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In order to evaluate the attitudes of the subjects, the researchfocused to examine their perceptions of 3 matters: 1 the practices of using E-learning at theirinstitution, 2 the benefits

to finish this dissertation

I would like also to thank all my teachers and examiners for their time to read and evaluate this work Last but not least, I would like to thank my dear friends who have spent hours supporting andencouraging me

This dissertation investigated the issue concerning the attitudes towards E-learning of students andteachers at a Vietnamese English center In order to evaluate the attitudes of the subjects, the researchfocused to examine their perceptions of 3 matters: (1) the practices of using E-learning at theirinstitution, (2) the benefits and drawbacks of E-learning and (3) its impacts on their teaching andlearning A sample of 10 students and 3 teachers were invited to participate in a questionnaire andinterviews, respectively The findings suggested that the Vietnamese English training educationalinstitution is provided a favorable condition for E-leaning implementation Besides, both teacher andstudent participants, from their answers, clearly expressed their awareness of enormous advantagesthat they have experienced when incorporating E-learning in their teaching and learning They alsopointed out some obstacles discouraging them from using the technology including inadequatetrainings and personal inexperience with computers In terms of the impacts of E-learning,improvement in communication, alternative approaches to searching information, closer involvement

of parents were also emphasized by the outcomes of this research

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 4

1.1 E-learning in Vietnam 4

1.2 Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic towards Vietnam’s Education 4

1.3 The attitude factors in E-learning implementation 5

1.4 Research questions 6

1.5 Structure of the study 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 What is E-learning 8

2.2 Attitudes of teachers towards E-learning 10

2.3 Attitudes of students towards E-learning 11

2.4 Research questions 13

CHAPTER 3: METHODS 14

3.1 Research methodology 14

3.2 Research method 15

3.2.1 Questionnaire 15

3.2.2 Semi-structure Interview 16

3.2.3 Data collection 17

3.3 Pilot Study 17

3.4 The populations and sample 17

3.5 Research quality 18

3.6 Ethical Issues 19

3.7 Limitations of the research 20

3.8 Analysis method 20

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 21

4.1 Data collected from Questionnaire: 21

4.1.1 The practice of using E-learning 21

4.1.2 The benefits and drawbacks of E-learning 22

4.1.3 The impacts of E-learning 23

4.2 Data collected from Interviews: 25

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 29

5.1 Summary of the study 29

5.1.1 Research Methodology and Data Analysis 29

5.1.2 Literature Review and Research Findings 29

5.4 Suggestions for further research 31

REFERENCE 32

APPENDICES 37

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 E-learning in Vietnam

There are a number of studies investigating the attitudes of teachers and students towards the use oftechnology in teaching and learning (Salmon, 2011; Teo, 2011; Teo & Ursavas, 2012; Chen & Tseng,2012; Karaca, Can & Yildirim, 2013; Inan & Lowther, 2010; Yilmaz & Bayraktar, 2014).; howeverthere is little research dedicated to exploring this relationship in the educational settings amongcountries in which English is used as a foreign language, such as Vietnam, the focus of this study.With the rising demand of learning English, many English centers have been founded in order to serve

a large body of Vietnamese people who desire to improve their English levels The methods whichhave been employed by these centers are the traditional face-to-face approach However, along withthe advance of the Internet and technology, the presence of E-learning in Vietnam over a decade agohas changed the game E-learning has actually been flourishing in the last 5-6 years, but proving to bevery popular for Vietnamese people since they day it emerged This technology offers people aplatform that allows learners to study at any time, anywhere they want with half of the cost that theyneed to pay for a physical course In Vietnam, the use of technology and technological services such

as the Internet, mobile phones, online trading and social media are continuously extensive in theirdaily lives and in business In terms of education, there has been a number of proposals and policiesabout developing online and distance education, which were introduced since 2005 including QD164/2005/QD-TTg: Development of Distance Learning Phase 2005-2010; QD 89/QD-TTg: BuildingSocial Learning Phase 2012-2020; and QD 1559/QD-TTg: Development of Distance Learning Phase2015-2020 Despite the early and immense implementation of E-learning in Vietnamese educationalinstitutions, not much of success have been reported in using technology in learning language so far.The trend of using such great technology in teaching-learning process has also halted until theoutbreak of the Covid-19 at which a transition to online learning has emerged and quickly prevailedworldwide in order to avoid teaching and learning disruption

1.2 Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic towards Vietnam’s Education

The Covid-19 pandemic presents global human life with massive adversities The impacts of Covid-19were not limited at the global economic sector, but the world of education was also seriously affected.This damage has been warned by the United Nations education, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), that the pandemic will be a great challenge for the world’s education, but it is also anexcellent opportunity worth taking the most use of ("UNESCO COVID-19 Education issue notes",2020) Schools in almost every part of the world have been forced to close with the view to preventing

the infection of Covid-19 However, many initiatives have been developed in an attempt to address thecurrent issue and avoid the disruption in educational activities among students and teachers, in which

a transition from face-to-face teaching method to online learning has been highly recommended andimplemented all over the world In Vietnam, teaching and learning online are not uncommon and haveenormous potential to develop thanks to the advance of technology in the last decade With more than

64 million Internet users, Vietnam places sixth among Asian countries and comes in twelfth in theworld ranking in terms of the number of Internet users (We are social, 2018) Despite the development

of technology, E-learning has been implemented in restricted manners Educational institutions whichprovide language training courses have taken the lead in E-learning implementation compared topublic and private school During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s education was urged to adoptintegration of E-learning to maintain educational activities (Thuy, 2020) Still, E-learning has beenchanging the way of learning and teaching of teachers and students across this country and continues

to assert its importance in education in Vietnam

1.3 The attitude factors in E-learning implementation

Some research’s findings also proved the pivotal role of E-learning in learning and teaching.Nevertheless, one of the determining factors behind this successful implementation are the readinessand the attitude of teachers and students who play an essential part in using the technology Forexample, the research by Zhao (2010) stated that among various factors contributing to the success ofstudents in E-learning, the students themselves are the determinant for the success of implementingthe technology Their attitudes to E-learning were also reported to be a strong predictor for effectiveimplementation of E-learning (Akbari, Eghtesad, & Simons, 2012; Cinkara & Bagceci, 2013) Interms of teaching and learning English, students’ effort and their attitudes are one of the crucial issues

