Category Archives: Students’ Attitude Toward Foreign Teachers
Comparing the Effect of Face-to-Face and Online English Lounges on Students’ Speaking Ability and Attitude Toward Foreign Professors
A research paper presented as a conference paper and subsequently published in an academic journal
Comparing the Effects of Face-to-Face and Online English Lounges on Students’
Speaking Ability and Attitude Toward Foreign Teachers
Massuline Antonio D. Ligaya, Hyun Jung Lee, Joung-Hyun Ham, Randy S. Tolentino,
Thomas Edward Farrell II, and Christopher Glenn Gunther
2021 Second International Conference on Innovative Technology and Convergences, Dec 8–9, 2021, Virtual
DOI 10.1109/CITC54365.2021.00011
Research Summary
English conversation lounges provide university students with opportunities to use English beyond the formal classroom and engage in meaningful interaction with foreign language teachers. At the respondent university in South Korea, this type of out-of-class learning was institutionalized through the English Café Program (ECP), an optional, non-credit program established in 2014 to supplement classroom instruction and strengthen students’ English-speaking ability. The program was also intended to foster more positive attitudes toward foreign English teachers through direct interaction. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced university activities online in 2020, the ECP shifted from its traditional face-to-face format to virtual sessions, creating an opportunity to compare the perceived effectiveness of the two modes.
The study employed a descriptive-comparative survey design covering the face-to-face implementation of the English Café Program in 2019 and its online implementation in 2020. It investigated the extent to which each mode affected students’ speaking ability and attitudes toward foreign teachers and examined whether teachers’ educational qualifications and length of service were associated with these outcomes. The researchers also tested whether students and teachers differed significantly in their perceptions of the effects of the two delivery modes.
The study involved 800 student respondents and 19 foreign teachers in each phase. The same group of teachers participated in both the 2019 and 2020 phases, while 800 students were randomly selected for each phase from the relevant student population described in the paper. Two versions of the questionnaire—one for students and another for teachers—were used to assess the effects of the program on students’ speaking ability and attitudes toward foreign teachers. The surveys were administered online through SurveyMonkey. Data were analyzed using frequency analysis, mean comparisons, t-tests, Pearson correlation analysis, and SPSS version 23.
The findings showed that both students and teachers perceived the face-to-face English Café Program as improving students’ speaking ability and attitudes toward foreign teachers to a great extent. Student respondents reported a weighted mean of approximately 3.95 for speaking ability and 3.94 for attitude toward foreign teachers, while the teacher respondents likewise evaluated the program positively. The online implementation produced similarly favorable assessments: both groups perceived the online English Café as improving speaking ability and promoting positive attitudes toward foreign teachers to a great extent.
Importantly, the statistical comparison revealed no significant differences between the respondents’ perceptions of the effects of the face-to-face and online implementations on students’ speaking ability and attitudes toward foreign teachers. The p-values were greater than .05, indicating that the differences observed between the modes were not statistically significant. The results therefore suggested that, from the respondents’ perspectives, moving the English Café Program online did not substantially diminish its effectiveness.
The correlation analysis produced another important finding. In both delivery modes, students’ speaking ability was strongly and positively correlated with their attitudes toward foreign teachers: r = .881 for the face-to-face program and r = .889 for the online program, with both relationships significant at p < .01. The study interpreted this relationship as indicating that students who demonstrated more positive attitudes toward their foreign teachers also tended to report greater improvement in their speaking ability.
Teacher characteristics produced less consistent relationships. Teachers’ educational qualifications were not significantly related to the other variables examined. However, in the face-to-face implementation, teachers’ length of service showed a significant negative correlation with students’ speaking ability (r = −.532, p < .05). This relationship did not appear in the online implementation. The paper consequently emphasized the importance of the student-teacher relationship rather than assuming that formal qualifications or longer teaching experience necessarily translate into stronger perceived speaking outcomes.
