Foreign Language Proficiency and Learner Experience in English-Taught MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have opened new pathways to higher education by offering free, flexible learning opportunities to participants around the world. Yet, because most MOOCs are delivered in English, they may not be equally accessible to all. Non-native English speakers now constitute the majority of MOOC learners, and their linguistic backgrounds, self-confidence, and proficiency levels can shape how they navigate these courses—why they enrol, how they engage, what challenges they encounter, and how well they ultimately perform.

This project investigates the role of English language proficiency in shaping non-native speakers’ motivations, attitudes, challenges, and learning outcomes in English-medium MOOCs. Bringing together survey data and interaction log data from thousands of learners, the project sheds light on how proficiency differences influence learners’ experiences and contribute to inequalities in access and performance. The findings highlight the importance of moving beyond the common practice of treating “non-native speakers” as a single, homogeneous group and instead considering the diverse profiles and needs of learners across proficiency levels.

Study 1 — Non-Native Participants in English-Taught MOOCs: Motivations, Attitudes, and Challenges Across Proficiency Levels

Based on survey data from 588 non-native English speakers in seven countries, this study explores how learners with different proficiency levels (B1–C2) experience English-taught MOOCs. Overall, participants reported strong motivations, positive attitudes, and relatively few language-related challenges. However, clear variation emerged: learners with lower proficiency expressed lower self-efficacy and faced more language-related difficulties than their higher-proficiency peers. These findings underscore the need for MOOC designs that respond more sensitively to differences across proficiency levels.

• Jadoulle, Pauline ; Dubois, Tanguy ; Degrave, Pauline ; Paquot, Magali. (submitted). Non-native participants in English-taught MOOCs: Motivations, attitudes, and challenges across proficiency levels. 
• Jadoulle, Pauline ; Dubois, Tanguy ; Degrave, Pauline ; Paquot, Magali. (2026). Developing a Survey on Motivations, Attitudes, and Challenges of Non-Native Participants in English-Taught MOOCs. In: Kairit Tammets, Sergey Sosnovsky, Rafael Ferreira Mello, Gerti Pishtari, Tanya Nazaretsky (eds.), Two Decades of TEL. From Lessons Learnt to Challenges Ahead. EC-TEL 2025. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 16064), Springer, p. 169-174. 978-3-032-03872-2. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-03873-9_19. 
• Jadoulle, Pauline ; Dubois, Tanguy ; Degrave, Pauline ; Paquot, Magali. Les MOOCs sont-ils vraiment accessibles ? Motivations, attitudes, et défis des participants non-anglophones. Colloque AUPTIC (Lausanne, 5-6 janvier 2026). http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/306108 
• Jadoulle, Pauline ; Dubois, Tanguy ; Degrave, Pauline ; Paquot, Magali. Experiencing MOOCs in English: A proficiency-based perspective. Linguists’ Day of the Linguistic Society of Belgium (Leuven 10 octobre 2025). https://dial.uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/object/boreal:306102  
• Jadoulle, Pauline ; Dubois, Tanguy ; Degrave, Pauline ; Paquot, Magali. Developing a Survey on Motivations, Attitudes, and Challenges of Non-Native Participants in English-Taught MOOCs. ECTEL2025 (Newcastle & Durham, du 15 au 19 septembre 2025). http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/306107  
• Jadoulle, Pauline ; Dubois, Tanguy ; Degrave, Pauline ; Paquot, Magali. Motivations, attitudes and challenges of non-native participants in English-taught MOOCs: Survey design and validation. ILC Poster Day (Université catholique de Louvain, 21/02/2025). http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/299531 

Study 2 — The Impact of Language Proficiency on MOOC Performance: Insights from a Log Study of Video Interaction and Forum Participation

Drawing on log data from 919 participants enrolled in two EdX MOOCs, this study examines how English proficiency influences learning performance and interacts with learners’ behaviour on videos and discussion forums. Lower-proficiency learners showed lower overall performance than native speakers. Surprisingly, they did not benefit more from video- or forum-based strategies. The study highlights the importance of integrating proficiency-aware design and support mechanisms into MOOC platforms.

• Dubois, Tanguy ; De Meyere, Damien ; Watrin, Patrick ; Paquot, Magali. (submitted). The impact of language proficiency on MOOC performance: Insights from a log study of video interaction and forum participation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 
• Dubois, Tanguy ; De Meyere, Damien ; Watrin, Patrick ; Paquot, Magali. English Proficiency and MOOC Performance: A Log Study of Videos and Forums. ILC Poster Day (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 21/02/2025). http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/299488 

Contact person:

PI: Prof. Magali Paquot, Centre for English Corpus Linguistics