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Contextual factors are framed as elements arising from distance learners’ interaction with their social environment. Drawing on a sociocultural perspective, the study uses communities of practice, mediation, and dialogic interaction to explain learning and language development as social processes. 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Contextual factors are elements that emerge as a result of distance learners ’interaction with their social environment. The study drew on a sociocultural perspective that encompassed the concepts of communities of practice, mediation and dialogic interaction. These concepts advocate that both learning for knowledge and language learning are processes of social interaction. The participants of the study were adult ESL learners enrolled in a distance learning institution that employs a blended learning pedagogy. Multiple sources of information comprising semi-structured interview, text-based interview and informal chats were used for data collection purposes. Data was analysed using the constant comparative method. Through this approach, contextual factors mediating distance learners’participation in the OLF were uncovered.  \nKeywords: ESL Distance learners, Participation in online forum, Sociocultural perspective  \n1. Introduction  \nDistance learning which has gained popularity in the last few decades is seen as a potential solution for people who want to carry out formal learning in order to remain competitive in a changing environment, for those who want to enhance their career opportunities without having to interrupt their employment, or for those in remote areas (Moore & Kearsley 2011; Merriam et al. 2007) . In fact, researchers (Hisham Dzakiria 2004; Fahy 2003) content that the two longacknowledged goals for distance learners is learning and socialisation.  \nDistance learning in Malaysia was first introduced in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in the 1970s. Then, in 1990 Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) started to introduce distance learning in order to cater to the overwhelming demand for tertiary education. In the period of 1993 till today, there has been a significant increase in the number of institutions that offer distance learning. This comes about as a result of the Ministry of Education’s new policy that encourages the introduction of distance education in Malaysian universities for the purposes of providing lifelong learning opportunities, meeting higher education aspirations using flexible, accessible and affordable system, as well as helping the government in the democratisation of education (Mansor Fadzil & Latifah Abdol Latif 2009; Abdullah Sanusi Ahmad & Mansor Fadzil 2002) . Hence, today, a large number of adults are pursuing tertiary education in Malaysia via the distance learning mode (Guan et al. 2011) .  \nIn distance learning programmes, learners and teachers are in different places for all or most of the time that they learn and teach. Being in different places, they depend on some kind of technology to deliver information and give them away of interacting with each other (Moore & Kearsley 2011, 2005) . Hence, distance learning institutions exploit an impressive range of technologies to enable tutors and distance learners who are geographically separated to communicate with each other. In Malaysia, most distance learning programmes employ a blended learning approach which is a hybrid of ","cbCaivJFW7p45R7K","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivJFW7p45R7K","pdf",206192,"English","# Introduction\n## Distance learning context and growth in Malaysia\n## Online forums as educational platforms\n## Rationale for studying adult ESL learners’ participation in OLF","[{\"question\":\"What is the main focus of the study discussed in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The paper examines how contextual factors mediate adult ESL distance learners’ participation in an online forum (OLF).\"},{\"question\":\"Which theoretical perspective guides the analysis of learner participation?\",\"answer\":\"The study uses a sociocultural perspective, emphasizing communities of practice, mediation, and dialogic interaction as mechanisms shaping learning and language learning through social interaction.\"},{\"question\":\"How was data collected and analyzed in the research?\",\"answer\":\"Data came from semi-structured interviews, text-based interviews, and informal chats. Analysis used the constant comparative method to uncover the contextual factors mediating participation in the OLF.\"}]","Advances in Language and Literary Studies - Vol. 4 No. 1 - ESL Distance Learners’ Participation in an Online Forum | PDF",1792067877,14]