in determining the success of E-learning integration (Tallent-Runnels, 2006) On the other hand,research has shown that the positive attitudes are proven to be an essential factor which supportsteachers to overcome obstacles when using technology for language instructions (Kadel, 2005) Infact, the optimistic attitudes of teachers towards E-learning play an important role in E-learningimplementation, students’ acceptance with the integration of E-learning and E-learning transitionspeed However, that is not always the case and teachers are not always positive about adopting E-learning in their teaching, especially those who have restricted exposure to computer and technology.More importantly, teachers’ positive and negative attitudes towards E-learning will create aconsiderable impact on their behaviors to use and incorporate advanced technology into their teaching.Therefore, the investigations in teachers and students’ attitudes towards E-learning can assist toevaluate the effectiveness and utilization of E-learning and provide better preparation for futureteachers in terms of incorporating E-learning in their teaching

1.4 Research questions

With this in mind, above findings are providing the understandings of how Covid-19 pandemicinfluences the E-learning practice in Vietnamese education and expressing the need for examining theattitudes of teachers and students towards E-learning To address this matter, there are three sub-questions that need to be developed to achieve the aim of study:

- What is the practice of using technologies in teaching and learning at this center?

- What are the benefits and drawbacks of using E-learning?

- What are the impacts on teaching and learning processes during the period of using learning?

E-To achieve this aim, this study targets three main objectives:

 To identify teachers and students’ attitudes towards using E-learning

 To determine the practice of using E-learning in English center

 To identify the advantages and disadvantages being offered by E-learning used in teaching andlearning English

1.5 Structure of the study

The research will be divided into 5 chapters In this introductory chapter, detailed explanations of theunderlying reasons behind the research at the Vietnamese English center have been presented

Chapter 2 - Literature review: The purpose of this chapter is to examine the concerned matters by

investigating in relevant peer-reviewed studies, which have recently been conducted This chapterprovides an overall picture of the attitudes of students and teachers towards E-learning in differentcontexts and under the analysis of different authors In fact, although the outcomes of these studiesabout attitudes of the subjects are inconsistent, the rationale for the variations is always provided andthe factors that might influence those findings are clearly declared This chapter plays an importantrole in shaping the views of readers as well as orienting this research

Chapter 3 - Methodology: This chapter illustrates how the study was carried out through a specific

procedure This study uses single case research methodology, in which two research instruments areadopted for the two subjects In particular, questionnaire is used to collect data from students whileinterviews are carried out for teacher participants Besides, a pilot study and sampling approach as

well as ethical issues are presented in this chapter Moreover, for each method used, explanations,limitations and the difficulties needing to be addressed while conducting the research are mentioned

Chapter 4 - Data Analysis and Discussion: This chapter presents the data collected from the

participants’ responses to the questionnaire and interviews Then, the findings of the study will beanalyzed in the relation with the findings of other related research to indicate the similarities anddifferences among these peer studies This chapter integrates literature from the literature review andother related research to clarify the interpretations of students and teachers towards E-learning Inorder to generate an overall picture of the attitudes of teachers and students to E-learning, differentscenes of the picture, which are the practice of using E-learning, the benefits and drawbacks of E-learning from students and teachers’ point of view and their interpretations to the impacts of E-learning, are carefully drawn

Chapter 5 - Conclusion and recommendations: This chapter illustrates a summary of the findings,

the implications arise from those findings and the recommendations for further research with the view

to minimizing the weaknesses of this study and achieving better results Furthermore, a summary of

each chapter included in this research is integrated in this chapter

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 What is E-learning

The advantages and application of E-learning have been mentioned as, the definition of E-learningshould be paid equal amount of concerns The term of E-learning has been broadly used to describemultiple aspects of the use of information and communication technology in a diversity of learningand educational contexts According to Wentling (2000), E-learning was referred to as the assistance

of Internet and technologies used as tools to find solutions with the view to improving knowledge andperformance In general, the term is perceived as the process of learning performed by the utilization

of electronic tools and services (Wentling, 2000) While the use of information and communicationtechnology such as internet, computers and other devices is in consensus among different definitions

of E-learning, it seems to diversify when describing the purpose of it E-learning can be utilized toreduce the costs and time, but it also can enhance the collaborative and co-operative relationshipsamong users (De Laat, 2006) and allow connection among a wide range of resources (Poccoli, 2001)

In addition to its numerous definitions, E-learning also has a number of terms which implicate thesame subject including: virtual learning, web-based learning, online learning, network learning Theseterms are interchangeable and each term derives from different definition and viewpoint of its coiner Since E-learning has existed for a long period time, it has experienced different specific stages.According to Connolly (2007), the first stage occurred between 1994 -1999, in which the conventionalmethods and equipment of were fundamentally taken place by the online-based substitutions The nextera occurred between 2000-2013 and was expressly dominated by easy streaming audio and visualmaterials and integration of virtual training as supplement to the main course The third stage is as ofnow in progress This stage has witnessed the emergence of portable computing and program-based,intelligent practices Besides, there are several methods which can be adopted to classify the sorts ofonline training For example, E-learning can be divided into two essential themes including personalcomputer-based and the web-based e-learning (Algahtani, 2011) According to Algahtani (2011),computer-based training includes the utilization of all types of hardware and software that areavailable for Information and Communication Technology purposes and each proponent can be usedunder the complete instructions of computers, which is a supplement for traditional training method interms of storing and retrieving information, or the assistance of computers, which is a substitution oftraditional approach In additions, there are now many training frameworks having also beenintroduced and adopted by different educational institutions The researcher also put forward adefinition the complete online mode and divided the term into two categories, based on the optionalinteraction timing While the “synchronous” enables instant conversations among teachers andstudents while “asynchronous” allows discussions at different times Therefore, the benefit of

