Due to the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, a large number of universities had to close their campuses. To maintain teaching and learning during this disruption to the traditional teaching, most universities have adopted online teaching model. The current study aimed at investigating the efficacy of various online teaching modes as well as comparing a proposed combined model of online and flipped learning to other online and traditional models. The Learning under COVID-19questionnaire was designed and administered to undergraduate engineering students at Chengdu University of Information Technology (CUIT). The questionnaire included five parts: demographic questions, frequencies of online courses, types of online courses, the communication and Q&A in online classes and the effect of online classes, as well as the effect of combined model learning. The results of the study showed that, students were dissatisfied with online learning in general, and they were especially dissatisfied with the communication and Q&A modes. In addition, the combined model of online teaching with the flipped learning improved students' learning, attention, and evaluation of courses.

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In the Arab world, there is a lack of research investigating the use of virtual games to support learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The aim of this study was to examine EFL learners' attitudes towards the integration of the Second Life virtual game as a collaborative instructional tool. A descriptive inquiry method was followed, and data gathered using a questionnaire that had been tested for validity and reliability. Forty-one undergraduates, enrolled in two computer-assisted language learning classes, at a school of education represent the study sample. Findings indicated that the majority were in favor of using virtual worlds as collaborative learning contexts. Recommendations include that: 1) EFL teachers be trained to utilize virtual games; 2) EFL learners be encouraged to utilize virtual portals as collaborative learning opportunities to engage with target foreign language speakers around the world, and 3) EFL instructors create learning tasks requiring learners to interact with other language speakers in virtual games to ensure rich language exposition. Moreover, it is recommended that further studies consider a qualitative design that makes use of in-depth observations and interviews to explore learners’ attitudes about the integration of this technology in an EFL context.

Recent trends in teacher education have focused on exploring teachers' beliefs. Earlier studies have shown the important influence of teachers' beliefs on teaching practices. The present study was conducted to explore the beliefs of Saudi EFL teachers about the significance of teaching English reading strategies. The study aimed also to find the influence of these beliefs on their classroom teaching practice. The participants of the present quantitative study were twenty seven Saudi EFL teachers, teaching in different schools in Riyadh. The questionnaire results were collected and the data was analyzed by the use of SPSS program. In the analysis process, the mean for each item was calculated as well as the standard deviation. Then, the results of the teachers' beliefs and the actual practices were correlated to find the relationship between them.The results, based on questionnaire data, showed that in-service EFL teachers clearly placed great emphasis on the significance of teaching reading strategies. Teachers were found to believe that the most important teaching reading strategies are: "To guess the meaning of the ambiguous vocabulary" (Mean 4.62), "To explain vocabulary items" (Mean 4.48), "To scan the text" (Mean 4.48) and "To ask questions to check the comprehension of the text" (Mean 4.44), whereas they believe that "To translate words into Arabic" (Mean 2.14) is the least important one.The findings of the current study concluded that what in-service teachers do believe about the efficient strategies of teaching reading, significantly correlates with what they really do in classrooms. The findings suggested that in order to change classroom' practices, EFL teachers need to change what they believe about these practices.

In the foreign language context, little research has been undertaken to explore university students’ attitudes towards virtual learning for language instruction. The purpose of this study was to investigate EFL learners’ attitudes toward utilizing the Second Life virtual world as an online instructional and language learning tool. To achieve the study purposes, a descriptive research design was used with a questionnaire to gather data, after ensuring its validity and reliability. Forty-one undergraduates who were enrolled in two CALL classes at a school of education participated in the study. Overall, the results suggest that the majority of EFL undergraduates have favorable attitudes toward using virtual games and that the use of Second Life served well as an online instructional tool for language learning. Based on the results of the current study, EFL instructors may be encouraged to integrate virtual world games to augment their students’ learning by providing them paths to engage in authentic communication with the target language users. Further, the integration of virtual learning is a promising alternative in times of pandemics when social distancing is an obligation. Such ends require that instructors plan some virtual world-based tasks of a goal-driven nature. Further research directions include implementing qualitative tools to explore how learners react to the nature of virtual world games, specifically in relation to the users’ ability to claim different identities.