Online learning has seen an incredible shift in most educational contexts due to the Covid-19 pandemic (Watermeyer, Crick, Knight and Goodall, 2021; Gacs, Goetler and Spasova, 2020). As most education sectors are redefining themselves in a post-covid era, it is critical to understand the opportunities and potential challenges that teaching and learning in an online space offer. The social face-to-face aspect has been a key element of the communicative language approach, mainly used for teaching Welsh adult learners in recent years. But as we see a strategic shift towards an online teaching approach in this field, we must understand what the potential gains are in online learning Vs the Face to Face context, when teaching a minority language to adult learners.

This study was a Comparative Case Study, collecting and analysing the language samples of two online beginner classes, with the samples of a traditional face to face class (control sample) analysing their abilities to communicate in the target language, and how competent they were in their use of the target language to convey and express meaning. Motivation and attendance were also tracked.

The samples were scored based on Grammatical Accuracy and Pronunciation, with the objective of developing all learners as communicators, but also identifying any variations within the learning gains within both modes of delivery.
The variations in learning gains that will be explored are as follows:
- The potential for online delivery in creating artificial speakers,
- Issues around language transfer
- Belonging and motivational issues.

Authors:
Lowri Jones, Bangor University, United Kingdom
Enlli Thomas, Bangor University, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Lowri Jones is a Lecturer in Education and Director of PGCE. Her contribution to the field of educational research focus on bilingual teaching, digital learning, and teachers as researchers.

Additional website of interest
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/staff/se/lowri-jones-090158/en

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