Effectiveness of E-learning Mode for Teaching English Language at Dong Nai Technology University

| ABSTRACT The goal of using e-learning platforms in teaching English at many Vietnamese colleges and universities is to increase students' competency in the language. At Dong Nai Technology University, e-learning systems, including DNTU-LMS and Canvas, have recently been introduced. They have been employed as essential instruments for teaching and learning at several university faculties, notably during the Covid-19 epidemic, because of their flexibility and efficiency. The purpose of the current research was to ascertain the opinions of EFL students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages on the use of an e-learning platform. To take part in this research, 100 EFL students were randomly selected. A questionnaire was used to obtain the data. The findings showed that the implementation of e-learning was successful after assessing student reactions. Students are comforted and happy by e-learning, which also encourages them to study English.


Introduction
Students must be ready to keep up with the rapid technological advancements that help them live, learn, and work more efficiently in a world of constant change. It goes without saying that technology has brought education closer than ever to every learner. The majority of colleges in Vietnam have implemented teaching and studying through computers and the Internet due to the benefits of employing current technology in education. Dong Nai Technology University began implementing an e-learning program in the Faculty of Foreign Languages as well as other faculties at the beginning of 2018 after doing extensive study in this area.
Due to the advantages they provide, e-learning programs are often suggested by language instructors while teaching English. Elearning is one of the contemporary approaches that, in the opinion of Salmon (2011), helps to increase educational options and improves the efficiency of the teaching and learning process. E-learning is flexible since students may organize their studies around their own schedules so that much is obvious. The growing use of e-learning is also supported by certain research results, which show that it is more successful than conventional approaches. Students who study via e-learning have greater levels of learning accomplishment and higher-order thinking skills because they actively participate in the learning process whenever and wherever they are (Chen, 2010). Additionally, according to Alzu'bi, M. (2018), e-learning provides both instructors and students with accessible, helpful tools that make learning simple.
Dong Nai Technology has implemented two types of e-learning platforms for students in order to stay up with the trend of teaching over the Internet. The first one is DNTU-LMS, which was built and effectively used for online education beginning in 2018. Later, lessons are delivered to pupils using Canvas, a cutting-edge e-learning platform. The researcher believes that students may benefit from lectures through an e-learning system based on their experience utilizing the e-learning tools indicated above to teach English. Therefore, a study was done to see how English majors at Dong Nai Technology University responded to an online course. This study investigates the following area of inquiry: What do students think about the use of e-learning?

