ERIC Number: EJ1468651
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-4632
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7557
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Factors Driving Teacher Selection on Online Language Tutoring Platforms: An Experiment-Based Approach
Lichen Zhen1; Nathaniel Ming Curran2; Hernan Galperin1
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v46 n2 p304-317 2025
Facilitated by the increased availability of affordable broadband Internet, individuals around the world are taking language lessons online from private tutors. A large proportion of online language tutoring takes place through online teaching platforms (OTPs), which are two-sided online markets that connect individual learners and tutors for piece-meal lessons. This paper considers how salient aspects of teachers' identities drives teacher selection on OTPs. Using a discrete choice experiment design (N = 971) distributed to online English learners from four countries, (Brazil, Italy, Spain and Korea) the paper tests hypotheses related to linguistic, racial and gender-based discrimination. The results reveal that participants' preference for L1 teachers far exceeds their preference for pedagogically qualified instructors and that learners prefer female to male teachers. Further, learners' preference for L1 teachers is stronger when the teacher is White than when the teacher is Black. The results also indicate that foreign media consumption correlates with reduced racial bias. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.
Descriptors: Tutoring, Electronic Learning, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Foreign Countries, Gender Discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Preferences, Mass Media, Influences, Native Speakers, Language Teachers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Brazil; Italy; Spain; South Korea
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 2Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong