scholarly journals Practical, Technical, and Affective Aspects of Teaching English Online during the Pandemic: Instructors’ Voices

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Bora Demir ◽  
Görsev Sönmez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face

The aim of this study was to investigate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors’ apperceptions about practical, technical, and affective aspects of online teaching as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our study involved qualitative data collection using an open-ended interview form, including three sections developed by the researchers. EFL instructors (N =18) from randomly selected three state and three private universities of Turkey participated in the study. The results of the content analysis indicated that instructors perceived the distance teaching environment less favorably than the face-to-face environment, although they generally feel competent using the technology. However, the instructors were also found to have negative attitudes towards the psychology of distance teaching by reporting it as boring and an awkward way of teaching. The study concluded that EFL instructors regard distance teaching as inconvenient since teaching and learning foreign languages involve face-to-face interaction and higher learner engagement and motivation.

VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR ESL COURSES

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-243
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria CHISEGA-NEGRILĂ
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environments ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Face To Face

Abstract: As the time in which online teaching and learning was still an element of novelty has long been gone, virtual learning environments have to be studied thoroughly so that they will provide students not only with the necessary knowledge, but also with the proper tools to meet their learning objectives. The advancement in information technology and the access to an almost inordinate number of learning and teaching tools should have already been fructified and, as a result, not only teachers, but also learners should have already picked up the fruit of knowledge grown in the vast virtual environment of the Internet. However, as education has recently moved almost entirely online, some questions have arisen. Are the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) enough to offer ESL students both motivation and knowledge? Will foreign languages benefit from this growing trend or will traditional, face-to-face interaction, prove to have been more efficient? The present article will look into some of these questions and into the benefits of VLEs in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Multimedia technologies and online task-based foreign language teaching-learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Maria de Jesus Ferreira Nobre
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Digital Resources ◽  
French And English ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Task Oriented ◽  
Oral Skills

Teaching and learning a foreign language at a distance implies many challenges, namely regarding oral skills. At Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University), and taking into account its virtual pedagogical model (Pereira, 2007) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Alves, 2001), we suggest curricular paths which include online communicative practices, both oral and written, within the present pedagogical offer, following a student-centred, task-oriented approach. Thus, in this text, we share some examples of training activities in German, French and English, focusing on oral practice, and based on digital resources. These digital resources comprise multimedia materials, either produced by the teachers or the students, as well as other materials available on the web 2.0. Our teaching and research practice within the field of foreign languages and in e-learning, in particular, leads us to conclude that the multimedia resources used are suitable for the online teaching and learning of foreign languages (see third question of questionnaire), especially for professionally engaged adults, as is the case with Universidade Aberta’s students, providing them with real-life situations that foster the teaching-learning of languages in the virtual environment. We include responses to a questionnaire survey filled out by a group of students.Received: 09 May 2018Accepted: 28 May 2018Published online: 31 May 2018

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 on the Learning Processes of Typically Developing and Special Needs Students in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Shazia Nasir ◽  
Mahwish Hameed
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Online Distance Learning ◽  
Online Distance

Abstract: Due to the quick spread of the COVID-19 disease, education institutions across the world had to be closed, and there was an overnight shift to online distance teaching and learning. Majority of the teachers in Pakistan are used to the traditional way of face-to-face teaching and online teaching came as a challenge. Like most of the countries, Pakistan too was not prepared for the sudden shift from face-to-face to online distance learning. Although COVID-19 impacts almost everyone in society, students with disabilities, both physical and mental, are one of the most vulnerable groups due to the restrictions in their activities. Furthermore, studying online devoid of the human touch has induced mental stress among these students. Hence this study focused on the online teaching and learning processes in Pakistan, its challenges and modern pedagogies for emergency situations particularly mental health for students with and without learning disabilities, teachers. The study includes some suggestions for the target group to cope with the sudden catastrophe of COVID-19.   Keywords: COVID-19, Learning Disability, Mental-health, Modern Pedagogies, Online Learning.

