Determinants predicting undergraduates'intention to adopt e-learning for studying english in Chinese higher education context: A structural equation modelling approach

摘要

This study explores the determinants that predict undergraduates' intention to adopt e-learning for studying English on the basis of the extended technology acceptance model. The survey is conducted on 199 undergraduates. Structural equation modelling is performed to evaluate the proposed hypotheses and the validity of the broadened model. The results show that in addition to perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, the intrinsic motivation factor of perceived enjoyment and extrinsic motivation factor of social influence can also determine students' intention to apply e-learning for studying English. Furthermore, perceived enjoyment exerts a significant direct influence on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Percieved ease of use significantly and directly affects perceived usefulness, and however, perceived usefulness is not positively related to intention. The extended model is found to have good predictive validity. This study contributes to better comprehending Chinese undergraduates' intention to implement e-learning for English studies, and it extends technology acceptance model by incorporating motivation variables of perceived enjoyment and social influence, which can be applied as a theoretical framework in future research in education context. Furthermore, this study provides universities and teachers with several recommendations on encouraging students to take up e-learning to study English for achieving more positive outcomes.