In recent times, there has been a strong push for higher education institutions to offer more online courses to cater for students who otherwise would be denied university education. While this may benefit the many distance education students, the take-up rate of totally online education by current on-campus students remains uncertain. At the same time, many lecturers have started to design and develop online teaching material for their courses; many do so without the support of their employer - the university that they work in. The purpose of this study is two-fold. Firstly, to gain an insight into how on-campus students perceive online learning and to examine their readiness and willingness to make the shift from conventional classroom learning to online learning with no face-to-face contact. Secondly, to gain an insight into how lecturers approach online teaching; so as to better understand the problems they face when switching to a teaching mode that is quite different from the classroom teaching they are familiar with. The outcomes of this study will provide us with a better understanding of how lecturers and on-campus students perceive online teaching and learning. Understanding students' level of readiness to take part in online learning and their willingness to switch from the conventional classroom to cyberspace will assist universities in making decisions on the future direction of online courses. This is particularly important to those universities that intend to replace conventional classroom teaching with online courses. A better understanding of the problems faced by students and lecturers in online teaching and learning will also enable university administrators to ensure adequate resources are being allocated and the right level of support is provided. / Lecturers' experiences in designing and developing online courses also assist in forming guidelines, policies and procedures for others to follow. An exploratory study was carried out on five groups of students and their lecturers to investigate their perceptions of online teaching and learning. Each group of students was enrolled in a specific subject unit when the study was carried out. All of the students were studying on-campus pursuing bachelor or postgraduate qualifications in various disciplines across the university. Students from each group were asked to complete a questionnaire during one of their lecture sessions. Their lecturers were interviewed individually. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were applied on the collected data. Results of the study found that the majority of the students had sufficient knowledge at using the Internet and were very positive about online teaching and learning. While they would have liked to see more online teaching and learning used in their courses, they would not want it to replace classroom teaching and learning. The lecturers felt that online teaching - the development of online course material and the constant monitoring of students progress, was a time consuming but rewarding task. They would like to see their efforts in taking up such challenges recognised and rewarded by their institution and more resources be provided to assist them in further development in the area. / In conclusion, the outcomes of this study show that if given the choice, not all oncampus students would like to enrol in online courses. The majority of them would still prefer classroom learning supplemented by online learning. Universities should invest in online teaching and learning with more resources allocated to assisting lecturers in online teaching. However, universities contemplating using online courses to replace traditional classroom teaching may find themselves losing their existing on-campus students.

This study provides a rationale for adopting course materials. It demonstrates the relationship between ability to read assigned materials and academic achievement, and that selection of materials creates two groups having different probabilities of success. The sample was selected from a population of all students enrolled in Principles of Economics courses at North Texas State University in the spring semester of 1986. The Nelson-Denny Reading Test was used to determine reading ability. Assigned materials were analyzed for readability. A frustration level was determined and used to divide the sample: the group of interest, those with reading abilities below the frustration level who underwent the treatment of reading materials written above their ability to comprehend; and the comparison group, those with reading abilities above the frustration level who did not undergo the treatment.

Cette étude relève de la didactique des langues, mais elle s’appuie également sur l’analyse des interactions verbales et des interactions en classe de langue, ainsi que sur l’anthropologie et la sociologie. Elle repose sur la capacité de l’image à susciter des productions verbales. La photographie d’auteur est ici considérée comme un déclencheur d’interactions orales permettant de communiquer en classe de langue. Nous avons mis en oeuvre une technique didactique dans descours de français enseigné comme langue étrangère en contexte pluriculturel à Paris avec des apprenants de niveaux A1 à B2. Le projet mené en groupe consiste à commenter des photographies d’auteur sans objectifs langagiers prédéterminés. Nous n’avons pas cherché à transmettre des informations concernant les images, volontairement énigmatiques. La question de recherche porte sur la nature des échanges verbaux déclenchés. L’analyse des données dans la partie 2 révèle l’importance de la communication entre les apprenants. Ceux-ci déploient des stratégies de communication et d’appropriation. L’interaction fortement coopérative encourage un apprentissage mutuel entre pairs avec des phénomènes d’étayage collectif. Dans la partie 3, nous analysons les manifestations verbales de la réception des photographies. L’observation des images donne lieu à de la description et de la narration, à la recherche de solutions ou de messages, à des réactions esthétiques, interprétatives, ou encore à des phénomènes d’immersion fictionnelle. Les apprenants mettent en relation les photographies avec d’autres images, ce qui révèle l’importance de l’intericonicité dans la perception visuelle et favorise des échanges interculturels. / The study lies in the field of foreign language education, but it also refers to verbal interaction analysis, foreign language classroom research, anthropology, and sociology. It rests onthe capacity of visual images to trigger verbal expression. Photography is here considered as ameans to induce oral interaction, thus enabling students to communicate in language courses. Wehave implemented a task in lessons of French taught as a foreign language in a pluricultural contextin Paris, learners’ levels ranging from A1 to B2. In this group project, students were invited tocomment on fine art and documentary photographs. We had no predetermined language objectivesand we did not seek to pass on information about the images, which were intentionally enigmatic.Our research question deals with the nature of the verbal interactions triggered by the photographs.In part 2, the analysis of the corpus highlights how learners interact. They implement strategies to communicate and to learn. The interactions are highly cooperative, which encourages students tolearn from their peers by using collective scaffolding. In part 3, we analyse the verbal reactions of the students when they comment on the photographs. These learners describe the images, they buildnarratives, they seek solutions, messages or interpretations, they evaluate the pictures esthetically,and they immerse themselves in the fiction of the photographs. They also find analogies with other images, which reveals the importance of intericonicity in visual perception and encourages learners to engage into intercultural exchanges.