EFL learners during and beyond COVID 19 pandemic: advantages, challenges and solutions of online learning

ABSTRACT

Institutions change their educational processes in a relatively short period of time to solely online with an aim to continue teaching and learning. We examined EFL students' attitudes about online learning, their ability to absorb knowledge, and their usage of E-learning platforms in this respect. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to conduct an online survey.225 students from King Khalid University one of the biggest university in KSA participated in the study. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the EFL learning process both during and after it. The benefits of online learning revealed in previous research appear to be diminishing, while the drawbacks grow more evident. In the context of the pandemic-induced crisis, the hierarchy of difficulties that occur in online learning shifts. The most major difficulties are technological challenges, and the EFL students faced issues at various levels. Students, on the other hand, also attributed the last position to a lack of contact with instructors or inadequate communication with them. The research implications for institutions and researchers are explored considering these findings. The findings also revealed the influence of different locations on students' views about the environment. The students did not show more inquisitiveness to continue online learning, if the universities go back to traditional learning. The co-variance matrix and objective function were also created for all the 30 questions.