languages

This study aimed at finding out the perceptions of university level EFL students and
instructors concerning online courses quality and effectiveness. To achieve this aim, a random
sample of thirty EFL university level students was selected from three different faculties at
MSA University. Also, a random sample of fifteen instructors from three different levels of
English courses was selected to conduct the current study. The researcher designed a
questionnaire and a structured interview, and they were used as the research tools after ensuring
their reliability and validity. The questionnaire consisted of five questions while the interview
consisted of six questions. The study participants were asked to answers the questions according
to their perceptions. The findings of the study revealed that both the study hypotheses were
partially confirmed and partially refuted. The majority of EFL university level instructors and
students who participated in the current study believed that online EFL courses are effective and
of reasonable quality. Bearing in mind the fact that this was a small scale study conducted on
only thirty students and fifteen instructors in one Egyptian university only, the results might be
different if the same study was conducted on a larger scale. Therefore, it is suggested that larger
scale studies should be conducted in the Egyptian context to obtain more reliable results. Based
on the study results, it is recommended to conduct experimental studies to investigate the
effectiveness of varied online courses. In addition, more training should be provided for
instructors who teach online courses to better meet the individual needs of their EFL students.