Literature Review
It would be a mistake to leave out the use of e-learning tools for teaching English in particular and other topics in general when discussing innovation in education. The development of technology and computer science has drawn a lot of attention to the use of e-learning. In many colleges throughout the globe, it has been touted as an efficient learning tool. Unquestionably, elearning has shown its superior benefits of convenience and ease of accessibility, leading the majority of schools to spend both financially and intellectually in implementing e-learning in their classrooms.
In their study, several academics have defined the word "e-learning." First of all, European Commission (2001). defined it as "the use of new multimedia technologies and the internet to improve the quality of learning by facilitating remote exchanges and collaboration" as well as access to information and services. Alternatively, Waterhouse (2003) characterized it as a computer technology medium that might be used to enhance learning and teaching. Likewise, Free (2005) defined e-learning as "any learning that involves using the internet or intranet." Additionally, Liaw & Chen (2007) emphasized that e-learning was "the use of Internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance." It is obvious that the development of e-learning is linked to advancements in computer science, technology, and the internet.
Li (2009) asserts that "e" in e-learning should not represent "electronic" but rather for "evolving, enhanced, everywhere, every time, and everybody." These characteristics are undoubtedly regarded as benefits of online learning. In several research, the advantages of e-learning in education were also noted. Hjeltnes & Hansson (2004) said that utilizing e-learning has benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness, cost efficiency, learning ease, long-term education, savings on the part of the student and instructor, fewer geographical boundaries, more flexibility, and better management. Similarly, Means, ToyamaMurphyBakia & Jones. (2010). listed various benefits of e-learning, including the capacity to share ideas quickly, support learner-centered teaching strategies, increase the accessibility of learning resources, and benefit instructors. On the basis of the aforementioned findings, e-learning application yields several benefits.
Numerous studies have been conducted to look at how e-learning platforms help students improve their English proficiency. Al-Jarf (2004) examined how e-learning affected the writing proficiency of EFL students. It has been discovered that using a variety of technologies to teach writing skills benefited students with different learning preferences, aptitudes, and interests. At the same time, students got the chance to practice writing in several genres. Additionally, Qugley (2011). developed a practical design to persuade instructors to use the e-learning mode. He also assessed how well e-learning worked for teaching English in Thailand. The findings showed that English courses, in light of e-learning, cater to the variety of both instructors and students. After a year, Cai (2012) investigated the benefits of using e-learning to teach English. He discovered that the advantages of online learning included easy access to knowledge, enhanced cognitive abilities, and a push for English language proficiency. Similar results were found in the context of teaching English. He said that e-learning gives pupils the right resources to improve their foundational English abilities (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), as well as grammar and vocabulary.
Despite the benefits of e-learning in the classroom, many scholars are worried about its drawbacks. The lack of face-to-face contact was one of the challenges with e-learning (Bjork, 2008). Other drawbacks were identified by Jenkinson (2009) as having a high cost of manufacture, requiring specialized knowledge, being expensive, and having little social contact. The low degree of student involvement in e-learning is the main issue. High dropout rates are one of the challenges instructors have when teaching, according to Kim, Yang, Bae, Min, Lee, and Kim (2017). Additionally, Leeds, Campbell, Baker, Ali, Brawley & Crisp (2013)showed that the distance between teachers and students restricts communication and deters students from engaging in online learning on a consistent basis. Furthermore, Cho (2014) said that because remote learning decreases student-teacher contact, fewer students participate in online courses. Additionally, teachers address issues with student autonomy. While many language instructors contend that students grow less reliant on them and more active in a variety of learning possibilities, others hold the opinion that many students do not assume enough responsibility for their own education. When using e-learning in the classroom, there are still inescapable flaws.

Data collection tool
The participants in the current research completed questionnaires to provide quantitative data. Eight closed-ended Likert scale statements made up the study's questionnaire, which was created and sent to all participants during the third semester of the academic year 2022-2023. Participants in this survey were asked to react to each topic on a five-point Likert scale, with the meanings descending from strongly agree to strongly disagree. This layout makes it easier to ascertain how students felt, acted, and perceived how e-learning was used in earlier terms.

Participants
The questionnaire was sent via email to 100 sophomore English major students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Dong Nai Technology University. Totally, there are 90 questionnaires completed by participants and returned. Actually, a 90% return rate was large enough to ensure the validity and reliability of the results of the study.

Data Analysis
All quantitative data were evaluated using the Microsoft Excel program after being collected and grouped from the questionnaire, and participant answers were shown in graphs and tables.

Results and Discussion
In the first question, participants were asked to rate how much they appreciate using e-learning. The following pie chart makes it obvious that the majority of students expressed their agreement, with 45.5% expressing agreement and 38.9% expressing strong agreement. It is true that they like using online courses to learn English. Only 6.7% of the students disagreed with this assertion, however, and 5.6% of those replies indicated a severe disagreement. These results demonstrate that e-learning strongly draws students into the learning process, despite the fact that there was only a tiny percentage of neutral comments (3.3%).

Figure 1. Student's interest in the application of e-learning
According to the bar graph below, a large percentage of students (40%) and those who strongly agreed (38.9%) agreed with the premise that "e-learning provides more learning experiences" in the second statement. There is little question that, in comparison to conventional teaching and learning methods, pupils have encountered a completely new sort of learning environment. Students have a plethora of new learning opportunities using e-learning platforms, in addition to the English classes being attractive, as seen in the pie chart above. However, 10 out of 90 participants, or 11.2%, of the students overall voiced dissent and severe disagreement. However, 9% of students said that they had no opinion.

. Students' learning experiences promotion
Additionally, in the third question, the respondents expressed their opinions about signing up for e-learning courses in the next semesters. In general, students tended to enroll in online courses. This is logical given that the majority of students in question 2 agreed that they experienced a variety of experiences when studying English using e-learning programs. While the number of students who opposed and strongly disagreed with the notion was low-10% and 6.7%, respectively-a surprisingly large percentage-42.1% of students agreed, and 35.6% of students strongly agreed-responses were in favor of the proposal. This demonstrates that the e-learning trend of teaching and learning has satiated the demands of the students. 5.6% of replies in terms of neutral opinion were gathered.  Students' opinions on using e-learning in the teaching of English are shown in Table 1. It is evident that a significant portion of the students' replies indicated agreement. Almost 80% of the students felt that e-learning makes English classes more effective (43.3% strongly agreed and 35.6% agreed). Only 10% of the respondents disagreed, while 11.1% were in the center. Additionally, 83.3% of students (37.8% strongly agreed and 45.5% agreed) felt that using e-learning made learning more fun and comfortable for them. There is a significant discrepancy between this amount and the percentage of students who disagreed and were uninterested (83.3%, 7.8%, and 8.9%, respectively). As a result, the majority of students (62 out of 90 replies) acknowledged that using an online learning platform was a good idea for teaching and studying English. However, 15.6% of students remained neutral, and 15.5% of students in total disagreed. We can see from the statistics above that the students' reactions to using e-learning are positive. The study concluded that e-learning applications may improve students' motivation, feeling of accomplishment, and learning chances. Students also discussed if implementing e-learning was a waste of time in the final question. In general, students understood the benefits of using e-learning for their education; therefore, it is not unexpected that 76.5% of them disagreed that doing so was not a waste of time. In actuality, your optimistic outlook will provide what you see as the benefits. Naturally, there will be a higher likelihood that more students will accept to participate in this new learning method if they have a positive attitude regarding online learning.
6,7% 5,6% In a nutshell, it was discovered that using an e-learning platform in English education was a useful tool for EFL students. Its findings demonstrated that e-learning may increase students' motivation and provide a less stressful learning environment. It is highly advised to employ e-learning from home. Due to the absence of a direct connection between students and instructors, it may be challenging to keep students interested in e-learning courses. Thus, in order to keep pupils interested, instructors must adapt their instructional approaches. According to Liu (2015), pupils may reach higher levels of autonomy the more motivated they are. The importance of training teachers in the creation and efficient usage of e-learning programs cannot be overstated. The effectiveness of e-learning must also be frequently assessed by school administration in order to quickly identify and address any problems. In order to effectively evaluate students' abilities, instructors must directly supervise pupils while they are being taught. Teachers may simultaneously assist students whenever they need it. In essence, it highlights how crucial instructors are to kids' development.

Conclusion
An effective investigation was conducted on how E-Learning affected teaching and learning at Dong Nai Technology University. The researchers were able to demonstrate that students and professors seemed to have similar opinions on online learning and supplied better scores for e-learning based on the five efficacy criteria. Both instructors and students agreed that e-learning is a useful instrument for enhancing the delivery of teaching and fostering the development of knowledge acquisition abilities via the transfer of learning.
Likewise, when E-Learning was used in conjunction with face-to-face education, instructors saw a significant improvement in their working methods. Students are growing more driven to learn on their own initiative and handle their coursework with increased responsibility in the same way. It also improves teamwork. E-learning is, therefore, one of the most effective methods for both teaching and learning that can be used.
In conclusion, this study may support the use of e-learning in higher education in Vietnam. According to researchers, distance learning and the use of E-Learning technologies allow for the extension of educational opportunities beyond a single campus and throughout the whole nation. Evidence suggests that both private and state colleges and universities in Vietnam have embraced e-learning. In light of this, it is strongly advised that more research be carried out, taking into account other higher education institutions in Vietnam, in order to develop a more specific knowledge-based strategy for developing E-Learning techniques. The goal is to improve Vietnamese students and prepare them for future global competition, boosting the standard of excellence in the higher education sector.
Funding: This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Publisher's Note: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers.