Advantages and Challenges of eLearning Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Faculty and Student Perceptions in Saudi Education

Novelty and Topicality: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the education sector, with eLearning transforming the global education system. Research Purpose: This study sheds light on how the English departments of King Khalid University overcame the pandemic's impact, with respect to the shift to online learning. Motivation for the Study: The findings of the present study are of great importance for transforming the education system, not only in Saudi Arabia but worldwide. The globalization of education will help the universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia make borderless, cost-effective education available to the citizens of the world from the comforts of their homes. Design and Methods: The study seeks to identify the challenges and advantages of eLearning, based on the perceptions of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners and instructors. The data were collected through Google forms and analysed using various SPSS software tools. Main findings: The findings revealed that the advantages of eLearning outweigh the challenges faced by students. The advantages of teaching English online include flexibility of learning, constant availability of learning materials, time efficiency, and the upgrade of technical skills. The major challenges for students and instructors include a lack of in-person interaction and poor Internet connectivity. Practical Implications: Notably, the study findings can improve the efficacy of eLearning in the education field in general and Saudi English departments in particular. Contribution: The outcomes can help explore future possibilities for reforming the education sector, both within and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. © 2023 ACADEMY PUBLICATION.

Social Distancing During the Pandemic: A Semiotic Approach to Organizational Response through Commercial Branding

Social distancing is one of the most practical and most widely emphasized non-pharmaceutical interventions recommended globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though its efficacy remains debatable, social distancing continues to be advocated as a strategy to "flatten the curve” by reducing individual infections. This study aims to decode the semiotics of COVID-19 pandemic from one side and to show how commercial branding transformations took place from another. Global organizations have aligned themselves with social distancing precautions by adapting their commercial branding for visual messaging. This study takes a semiotic approach to the commercial branding of companies that could transform their branding during the pandemic and those that did. The two questions addressed by the study are: (1) How did commercial branding transform during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) what semiotic codes are evident in these transformations? The findings show that organizational branding was separated or reworded or took a two-pronged approach (combining rewording and transformed images). © 2023 World Journal of English Language.