Students' perception of participating in an online academic English course

This research investigates the students’ participation in an online academic English course at the School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) during the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Data was gathered by online questionnaire inquiring about the perception and difficulties of participating in an online academic English course of sample groups of undergraduate students that they took the "English for Engineers" course in the first semester of the academic year 2021. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, and were used to substantiate the findings of each other. For the quantitative analysis, the data were counted, presented by percentage and calculated in terms of arithmetic means ( ) and then interpreted by using the evaluation criteria. There are three main findings of the study, which were: 1) the students expressed they participated more in group and pair work; 2) they felt reluctant when providing questions or answers in the whole class section; and 3) they were confident in participating in small group discussions, although they did not show up themselves online. For the qualitative analysis, the coding themes were used to elaborate the above findings. Regarding the results of the study, three aspects of its implications have been suggested: 1) organizing students into small groups might be an excellent method to create student participation; 2) small group discussion has a positive impact not only on students' perceptions but also on their confidence in group work skills; and 3) the students would attend even without the use of the webcam, and the teacher takes a role in creating interaction. Although the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) accelerates both teachers and students must adapt to online teaching and learning, there are several learning opportunities of adjusting to the new habit and the new normal in education. Kinds of online participants that are likely to work best are challenging to discover more for post-pandemic.