STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE USE OF GOOGLE CLASSROOM IN LSP LEARNING AND ITS EFFECTS ON DEVELOPING LINGUISTIC COMPETENCES

Abstract

The use of digital technologies is an integral part of teaching and learning languages for specific purposes (LSP), as well as language in general.  Google Classroom represents one of the most popular educational platforms and its application to the teaching and learning process of LSP is inevitable. Since the pandemic of COVID-19 has brought about the shift of entire teaching to the digital sphere, this platform seems to be an acceptable means of achieving intended learning outcomes. Yet, very little research on attitudes of students as end users of the Classroom to its usefulness has been done. The aim of the paper is to analyse the perceptions of the students who attend LSP classes at the Faculty of Economics, University of Niš. The research deals with three aspects – the ease of use and the usefulness of Google Classroom and the effects of the use of Google Classroom on the development of four linguistic competences. The quantitative data were obtained by a survey (with an application of the five-point Likert scale), while the qualitative aspect of the survey was accomplished by means of analysing answers to one open-ended question. The research results point to the fact that majority of respondents have positive attitudes in terms of the ease of use and usefulness of this platform. It can be concluded that Google Classroom represents a very useful teaching and learning tool. It is up to the students to use their own motivation and self-regulation to do their best and reach the maximum of the teaching and learning potential of this platform.