Comparing Learners’ Interactions in Conventional and Virtual Classes of Distance Education University: Examining Two Approaches of Teaching Grammar

Collaborative technologies provide opportunities for English foreign language learners (EFL) to have interactive learning and access to online interactive environments. Interactions that take place between teachers and their students in a classroom context affect learners’ language learning. As such, this research compared interactions between the instructor and her students and between students themselves that took place in conventional and Learning Management Systems (LMS) classes. Second, two different approaches of teaching grammar (implicit and explicit) in conventional and LMS classes were examined. The participants of this study were selected from 94 students of EFL freshmen at two groups of different teaching classes namely, virtual and conventional classes. Having administered a test of homogeneity, the researcher selected 60 learners. They were assigned into four groups, two experimental and two comparative groups. After the treatment, the results of the pre-and post-tests confirmed the positive effect of teaching grammar both explicitly and implicitly in LMS classes. In addition, examination of interaction patterns revealed that teaching through LMS was student-centered and dynamic in contradiction with the comparative groups. The study can help instructors understand the prospective benefits of teaching on LMS and also improve social interactions among uncommunicative students.