Effectiveness of ‘Pocket Mandarin’ for Online Learning among Mandarin as a Foreign Language Basic Learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-137
Author(s):  
Hie Ling Ting ◽  
◽  
Kum Yoke Soo ◽  
Lay Choo Siang ◽  
Sing Ee Ooi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Mandarin Language ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

In the face of difficulties of teaching and learning due to the impact of Covid-19, online lessons have become vital. This has also affected the teaching of Mandarin as a foreign language at universities. Since Mandarin is considered as a difficult language to learn especially to non-native learners, teaching online has posted an even greater challenge to Mandarin language instructors. This study thus examines the use of a combination of platforms and applications online, customised to create an online learning system called ‘Pocket Mandarin’ to facilitate online Mandarin learning at the beginner level. The purpose is primarily to enable learning to take place in a fun and interactive manner by means of online flashcards, pronunciation, games and quizzes placed in an LMS platform called Padlet. To better understand how ‘Pocket Mandarin’ can effectively facilitate online teaching and learning among EFL basic learners at the tertiary level, a survey method was applied and it consisted of 5 parts which are students’ motivation, students’ attitude, cognitive development, design and interface as well as expectations. The results show that ‘Pocket Mandarin’ was positively accepted by the students who found the lessons motivating, upbuilding, cognitively applicable, with exceptional design and interface and was better than their initial expectations. Thus, there is great potential for the ‘Pocket Mandarin’ to be widely used at a greater scale.

scholarly journals Reflections on Teaching Speaking for EFL Students in an Online Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-164
Author(s):  
Alina Gabriela Negoescu ◽  
Simona Boştină-Bratu ◽  
Lucia Larissa Morar
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
The Way

Abstract The health crisis due to the pandemic has greatly changed many aspects of our lives including the way we teach foreign languages. Online teaching has prevailed over the face-to-face one, and educators and learners alike had to adjust to this major shift. This article is meant to provide some of our findings based on our experience while teaching speaking on Moodle online platform. The first part discusses the benefits and the drawbacks of the online environment, then it presents some of the most important aspects of speaking, and in the end, it focuses on the challenges of online teaching while trying to enhance students’ speaking skills. Speaking is one of the most desirable skills because it enables students to communicate effectively, and teaching this ability online has been challenging but also rewarding.

scholarly journals Transitioning from Face-to-Face to Online Instruction in the COVID-19 Era: Challenges of Tutors at Colleges of Education in Ghana

2020 ◽  
pp. 8-17
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Aboagye
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Colleges Of Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
Education In Ghana ◽  
Learning Development

Online learning (e-learning) is well established as one of the best pedagogical approaches in recent years. Despite numerous pieces of literature addressing the significance and limitations of this type of approach, little has been done on the challenges involved in the transition from the face-to-face method of teaching without a blended approach to a complete online in an emergency situation. The present study examined the challenges faced by tutors at colleges of education in Ghana to transition from face-to-face (conventional) to a complete online in the COVID-19 era. A mixed methods design was employed to gather data using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed separately, and the results showed how network, pedagogies, Learning Management Systems and students' factors hinder tutors to successfully deliver online. The study further reported the blended approach as an effective method to assist the tutors for a more effective and less painful transition. Based on the findings, it is relevant for all educational institutions that use a conventional method to adopt a blended approach to help transition to a complete online in case of emergencies. However, it was revealed that online teaching and learning development is expensive, therefore, it requires assistance from stakeholders for a successful implementation.

scholarly journals ZOOM AS A TOOL OF WEB BASED TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO STUDENTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENTS IN UKRAINE

2021 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-163
Author(s):  
Інна Сергіївна Заярна
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cyber Security ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Video Conferencing ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Higher Educational

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic a strict quarantine was imposed from March to May of 2020. Ukrainian higher education faced new challenges caused by unexpected distance teaching and learning implemented in all higher educational establishments during the period in question. Despite the sound theoretical achievements of Ukrainian scientists in the field of distance education, as well as the existing legal framework for the implementation of distance learning in higher education, not all educational institutions had well-established learning management systems. All the above induced foreign languages teachers to search for available technologies which allow delivering their lectures effectively. One of the most popular services was video conferencing, in particular Zoom. The research deals with the specifics of teaching foreign languages in higher educational establishments on Zoom Platform via video conferencing. The research presents the results of the survey conducted among the teachers who used Zoom for teaching foreign languages during the quarantine from March to June in 2020. Based on the survey respondents’ answers, the author determines benefits and drawbacks of Zoom for teaching foreign languages in higher educational establishments, specifies the factors for psychological comfort, as well as the conditions and tools for the development of language skills and speech abilities. Special attention is paid to methodological recommendations aimed at practical implementation of foreign languages online teaching via Zoom video conferencing. The author considers such aspects of foreign languages teaching via Zoom video conferencing as cyber security, discipline issues, creation of psychologically comfortable atmosphere, and Zoom technical tools for teaching foreign language communication.

scholarly journals Choose Your Own Adventure: Gamified Course Design in History of Science

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
John Stewart ◽  
Kathleen Sheppard
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Traditional Grading ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Online Format

