Exploring the Use of VoiceThread in a Peer-Mentored EMI Classroom: A Q-Methodology Protocol

The aim of this research is to elicit and characterize students’ perspective of using VoiceThread in a peer-mentored English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) classroom. VoiceThread will be used both inside and outside the classroom to improve students’ engagement and educational experience. An online peer mentoring community will be established to foster the interaction among junior and sophomore students in a business class. Since this will entail making a quantitative analysis of subjective data, the novel Q-methodology will be used to interview 20 sophomore students and ask them to rank 40 statements (Q-set) related to their experience in the classroom. A factor analysis will be used to determine the number of factors, and individuals who are closely related within each category will be identified based on a correlation analysis. The data will be analyzed and evaluated using the PQMethod software in accordance with the best practice in Q-methodology and the results will show whether people who have similar ideas have similar operant characteristics. The significance of a Q-study is that it facilitates an in-depth examination of various perspectives, perceptual consensuses, and disagreements. The findings of this study can be used to generate additional hypothesis-testing experiments for future research and are also expected to have numerous theoretical and practical implications.