ABSTRACT
Virtual online teaching was adopted at the Iraqi educational institutions: schools and universities when COVID-19 break out. It was the only alternative to revival the education sector after locking down schools and universities by the condition of the quarantine. The scenario of locking down schools and universities after the spread of COVID-19 pandemic pushed stakeholders and decision makers to switch the educational process to the online mode (Thi1 &Minh, 2021). This sudden shift arose many issues and challenges which was faced by both teachers as well as learners, soon questions about the validity and authenticity of the educational process and outcomes were raised. The current study seeks to uncover hidden issues and challenges which English language teachers at Diyala University encounter at this critical period 2019-2022. A semi-structured interview was utilized as the instrument of this small scale qualitative and descriptive study. The qualitative raw data obtained from the interview transcripts were thematically coded and analyzed. The finding were interpreted in two directions: first: failure of the new online teaching process in obtaining the desired educational outcomes outlined by the ministries of education and higher education due to several reasons: uncontrolled examination session which led to student cheating and resulted in unauthentic grading marks. In addition to internet connection issues which is added to the teachers burden and affect negatively EFL teaching process. Secondly: it was proven that online teaching can be beneficial in the sense that it can save time and effort if new strategies of assessment were adopted, intensive training courses for teachers as well as students were applied, in addition to providing good internet service for both student and teacher. © 2023 Otjivanda Presse.Essen. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has challenged educators not only in Ukrainian universities but throughout the whole world to keep abreast with the rapid emergence of new technologies, adapt the education system to online needs, and use blended learning as a necessity of the transformed education environment. We carried out two case studies aimed at gauging the students' perception, experience, and satisfaction level on the pandemicinduced online EFL learning via a Google Forms questionnaire in 2020-2021 a.y. and 2021-2022 a.y. at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine). The first case conducted a 16-question online survey, and an analysis unit was the responses of 112 first-year students studying English as L2 and majoring in Computer Science and Cybernetics at the University of Kyiv under the Coronavirus lockdown reality. The second case encompassed 80 respondents and was fulfilled through the same 16-question online survey under similar study conditions. The sample groups were undergraduate students of the same age (17-18 y. o.) and the English language level (B1+) enrolled in the university with similar admissions criteria, prerequisites, and curricula. The survey's participation was voluntary and anonymous. The respondents gave feedback on three question categories: EFL online learning effectiveness, technical provision satisfaction, self-organization, and confidence level. The opinions were not fully homogeneous but the majority of Computer Science and Cybernetics undergraduates in both case studies pointed out that the online EFL course was effective. The first survey findings revealed that the first-year university learners had a predominately positive attitude towards online education, describing English lessons as well-structured and engaging. Our second investigation demonstrated that apart from staff readiness, confidence, students' Internet accessibility, and motivation, the undergraduates have indicated tiredness of online meetings, pointing out that they have a lack of live communication. The obtained study results can help in understanding EFL teachers how to continue teaching and learning during such unprecedented times and to ensure a high level of education, responding to the current students' needs and priorities for successful online classes. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Romanian Journal for Multidimensional Education / Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala is the property of Lumen Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The global Covid-19 pandemic led to the turn toward online learning and the need to adapt to new ways of English foreign language (EFL) teaching. This mixed-methods research aimed to examine teacher attitudes, well-being, and coping strategies related to online EFL teaching. The results indicated that Croatian EFL teachers had a positive attitude toward online teaching and acknowledged the importance of being digitally competent. EFL teachers were unsure about their ability to deal with online teaching and indicated their need to improve their IT skills. They revealed more negative than positive responses regarding their well-being and showed that they tried to actively cope during the pandemic. Results also showed better coping strategies among female teachers. © 2023 Anna Martinović et al., published by Sciendo.
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This study aimed to examine what challenges Iranian EFL teachers in the mainstream educational system experienced in distance classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telephone unstructured narrative interview was employed to collect data from 20 teacher participants, and two theoretical frameworks, CoI and TPACK, were used to interpret the results. The thematic narrative analysis yielded ten themes: non-customized platforms, material-related issues, connection/internet issues, pedagogical problems, evaluation problems, insufficiency of teachers' knowledge of technology, unmet expectations, physical absence of teacher/student, student-related issues, and dealing with negative emotions. The authors discuss that while some challenges are the antecedent contextual challenges that existed and will probably continue to exist in the context of distance classes, some other challenges can be avoided if teachers are equipped with TPACK to fulfill their new roles in the community of distance classes. © 2023 Mehrnoosh Fakharzadeh et al., published by Sciendo.
