O n f e r e n c e

Discussion
Seventy-five percent of learners reported high satisfaction with the interface of the e-
learning product, the design of the activities, and the easy access to content. Vocabulary 
a
nd usage were consistently reported among the learners’ favorite e
-learning activities. 
In exit interviews, learners reported feeling extremely satisfied with what they identified 
as a unique curriculum design that catered to their level of proficiency and specific 
business goals.
Although live tutoring session participation was optional, it was strongly encouraged. 
Learners who participated in live tutoring sessions on a weekly basis for the entire eight-
week experience reported higher satisfaction than learners who did not participate in live 
tutoring sessions or did so only infrequently. Ninety percent of learners who participated 
in live sessions over the eight-week duration of the study reported an increase in 
confidence when speaking English as a result of the live sessions. Learners also reported 
that participation in live sessions helped them achieve their learning objectives as 
embodied in the course goals they chose. 
One of the strongest advantages to online learning also results in a most formidable 
challenge when trying to measure learner progress and the success of curriculum design. 
Each learner has a different set of goals for learning business English, different 
motivations for reaching those goals, and a different schedule or amount of time that 
they can commit to the program. E-learning solutions are ideally suited to accommodate 
the self-guided, tailored approach, but by the same token, the varying degrees of 
linguistic input makes it difficult to yield comprehensive results with regards to progress 
and curriculum efficacy. For example, our study found that learners took an average of 
five minutes to complete activity, but there is high variation in the amount of time that 
learners repeat activities. Learners at the B1 level took an average of 45 minutes to 
complete each lesson, while learners at the B2 and C1 levels took just 30 minutes per 
lesson. However, about a third of all learners completed lessons during a single session, 
while a third of learners would take several days to complete a lesson, and the remaining 
third would spread the completion of a single lesson out over a week’s time. These 
differences are important and highly informative regarding learner-driven product 
engagement, but introduce challenges when calculating input and curriculum adherence.
An additional challenge was the eight-week constraint of the current study, necessary to 
support a project under development. Longer studies and ongoing analyses can yield 
more comprehensive data and better insight into learner progress and development.
In summary, this research suggests that e-learning combined with computer-facilitated 
interactions with live tutors provides a satisfying and productive language learning 
experience. Further studies are planned that will look at the use of mobile technology in 
conjunction with desktop-based materials and the live sessions.