Five Institutional Reasons Adult Distance Learners Find it Difficult to Learn the English Language via Distance Education

Adult distance learners face many difficulties in learning the English language via distance education. This article analyses the institutional reasons which bring about these difficulties that were identified through a qualitative survey based on the essay written by 1042 students of the JUE 200 English course conducted at the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Current literature on the same issue is also reviewed. The article presents 5 institutional reasons for lecturers, university administrators and institutions to consider as part of their own strategic plan to mitigate learners’ concerns and to ensure the success of the English language program. The five reasons discussed include the following: (1) Interaction; (2) English Language Course; (3) Course lecturer; (4) Learning module and (5) E-learning portal, audio and visual. Suggestions from JUE 200 learners to improve the English language course are also reported in this article.This research has been funded by the Incentive Grant of Universiti Sains Malaysia.