ABSTRACT
Post-Covid-19 pandemic situation has created a dire need to use computer in the instructional methodology synchronising with other online resources in the classrooms. The present study was conducted to examine the effects of using computer synchronised by Penzu software as online source for teaching English to the higher secondary school students in Punjab, Pakistan. The study used experimental design and conducted a classroom experiment of 40 higher secondary school students (20 experimental & 20 in control group) through pre/post-tests over different period of time to examine development in students' writing skills. On post-test-I, it was observed that students in the control group showed sudden rise in the development of writing skills compared to experimental group. But, on post-test-II and III, students in the experimental group showed consistency in the development in writing skills while control group could not maintain their consistency of development in writings. Hence, findings of the study revealed that using computer as a tool for instructions and Penzu as online resource to conduct writing activities proved more useful in improving students' writing skills compared to the students in the control group. Finally, findings also revealed that students became more independent in self-corrections in the experimental group and continued to expand their learning outside the classroom while control group was dependent on teacher and could only find time in the classroom for corrective feedback which limited students' learning to their classroom. In addition to this, the study recommends that further computer applications and other online resources can be more useful in language instructions apart from teaching writing skills. Besides, findings of this study have significant theoretical and practical implications pertaining to EFL teachers' professional development, teaching skills and students' learning environment.
ABSTRACT
This study explores the challenges and benefits primary education EFL trainees (N = 28) reported when designing and videoing a storytelling session originally intended to be conducted offline with young learners. This change of scenario was caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The data for the study were derived from the trainees' written reflections, focus group interviews, videos of instructional sessions and student-authored multimodal videos, which were explored to interpret trainees' creative processes while engaged in multimodal composing. The results indicate that trainees hold videoed storytelling to have a similar number of challenges and benefits as face-to-face storytelling. However, two of the reported advantages, enhanced creativity and self-confidence, sit at misconceptions based on trainees' limited knowledge of the pedagogical potential of multimodal resources. The findings have important educational implications in helping develop a pedagogy of videoed storytelling, while also highlighting the need for teacher training programs to specifically target the development of teachers' competence in multimodal pedagogy.
ABSTRACT
Many careers have changed since COVID-19 appeared. In education in particular, the use of ICT tools increased in quite a disorderly manner, and the expansion of these tools opened new opportunities to update the ways of teaching and learning. ICT tools have been used for a long time in education, but they have often been used just as support tools without any academic purpose and without achieving their full potential. If we focus on teaching foreign languages, ICT has given us the opportunity to see and experience other cultures, as well as to live experiences close to a real-life immersion, facilitating the understanding of the use of language and giving everyone a chance to learn in context. This does not only include videos or music;nowadays, we can use and connect many resources including videogames, social media, and blogs, among others. And here is where we can find great potential for development. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to present the plan for a doctoral thesis and its status, as well as some notes on the context, main motivation, literature, and methodology to be used for creating resources that help improve the 21st-century teaching and learning experience. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Many ELT scholars have researched various issues in online language learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only one study applies a Narrative Inquiry approach in researching students' stories as reflections regarding their learning shifts because of the pandemic. Inspired by John Dewey's (1933, 1986) notion and other scholars about the significance of learners' reflections in education, this study attempts to fill the gap by exploring the in-depth stories as reflections of EFL students from three different Indonesian universities about their learning shift experiences before and during the pandemic and their perceptions about learning trends in the future. Nine students as the participants were asked to share their experiences and viewpoints through an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The collected responses were then analyzed using the techniques and tools from Narrative analysis. The results reveal that most participants proposed Blended