“synchronous” is the immediate feedback, while the “asynchronous” type allows teachers and learners

to work and learn at their preferred timetable

In terms of the advantages, E-learning has also been proven as extraordinarily helpful and effective inlearning and teaching by a number of studies on the potential of this method so far The research byDavies (1997) demonstrated that the integration of E-learning in teaching can improve the students’performance Another study conducted by Bransford (1994) showed that when used effectively andappropriately, E-learning is capable of stimulating critical thinking among students, facilitatinginformation processing and developing problem solving skill In terms of language learning, electronicdevices can easily attract attention of young learners, which encourage them to imitate the sounds andactions they are appealed to Online games are another advantageous tool as it sparks students’interests to get involved in the activities Games, in general, are designed to increase the engagementphysically, mentally and psychologically That is why language games such as vocabulary andpronunciation games are tremendously beneficial for English learners When they are engaged, theyare motivated to learn new words and their pronunciation without suffering from relentless pain asthey might have when using traditional way of learning and their existing knowledge is somehowstrengthened and solidified throughout the games (Mohammadi, Ghorbani & Hamidi, 2011) Althoughthese types of technology have been implemented for a long period of time and the advantages E-learning offers have been carefully investigated, attitudes of teachers and students involved still needpaying more attention to As a matter of fact, if the students and teachers are not willing to adopt newtechnology as well as learn how to adopt these tools, there could be a definite failure right before itstarts (Bruess, 2003)

In spite of the clear advantages that E-learning offers the education, it also has some disadvantagesthat should be taken into consideration Many studies have been reporting their findings about thisissue (Hameed, 2008; Akkoyuklu & Soylu, 2006; Dowling, 2003; Mayes, 2002; Klein &Ware, 2003).According to Dowling (2003), the benefits of improving learning results by providing availablematerials online are applicable only for a specific group of assessment In addition, it is believed thatE-learning do not provide adequate interactions, no only among students and teachers, but also amongcolleague learners Besides, in terms of explanations and instructions providing, the E-learningapproach is much harder for both learns and instructors to interact compared to the face-to-facetraditional method of learning E-learning might also hinder the communication among teachers andstudents instead of meliorating the skill of those students Moreover, as tests for evaluations are madeonline, it might be impossible for educators to prevent bad behaviors during the test such as cheating.Plagiarism is another concern when it comes to utilizing E-learning as a teaching and learning methodsince materials become more and more easily accessible (Almosa, 2002)

2.2 Attitudes of teachers towards E-learning

Technology, among most teachers, is the valuable tool which facilitates their teaching effectiveness.However, the effective integration of E-learning in education is largely attributed to teachers’ attitudestowards it (Salmon, 2011; Teo, 2011; Teo & Ursavas, 2012) According to Liaw, Huang and Chen(2007), the positive attitudes of users towards technology are the key factor of a successfulimplementation regardless of the advance and capability of the technology Earlier research onteachers’ attitudes towards E-learning also emphasized the significance of personal interpretations ontechnology to their intention to use it (Barki & Hartwick, 1994) In fact, users who perceivetechnology as important and personal relevant are likely to have optimistic attitudes towards it(Rogers, 2003; Teo, 2011) There are many positive opinions having been collected from the studies

on teachers’ perspectives and attitudes towards E-learning According to Melor (2007) and Samueland Zaitun (2007), their findings indicate that teachers have positive attitudes but are lacking in skills

as they did not undergo adequate trainings with new software and experienced limited access toassisted infrastructure Consequently, Comas-Quinn (2011) suggested that effective training forteachers plays an important role in lifting up their attitudes towards online teaching

The factors affecting the attitudes towards E-learning have been intensively studying in severalresearch (Chen & Tseng, 2012; Karaca, Can & Yildirim, 2013; Inan & Lowther, 2010; Yilmaz &Bayraktar, 2014) According to Chen and Tseng (2012), the primary reasons behind the intentions toincorporate E-learning in education was the teachers’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use whilecomputer anxiety had significantly demotivated and discouraged them from adopting technology intheir teaching The finding of the research by Yilmaz and Bayraktar (2014) demonstrated a significantand positive correlation between teachers’ attitudes and their innovativeness levels in terms ofimplementing E-learning The outcomes of these studies suggested that the factors influencingattitudes of teachers towards E-learning can be categorized into two themes: internal and external.Internal factors, which include personal beliefs about technology, can be scaled by the degree ofindividually favorable and unfavorable perceptions towards technology On the contrary, externalfactors involve subjective elements, organizational structures, infrastructures and support andtechnical complexity Specifically, a research by Papanastasious and Angeli (2008) indicated thecorrelation between the positive attitude towards E-learning of teachers and the effective integration

of the technology in teaching as the teachers perceived E-learning as a useful tool and they believed intechnological benefits E-learning contributed to education A study by Yilfirim (2000), on the otherhand, suggested that the more experience with computer teachers gain, the more positive theirattitudes about the potential of education using computers are (Yilfirim, 2000) The optimisticattitudes of teachers can also be attributed to their own opinions and prejudice about technology-assistant class and the value of E-learning environment Besides, this positive relationship between

teachers’ attitudes and various aspects of the implementation of E-learning can be found in a variety

of studies (Panda & Mishra, 2007, Shu-Sheng Liaw, 2007) Other studies suggested that the role ofteachers’ positive attitude towards E-learning was considered as a facilitator in imparting knowledge

to students, or a catalyst to accelerate the transition to learning In addition, attitude towards learning can be affected by the teachers’ personal characteristics such as teaching experience (Karaca,Can & Yildirim, 2013; Onasanua, Shehu & Shehu, 2010); academic qualification (Males, 2011;Rahimi & Yadolhahi, 2011); confidence of computer exposure (Cavas, 2009; Krishnakumar &Kumar, 2011) According to Karaca (2013) the most influential factor contributing to the success ofE-learning implementation was teachers’ technology competencies This factor also plays a crucialrole in the beliefs and attitudes of teachers to integrating technology in education In other words,teachers who had sufficient knowledge and skills about the technology were more likely to developpositive attitudes about it The finding was supported by a study conducted by Ab.Rahim andShamsiah (2007) showing that different individuals have different level of confidence towards usingE-learning in class due to their personal experience with technology This can partly be explained bythe fact that those accustomed with the technology are more likely to have the ability to decide whenand where to integrate it in their teaching The convergence of different factors in attitudes of teacherstowards E-learning is shown important as a research on teachers with computer experience andpositive attitudes struggling with the practice of their institution cultures This is due to the inadequacy

