveal the facts through systematic data
collection and evidence from the classroom (Dikilitaş & Bostancıoğlu, 2019). Similary, Burston (2003)
suggested that there is a need to focus on the different aspects rather than immediate learning while
evaluating the impacts of Instructional Technologies (IT) on the curriculum; therefore, qualitative
assessment of the impacts of technology comes into prominence. It was designed as a case study in order
to get participants’ perceptions within a specific context (Baxter & Jack, 2008).

*
Corresponding author: Esra Meşe, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University, Turkey.
e-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected]

Doi: http://doi.org/10.31681/ jetol.817680

Received 21 Nov 2020; Revised 13 Dec 2020; Accepted 25 Dec 2020.
ISSN: 2618-6586 . This is an open Access article under the CC BY license.
JETOL 2021, Volume 4, Issue 1, 11-22 Meşe, E. & Sevilen, Ç.

Fig. 1. The number of studies related to online learning motivation in the recent decade

As can be seen in Figure 1 obtained from Scopus database, the number of scientific studies on online
learning motivation has increased dramatically over the recent years (Uçar & Kumtepe, 2020). This could
be an indication that online learning leads to crucial questions related to learners’ motivation and such
studies will gain greater popularity in the future.
Based on above overviews, the present case study conducted with 12 learners from an intact classroom
aims to expand the understanding of how virtual classrooms influence L2 learning motivation and what
kind of practical implications might be suggested to boost learner motivation in these settings. To this end,
this study sought to answer below question:
• What are the learners’ perceptions of interplay between online learning and L2 learning motivation?

2. Literature Review
2.1. Definition of Motivation in Recent Decades
Researchers and educators have long been interested in learner motivation since it is closely connected to
achievement and desired outcomes. Lumsden (1994) defines motivation as learners’ willingness to take
part in the language learning process. Dörnyei (2015) views it as an indispensable part of the challenging
task of L2 learning and its absence will fail individuals even if they’re equipped with the most outstanding
abilities and a robust motivation will make up for important deficiencies. Motivation is the first condition
to take on a learning task and is the engine that powers the process.
Dörnyei (2020) suggests the concept of motivation is closely associated with engagement and motivation
must be ensured in order to achieve student engagement. He offers any instructional design should aim to
keep students engaged regardless of the learning context, traditional or e-learning, which is a tough job
considering the myriad of distractions in the new century. In the classroom environment, learner motivation,
acquired through classroom experiences, or comes initially with the learner, plays a vital role (Hedge,
2001).

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2.2. Motivation in Online Courses

Distance education has begun to become a widespread phenomenon since the mid-1990s and it comes with
many benefits, including broader access to educational activities and learning opportunities, but also
concerns regarding students and instructors’ skills (Barbour & Reeves, 2009; Campbell & Sarac, 2018).
Online learning can be described as a form of distance education made possible by technological devices
used by isolated learners in their own settings away from the main education source (Hartnett, 2016).
Motivation is another question that calls for in-depth analysis when it comes to online learning
environments (Burston, 2003). Motivation in online courses has been receiving attention in recent years
(Chen & Jang, 2010; Baker, 2010; Hartnett et al., 2011; Richardson et al., 2015; Li & Tsai, 2017; Kyewski
& Kramer, 2018; Özhan & Kocadere, 2020). While these studies do not specifically focus on L2 courses,
their findings are still relevant for the learners of a foreign language in a virtual classroom.
Hartnett et al. (2011) describes motivation in online learning a complex phenomenon that is mostly affected
by individual traits and specific contexts. Motivation is worth exploring in an online course because
students are inclined to participate less (Kyewski & Krämer, 2018) and high attrition rates lead to
motivational questions in distance education for instructional designers.
Various elements have been suggested to interact with online learning motivation in an effort to address
the problems of attrition and participation. Learners experience lower levels of motivation when they skip
classes or do not participate in the activities. De Barba et al. (2016) found state-level motivation at the
moment of learning acts as a mediator between intrinsic motivation and participation. They further
discussed that an online learning environment should cater for motivation and participation as situational
interest is contextual and depends on how much activities and content are able to keep students’ attention.
Similarly, Chen and Jang (2010) suggest students need support tailored for their needs in order to decrease
their anxiety and uncertainty as a suggestion to deal with attrition.
Course materials and tasks were also questioned in relation with motivation. Hartnett et al. (2011) reports
identified regulation (acknowledging the value of an activity) in online settings is as much significant as
intrinsic motivation. Thus, it’s important to offer meaningful tasks to the learners and ensure grounds for
honest communication between instructors and learners. Çebi and Güyer (2020) found a positive correlation
between the intensity of students’ engagement with course material and their motivation while their choices
of materials did not have any impact on motivation.
Researchers asked questions whether gamification can lead to increased motivation. Özhan and Kocadere
(2020) found that the experience of flow and affective commitment with the online educational setting with
games significantly influenced the participants’ motivation. In a similar vein, Kyewski & Krämer (2018)
argued awarding badges might boost student motivation and used two different types of badges in their
study exploring massive open online courses (MOOCs); one that can be seen by all students and one that
can only be seen by the student who won it. They found that the public awards had no impact on intrinsic
motivation, however; the students valued their unseen badges as they let them follow their progress.
Among the challenges that come along with online education is instructors’ lack of online teaching
experience. Instructor presence, which is teaching practices observable by learners usually in a live setting
(Richardson et al., 2015), is an important factor that determines students’ motivation in virtual classrooms
(Baker, 2010). In a similar vein, students’ lack of motivation is a critical factor on teachers’ motivation as
well. In a cross-sectional survey study that examined 39 EFL and English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
teachers’ experiences of online education at a non-profit private university, Şener et. al (2020) found that a
lack of learner motivation, interaction and autonomy was the second most frequently referred issue
influencing teacher’ experiences. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a dynamic interplay between
learner motivation and positive classroom experiences in online settings.

