From Literacy to Multi-literacies: Thai ESL Graduate Students’ Perception of Learning English Using Digital Technology in the U.S.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of Thai ESL graduate students who studied in the U.S., when learning the English language through digital technologies. The interviewed participants werethree male and three female students from two State universities in the Northeast and Southwest of U.S.A Grounded in multi-literacies framework, the study is a qualitative study. Major data sources included interviews and observations. Findings demonstrated that overall the participants had positive attitudes towards the use of digital technologies and ICTs in general. The positive attitudes included the convenience of ICTs, the self-directed learning, the motivation to learn, and genuine context. However, the challenges the students faced included less face-to-face interactions, eyestrain, Internet dependency, the teachers’ role, Internet access ability, mismatches between in-and-out of class use of ICTs, and differences of the educational philosophies.