Learning (BL) with some required conditions for their effective learning: they loved to be taught with the assistance of online materials and applications but longed for more meaningful interactions in conventional face-to-face classes for the issues experienced in fully online learning. For them, the future BL needs to be managed with some relatively balanced proportions of both online and offline classes. Banyak akademisi pada bidang pengajaran bahasa Inggris (ELT) telah meneliti berbagai macam isu dalam pembelajaran bahasa secara daring selama pandemi COVID-19. Namun, hanya satu studi yang menggunakan pendekatan Narrative Inquiry dalam meneliti cerita mahasiswa sebagai refleksi mengenai perubahan aktivitas belajar mereka akibat pandemi. Terinspirasi oleh gagasan John Dewey (1933, 1986) dan para akademisi lainnya mengenai pentingnya refleksi siswa dalam pendidikan, penelitian ini berusaha mengisi kesenjangan (gap) yang ada melalui eksplorasi cerita secara mendalam sebagai refleksi mahasiswa jurusan bahasa Inggris (EFL) dari tiga universitas berbeda di Indonesia mengenai pengalaman belajar mereka yang berubah sebelum dan selama pandemi serta persepsi mereka mengenai tren pembelajaran di masa depan. Sembilan mahasiswa sebagai peserta diminta untuk berbagi pengalaman dan sudut pandang melalui kuesioner terbuka dan wawancara semi-terstruktur. Tanggapan yang terkumpul dari mereka kemudian dianalisis menggunakan teknik dan alat dari Narrative Analysis. Hasilnya mengungkapkan bahwa sebagian besar peserta mengusulkan Blended Learning (BL) dengan beberapa persyaratan tertentu yang diperlukan untuk pembelajaran efektif mereka: mereka senang diajar dengan bantuan materi dan aplikasi daring, tetapi merindukan interaksi yang lebih bermakna dalam kelas tatap muka konvensional karena pertimbangan masalah yang dialami selama pembelajaran daring secara penuh. Bagi mereka, BL di masa yang akan datang perlu dikelola dengan proporsi yang relatif seimbang antara kelas daring dan luring. Aziza Restu Febrianto & Allvian Ika Fiki Susanto. © 2023 AsiaTEFL. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Pointed polysynchronous interactions (PPIs) were initiated by the participants of this study to promote more adequate interactions between learner-learner, learners-teachers, and learners-learning materials in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) science hybrid learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This photovoice study spotlighted Indonesian primary school teachers' initiatives in helping their pupils enhance their English proficiency while learning mathematics. We investigated their efforts for scaffolding when teaching mathematics to the first graders, with a particular focus on translation, translanguaging, and trans-semiotizing. As collaborative research, this photovoice study involved a mathematics' teacher and her co-teacher to provide photos of how translation, translanguaging, and trans-semiotizing were practiced within the PPIs. The teachers described their photos using the SHOWeD technique before we analyzed the data thematically, then returned them to the teachers for validation. Results showed successful practices of translation, translanguaging, and trans-semiotizing, while some challenges arouse because of time limitation for hybrid learning recommended by the Indonesian government. Translation enhanced the students' academic and social performances but required longer time of implementation. Meanwhile, trans-semiotizing was advocated to strengthen the teacher's translanguaging because of the students' English proficiency. Feasibility of alternating L2 and L1 in interaction and connecting them with semiotic resources to negotiate meaning are suggested to practice if hybrid learning should be conducted continuously during new normal.
ABSTRACT
The recent decades have witnessed an accelerated pace of educational development due to the advancement of digital technology. The recent inclusive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced this development, resulting in the emergence of an educational revolution that extensively uses online courses. These changes entail figuring out how teachers' digital literacy has expanded along with this phenomenon. In addition, given the new technological advances in recent years, an upheaval has taken place in teachers' understanding of their dynamic roles, which is known as professional identity. Professional identity influences teaching practices with special consideration devoted to English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is considered an effective framework whereby the incorporation of technology into different theoretical situations such as EFL classes is understood. This initiative was introduced as an academic structure to improve the knowledge base, which helps the teachers to efficiently teach using technology. This yields important insight for teachers, particularly, English teachers, who can use them to improve three aspects of education, namely, technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Along the same lines, this paper aims to consider the relevant literature on the contribution of teacher identity and literacy to teaching practices, using the TPACK framework. Accordingly, some implications are presented to educational stakeholders such as teachers, learners, and material developers.
