Exploring Teachers and Students’ Perceptions towards Emergency Online Learning Intensive English Writing Course during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

For ages, teaching and learning face-to-face has been very popular and considered the best way to achieve knowledge and accomplish academic activities. However, during the Covid-19 Pandemic, where on the one side, the whole world was searching for a solution to cope with the situation on the other side online learning demonstrated a substantial alternative. The present paper aimed to investigate the teachers and students’ perceptions of the emergency online learning process, especially for intensive English writing courses. The study is descriptive using the qualitative research methodology. The two focus groups (teacher and student) are interviewed, consisting of 42 participants, asking open-ended questions mainly about the benefits and challenges of the writing course during the Pandemic. The paper ends with the teachers and students’ positive response that indicates the thrilled and jubilant welcome of the synchronized online/virtual learning in the latest situation that emerged due to the Pandemic. Eventually, the study discussed the quality assurance efforts, particularly towards the spontaneous conduction of lectures infused with motivation, responsibility, discipline, and flexibility offered without any interruption. The Internet proved a great learning tool in assuring many resources.

Efl Teachers’ Voice on Their Preferred Strategies in Teaching Efl Writing During the Pandemic: Investigating the Role of Technology

“…In addition, in line with Bui's study (2022), students' motivation needs to be increased, especially those with low ability in digital literacy (Tarihoran et al, 2022). Another similar challenge is about plagiarism (Kurtianti et al, 2021;Setyowati et al, 2021;Sheerah et al, 2022) which encourages the participants of this study to introduce thesaurus and various paraphrasing tools to minimize this issue.…”

“…Other challenges, more than technical problems and an internet connection, for online writing classes during the pandemic, include students' low motivation (Bui, 2022), plagiarism (Kurtianti et al, 2021;Setyowati et al, 2021;Sheerah et al, 2022), and interaction (Tusino et al, 2021). Nevertheless, Stewart's (2021) investigation on one part of the community of inquiry framework related to interaction called social presence concluded that even though the interaction in the writing class was virtual and not physical, the students considered their teacher and classmates as real persons having real interactions by expressing their sense of humor and sharing emojis.…”

A Comprehensive Study of Students’ Challenges and Perceptions of Emergency Remote Education During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review

“…During the pandemic, students were forced to transition from a physical to a virtual learning environment. Consequently, some universities provided students with high flexibility concerning material resources by allowing them to access video recordings at any time (Sheerah et al, 2022;Guskaroska et al, 2022). Additionally, students can learn ideas and solve problems at their own pace and under their own time constraints through pre-recorded lectures.…”

The use of CANVAS LMS in remote academic EFL writing classes: Its benefits and limitations

“…The negative perceptions were its inappropriateness for productive skills and over complexity when handing collaborative tasks through the use of 'Discussions' or 'Open Board.' More specific to teaching EFL writing, one study (Sheerah, Yadav, Allah, & Abdin, 2022) investigated Saudi Arabian teachers' perceptions of online writing courses during the pandemic, revealing that while overall teacher satisfaction levels were high, there were a number of concerns. The first of which is related to plagiarism.…”