E-of administrative support and preparedness (Vodanovich & Piotrowski, 2005)

However, it is not always the case that a consensus among teachers about integrating E-learning intheir teaching could be reached These teachers shared a pessimistic view towards the technologyprogram This negative attitude might be due to the anxiety among the minority of teachers Althoughthe control over this negative feelings towards E-learning is not easy to gain, but certainly could beachieved by devoting more effort Lack of time on technology competencies, for example, canproduce negative influences on teachers’ attitudes towards E-learning but can be rectified by thedevoting more time to gain new technology skills (Karaca, Can & Yildirim, 2013)

2.3 Attitudes of students towards E-learning

In language learning context, there are two basic ways for students to approach learning: first, learning can be used as a substitute for traditional education Depending on their personal demandsand interests, E-learning courses can be tailor to meet these needs to provide independentcomprehensive learning Second, E-learning is adopted as a tool to support other teaching and learningmethods In many contexts of language learning, traditional face-to-face classes are supplemented byimplementing E-learning, which enables students to learn and practice after class in an onlineenvironment This method of learning is also adopted by publishers whose books offered readers both

E-printed and online versions so they could add more visualized materials and audios with the view toreinforcing and solidifying the knowledge mentioned in the hard copy According to Anderson (2003),the blending method of studying is beneficial and engaging to students More importantly, E-learningplay an essential role in shifting the centralization from teachers to students and their needs In fact, itenables students to actively assimilate the knowledge they learned in class as well as instigates theircritical thinking, communication skills and increases their level of motivation in learning (Shyamlee &Pjil, 2012)

In terms of attitudes towards E-learning, similar to their teachers, the attitudes of students play anequal role in the successful implementation of Internet and technologies in learning and studyingprocess That is why there are a variety of studies investigating this relationship and many interestingresults have been published so far Teachers are playing a key role in educational setting and theirperception about E-learning affects students’ attitude towards E-learning Several studies also foundthat the difference in genders had a significant impact on the acceptance of E-learning In particular,male students were more likely to have optimistic attitudes towards E-learning than their femalecounterparts On the contrary, Egbo (2011) proved the opposite that women are more easily drawn toE-learning than men while Suri and Sharma (2013) indicated the insignificance of the relationshipbetween genders and the implementation of E-learning This study was corroborated by other researchthat the difference in attitudes towards E-learning between men and women is not important.However, students’ familiarity to computer and Internet use was proven as another factor thatinfluences to their attitudes In fact, the experience they have with technologies enhances theirwillingness to use E-learning Research by Tekinarslan (2008) revealed that better accessibility ofcomputer and higher technical skills can reduce stress caused by using technologies, thus lighten theattitudes towards technology Conversely, according to Sweeney and Geer (2010) students who haverestricted access to E-learning tend to be restrained on their capabilities, experiences and attitudes.Moreover, it was proven that students are more interested if E-learning and technologies such aswebsite, computer and mobiles are adopted regardless of the purposes of using them While manystudies identified the strong relationship between high level of computer exposure and the optimismand comfort with technologies, several research showed the insignificant role of experience usingcomputer in achieving positive attitudes towards E-learning When adopting technologies in learning,students have inclination to hold an expectation about the followed outcomes Research by Rahamat(2012) found that positive attitudes towards E-learning are more likely to come along with the benefits

it offered In other words, if students are aware of any improvement and effectiveness in theirlearning, which is achieved by the technologies, they will be satisfied and optimistic about using them.Another study by Aixia and Wang (2011) demonstrated the relationship between the satisfactiontowards the E-learning environment and the affirmative attitudes towards E-learning This is one the

most important factors that play an important role in determining students’ attitudes The research alsopointed out that satisfaction, accompanied with other three factors, was the explanation of 83.8% ofthe student attitude difference However, a research of Deb (2011) has reported the pessimisticattitudes among a group of students This common characteristics found in these students were poorcomputing performance, technological anxiety and computer hardware problems, low motivation anddeficiency in independent working ability Besides, students who refused to adopt online learningmostly found that this way of studying is restraining human interaction and leaving them with feelings

of isolation and loneliness when facing with a computer screen (Deb, 2011) Another study on 800students of elementary and secondary schools in United Kingdom revealed that while learning atschool was uncomfortable and evoked their negative feelings, studying at home gave them a sense ofself-confidence (Ullah, Khan & Khan, 2018)

Given the remaining inconsistency in attitudes towards E-learning among teachers and students andthe significant impacts of the attitudes on the success of implementing E-learning in classroom, thispresent study seeks to make contributions in clarifying this issue by focusing on the perspective ofteachers and students at an English center The objectives of this study are to reveal the attitudes ofteachers and students towards E-learning

2.4 Research questions

The phenomenon outlined above reveals the need for understanding human issues associated with learning practices in Vietnam during the pandemic of Covid-19 The overall aim of this study is todetermine the attitudes towards E-leaning of teachers and students in an educational setting in anEnglish center However, to answer this research question, there are three sub-questions need to bedeveloped to achieve the aim of study

E What is the practice of using technologies in teaching and learning at this center?

- What are the benefits and drawbacks of using E-learning?

- What are the impacts on teaching and learning processes during the period of using learning?