Overall, the study concluded that English conversation lounges can remain effective even when delivered virtually. Both face-to-face and online formats were perceived as providing meaningful opportunities for English practice while helping students develop more positive attitudes toward foreign teachers. Because students’ attitudes toward their teachers were positively associated with speaking ability, the researchers stressed the importance of rapport, trust, and meaningful interaction between students and foreign English teachers. They further recommended that universities consider online conversation lounges as a means of reaching students who may be unable to participate regularly in face-to-face sessions.
Research Contribution
The study contributes to research on out-of-class language learning and technology-mediated English-language education by providing a direct comparison of the same university conversation-lounge program before and during its transition to online delivery. Conducted across the 2019 and 2020 implementations, it captures an unusual natural transition brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrates that students and teachers perceived both delivery modes as similarly beneficial.
Its findings also highlight an important pedagogical dimension of language learning: the quality of the relationship students develop with their foreign teachers may matter alongside the mode through which instruction or interaction occurs. The strong positive associations between students’ attitudes toward foreign teachers and speaking ability in both face-to-face and online environments provide empirical support within this study for designing conversation programs around meaningful interaction and rapport rather than technology alone.
Keywords: English lounges, speaking ability, attitude toward foreign teachers, teachers’ educational qualification, teachers’ length of service
Publication Information
The paper was published in the proceedings of the 2021 Second International Conference on Innovative Technology Convergence (CITC). The proceedings carry IEEE publication information, and the paper was assigned DOI 10.1109/CITC54365.2021.00011.
Full Text
The full text of this publication is available upon request. Researchers, educators, students, and other interested readers who wish to obtain a copy may contact the author through this website or by email at madligaya@gmail.com.
Teaching Styles, Students’ Motivation, and Grit as Correlates of Students’ Performance in English
A research paper presented as a conference paper and subsequently published in an academic journal
Teaching Styles, Students’ Motivation, and Grit as Correlates of Students’ Performance in English
Massuline Antonio D. Ligaya and Marie Charmaine P. Igwe
Business, Education, Social Sciences, and Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 2025
DOI 10.69478/BEST2025v1n1a006.
Research Summary
Factors associated with both teachers and students influence the teaching and learning of English as a second or foreign language. This study examined several of these factors by investigating the relationships between teachers’ teaching styles, students’ motivation to learn English, students’ grit, and students’ English performance at a university in South Korea. The study conceptualized teaching style through four dimensions—teacher-student interaction, decision-making negotiation, teaching structuring, and behavioral control—and examined students’ motivation in terms of instrumental and integrative orientations. Grit was understood as students’ passion and perseverance in pursuing their goals despite challenges and setbacks.
The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Participants were students enrolled in mandatory English courses at a South Korean university and their foreign English teachers. The study invited two classes from each of 22 English teachers to participate, resulting in 385 student respondents from a potential pool of more than 600 students. Data were collected online through Google Forms using questionnaire items adopted from previously validated instruments. Students evaluated their own motivation and grit as well as the teaching styles demonstrated by their English teachers.
Unlike studies relying exclusively on students’ self-reported perceptions of their language ability, this research assessed English performance through a 25-item proficiency test covering five areas: vocabulary, correct grammar form, answering questions, combining sentences, and word sequencing. Frequency analysis and mean computation described the variables, while correlation analysis determined the relationships between English performance and teaching style, motivation, and grit. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS.
The results categorized the students’ overall English performance as moderately proficient, with an aggregated mean score of 2.32. Their strongest areas were vocabulary and answering questions, both classified as proficient. Correct grammar form and word sequencing fell within the moderately proficient range, while combining sentences emerged as their weakest area, with a mean score of 1.45 and a classification of less proficient. The results therefore suggested that although students demonstrated competence in selected aspects of English, important gaps remained, particularly in sentence construction.
Students generally perceived their teachers as frequently demonstrating all four dimensions of teaching style. Teaching structuring received the highest mean rating (4.45), followed by behavioral control (4.41), decision-making negotiation (4.35), and teacher-student interaction (4.32). The overall teaching-style mean of 4.38 indicated that these teaching behaviors were frequently observed across the English classes included in the study.
