This research aimed to describe students' perceptions of online discussion and to find out the correlation between (1) motivation as well as enjoyability and students' perceptions of online discussions, and (2) lecturers' roles and students' perceptions of online discussions. This study employed descriptive quantitative and correlation methods. A total of 91 students were selected as participants through a purposive sampling technique. The findings of this study indicated that students had positive perceptions of online discussion. Students agreed that online discussion could improve language skills, enhance skills in drawing conclusions, encourage useful social interactions, facilitate idea sharing between students and lecturers, and broaden their knowledge. However, some of the participants doubted that online discussions could motivate them to continue learning and that online discussions could make the discussion materials interesting to study. The role of lecturers in encouraging the effectiveness of online discussions was fairly correlated with students' perceptions. On the other hand, the role of lecturers had a weak correlation with motivation, meaning that the presence of lecturers in online discussions did not stimulate students' desire to study hard. It could be concluded that students had a positive perception of the use of online discussion methods, but they still showed doubts in terms of learning motivation and enjoyability in participating in online discussions.

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Ali Mustadi