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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 21, No. 0, pp.510-524
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2021
Received 06 Jun 2021 Revised 18 Jun 2021 Accepted 25 Jun 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.21..202106.510

Breaking through Digital Barriers: Exploring EFL Students’ Views of Zoom Breakout Room Experiences

Andrea Rakushin Lee
Professor, Konkuk University Glocal Campus andrealee1216@gmail.com


© 2021 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators had to transition from face to face to online classes. Zoom has become a popular platform for live, online classes in different educational contexts including English language learning. This phenomenological study sought to gain insight into South Korean students’ satisfaction with Zoom breakout rooms in English communication classes. Participants included 25 undergraduate students attending English communication classes at a university in central South Korea. Data collection comprised an open-ended survey, a focus group, and individual interviews. Data analysis centered on examining significant statements and developing themes. The results of this study indicate that most students were satisfied with using Zoom breakout rooms for EFL classes. Further, students expanded on various benefits of using Zoom breakout rooms and provided recommendations for improvement. This paper concludes with practical implications and suggestions for future research pertaining to the use of Zoom breakout rooms in EFL classes.

Keywords:

Zoom, videoconferencing, EFL, breakout rooms, synchronous learning

Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by Konkuk University in 2020.

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