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2.3. Motivation in Online EFL Classes

The studies that delved into the relationship between online learning and learner motivation in a second
language education course have examined hybrid courses or online asynchronous components of face-to-
face courses (Ushida, 2005; Lin et al., 2017; Murday et al., 2008; Yantraprakorn et al., 2018).
Campbell and Sarac (2018) proposed that the technology is integrated into language learning at an
increasing rate in order to boost students’ motivation and maximize their understanding of the content.
Rubio (2013), on the other hand, suggested that a well-designed blended course with online and offline
elements can be more effective than a well-designed face-to-face or a well-designed purely online course
in helping students maximize their motivation as well as proficiency in second language education.
Murday et al. (2008) and Ushida (2005) proposed that hybrid courses are generally regarded as more
effective than their exclusively online counterparts as they do not rely too much on students’ motivation.
In Ushida’s (2005) study that investigated motivation in online language courses, data was collected from
30 participants who attended different courses through three sets of questionnaires that investigated their
general background, technology background and attitudes and motivation as well as through interviews.
Their courses were mostly online while they also met as a class once a week and individually met with their
teacher or language assistant for 20 minutes. The results of the study showed that students with high
integrative motivation were overall more satisfied with the course and the researcher predicted a high
correlation between the rates of voluntary participation in online discussions and motivational levels of the
students. Ushida’s (2005) study also concluded that teacher-specific motivational components, as suggested
by Dörnyei (1994), were closely related with the creation of a classroom culture, which affected overall
student motivation and attitude in the online classes.
Another study by Lin et al. (2017) investigated the roles of learning strategies and motivation on learning
in an asynchronous language course, which is additional to face to face courses. They collected 466
completed surveys that measure their online-learning strategies and motivation. The study found the
students had low levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in their online education course. The
researchers elaborated on the low motivation and discussed that it might have been caused by a lack of real-
time interaction with instructors and classmates.
Another study which was conducted with 8 participants using a self-efficacy scale and interviews reported
that insufficient or discouraging teacher feedback affected students’ motivation to learn negatively in an
online foreign language course in Thailand (Yantraprakorn et al., 2018).
Murday et al. (2008) reported a relationship between motivation and self-discipline based on their
qualitative data. Their research proposed that students, who were accustomed to traditional classrooms,
appreciated the newfound freedom in online courses, yet they also acknowledged it was hard to keep
motivated and disciplined to study on a regular basis.
This study distinguishes itself with its focus on learner motivation in an exclusively online setting in Turkish
context.

3. Methodology
3.1. Research design
A case study research design from qualitative research methodology was adopted in this study as the scope
of case study is based on a phenomenon that is investigated deeply in its real context (Yin, 2009). The study
was also designed as cross-sectional research because it was implemented at one time as the aim was not
to investigate the changes in the variables over a period. This qualitative study aimed to explore the impact
of online education on students’ motivation using semi-structured interviews to understand students’
perceptions deeper and a creative writing task in which students discuss their motivation in virtual
classrooms.