The findings also showed that students possessed a high overall level of motivation to learn English, although they were more integratively motivated than instrumentally motivated. Integrative motivation registered a mean of 4.27 compared with 3.84 for instrumental motivation. This indicated a stronger orientation toward learning English for engagement with English-speaking communities and cultures than toward purely practical benefits such as academic requirements, employment, or career advancement. The students’ mean grit score of 3.01, meanwhile, was interpreted as a moderate level of grit, with variation among students in their perseverance and passion toward their goals.
Correlation analysis revealed that all four dimensions of teaching style were significantly and positively associated with students’ English performance, although the relationships were weak. Teacher-student interaction correlated with English performance at r = .135, decision-making negotiation at r = .185, teaching structuring at r = .168, and behavioral control at r = .162. When the dimensions were combined, overall teaching style showed a significant positive correlation of r = .175 (p = .001) with students’ English performance. Among the teaching-style dimensions, decision-making negotiation exhibited the strongest relationship with English performance.
The two forms of motivation produced different results. Integrative motivation was significantly and positively correlated with English performance (r = .207, p < .001), the strongest positive correlation among the principal variables reported in the study. Instrumental motivation, however, was not significantly related to English performance (r = −.069, p = .176). When the study combined instrumental and integrative motivation into overall motivation, the resulting relationship with English performance was also not statistically significant. Thus, the findings suggested that motivation type, rather than motivation as a single overall construct, was relevant to students’ English performance in this sample.
One of the study’s most unexpected findings concerned grit. Students’ grit was significantly but negatively correlated with their English performance (r = −.106, p = .038). In other words, within this particular sample, higher grit scores were associated with slightly lower English-performance scores. This result contrasted with previous research cited in the paper reporting positive relationships among grit, motivation, and English-language performance. Given the weak magnitude and unexpected direction of the relationship, the study recommended further examination through replication, particularly to clarify the role of grit in English-language learning.
Overall, the study demonstrated that teacher-related and student-related factors were associated with English performance in different ways. Effective teaching-style dimensions showed consistent positive relationships with performance, while integrative—but not instrumental—motivation was positively associated with students’ English proficiency. The unexpected negative relationship involving grit highlighted the need for further investigation rather than assuming that perseverance necessarily translates directly into higher language-test performance.
The findings also carried practical implications for English-language instruction. Because students performed relatively well in vocabulary and answering questions but struggled particularly with combining sentences, the paper recommended interventions to strengthen grammatical and sentence-construction skills. Teachers were also encouraged to continue emphasizing effective classroom practices involving interaction, decision-making, lesson structuring, and behavioral management, while incorporating activities that strengthen students’ integrative motivation to learn English.
Research Contribution
The study contributes to research on English-language performance by examining teacher and learner variables within the same analytical framework. Rather than treating English achievement solely as a function of students’ abilities or motivation, it examined how teaching style, motivational orientation, and grit related individually to measured English performance among university students in South Korea.
A particularly useful contribution is the disaggregation of teaching style into four observable dimensions. The finding that teacher-student interaction, decision-making negotiation, teaching structuring, and behavioral control were all significantly and positively associated with English performance suggests that classroom teaching practices may be relevant across both the interpersonal and organizational dimensions of instruction.
The distinction between integrative and instrumental motivation is likewise significant. Although the students reported high levels of both, only integrative motivation demonstrated a significant positive relationship with English performance. This finding reinforces the value of examining different motivational orientations separately rather than treating motivation as a single undifferentiated construct.
Finally, the unexpected negative association between grit and English performance raises a question worthy of further investigation. Rather than providing definitive evidence that grit impairs language learning, the finding identifies an area requiring replication and more detailed examination of the conditions under which perseverance and sustained effort contribute to—or fail to translate into—English-language achievement. The paper itself explicitly recommends replication to ascertain this result.
Keywords: grit; motivation to learn English; students’ performance in English; teaching styles
Full Text
The full text of this publication is available upon request. Researchers, educators, students, and other interested readers who wish to obtain a copy may contact the author through this website or by email at madligaya@gmail.com.
