Online language learning and workplace communication: a study on Babbel's virtual-classroom solution

Workforce mobility and diversity are now the reality for many businesses, requiring employers to facilitate their employees' acquisition of foreign languages (FLs). Developing communicative competencies in an FL is necessary to fulfill the demands of an international workplace. Increasingly, companies have done so with the support of commercial apps and virtual-classroom systems. An example is the language learning company Babbel, which provides corporate clients with the package 'Babbel Intensive.' This package comprises app subscription as well as virtual-classroom credits, both aiming to improve spoken competence in an FL. The present study investigated learners' perceptions of workplace communication in an FL and the impact of Babbel Intensive on their skills. Moreover, the study examined beliefs Babbel Intensive users hold about language learning, as well as the types of motivation they exhibit. We followed a sequential mixed-method research design, comprising explorative qualitative in-depth interviews with 7 users and a subsequent survey with 52 users. Our findings show that learners use the FL learned with the Babbel Intensive package for email exchanges as well as conversations with business partners. The main challenges they experience revolve around vocabulary, grammar, and speaking skills. Babbel Intensive is regarded as exerting a positive impact upon these difficulties, especially through the personalization of classes. In terms of learner beliefs, users highlight that online learning can be associated with struggle but also with personal development and flexibility. Moreover, learners are shown to have varying types of motivation, primarily categorizable as extrinsic motivation. Our findings highlight the affordances and constraints of virtual-classroom solutions to workplace communication in an FL from the point of view of the mobile and diverse workforce of international companies.