Effective language teaching methods in online learning environments: A case study of virtual university of Pakistan

The higher education landscape is continually evolving by imbibing technology and artificial intelligence for facilitating students’ needs, expectations and aspirations. While many institutions are adopting online frameworks for higher education, the online universities constantly need to reevaluate their systems to best facilitate students. One such re-evaluation is a need for language teaching programs offered by online universities. In this regard, this study aimed to explore students’ perceptions about the best language teaching method in online settings. For this purpose, that data was collected from the students enrolled in Virtual University of Pakistan’s BS English course Language Teaching Methods offered by the Department of English. The study included all students enrolled in the course. Qualitative data gathered through the Graded Discussion Board (GDB) i.e., 1190 posts were screened, coded and five themes were finalized. The findings of the study revealed that students preferred the communicative language teaching method. Moreover, they suggested its implementation at the university through collaboration projects, technological adaptation of latest applications and software and learner autonomy through a combination of both a/synchronous activities for improving their language skills.