To combat high dropout rates and low motivation for online courses, we gamified a history of science course. To do so, we used an online educational program called 3DGameLab to convert what had been a well-liked face-to-face lecture and discussion course to an online format, for the purposes of long-distance teaching and learning. Within 3DGameLab, we prepared approximately three times as much content as would be taught in a face-to-face class. Clear tasks and immediate rewards in the form of experience points (XP) contributed to a transparent motivational system as compared to traditional grading. In this course, students completed their assignments asynchronously. Sustaining engagement is challenging in this format due to student self-management, but, with the game mode, students could repeat their attempts to pass a quest (a lesson) until they succeed (submit a passable response). The feedback cycle was short, and we found that students tend to persevere in the face of failure when they get rapid feedback, rather than quit. To test the adaptability of the asynchronous, gamified format, we also designed this course as a hybrid course. Students remained engaged when the feedback was quick, and the tasks were clearly set. We did not perform a quantitative study; the purpose of this article is to share a design study of our methods and subsequent experience with these modalities.

scholarly journals Aprender y enseñar: una propuesta pro virtual para el inglés en el contexto universitario actual

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Walter Cañarte Ávila ◽  
Ned Quevedo Arnaiz ◽  
Nemis García Arias
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
Methodological Strategy

Aprender inglés como lengua extranjera presenta varias posibilidades de realización que se expresan en  las modalidades que se emplean desde lo presencial a lo virtual o la combinación de ambos. En los tiempos actuales se ha priorizado cómo transformar la tecnología y las herramientas de enseñanza aprendizaje antes que las diferentes formas cómo se aprende con ellas, por ello el problema que se atiende en este trabajo es cómo lograr la interacción mediante la tecnología sin que se obstaculice el desarrollo armónico en la lengua extranjera a los estudiantes de las carreras técnicas. El objeto es el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje del inglés en la Universidad y su campo la contribución al desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa oral del inglés en la modalidad combinada en las carreras técnicas. El objetivo perseguido es la elaboración de una estrategia metodológica que contribuya al desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa oral en la modalidad combinada para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera en las carreras técnicas en la Universidad, lo que constituye el principal aporte del trabajo, y el cual se evaluó mediante la metodología del criterio de expertos. El trabajo subrayó con la propuesta de estrategia que el aprendizaje del inglés requiere de interacción constante entre los estudiantes en contextos virtuales y presenciales. Palabras claves: Estrategia, enseñanza aprendizaje, modalidad combinada, criterio de expertos   Learning and teaching: a pro virtual proposal for English in the present university level context  Abstract  To learn English as a foreign language has several possibilities to be done that are expressed in the way of learning that are used, from the face- to- face teaching to the virtual one or the combination of both. In the current times a thought has been prioritized on how to transform the technology and the tools used for teaching and learning instead of the forms of learning with them, for that reason the problem of this work is how to achieve the interaction by means of technology leading towards the development of the foreign language by the students in the technical degrees. The pursued objective is the elaboration of a methodological strategy that contributes to the development of the oral speaking competence in the blended learning for English teaching and learning as a foreign language for the technical degrees at the University, what constitutes the main contribution of this work and was corroborated by means of the experts’ analysis.  The paper underlined that leaning English requires constant interaction in virtual and face to face contexts as in the case of this strategy.  Key words: Strategy, teaching and learning, blended learning, experts' analysis

scholarly journals A comparison of student engagement in the online vs. face-to-face environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Brielmaier ◽  
Ying-Ying Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Face

Enhancing student engagement has been a goal of increasing importance in higher education.  This may be especially valuable in online courses, where face-to-face interactions and synchronous activities are often minimal or nonexistent. Students are thought to be engaged when they view course activities as meaningful, persist in the face of difficulties or obstacles, and wish to learn to achieve mastery of the material (Bomia et al., 1997; Schlecty, 1994). Given the importance of student engagement for effective teaching, it is important for instructors and course designers to understand the factors that foster engagement within the learning environment.The present study sought to measure and compare student satisfaction and engagement in online vs. face-to-face sections of Physiological Psychology taught in Spring and Fall 2015. An end of semester survey, adapted from the literature (Dixson, 2010; Ouimet & Smallwood, 2005), included 18 questions relevant to learner satisfaction, motivation and engagement.  The preliminary data analysis was based on Spring 2015 data collected from 56 students total (22 online, 34 face-to-face).  The findings indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the online and face-to-face sections for student learning satisfaction and overall engagement levels. Results suggest that online teaching and learning can be comparable to the face-to-face environment on these parameters. More complete analysis of the data from the Spring, Summer, and Fall 2015 semesters, as well as a discussion of implications for course design, will be presented.  Faculty and course designers will learn about strategies for measuring and promoting student engagement within their own courses.

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