Chat-based interaction in virtual classes: EFL students’ perceptions, motivation, and well-being

Abstract

Background Despite the growing body of research concerning online learning technologies in language education, limited attention has been directed toward realizing the affordances of chat-based interaction in a synchronous virtual classroom. This study explores the perceptions of female EFL postgraduate students regarding the use of chat-based interaction in synchronous virtual classrooms, specifically in reference to their motivation and well-being after attending a 15-weeks intensive English course delivered online via Blackboard. Methods A cross-sectional survey design with a quantitative research methodology was used to collect data from (N = 128) female Saudi postgraduate students enrolled on an online English course for 15 weeks. It drew on correlational methodology to identify any relationships with the student’s demographic information and their perceptions, motivation, and well-being. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability tests, Pearson correlations, a linear regression model, and an independent samples t-test, and Welch’s one-way ANOVA. Results The findings demonstrate a consistent tendency for postgraduate EFL learners to report positive experiences with chat-based interaction in the synchronous virtual classroom. Their perceptions, motivation and well-being were strongly and significantly interrelated, with motivation exhibiting the highest relationship to well-being (r = 0.867, p < 0.001); (B = 0.734, β = 0.704, p < 0.001). The EFL students’ experience using Blackboard virtual classes was associated with a statistically significant difference in their well-being (p = 0.016, p < 0.05); there was no significant difference in any construct by academic major or English-learning experience; age showed a significant omnibus effect on motivation (p = 0.020), attributable to a single pairwise contrast between the youngest and oldest age groups, but no significant effect on perceptions or well-being. Conclusion The results revealed chat-based interaction is an accommodative, low-anxiety communication method that is associated with engagement and well-being among learners in online EFL settings. It adds to the prevailing literature by promoting knowledge of chat-based interaction as a psychologically and pedagogically significant mode of communication. It further emphasizes the importance of instructors including chat-based activities to create supportive, engaging, and emotionally safe learning environments in virtual classrooms. Given evidence of substantial conceptual and empirical overlap among the three constructs (see Instrument Validity), these findings should be interpreted as exploratory and correlational rather than confirmatory or causal.