E-To achieve this aim, this study targets three main objectives:

 To identify teachers and students’ attitudes towards using E-learning

 To determine the practice of using E-learning in English center

 To identify the advantages and disadvantages being offered by E-learning used in teaching andlearning English

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research methodology

While doing research, there are two common approaches that researchers found possible to followincluding: qualitative and quantitative methods The remarkable difference in nature between the twotraditional approach is that while quantitative methods are goal-based and the results are displayed innumbers, while qualitative research is descriptive and findings of the study are more of words andnarratives (Creswell, 2013) On the other hand, according to Denzin and Lincoln (2005), qualitativemethod refers to approach that better understanding on the meanings of the concerning matter isexpected to obtain While quantitative approach refers to a measure that data is collected empiricallyand outcomes are gained from experiments and exhibited in numeric rather than narrative manner tohelp answer the research question This method is usually conducted in a large scale, and the datacollected can be statistically measured and analyzed In summary, each research has its owncharacteristics, techniques and serves for specific purposes and researchers when considering the mostsuitable methods for their studies can flexibly choose among the qualitative or quantitative methods,even combining qualitative and quantitative, which is called mix method In qualitative research,questionnaire and interviews are the two most commonly used to generate data These requireresearchers to interact with the data and be close with the research contexts which help researchersgain richer, wider interpretation of the issues as various aspects are taken into consideration In thisresearch, the emphasis is laid on rich descriptions and proper understanding of phenomena related toattitudes of students and teachers towards E-learning in teaching and learning English To answer theresearch questions of this topic, questions of how, why and what will need to be resolved andobviously, information for these questions should be collected in the narrative form rather thannumeric manner in order to more precisely evaluate the participants’ attitudes In such a scenario, it isclear that qualitative method is employed, and this is done through lists of answers harvested form aninterview and a questionnaire However, to create a list of inquiry in qualitative research, fivestrategies including narrative, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and case study researchare recommended to adopt These five strategies possess their own similarities and differences.According to Creswell (2006), there are suggestions that researchers should take into accounts when itcomes to choosing research strategy For example, narrative type should be implemented if it is anindividual story in chronological order that a researcher wants to show in his study, or if the story that

a research wants to tell is related to cultural matters, he should choose the ethnography strategy; or ifthe researcher aims at showing a compilation of evidence, detailed descriptions gathered from one ordifferent settings, he would adopt the case study strategy However, more importantly, the features ofdiscussed issues and the context that the study includes in are more likely to be the determinants of the

choice of research strategy In this study, due to the research objectives, which is to investigate thedetailed evidence of the attitudes of students and teachers at an English center, the case study strategywas the most relevant.

3.2 Research method

In educational settings, research is frequently carried out by the case study methods, in which the twomost prevalent methods employed are multiple case and single case studies Single case method canalso allow researchers to gain deeper understanding about the subject of concern (Gustafsson, 2017).According to Yin (2009), he distinguished between multiple and single cases based on the nature ofthese two types of research and the purposes of research teams From his point of view, single casestudy design might investigate into one particular context, but provide deeper insight and wideraspects of into the topic Multiple case study, on the other hand, is designed to explore more than oneunit of analysis and the focus is shared to each case In this research, single case study design is beingused with one institution, the English center, involving two groups of subjects The intention of thisstudy is to set the precedence to research on Vietnamese educational institutions in terms of attitudestowards E-learning of students and teachers Therefore, a single case study is used to obtain betterunderstanding on this issue, make people aware of the current problem, then hopefully raise moreconcerns for such an aspect of Vietnamese education In addition, comparing to multiple case,although a single case research might be less strong and reliable due to the restriction in quantity of

samples, it is more economical and time saving Because of the limited in time and resources, a single

case study with a small sample size is best suited for this study

Furthermore, the case study research should follow three distinctive phases The aim of the first phase

is to design a protocol for the case study In order to do so, it requires a selection and rationale for thechoice of methods employed The second phase should involve the material/ instrument preparation,data collection and analysis The last phase is writing the findings and conclusion drawn from theresearch (Piccoli, Ahmad & Ives, 2001)

To take the most advantage of this single case study, there are two different research strategies to beemployed According to the specific characteristics of the subjects as well as the limited amount oftime spent carrying out this research, questionnaire is used to discover the attitudes of young studentstowards E-learning and for the adult teachers, they are assigned to going through an interview

3.2.1 Questionnaire

The first research tool in producing data used in the research is questionnaire According toOppenheim (1992), this instrument is confidential as private information is not compulsory, time-

saving as writing is not necessary, and advantageous for testing hypothesis and making comparisons.Questionnaires are also beneficial for research which requires distant management as this method ofcollecting data can be carried out via email, phone, and any available online platforms In thisresearch, inquiries are designed close-ended because such questions are easy to answer, less time-consuming For the purpose of this research, filling questionnaires are conducted at the English center,

in three days under the management of the Branch manager The reason why it has to be three days isthat selected students are studying in three different classes with different schedules, thus, the studentswho are in the same class are grouped together and do the questionnaires This arrangement ensuredcompletion of the questionnaire, timely and sufficient support if any questions are raised and also keepstudents with the right attitudes towards their participation Due to the long distancing, mailing seems

to have the advantages over any other methods Unfortunately, it is not the case as it may bechallenging for children to have access to email, operate a computer and perform required tasks in acomputer

Nevertheless, designing process of the questionnaire requires a good amount of time to develop Thisquestionnaire development entails choosing the participants, designing first set of questions, revisingthe contents and customizing the language for suitable respondents Obviously, this might bechallenging to come up with an inquiry that is able to elicit the most from the targeted participants asthe requirements must be clear but no suggestive words, phrases or questions are included Moreover,wording needs to be easy to understand, any lengthy and complicated wording should be carefullyavoided, multiple choice is recommended but the questions need to be designed for answers

3.2.2 Semi-structure Interview

In qualitative research, interview is one of the common instruments used to generate data for analysis.The purpose of interview is to provide immediate responses that allow researchers to obtain more datawith greater details (Sekaran, 2003) Interview can be conducted by using various structures, in whichsemi-structured is considered superior in terms of data quality compared to other instruments such asstructured interviews or questionnaire regardless of how open-ended they are (Borg & Gall, 1986) Astructured interview is the type of interview where questions having been prepared for everyrespondent are the same, options for selection are apparent and fixed responses are expected(Remenyl, 1998) The aim of this research is to identify the attitudes of the subjects towards E-learning, which is exploratory and requires a certain degree of depth and unexpectedness in theanswers Due to this reason, it is more appropriate to adopt semi-structured, but not any otheravailable techniques for this research The questions are designed to be open-ended so that therespondents are encouraged to express they most they could The interviews were administrated via

either Zoom or Skype Interviews were in English as interviewees are English-speaking teachers so itcould make them fell more relaxed and confident to express their opinions.

