Attitudes Towards Learning English Language Online (A Study on First-year Students of a Private University in Sri Lanka)

The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes of first-year students at a private university in Sri Lanka who are following, Higher Diploma in Information Technology towards learning the English language online and to determine whether there is an interconnectedness between their attitudes and the grade they obtain in the semester end examination. Attitude offers the initial incentive to begin learning a second language and subsequently serves as the driving force to persevere through the long and often laborious learning process. One of the influencing elements that might impact students’ productivity in language lessons is their attitude toward learning the language. Online teaching in Sri Lanka flourished recently due to the Covid 19 pandemic as a sort of Emergency Remote Teaching Method. Thus, it was essential to discover the attitudinal change towards learning the English language from the traditional classroom to the online virtual classroom. Intending to find the attitudes towards learning English language online, data was basically gathered through questionnaires and interviews and the results were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Some favorable and negative views of learners about English as a second language were discovered as results of the survey. According to the data gathered it was discovered that students have both positive and negative attitudes towards learning English online and most of the time their attitudes remain neutral. Although students have a neutral attitude towards learning English online in a general context, when their attitudes are categorized based on the grade they obtained, it was evident that students who have performed well in the exam have a slightly negative attitude towards online learning and students who have average performance have a positive attitude towards online learning. The findings of this study will lead to the creation of an effective online English course.