ABSTRACT
The abrupt changes in the situation and policy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic might dwindle novice teachers' well-being and add more pressure to their minds that are already clouded with uncertainty. If left untouched, it is more than likely that they would quit teaching entirely. Nevertheless, while challenges, struggles, and tensions experienced by novice EFL teachers have long been studied and well-documented, the novice EFL teachers' tensions experienced during the pandemic and the supports they need have not been examined. By analyzing guided reflections and interviewing five Indonesian novice EFL teachers, the present research is to answer two questions: 1) What kinds of tensions are experienced by Indonesian novice EFL teachers during the time of the pandemic? 2) What kind of supports do they need to stay in the teaching profession? The result shows that novice teachers experience tensions related to pedagogical-technical, a sense of belonging to the teaching profession, and culture-relationship, which are caused by the abrupt shift to online learning and excessive workload. To mitigate and ease these tensions, needed supports from the government and policymakers, school and school leaders, or colleagues are also discussed. © 2023, Association for the teaching of English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic period, a growing number of learning activities are taking place in online contexts. Along with the adversity in the online course of target language learning, student engagement has been considered important to improve learners' academic achievements of the target language. Although there has been a growing interest in the relationship between students' perceived social support and their online learning engagement, the literature lacks an in-depth investigation of the intricate relations between these two constructs in an online English as a foreign language (EFL) learning setting during the pandemic. To address this gap, this study attempts to develop a model which depicts the relationships between students' perceived social support and their online English learning engagement. A total of 615 university students in China were invited to take part in the study. By conducting structural equation modeling, the results confirmed the mediational model in which behavioral engagement completely mediated the relationships between social support (teacher support and peer support) and three other types of student engagement (cognitive, emotional and social engagement). These findings suggest designing effective instruction and developing support strategies in online teaching to enhance EFL learners' engagement during the COVID-19 lockdown. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Interactive Learning Environments is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The benefits of collaborative learning have been proven by previous research across disciplines, contexts, and levels of education. The present study aims to validate these benefits perceived by 76 English-As-A-foreign-language (EFL) learners who experienced online-collaborative learning via group work activities in English translation classes at a local university, South Vietnam during the Covid-19 pandemic. Surveying these learners at the end of the course via a questionnaire and analyzing their reciprocal assignment discussion recordings were carried out. The survey results uncovered that the learners highly appreciated online collaborative learning because they perceived that it was beneficial to their future life, career, cognition, and social communication strategies. Their positive view on collaborative learning benefits was deemed to engage them in online group work activities while interacting with partners to complete shared assignments. Furthermore, the empirical discussion recordings analysis documented their sound engagement via a range of group work interactive acts. It is believed that these online purposeful interactions make learning occur, knowledge acquired, and social skills reinforced by the learners. As a result, the present study not only validates the robust benefits reported in previous studies, but also it could be used as a guidance to implement collaborative learning in teaching other subjects other than English translation. © 2023 Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
During the Covid-19 pandemic, global teachers gained extensive experiences with teaching online courses. To design quality online courses in the post-pandemic era, the impact of the latest technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), must be considered. Investigating how teachers incorporate AI-powered tools and how students perceive learning experiences with the tools is crucial for informing effective online course design. In this case study, we presented an 18-week online English course for 43 senior high school students in Taiwan. Designed according to learning theories, this course aimed to cultivate autonomous EFL learners, who learned to read and write with the support of three AI-powered tools (i.e. Linggle Write, Linggle Read, and Linggle Search). Data were collected from the instructors and students in both qualitative and quantitative formats. Results showed that a learning loop was created to connect online learning with offline practice;students had better optimal experience in student-centered presentations than in teacher-centered lectures;and language proficiency predicted semester grade and assignment quantity. This study has both theoretical and practical value;it serves as an example of how to design a quality synchronous online course on AI tools for EFL reading and writing based on theoretical approaches. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Interactive Learning Environments is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way education was being taught. Due to school closures to prevent the spread of the disease, the education system resorted to distance learning to grant students' learning process. This research article reports a mixed-method study on technological resources and their impact on motivation during online lessons. The study seeks to explore the students' perceptions regarding the implementation of some game-based learning platforms (Kahoot, Quizizz, and Quizalize) during their EFL virtual classes and to determine the impact of these platforms on students' motivation toward language learning. A convergent parallel design was implemented to gather quantitative and qualitative data from the twenty-seven participants of the study simultaneously. A four-point Likert scale questionnaire and a focus group were the instruments employed to collect this statistical and descriptive information. The results show that the students perceived Kahoot, Quizizz, and Quizalize as useful, entertaining, fun, and engaging tools. As a conclusion, the enjoyment factor of these tools increases learner motivation and level of attainment.
