Impact of COVID-19 on Self-Directed Learning: Perspectives of Rural English First Additional Language Teachers

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been changes in the ways teaching and learning occur in most classrooms, including English first additional language classrooms. Teachers spent less contact class time with their English FAL learners to comply with the COVID-19 safety protocols, such as social distancing. More than ever, learners in rural schools faced the responsibility of learning independently for extended periods. The focus in this article is on how the learners' efforts to learn independently were disrupted and how teachers assisted these learners in overcoming these challenges amid the pandemic. The article explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural English FAL learners' self-directed learning. The findings confirm the existence of COVID-19-induced challenges that impeded rural English FAL learners' self-directed learning. These included a lack of motivation and a negative attitude towards self-directed learning, closure of learning facilities and a lack of learning material, overdependence on the teacher, poor physical learning environments and limited parental support. The study also reports on strategies that English FAL teachers used to enhance learners' self-directed learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included strengthening home-school partnerships, providing emotional support, and simplifying learning activities. The article concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted selfdirected learning in South Africa.

Exploring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Rural English FAL Teachers' Lesson Planning

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted the process of teaching and learning in various ways. In particular, lesson planning in rural English first additional language (FAL) classrooms has been disrupted. As a result, there is a need to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural English FAL teachers' lesson planning. To achieve this aim, these questions remain central to this study: How does the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt the typical teaching plans of English FAL teachers in a rural context? How do rural English FAL teachers respond to the challenges of the phased-in and rotational approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic? The study follows a qualitative research design and uses Document Analysis to generate data from the eleven participants whose responses are analyzed thematically. The findings reveal that rural English FAL teachers face challenges when planning lessons amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These include: struggle with committing to the plan, inadequate coverage of content, catering for learners' educational needs, as well as learner-absenteeism and the need for re-teaching. The paper recommends the following strategies for rural English FAL teachers to circumvent these challenges. They include: incorporating various resources in the lesson plan, integrating active learning activities in the lesson plan, and tailoring lesson plans to meet learners' educational needs.