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3.2. Setting
The online course was launched by a prep school of a non-profit private university in Turkey and it aimed
to guide students to pass the prep school’s skills-based, B2-level proficiency test, in which all four skills
have equal weight in terms of their impact on the students’ final score. Therefore, the courses were
organized to include 45 minutes of reading, listening, speaking and writing every day during the week.
Every Friday mock exams were held to keep the students on track.
In the first four weeks, classes were divided into two in order to ensure closer monitoring by teachers.
Because of low attendance, classes were later merged for the following three weeks. Attendance was
voluntary for intermediate and higher-level students, which led overall attendance rates to fluctuate.
The students who only passed pre-intermediate level needed to successfully complete the online module in
order to be eligible for the proficiency test. To achieve this, they needed to attend at least 70 percent of the
classes and complete their assignments.
3.3. Participants
The study was carried out in an exclusively online course where 18 students were registered and attendance
was voluntary. Twelve students participated in the present study, six of them (50%) completed pre-
intermediate level and six of them (50%) completed intermediate level before starting the seven-week-long
online module. None of them received an online language course prior to the virtual classes investigated in
this study.
3.4. Data Collection Tools
In order to explore students’ perceptions, semi-structured interviews (SSI) were conducted and creative
writing assignments (CWA) were given to students on the topic of advantages and disadvantages of online
education.
3.5. Data Collection Procedure
The instructor of the course gave students the writing assignments in week 4 while the semi-structured
interviews took place at the end of the seven-week period. The transcriptions of the interviews and the
creative writings of the students were examined by the two researchers to see common themes and
categories, and the reliability of the findings were ensured by member checking.
3.6. Data Analysis
A thematic analysis was conducted from an inductive perspective, which lets the data lead the researchers
who hold no preconceptions prior to the coding and thematization process (Dikilitaş & Bostancıoğlu, 2019).
First a line-by-line coding was carried out in order to document the thought flow of each participant in the
SSI and CWA separately by each researcher. Initial codes formed the themes. The codes and themes were
later refined collaboratively by the two researchers and they were later organized under two major
categories.

4. Results
In order for a better understanding of the impacts of online education on motivation, students’ semi-
structured interviews (SSI) and creative writing assignments (CWA) were transcribed and coded. Two
major themes appeared. Students referred to the external factors and internal factors as they elaborated on
their motivation in an online L2 learning classroom. The following figure demonstrates the main themes
and sub-themes that emerged from qualitative data analysis.

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Fig. 2. Factors influencing EFL students’ motivation in online learning

4.1. Internal Factors Affecting Motivation

The CWAs and SSIs showed the participants agreed that affective reasons had an impact on their online L2
learning motivation. Their expectations and satisfaction with the course content, communication needs and
level of self-determination were frequently implicated and emerged as sub-themes.
4.1.1. Satisfaction of course content
Students frequently referred to their satisfaction with the online course content and materials by making it
obvious where they stand on a self-determination continuum of motivation, which has intrinsic motivation
and amotivation in its two ends. The students who were internally motivated (S1, S2 and S3) said in the
interview that the course content and their expectations did not match.
Those who expressed intrinsic reasons to participate in the course were mostly disappointed as the course
aimed to train the students for the proficiency exam. S1 said she hoped to be able to speak English fluently
after a year of studying at the prep program: “I’m devoting one year of my life for this; I’d like to use
English for myself in the future.” (SSI)
S4, who experienced changing degrees of motivation as she was intrinsically motivated at first while later
she only aimed to pass the proficiency test, said the materials were not presented in a coherent way and
they were not challenging enough to get them prepared for the mock exams.
They had mixed reactions regarding the sufficiency of course materials. S1 said they were sufficient for
some skills, such as speaking, not for the others. S2 said only speaking courses and teachers’ gamified
presentation of content were useful while others were mostly “boring” and “too easy” (SSI). S4 said the
materials were not at the same difficulty level as the mock exams yet she enjoyed gamification as well
(SSI).
S3, who reported both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to pursue the virtual courses, said he was happy
with the course materials and preferred to follow them for the exam preparation (SSI).
4.1.2. Need for communication
The participants also took an affective stance towards the online course due to their need for
communication. They compared face-to-face classes with their virtual learning context and were critical
towards the latter for not fulfilling their need for socialization with their friends.
“Seeing more people in the classroom definitely affected my motivation. We’re under lockdown and it was
so much better to come together in a large group. I’m sure there are others who agree with me.” (SSI, S2)
S3 proposed students look for socialization in order to stay motivated to continue the online course:
“Improving relationships is important for students because they want to get to know other students. Even
recognizing each other could become effective.” (CWA) He repeated the same view in the SSI: “I cannot
feel motivated when the classroom is empty.”