ABSTRACT
University libraries globally launch coronavirus memory archival projects inviting the documentation of personal experience. Elicitations such as journal entries and oral history interviews fall under the category of life-writing. This Narrative Inquiry focuses on creative nonfiction stories produced by an online high school community and edited by the EFL teacher during the first full lockdown in Greece. The shift to distance education caused students to use ELF as a means of contrasting their local archival endeavors with global ones. The EFL teacher as researcher used mentor texts, collected the coronavirus stories on e-me online platform, engaged the online members in a peer-reviewing process and reauthored a collective narrative. Narrative writing analysis was employed to reflect the teacher's initiative to commemorate a student community's physical disconnectedness from onsite learning. The use of e-me for this collaborative venture offers practical implications for EFL practitioners such as going beyond the bounds of the traditional curriculum whilst identifying self-regulation as indication of resilience among students experiencing unprecedented circumstances.
ABSTRACT
The concept of Transactional Distance (TD) experienced in distance education has been recorded as a focal point in many studies examining its effects on various dimensions in different courses. However, there is scarcity of research on TD in relation to learner motivation in language learning. This exploratory case study investigated TD perceptions of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) undergraduates participating in distance education courses held at a Turkish university within the boundaries of CORONAPOLIS, an imaginary city which is under the threat and destructive effects of Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study examined the effects of TD perceptions on the motivation of 87 EFL students. The data were collected through the participants' informal self-reports and open-ended questions. The results of the content analysis showed that the participants had varying perceptions of the dimensions of TD;dialogue, structure and autonomy. The results also showed that they had different motivational experiences in relation to their perceptions. In the light of the results, theoretical and practical training of the faculty and integration of distance education courses in under/graduate programs are suggested.
ABSTRACT
As most of the industries in the world, the education industry has also been impacted by the COVID-19 virus. The transition to online learning was the most expedient solution to continue education, particularly in tertiary education. Students, especially those learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), have felt the effects of the pandemic. This study seeks to better understand the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on a group of university-level EFL students engaged in e-learning for the first time. It aims to investigate the challenges faced by undergraduate students who took online EFL courses during the academic year 2020/2021. For the purposes of this study, both "Kadri Zeka” University in Gjilan and Universum College in Prishtina, Kosovo, were used as base examples of institutions affected. A mixed method was applied in this study using two instruments: an online questionnaire with students and a semi-structured interview with English professors of the above-mentioned higher education institutions. The questionnaire was sent online to 200 students and a total of 105 students answered while the interview with 9 English professors was conducted in-person. The results obtained were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results indicate that online lectures were not the best for EFL learning, and students did not accomplish the desired results in language learning performances. Furthermore, students did not have positive feelings with regard to learning English online and faced several challenges during the online learning period. © Common Ground Research Networks, Teuta Agaj Avdiu, Mejreme Ymeri, All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
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.
ABSTRACT
While accounting for recent theoretical arguments regarding the modality-specific nature of lexical knowledge, this exploratory study sought to measure young EFL learners' aural receptive multi-word unit (MWU) knowledge and then to compare this to their written counterpart. A total of 120 sixth-grade Korean EFL learners participated in the study, completing aural and written receptive MWU tests that included the identical set of 40 MWUs, which were extracted from the Corpus of Contemporary American English. Both measured participants' meaning-recall knowledge, with the only difference being the mode of target MWU presentation. The results demonstrated that the participants had aural receptive knowledge of about one-third of all MWUs in the first four 500-word levels. They also showed that their aural receptive knowledge of the target MWUs was significantly smaller than their written counterpart. The analysis also indicated that the participants' incorrect recognition of aural forms of some MWUs may partially account for the relatively lower aural test scores. We conclude this paper by highlighting our findings' implications for research and teaching regarding aural MWU knowledge. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of System is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)