Undergraduate students' perceptions of using videoconferencing for EFL learning: Evidence from Tencent Meeting application

Rong Luo; Jingli Wang; Yijin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22993

Undergraduate students' perceptions of using videoconferencing for EFL learning: Evidence from Tencent Meeting application

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 29;9(12):e22993. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22993. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Rong Luo¹, Jingli Wang², Yijin Wang³

Affiliations

¹ School of International Studies, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² School of Foreign Languages, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi, China.
³ Division of Educational Linguistics, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States.

Abstract

This paper examined Chinese undergraduate students' perceptions of using videoconferencing in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected among 348 Chinese university students who attended sixteen-week learning of Integrated English Course through Tencent Meeting, the most widely used videoconferencing application in China. We adopted voluntary response sampling method in this cross-sectional study. Students completed an online survey on "Wenjuanxing", China's biggest online questionnaire distribution platform. A structural equation model (SEM) was constructed and analyses revealed that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were significant predictors of students' satisfaction and participation intention. Students' computer self-efficacy had a positive effect on their perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and participation intention while their frequency of using videoconferencing did not influence these variables. This study contributes to the existing literature on the acceptance of videoconferencing in the context of EFL learning and offers insights for developing up-to-date videoconferencing teaching strategies.

Keywords: Computer-mediated communication (CMC); EFL learning; Technology acceptance model; The COVID-19 pandemic; Videoconferencing.