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S4 said she needed other students to attend for feeling ambitious and motivated: “We can encourage each
other to have ambition and motivation.”
S8 also referred to a need for socialization to keep motivated: “When students see their friends with them,
they are more motivated. They can exchange ideas.” (CWA)
4.1.3. Self-regulation
Self-regulation appeared to be one of the crucial internal factors that impacted the students’ motivation.
The online learning environment clearly required the participants to develop new studying habits, which
was a challenge for them.
“Because of online education most students can act undisciplined. Students feel more free because they are
at home.” (CWA, S1)
While they acknowledged that online learning was convenient, they felt simply feeling ready to get
connected with the class was a challenge for them.
“It’s hard to push yourself and sit in front of the computer, it takes discipline.” (SSI, S2)
“It’s tough to gather yourself and have the discipline to study for the class.” (SSI, S4)
“They provide everything you need in an online course, it’s up to you to pull yourself together and go for
it.” (SSI, S3).
Several students also mentioned the enjoyment they get from the course in order to sustain self-
determination. They called the online courses “boring” (SSI; S2, S4), which caused them to lose motivation
at times.
4.2. External Factors Affecting Motivation
Data from CWA and SSI revealed that participants in general believed that face-to face education was better
than online education due to external reasons. A common opinion stated by all the participants against
online education was that they found face-to-face education, especially classroom environment, more
motivating. Regarding external factors, four minor themes emerged from the SSI and CWA.
4.2.1. Teachers
Class teachers in online education were reported to have affected students’ motivation extrinsically in a
positive or negative way depending on the context. All participants in the study pointed out that their
language learning motivation depended highly on teacher-related factors, which in turn resulted in lower
or higher extrinsic motivation. Teaching methods, lesson presentation, feedback and interaction with
teachers were the issues mentioned by the participants. It was stated that the instructions and feedback by
the teachers were not adequate sometimes, which led to lower motivation for attendance. S2 and S3 noted
in SSI that “feedback varied a lot among instructors” indicating that their learning is hindered due to
differences in the instruction and methods.
“I check the schedule and the teacher giving the lesson and then I decide whether to attend or not because
the methods teachers use vary a lot.” (SSI, S3)
Interaction with teachers was also reported to be limited when compared to face-to-face education as
students couldn’t communicate with their teachers as they usually do in face-to-face education.
“In face-to-face education, students can ask their question easily and without hesitation in class or in
breathing time.Thus, students simultaneously learn what they did not understand. Though, in online classes,
there is no chance like that because of the limited time and the short breaks.” (CWA, S2)
“Face to face education is better than online education. If there are things you don’t understand,you can ask
questions to your teacher.” (CWA, S7)

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S2 also mentioned that she felt shy to send messages to teachers. She said that even if she had questions to
ask teachers, she did not want to send mails or messages as she thought it would not be right thing to do
and it would disturb the teacher. (SSI)
As part of interaction, the use of body language and facial expressions were touched upon by S1 as one of
the factors affecting motivation. She compared virtual classes and traditional classes in terms of non-verbal
expressions and said “...teachers cannot follow our (non-verbal) signals in virtual classes.” (SSI)
4.2.2. Classmates
The impact of the classmates on motivation was reported to be another important factor by the participants.
“In the previous class, there were fewer students and I was less motivated; however, now that I see more
students attending classes, I feel more motivated.” (SSI, S2)
S8 also noted that having peers around in the classroom environment fosters their motivation because they
‘exchange ideas’. (CWA)
Classroom size was mentioned by S1 as a cause for increased affective filter. Having very few classmates
in virtual class makes students feel ‘nervous’ and decrease their motivation to attend classes (SSI).
S3 emphasized the importance of peer learning for L2 motivation and engagement in the classroom
practices, and said “classmates definitely affect our motivation, because we have group work activities.”
(SSI, S3)
4.2.3. Organizational problems
Organizational problems, which were caused by the school in the organization of the online courses, were
mentioned many times and emerged as a factor that decreased students’ motivation. The lack of group
cohesion due to the way the classes were organized to include strong and weak students together was seen
problematic. As a result, the simplified tasks and language decreased the identified regulation levels of the
students as the lesson content was seen less valuable. Participants didn’t feel challenged enough when the
instructor graded down the instruction for weaker students.
“When you know something and another friend doesn’t, listening to the teacher elaborate becomes a waste
of time for you. Even if I listen to the teachers’ explanation just to revise a topic, it still gets boring and I
lose my motivation.” (SSI, S2)
“Students in the same class have different proficiency levels and this affects our motivation a lot.” (SSI,
S1)
It was also reported that voluntary attendance led them to skip the classes as they are used to being governed
with strict attendance criteria in their previous face-to-face classes. Participants criticized the voluntary
attendance system since they needed an external regulator and emphasized the negative effects it has on
their motivation. It was understood from the interviews that students are inclined to skip classes unless they
are compulsory.
“As it is not compulsory for intermediate students to attend classes, I often think if I should skip classes,
but I try to push myself and be consistent.” (SSI, S1)
“You know us, we lack discipline. If you tell me I’m allowed to skip, I will skip.”(SSI, S12)
“Mostly I don’t want to attend because it’s not compulsory.” (SSI, S3)
Another criticism was the lack of opportunities to re-watch the classes even though each class is recorded.
It has been stated by S12 that they may not be available during the class hours and he wishes they could
watch the recorded sessions in their free time. (SSI)

