Online Derslerde Eğitmen-Öğrenci Etkileşiminin Değerlendirilmesi: Öğretim Görevlilerinin Bakış Açısı

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning process shifted from face-to-face learning to online learning as schools and universities were closed almost worldwide. After the pandemic restrictions, it seems that many educational institutions continue to offer online courses as an alternative to face-to-face classes, or they have begun to implement hybrid programs in which the students have both face-to-face and online courses. With the shift from face-to-face to online learning, the learning process has been affected negatively from different perspectives with varying degrees; however, the interaction between instructors and students has become more challenging to pursue at expected levels. Students tend to avoid interacting for many different reasons in the online learning process, or the instructors have some obstacles to a sound interaction with their students. By exploring the experiences and perceptions of the English language instructors, this descriptive study aimed to examine the perceptions of instructors regarding teacher-student interaction in online classes, the challenges faced by the practitioners, and their suggestions for course designers, policymakers and other related stakeholders. The researchers employed a qualitative research approach. The participants were 17 instructors working at the school of foreign languages at a state university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the qualitative data. The data was analysed by following the content analysis procedures. The findings reported insights into the interaction issues in online classes; the instructors had negative perceptions of the interaction in online classes due to the challenges they faced. In the light of the qualitative data, the present research offers valuable suggestions for decision-makers and practitioners, such as taking the participation of the learners into consideration in assessments and providing in-service training programs for EFL instructors.

‘It’s kind of like a middle ground’: students’ strategic management of silence in multicultural group work

“…Research on interaction in online classes highlights silence as one of the obstacles for online teaching and learning (e.g. Seynhaeve et al, 2022;Saraç & Doğan, 2022), as instructors report a tendency among students to mute themselves during online lessons. Given the increasing popularisation of online teaching platforms in the digital and post-pandemic age, it is important that more research into the interaction in online classrooms is conducted so that the nature of silence in online institutional talk can be better understood.…”

“…Several studies examining the teachers and students' perspectives resonate with the findings above. For instance, many teachers in Saraç & Doğan's (2022) study viewed the overall online teaching practices negatively and pointed out that the opportunity for interaction is scarce in online classes. Some instructors expressed concern over a lack of engagement and interaction among the students, emphasising that the students' insistence on 'keeping silent' and 'muting themselves' (p. 104-105) is a major obstacle faced by the teachers.…”

“…Yang ends up not picking up what he wanted to say at all. In the interview, Yang explained that he did not perceive the cut-off as problematic as she probably did not hear him talking due to network lag, showing that the online environment may pose obstacles to the quality of communication (Saraç, & Doğan, 2022) May's comment above shows that the leader's presence in the group also influences her WTC, but in a different way from how Yang perceived it, as her WTC may be lowered because she has developed a sense of dependence on the leader to run the interaction. As May stated, having an active member may hold her back from contributing because she assumed that the conversation can go well without her speaking much.…”