Implementation of an English Self-Study Package for English Language Development of Electronics Engineering Staff in the Workplace

Abstract

This mixed-method research aims to: 1) examine the effectiveness of an English self-study package for engineering staff, and 2) investigate learners’ opinions and personal learning experience with regards to the English self-study package. There were 20 participants, all of whom worked at electronics companies in Thailand selected by convenience sampling. A Pre-test and a post-test were employed. A questionnaire was used to examine the learners’ satisfaction. Four case studies were proposed to shed light on differences occurring with regard to learners’ use of the self-study package. The statistics used for quantitative analysis included percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test, whereas qualitative analysis was content analysis. It was found that the post-test scores were significantly higher than the pre-test ones, with a high level of the overall satisfaction regarding unit contents, media production techniques and efficiency of lessons. The four case studies revealed that the efficiency of the package depends largely on individual differences in learners which can be identified as a ‘Strongly determined learner’, a ‘Relaxed learner’, a ‘Digital-literate learner’, and a ‘Highly motivated learner’. The study raises awareness about learners who still need significant levels of support from teachers as well as a degree of social interaction with peers during the process of self-study. This can be implemented without much difficulty through online applications abundantly available at present; self-study does not have to be a lonely path.