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4.2.4. Situational problems

Another issue related to online learning context was the situational problems which arouse because of
studying from home, feeling less motivated due to the home lockdown and their Internet connection.
“If people take online education, they won’t be concentrated enough. People more relax when they take
online education and it isn’t good to feel very comfortable.” (CWA, S5)
Additionally, the environment where students take online classes was considered to be inappropriate by
two participants. ‘Noise’ and ‘siblings’ (CWA, S2) were mentioned and they said that they ‘needed a calm
environment’ to concentrate on their lessons (CWA, S8). However, house is not suitable for them as
participants pointed out:
“I am always nervous when I attend classes from home because my parents usually forget that I am having
a class and I am afraid that something inappropriate will happen.” (SSI, S1)
S1 also focused on how traditional ways of learning are more effective for them:
“..students learn by looking at the paper more than the screen. I also believe that it is not an effective way
to learn the subjects because students can easily trick their teachers by not listening to the lesson at online
classes because they do not see them. So, to my mind it is the worst way to learn a subject.” (CWA)

5. Discussion
The main goal of this study was to investigate the learners’ perceptions of online teaching in terms of their
motivation and answer the below research question:
What are the learners’ perceptions of interplay between online learning and L2 learning motivation?
The qualitative data obtained through SSI and CWA revealed the motivational trajectories that the learners
went through. The impact of internal and external factors emerged as the two major themes. Internal factors
included the following sub-themes: course satisfaction, self-determination and need for socialization.
External factors had sub-themes that were related to teachers, classmates, their distant learning situation
and organization of the online courses.
The qualitative results indicate that participants’ perceptions of online education tend to be mostly negative
as a result of various factors one of which is lack of interaction with their teachers and classmates and
teachers’ feedback. The findings are in line with the study conducted by Lin et al. (2017). The study found
that participants’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivation was lower in online education when compared to face-
to-face education and the researchers put forward lack of interaction with peers and teachers as the reason
why students are less motivated in online courses. Students reported higher motivation levels as a result of
satisfying teacher feedback and sufficient communication with teachers. This finding is in line with
Ushida’s (2005) study on a mostly online language course. Ushida (2005) reported that teachers play an
important role in creating a classroom culture that eventually affects students’ motivation. Insufficient or
negatively-perceived teacher feedback ends up increasing students’ affective filters and therefore causing
their motivation to drop as one interview participant pointed out. In this study, detailed feedback that
satisfied students was found to be a motivation booster and this finding seems to support the study of Chen
and Jang (2010), who suggested students need customized support to be less anxious and uncertain and
keep following the course. Yantraprakorn et al. (2018) also reported that discouraging teacher feedback had
a negative impact in an online L2 course in Thailand. According to Dörnyei (1994), teacher-specific factors
have a major impact on students’ motivation due to several reasons including feedback. The noticeable
instructor presence has the potential to determine students’ motivation in online learning settings (Baker,
2010).
In addition, course content, materials and their self-determination to get the most benefit from the course
had a major impact on the participants’ motivational levels as it was related to their personal goals as L2

