Case Study: English for Specific Purposes in Moodle Area

Abstract

This article examines application of Moodle tasks for vocabulary revision in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The study is based on the analysis of data obtained from the survey of students’ attitudes to Moodle tasks and to formal ESP tests in class. Learner performance in Moodle tasks is reported by comparing responses of the 1st and 2nd year students who study psychology. Statistical processing of the data by the means of Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) included the computations of Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of reliability and the non-parametric Spearman correlation coefficients, which indicate the strength of relationships and their statistical significance. The values of Spearman correlation coefficients between the groups of psychology learners are within the range of 0.7 and 0.9, which demonstrate good correlations between the responses, at the significant levels either 0.05 or 0.01. It means that the relationships are not likely to be due to chance. Students’ feedback on the activities in the Moodle area is described in their weblogs as part of each term self-assessment assignment. Some students’ reflections are reproduced and discussed below. The ongoing performance of both groups in Moodle tests is presented and analyzed. It has been concluded that students prefer Moodle tasks to traditional formal testing as less stressful.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.19.954