Do EFL Instructors’ Interactions with Their Students on Learning Management Systems Differ by Certain Variables?

Abstract

The number of studies on the relationship between English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors' interaction levels and certain variables is limited to draw conclusions. This study aims to determine whether the levels of EFL instructors' interactions with their students on learning management systems (LMSs) differ in accordance with certain demographic variables. The participants were 246 English instructors who were employed in preparatory schools across a range of state and private universities in Turkey participated in the study. The participants were given a demographics questionnaire and a survey with 24 items for data collection. The statistical data underwent analysis utilizing both parametric and nonparametric tests via the SPSS software. The results of the study indicated that the adoption of LMSs by EFL instructors displayed no differences according to their demographic characteristics except for their native languages and weekly online teaching hours. In light of the results, it can be said that Turkish EFL instructors have a higher level of engagement with their students through LMS platforms compared to native instructors. Moreover, instructors use LMSs to engage with their students in a variety of ways owing to the escalating amount of hours they dedicate each week to teaching English online.