Face-to-Face and Online English Lounges: A Comparative Analysis
A research paper published in a Scopus-indexed journal
Face-to-Face and Online English Lounges: A Comparative Analysis
Massuline Antonio D. Ligaya, Hyun Jung Lee, Joung-Hyun Ham, Randy S. Tolentino,
Thomas Edward Farrell II, and Christopher Glenn Gunther
International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 12, No. 9, September 2022, pp. 888–897
DOI: 10.18178/ijiet.2022.12.9.1698
Research Summary
English conversation lounges provide university students with opportunities to practice a foreign language outside the formal classroom in a more relaxed and socially interactive environment. At the university examined in this study, the English Café Program (ECP) was established to give students additional opportunities to communicate with foreign English teachers, improve their speaking ability, and develop greater confidence and more positive attitudes toward interacting with foreigners. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced university activities online, the program shifted from its traditional face-to-face format to a virtual environment, creating an opportunity to compare the effectiveness of the two modes.
The study employed a descriptive-comparative survey design and examined the ECP during its face-to-face implementation in 2019 and online implementation in 2020. The student participants came from different academic departments and were members of the same general cohort: 800 students were selected for each phase of the study. Nineteen foreign English teachers also participated in both phases. Separate but closely parallel questionnaires for students and teachers assessed the perceived effects of the program on two principal outcomes: students’ speaking ability and their attitude toward foreign teachers. The study also considered teachers’ educational qualifications and length of service. Data were analyzed using frequency and mean analyses, t-tests, correlation analysis, and simple linear regression.
Both students and teachers perceived the face-to-face and online versions of the English Café Program as improving students’ speaking ability and their attitudes toward foreign teachers to a great extent. Although some mean scores differed between the two delivery modes, statistical testing showed no significant difference between the perceived effects of the face-to-face and online programs. This suggests that moving the conversation lounge to a virtual environment did not substantially diminish its perceived effectiveness.
One of the study’s most notable findings concerned the relationship between students and their foreign teachers. Students’ speaking ability was strongly and positively correlated with their attitude toward foreign teachers in both the face-to-face (r = .881, p < .01) and online (r = .889, p < .01) implementations. Regression analysis likewise indicated that attitude toward foreign teachers significantly predicted perceived speaking ability in both settings. These results emphasize that language development involves more than simply providing opportunities for practice; the quality of the student-teacher relationship and students’ comfort in interacting with their teachers also matter.
Teachers’ educational qualifications did not show a significant positive relationship with the major student outcomes. An unexpected finding was that teachers’ length of service was negatively correlated with students’ speaking ability in the face-to-face implementation (r = -.532, p < .05), although this relationship did not appear in the online implementation. The study treated this result cautiously and suggested that it warranted further investigation rather than assuming that greater teaching experience itself adversely affects student learning.
Overall, the findings support English conversation lounges as valuable forms of out-of-class language learning. They also demonstrate that such programs can be successfully adapted to online environments, potentially expanding access to students who cannot regularly participate in on-campus sessions.
Research Contribution
The study contributes to research on out-of-class language learning by providing a direct comparison of face-to-face and online English conversation lounges within the same university program. Its findings suggest that the effectiveness of a conversation lounge depends less on whether interaction occurs physically or virtually than on whether students are given meaningful opportunities to communicate and develop positive relationships with their language teachers. The study therefore provides practical support for universities considering hybrid, online, or flexible conversation-lounge programs as supplements to formal language instruction.
Keywords: English lounges, out-of-class language learning, speaking ability, foreign English teachers, student-teacher relationship, online learning, face-to-face learning
Full Text
The full text of this publication is available upon request. Researchers, educators, students, and other interested readers who wish to obtain a copy may contact the author through this website or by email at madligaya@gmail.com.
The Role of Teacher-Student Rapport in English Learning
The findings of the study the English Café committee of our university conducted prompted me to revisit the topic “rapport between teachers and students” and reexamine how it affects English learning. The main objectives of the study were: to examine the effects of English lounges on the development of the speaking ability of students and their attitude towards foreign teachers teaching them English; and to determine which of the two modes of delivering conversation lounges is more effective – face-to-face or online. Additionally, the paper also evaluated the significant relationships between the variables of the study, namely, students’ speaking ability, students’ attitude towards foreign teachers, educational qualification of teachers, and teachers’ length of service. The first two variables are student-related factors, the other two are obviously teacher-related.
Results have shown that the said lounges improved both the students’ speaking ability and their attitude toward foreign teachers. And as perceived by both groups of respondents – teachers and students – both in-person and virtual methods of delivering this out-of-class learning activity are effective.
What could be considered surprising were the results for the measurement of the significant relationships between the variables of the study. Educational qualifications of teachers and their length of service were hypothesized to significantly affect both the development of students’ speaking ability and their attitude toward foreign teachers. It is but natural to presume that the more education a teacher gets and the longer they have been teaching the better they become and that translates to better learning on the part of their students. But as it turned out, teachers’ educational qualification is not correlated to the student-related variables aforementioned. Teacher’s length of service, on the other hand, is negatively correlated to the said variables. What came out to be significantly positively correlated to students’ speaking ability is their attitude toward foreign teachers. This means that when students have a positive attitude towards their teachers, the more likely that their speaking ability improves.
After estimating for correlation, a regression analysis was subsequently performed to further evaluate the relationship between those student-related variables. Results have shown that students’ attitude toward foreign teachers has a significant positive influence on their speaking ability.
Undoubtedly, a healthy student-teacher relationship is one of the foundations of effective learning not only in English but also in any subject area. Students are motivated (and very likely) to learn if they view their teachers as approachable, friendly, and caring. This positive connection between students and their teachers is encapsulated in the educational construct called “rapport between students and teachers.” But despite its significance, only a handful of studies were conducted on the topic. Researchers claim that the reason for this is rapport, as an instructional variable, may have tremendous face validity for management education, yet from a research perspective is somewhat “tricky to understand.”1
The Collins dictionary explains that “if two people or groups have rapport, they have a good relationship in which they are able to understand each other’s ideas or feelings very well.” In the educational setting, teachers and students may affect each other either in a positive or a negative way. Teacher-student rapport indicates a positive relationship the absence of which results in a stressful academic environment. “Rapport is a harmonious teacher-student relationship which encompasses enjoyment, connection, respect, and mutual trust.”2 “Establishing friendly relations with pupils enables teachers to enhance students’ willingness to engage in the learning process.3
The positive correlation between the students’ speaking ability and their attitude towards foreign teachers in the study performed by the English Café committee of our university indicates that the more the students demonstrate a positive attitude toward their teachers, the more they improve in their speaking ability. This, as previously mentioned, was supported by the regression analysis where the values reveal that the students’ attitude towards foreign teachers positively influences their speaking ability.
When rapport is present in the classroom, it means that existing is a level of affinity or sincere interpersonal relationship between a teacher and their students.4 Establishing rapport is one of the difficult challenges that English teachers face when teaching in other countries.
Foreign teachers teaching in countries where English is either a second or a foreign language should not be focused solely on delivering their course contents. Like farmers, before sowing the seed, they need to plow the farmland first. Winning the trust and confidence of the students is equivalent to tilling the soil. Teaching content without establishing a positive relationship with the students first is like sowing seeds on untilled soil.
It is possible that students would feel hesitant to engage with their English teachers for a variety of reasons. One of those is students’ level of English. While the advanced students may feel excited to engage with their foreign teacher so they could practice their English, the beginners or lower intermediate students may feel uncomfortable or worried. A teacher’s friendly demeanor could help alleviate such discomfort and worry.
Another possible reason is the fact that their teachers are foreigners. A wall called cultural barrier immediately rises as soon as the foreign teacher enters the classroom. The student, no matter what level of English they are at, would be anxious not knowing what to expect from their foreign teachers. It is therefore a must for the teachers to set the tone right during the first meeting. It is imperative for them to ensure that their students would feel not only comfortable but confident also to interact with them.
It may be true that teacher-student rapport is two-way traffic but the teachers, whether they like it or not, carry the burden of establishing it. “Building a positive relationship is a shared responsibility of the teacher and the students, but the teacher is in a leadership position when leading in-class learning or out-of-class learning, and assumes a greater part of that responsibility. English teachers have a bit more challenge because they are foreigners (to the native student population) and must win the trust and confidence of their students.”5
How teachers perform and treat their students is the primary means of cultivating the students’ positive attitude towards their foreign teachers.”5 What makes establishing rapport with the students more complicated for foreign teachers is the cultural barrier that exists between them and their students. They need to plow the soil a little bit harder than their local counterparts before sowing their seeds. They cannot afford to just focus on delivering their course contents without attempting to break through that cultural barrier at the same time, if not first.
“The attitudes of teachers towards the students are important variables that can affect the attitude of learners as well as the quality and quantity of the learning which takes place and the linguistic outcomes for the learner.”6 In studies where students were asked to identify what they think are the qualities of an effective teacher, competence and their correlates were not the ones that came out on top. One of the said studies had the ability to develop relationships with their students and patient, caring, and kind personality ranking 1st and 2nd, respectively.7 Both had nothing to do with pedagogy but rather the attitude of the teacher.
Competence and its correlates are the ones that teachers develop through their educational qualifications and length of service. And as our English Café committee study found out, the educational qualifications of teachers are not correlated to both the students’ speaking ability and their attitude towards foreign teachers. Note that the negative correlation between teachers’ length of service and the student-related variables that was previously stated is significant. “This inverse relationship implies that the longer the teachers have been teaching the lesser is the possibility of students improving their speaking ability.”5 Further studies may be needed to confirm these findings. But let me just add that in my Ph.D. dissertation where teacher’s length of service and students’ performance in English were among the variables, the said constructs had the same inverse relationship.
One question teachers (of English and other subjects) need to answer at this point is – How much effort are they putting into establishing a good rapport between them and their students?. “A learner who has better interaction with his teacher may develop a positive attitude toward the target language than those who have less interaction.”8
REFERENCES
1. Buskist, W. & Saville, B. (2001). Creating positive emotional contexts for enhancing teaching and learning. APS Observer, 12-13.
2. Wilson, J. H., Ryan, R. G., and Pugh, J. L. (2010). Professor–student rapport scale predicts student outcomes. Teach. Psychol. 37, 246–251. doi: 10.1080/00986283.2010.510976
3. Ibarra, S. (2014). The Effect of Student-Teacher Rapport on Classroom Participation (Master’s Thesis). Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
4. Jorgenson, J. (1992). Social approaches: Communication, rapport, and the interview: A social perspective. Communication Theory, 2, 148-156.
5. Ligaya, et al. (2021) Comparing the Effects of Face-to-Face and Online English Lounges on Students’ Speaking Ability and Attitude Toward Foreign Teachers. DOI 10.1109/CITC54365.2021.00011
6. F. D. Larsen, M. H. Long, “An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition”, New York: Pearson Education Limited, 1991.
7. https://www.pearsoned.com/top-five-qualities-effective-teachers
8. A.S. Getie, M. Popescu, (2020). Factors affecting the attitudes of students towards learning English. Cogent Education, [Online] 7(1). Available: from https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1738184.
Comparing the Effects of Face-to-face and Online English Lounges on Students’ Speaking Ability and Attitude Toward Foreign Teacher
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to determine to what extent the English Café Program affected the students’ speaking ability and their attitude toward foreign teachers as well as the significant differences in the effects between the program carried out face-to-face and online as perceived by the participants in this study. This is a descriptive comparative survey research. Frequency analysis, mean comparison analysis, t-test, and correlation analysis were performed. Mean values show that as perceived by the respondents, the program, implemented face-to-face and online, improve the students’ speaking ability and attitude towards foreign teachers to a great extent. Computations for significant difference show that there is no significant difference in the perceptions of the respondents. In the correlation analyses, in both face-to-face English Cafe and online English Café programs, students’ speaking ability came out to be significantly positively correlated to their attitude towards foreign teachers. The results also reveal that there is a significant negative correlation between students’ speaking ability and teachers’ length of service only in the face-to-face English Café program. There was no correlation between students’ speaking ability and their attitude towards foreign teachers and teachers’ educational qualifications in both face-to-face and online English Café programs.
Key words: English lounges, speaking ability, attitude towards foreign teachers, teachers’ educational qualification, teachers’ length of service
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 