Engaging students in an online situated language learning environment

Previous studies have emphasized the relationship between students' engagement and learning performance, and yet the context in which students and the teacher interact to engage each other has been ignored. In order to engage college students who are learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in the context of a big class, this study developed a system, which is an online situated language learning environment, to support the students, the teachers, and the teaching assistants (TAs) to communicate synchronously and asynchronously in and after class. A sample of 118 undergraduate students was recruited to participate in an E-meeting to express their thoughts and opinions toward the drama, and Post an Opinion to predict subsequent scenes in the enfolding plot. Students were also required to take an Assessment online, after reading each episode of the drama. In this study, the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions of students' intensive and reciprocal engagement were observed and recorded in the system for students to reflect on their language usage and further improve their language learning and for the teachers and the TAs to monitor and identify their students' difficulties and provide further scaffoldings. Students' language learning progress was also revealed through a questionnaire and the pre- and post-tests. Based on the interpretation of the result, suggestions for future studies are also discussed.