Evaluation of an English Course in a Distance Education Program

The current study aimed to examine a distance education program of a university with a focus on distance English course. The majority of the studies conducted on the same issue focuses on distance education of compulsory English in formal education programs with on-campus students. However, the distinction between this study and the others is that the participants of this research study at a distance education program which means that they got all their courses through distance education. The opinions of students (N=60) studying in this program were gathered through a questionnaire consisting of open and closed-ended questions. The findings of closed-ended questions were analysed with a statistical program. The answers given to the open-ended questions were examined via content analysis. As a result, it was revealed that students generally preferred this distance education program because of its being flexible and adaptable and stated advantages were being independent of time and place. They were generally content with the practices of the course teacher with some exceptions, yet they indicated that it is hard for them to learn English effectively through distance education. The underlying reasons and disadvantages were specified by the students as lack of interaction with their friends, lack of practice, lack of motivation and lack of socialization.