3.2.3 Data collection

Due to the difference in locations, the interviews are conducted via a communication platform, which

is Skype Interviewees were given the list of questions before the interview starts and 5 minutes toread through the questions The duration for each interview is the maximum of 30 minutes Theanswers are noted and recorded for the later analysis About questionnaire, it was sent via email to themanager of the center, who is in charge of delegating the papers and relevant documents toparticipants After 3 days since the questionnaire is disseminated, scanned versions of questionnaire,video records of students during their time of answering the inquiries and notes are collected

3.3 Pilot Study

According to a research carried out by Edwin and Vanora, pilot studies are “a crucial element of agood study design” ((van Teijlingen & Hundley, 2002) Some of the main advantages that a pilotstudy can offered is that pre-testing the quality of a research instrument, research design, protocol andmethod or providing an early warning of future failure of a study Due to the limited amount of times,shortage in resources and references associated with young learners, a pilot study was conducted tofind and understand any possible flaws of the designed questionnaire and the questions used in theinterview First, it appeared that the study took place according to plan but it failed to consider theability of the young participants as we received several questions from the students during the timethey was doing the inquiry For example, they often asked “How can I understand ….” Or “What doyou mean by …” After the questionnaire was revised, I came to realize that the wording and content

of the questions employed for the questionnaire were not straightforward and rather ambiguous forchildren to understand and give their true opinions Another problem was the number of questions Infact, students seemed to get bored easily reading, comprehending and answering too many questions

at a time At the end of the inquiry, some of the students had an inclination to take longer pauses,some of them tended to move through the questions faster Therefore, the questionnaire after revisionwas narrowed down to 10 questions only and recomposed in a clear and transparent manner

3.4 The populations and sample

The research is focusing on the attitude of teachers and students working in an English center,therefore the population of the study comprised students and teachers of a Vietnamese English centerlocated in Hanoi, Vietnam This brand is one of the most popular and experienced English institutions

in Vietnam with more than 10 years of educating experience The institution is investigated in this

research is one of its branches located in Hanoi, Vietnam In its classes, E-learning is used as asupplement to the traditional face-to-face teaching method In addition, students and their parents areprovided access to a platform, called Moodle, on which they can update weekly lessons, homework aswell as feedbacks from teachers on a weekly basis Moodle is equipped with a number of featureswhich are meant to enhance students’ learning progress such as audio files, vocabulary games andaccess to class ranking

In terms of participants, this research employs the purposive strategy to choose respondents Thistechnique enables researchers to recruit the participants who they think will meet the standards ofgenerating the most relevant and interesting answers, especially for the research involving intensive

interviews, discussion or observations (Instructional Design: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications, 2011) One of the rationale behind this selection of participants is the limited sample

size, thus, in order to make the most use of these participants, recruiting potential candidates appears

to be the most appropriate method to collect data They are guaranteed to have no hatred towardsstudying English or be under any forces to study English at this center Because if they have anynegative feelings for English and the center, their views on E-learning and its impacts will be biased.Teachers, on the other hand, are not chosen as the number of teachers is inherently restricted After allstandards are met, there are 10 students and 3 teachers at the English center are selected to be therespondents for the research Students are asked to perform the questionnaire task while teachers areselected to participate in the interview task

3.5 Research quality

According to Jan Amstrong, the common standards and criteria to assess whether a research is goodand qualified are almost impossible to reach unanimous consensus among qualitative researchers.However, there are some characteristics which are recommended to be taken into account whenidentifying a reliable research This research, based on those qualities, met these following standards.The subjects and context and environment chosen in this research were the ones I have gained detailedfamiliarity with and good amount of knowledge about before the study started thanks to my previousemployment Therefore, not only did I acquaint with the location, the context and the environment, Ialso understood the organization, operation and people factors there in the English center Theseinformation offers me a considerable advantage to select my own participants and hosting the researchregardless of the long distance Moreover, during the interview and questionnaire, reactions of eachrespondent were recorded and questions were noted for later analysis In fact, a pilot study wasconducted to evaluate the quality of the inquires of both instruments employed and tailored to fitspecific characteristics of different group of participants These processes were carried out under mysupervisor’s consultation Besides, ethical issues were paid meticulous attention Participants were

provided basic information about this study and guaranteed to understand of their participation and thepurpose of it More importantly, due to the involvement of younger participants, the ethical issues areseriously taken into consideration As these subjects not only required parents consent of involvement,their own permission and volunteering should be equally respected

3.6 Ethical Issues

Participants will be supplied adequately with all necessary information associated with the study.Before the research starts, participants will be asked to complete a form which aims to authenticatetheir consensus It will be made explicit for participants that their participation is not obligatorythroughout the research but totally voluntary according to their willingness to be involved Anywithdrawal from applicants will be accepted without any demands for explanation In addtiton, privateinformation obtained from the respondents will be respected and kept confidentially

For child subjects, their involvement will be carried out under endorsement and supervision of theircare providers First, a consent form to seek permission from their parents and those who act inguardianship was designed and sent to them However, children consent to taking part in the researchshould not only be represented by their parents but should be given the rights to speak their ownvoice To do that, a consent form was made simplified for children to show their own opinions aboutgetting involved in this survey Besides, the literature of the questionnaire for this subject group wastailored and revised several times before being sent over to the child participants as these questionshave to commensurate with their ages and maturity In particular, to make it easy for youngparticipants to process the information, the inquiries were kept short, the syntax was straightforwardand unambiguous and the negative statements were kept under control When considering the quality

of children’s answer, there is an unignorable fact that when being asked by an adult, children may bemore biased towards answers that they think can please the adult; or they may hold the belief that theadults interviewer know all the right answers, which makes them nervous when choosing a wronganswer Therefore, the questionnaire was customized to avoid using suggestive questions or phrases This study involves the contribution of children However, in Vietnam, children’s opinions are usuallynot respected by the society, sometimes they do not have the right to speak their own voices Thispractice leads to the fact that they are more of listening to their parents’ decision rather than makingtheir own choices As a person who has lived in this culture since I was born, I first took it for grantedthat there was no need to ask for the children’s consent to participate in my research, then the issueswith young age participants in my research were not taken enough consideration Fortunately, I soonaware of the significance of the children’ approval themselves to involve in the research In fact, theconsent of children matters even more than their parents and their parents have no rights to manipulate

their choice of participation For this reason, I created a new consent form which officially recognizesthe decisions of the young participants

3.7 Limitations of the research

The research employs single case study method, which represents the context of one English centeramong hundreds of them in Vietnam, therefore, this study cannot be generalized for all VietnameseEnglish centers Besides, the fact that the data have to be collected from distance is an inconveniencebecause of low-internet speed or unexpected disturbance during the interviews Last but not least, due

to the limited sources, it is not possible to fully cover different aspects of the issue

3.8 Analysis method

According to Seliger and Shohamy (1990), the analysis approach should be employed in a qualitativeresearch is firstly, identifying and sorting the relevant information from the answers collected fromrespondents and secondly, based on those selected data, revealing commonalities and patterns acrossthe data quotes or texts In order to do so, a step-by-step thematic analysis approach put forward byBraun and Clarke (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to analyze the interviews The guideline consists

of six steps including: (1) Familiarize with collected data; (2) Assign initial codes to the data; (3)Generate patterns or themes from the codes produced from different interviews; (4) Review themes;(5) Define and name themes; (6) Produce the report In the first phase, all the answers of theparticipants were read through until a level of certainty of comprehension was reached Afterthoroughly understanding the data, phase 2 was activated The relevant and interesting information,which illustrates the initial ideas, was coded into meaningful groups In the phase 3, these codes weresorted into different themes In this study, themes were the aims of the research which are: thepractices of the use of E-learning; the benefits and drawbacks of E-learning and the impacts of E-learning In phase 5 and 6, all relevant information was reviewed and categorized into the threethemes When all themes were completed, the final report was written up using themes, quotes andliterature to support and discuss about the study’s findings Questionnaire, on the other hand, wascoded to the scale of 1 to 5 depending on the degree of agreement and analyzed using percentage andmean According to that, “strongly agree” opinion was assigned to 5 and “strongly disagree” wasassigned to 1 The mean was the average number of the answers and the percentage displays thenumber of respondents choosing the specific answer Any items which had more than 4 points wereconsidered to be positive opinions and which had less than 3 points were the negative ones

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is for demonstrating the outcomes of the information examination Data was collected bythe answers from questionnaire for students and interviews for teachers A questionnaire with 10questions was developed based on the research aims The objective of this inquiry was to determinethe interpretation of student participants about their attitudes towards E-learning at the English centerthey are studying The research questions were presented in Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 as follows:

- What is the practice of using technologies in teaching and learning at this center?

- What are the benefits and drawbacks of using E-learning?

- What are the impacts on teaching and learning processes during the period of using learning?

E-The data was shown in the form of a table with the raw data and a table displaying percentages ofthose raw data

A semi-structured interview, which is comprised of 4 questions, was designed for teacher participants.There are 3 teachers who were involved in the interviews The aims of the interviews were as follows:

- The impacts of E-learning on the teaching process of teachers

- The benefits and drawbacks that teachers might experience during the time of implementing learning in their teaching

E-4.1 Data collected from Questionnaire:

4.1.1 The practice of using E-learning

One of the most important factors that shapes the attitudes of students towards E-learning and theirreadiness to adopt the new learning method is their access to E-learning (Rhema & Miliszewska,2014) Moreover, the lack of accessibility to Internet and technology might be the underlying reason

of students’ dissatisfaction and demotivation toward incorporating E-learning in their studies (Haraand Kling, 1999) The importance of frequent exposure to technology to the positive attitudes ofstudents towards E-learning was also emphasized in a study by Tekinarslan (2008) In this study,according to question 1 from the questionnaire: 40% of students reported that they usually use E-learning for their studying, another 40% of them strongly agreed with the idea of their frequency ofusing E-learning is more than 3 times per week However, there are 7% of them did not agree thatthey spent that much time to learn with E-learning This finding indicates that these students hadregular accessibility to technology and Internet In addition, according to the research of Sweeney andGeer (2010) students who do not get frequent access to the Internet are more likely to have badexperience with technology In fact, students who are acquainted with computers and technology face

less challenges, stress and anxiety when performing tasks involving computer skills That explainedthe finding of students’ satisfaction of using E-learning in this study Specifically, according toquestion 2 from the questionnaire: 53% of the students agreed that using a computer to study wasinteresting and they enjoyed incorporating a computer into their studying However, the students’responses to question 3 from the questionnaire pointed out that they did not contend with the training

of the E-learning implementation Only 13 percent of the student participants said that they weretrained thoroughly on how to use E-learning However, 40 percent of them did not get enough trainingfor E-learning using The mean value represented showed that the students had the opinion that theyneed to be given more instructions to handle the technology In his study, Selvi (2010) explained thatthe course instructions for students play a contributing role in bolstering students’ motivation

4.1.2 The benefits and drawbacks of E-learning

According to question 4 from the questionnaire: the percentages of students who agreed and disagreedwith the statement were almost equal A half of them prefer conventional method of studying whilethe other half would rather study on the Internet than attend a physical class Up to 20 percent of theparticipants showed neutral opinion This finding is corroborated by a research of Deb (2011) thatrevealed the reasons why students were not in favour of online learning It may be due to the feelings

of isolation and loneliness studying in front of a screen that students have to experience Conversely,this method of studying may give students greater sense of confidence which improves their positiveattitudes towards using E-learning (Ullah, Khan & Khan, 2008) In other words, the solitude oflearning online or using E-learning can be considered a benefit and a drawback depends on thesubjective views of learners

According to question 5 from the questionnaire: there was 47 percent of students agreed that learning facilitates their practice after class and 13 percent of them did not consider E-learning to be atool that possess the capability of bettering their learning processes 27 percent of the respondentsshow their neutral response to this matter Eventually, the mean value, which is 3.33, represents theywere neutral to this benefit of E-learning to their after-class practice

E-The attitudes of students also depend on students’ awareness of the benefits offered by E-learning Infact, the research by Rahamat (2012) asserted that when students were aware of the advantages that E-learning brought to them, they were more likely to have positive attitudes towards the technology.According to question 6 from the questionnaire: 53% of the students strongly agreed with the idea thatE-learning plays a essential role in their learning and also enhances the outcomes of their learning.They understood lessons better using E-learning Just 7% of them denied that benefit The mean valueshowed that the participants acknowledged the significance of E-learning in their studying Thisfinding was also mentioned in the study of (K M Eshreteh & Hisham Siaj, 2017) Moreover, when

the training and instructions for students are inadequate, students are more likely to be frustrated anddemotivated to adopt E-learning (Erarslan & Topkaya, 2017).

4.1.3 The impacts of E-learning

According to question 7 from the questionnaire: 47% of the respondents agreed that E-learningimproves their ability to enlarge their information resources They were provided more opportunities

to practice and find information for their assignment instead of just using information given in theirtextbooks This finding is in line with the research conducted by K M Eshreteh and Hisham Siaj(2017) which suggested that the highly motivational roles of technology implemented during physicalclasses (K M Eshreteh & Hisham Siaj, 2017)

According to question 8 from the questionnaire: The time-flexibility of using E-learning was alsoapproved by the students 40% of the participants strongly agreed that they were allowed to learn andstudy at the comfort of their home at any time However, 27 percent of them selected the “disagreeoption” as they felt the statement was not true for them That meant, in their interpretations E-learningdid not help them to organize their time more flexibly

According to question 9 from the questionnaire: 53% of the respondents strongly agreed that they keptcommunicative with their teachers, 40% of them agreed and none of them denied that Therefore,most of the students agreed that they were provided a platform that maintains and facilitatescommunication with their teachers when they were not in same places The fact that E-learningprovides users a communication platform really helps teachers and students get closer to each other Infact, when the barriers between teachers and students are broken, students are more likely to becomfortable sharing with their teachers about their difficulties in learning and be willing to engage inthe lessons Besides, learning is a social process that not only involves interaction between learnersand instructors but among learners also According to question 10 from the questionnaire: 33%percent of the respondents agreed that E-learning provided them with a chat room in which they cancommunicate and discuss with their friends about homework The same number of students had theneural opinion about this issue while there was 13% of them did not use the communication featuresupplied by E-learning to chat with their friends about their homework The mean value pointed outthe responses of the students to be neutral This is opposite to the finding reported from the research ofJabere and Shaath (2012) and (K M Eshreteh & Hisham Siaj, 2017) In their studies, studentsexpected an improvement in their interaction with both their classmates and teachers when E-learningwas implemented in their classes The reason was because they were of the opinion that traditionalmethods of studying English hindered their communicative skills However, the improvement ininteraction and communication among students might not certain as it also depends on the ground ofthe students’ daily relationship, level of interaction and personality

Table 1: Value codes

of the benefits and drawbacks of E-learning, according to these student’s perceptions, they might notprefer an online classroom to a face-to-face one, but they realized the fact that E-learning plays a role

in their studying and practicing at the same time The good impacts of E-learning in extendingstudents’ way of finding information, time organization and encouraging communication withteachers were highlighted from the answers of the students When students are aware of the benefitsthat E-learning offers them, they are more likely to be satisfied and have positive attitudes towards theimplementation of the technology

4.2 Data collected from Interviews:

According to the first question, all of the three teachers were asked agreed that E-learning is not onlynecessary but also crucial during the lesson preparation and the class operation One teacher stressedthat they cannot imagine how they can handle the whole class without technology They asserted thelesson they prepared for students needed technology to be accomplished, the attendance they kepttrack on students’ presence depended on technology, the test marks and learning progress of students

during the whole semester were stored online Another teacher also pointed out the importance oftechnology in teaching English She said that one thing that played an essential role in teachinglanguage that helped students be able to successfully communicate with other people is to familiarizethem with different accents While the teacher themselves could not do hundreds of accents like that,technology and Internet are useful tools which allow learners to vary their accent sources and enhancetheir listening skill She can easily search a video on Google or Youtube, then a collection of speecheswith different accents emerged within the matter of a second Specifically, she said:

“With just a simple search, I can have access to any teaching materials I have in mind as long as I have key words for it”

Then the interviewee added:

“Students love watching videos I collected from the Internet They imitate the accents while trying to role-play their favorite characters This really helps them improve their listening skills as well as listening skill as they are familiarized with varied accents earlier.”

These responses from the semi-structured interviews with the teacher participants revealed that theyare well-aware of the big role that E-learning is playing in their teaching This benefits of technologywas emphasized on a study by Anderson and Speck (2000) who reported that the accessibility ofauthentic materials on the Internet may improve students’ reading and writing skills and also attractedstudents to activities associated to speaking, reading, listening and writing simultaneously

Even though the consensus was reached that the necessity of E-learning in teaching English isinevitable, the positive impacts of implementing E-learning on their lessons were controversial amongthese teachers In terms of teaching, some teachers said that technology helped them get rid ofmonotonous and boring lessons Videos, colorful pictures and vocabulary games online all producedgood impacts on their students, who seemed to be more keen and engaged during the lessons Theanswers of these teachers concurred with the findings of the research conducted by Yamamato (2011);Yapici (2012) and Hussain (2018) These studies illustrated the benefits of improving and facilitatingboth learning and teaching quality of E-learning by employing computerized devices However, oneout of three teachers agreed that she found it difficult to incorporate E-learning into her lesson Thereasons varied but the most important thing is she was not be able to handle the whole class andmanage her time while paying attention to the videos or games which was playing She said:

“I always have lesson plans that I prepare before every lesson However, no matter how detailed my plan was, it disappointedly never went according to my plan In fact, it was overwhelming for me to organize my games and play my videos while keep an eye on my students It was such a mess”.

Moreover, according to Ilter (2009), teachers play an essential role in successfully integratingtechnology in their lessons In order to achieve that, they need to master management skills bypreparing, planning and organizing class accordingly The effectiveness of the lessons largely depends