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learners. The students reported higher levels of engagement when they found the activities and classes
relevant to their targets and when they acknowledged that the tasks were meaningful for them. Our findings
supported the study of De Barba et al. (2016) as the motivation at the moment of learning acts as a bridge
between their intrinsic motivation and participation in distance education. In our study, several students
said they chose to attend and participate in speaking classes as they served their needs. This finding seems
to confirm the study of Hartnett et al. (2011), who discussed the positive impact of materials that were
deemed valuable and meaningful by learners on learner motivation in a virtual setting. Çebi and Güyer
(2010) found the more learners were engaged in course materials, the more motivated they grew in an
online course. Dincer and Yesilyurt (2017), too, found the students who seek personal development were
more motivated and involved in the online speaking courses.
Our participants also viewed course satisfaction in terms of the enjoyment they got out of them. Thus, they
referred to gamified lesson content as a motivation booster. Özhan and Kocadere (2020) reported similar
conclusions and stated emotional commitment with the games in online courses increased students’
motivation.
Even though the participants reported varying degrees of satisfaction with the course content, one thing
they agreed on was the need for self-discipline to follow the courses and they stated they had difficulty in
convincing themselves to connect to the lesson. This finding supports Murday et al.’s (2008) study that
concluded that keeping motivation and discipline at a desired level is tough in online courses. Our study
supports the opinions of Kyewski & Krämer (2018) who put forward that participation in online classes
tend to be lower.
All in all, the online L2 course was perceived more negatively than positively by the sample of prep school
students in a foundation university due to numerous reasons including a lack of communication between
teachers and students and within students, and lack of students’ self-determination to guide their learning
without the presence of an external factor.

6. Conclusion
To conclude, this study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of motivation regarding online education.
Semi-structured interviews and creative writing assignments of students showed that the views of students
are mostly negative in terms of online education. The participants referred to various reasons as to why
they feel less motivated in the online learning process such as not being satisfied with the course content
and materials, lacking self-discipline to follow the course, a lack of communication as a group of teachers
and students and lack of private space to follow the course. Overall, it can be concluded that online learning
presents many challenges in terms of keeping students motivated to pursue their goals of second language
learning and decision-makers should take the factors that affect learners’ motivation into consideration in
designing online courses and presenting/selecting professional development training sessions.

7. Pedagogical implications
There are some pedagogical implications that might be drawn as a result of the present study. First of all,
measures should be taken to maximize interaction between teachers and students and within the group of
students. It might also be a good idea to avoid putting students potentially with different goals in the same
classroom in order to ensure group cohesion and working towards a similar goal.
Course content and materials should be engaging and meaningful in order to maximize student motivation
and learning.
Instructional designers and teachers should guide students to learn independently as online courses largely
depend on students’ determination to continue.

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Encouraging and satisfying teacher feedback is found to be very important. In order to achieve this and
above factors, teachers’ awareness is very important. Professional Development activities can be designed
to raise teachers’ awareness regarding the students’ needs in a virtual course. Additionally, dialogic
interaction should be sustained among the teachers to help them feel more motivated as well.

Çevrimiçi eğitimde yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenen öğrencilerin motivasyonunu etkileyen faktörler: Nitel bir
durum çalışması
Özet
Motivasyon, yabancı dil öğrencilerinin dil öğrenme sürecinde başarı ve performansını etkileyen en önemli faktörlerden biridir
ve bu nedenle hem öğrenciler hem öğretmenler için hayati önem taşır. Küresel pandemi sürecinde yabancı dil olarak İngilizce
öğretilen hazırlık okulu dersleri sanal ortamlara taşınmış ve motivasyon konusu çok daha fazla ilgi çekmeye başlamıştır.
Bu nitel durum çalışması, yedi haftalık bir çevrimiçi İngilizce öğrenimi süresince öğrencilerin çevrimiçi eğitime
yönelik algılarını ve motivasyonlarına etki eden unsurları araştırmak amacıyla yapılmıştır. Bu çalışmada aynı sınıfta eğitim
alan 12 öğrenciyle yapılan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ve öğrencilerin yazma performansına yönelik
yapılan çalışmalarından elde edilen veriler kullanılmıştır. Öğrencilerin görüşleri incelendiğinde, genel olarak çevrimiçi
eğitime karşı negatif tutum geliştirdikleri; buna sebep olarak ise sosyal etkileşim eksikliği, çevrimiçi eğitim içeriğinin
beklentileri karşılayamaması, eğitim planlamasındaki ve öğrenme ortamının planlanmasındaki sorunların etkili olduğu
gözlemlenmiştir. Pedagojik çıkarımlar sunulmuştur.
Anahtar kelimeler: Çevrimiçi öğrenme, motivasyon, uzaktan eğitim, EFL, durum çalışması

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