The Relevance of Teaching Presence and Cognitive Presence in Malaysian Online ESL Classrooms

Abstract

This study compares Malaysian high school and undergraduate students’ perceptions of online learning in terms of teaching presence (TP), cognitive presence (CP) and social presence (SP) in order to explore the varying experiences of these ESL learners in online learning environments. Ten undergraduates recruited from one public and two private universities, and 10 students from a public high school were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and the interview data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that despite the challenges and constraints posed by the online learning environment, both ESL undergraduates and high school students exhibited positive identification with TP and CP compared to SP. The online learning experience of undergraduates is reliant on their self-learning skills in the digital environment, while for ESL high school students, it is mainly influenced by the teacher's presence, instruction that relates to coverage of assessment items and in-class activity. The findings revealed that the two groups of students seemed to require different teaching approaches due to the learners differing self-directed learning abilities. High school students seemed to be less self-directed compared to undergraduates. The findings highlighted the robustness of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework as a guide for instructors when designing instructional activities or modules for students from different levels of education, and it implied that instructors need to design and structure lesson content strategically to ensure the presence and effectiveness of TP.