Synchronous Online Learning During COVID-19: Chinese University EFL Students’ Perspectives

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019 had soon become a pandemic, leading to the lockdown of schools all around the world. To mitigate the negative impacts brought by COVID-19, the educational institutions of all levels have inevitably shifted from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. For English language teaching, fully synchronous online learning has been implemented worldwide, posing a great challenge for both instructors and learners. This study reports on findings of Chinese university English as a foreign language students’ perspectives’ on synchronous online language learning during the pandemic, with a special focus on their encountered difficulties. Drawing on the qualitative interview method, the study investigated 14 EFL learners at a public comprehensive university in a coastal city in southern China. Using thematic analysis, there are four main difficulties identified in the interviews, namely the lack of learning climate, the cultivation of learner autonomy, changes of interaction patterns, and the adaptation to remote assessment. The paper ends with a discussion of findings and implications for English learning and teaching in the “new normal.”

Revitalizing English Language Teaching (ELT): Unveiling Evolving Pedagogies and AI-Driven Dynamics in the Post-Pandemic Era

“…These findings suggest that while AI contributes positively to learning outcomes, a hybrid approach that capitalizes on both AI and traditional teaching methods may yield the most comprehensive results. This aligns with the observations made by Zhang and Wu (2022), who discussed EFL students' perspectives on synchronous online learning during the pandemic, and by Pareek (2023), who explored the transformation in English Language Teaching from a post-pandemic perspective. Both references provide insights into the potential benefits of integrating AI and traditional methods to enhance learning outcomes.…”

Face-to-Face and Online Learning in Higher Education: Academic Achievements and Learners’ Experience in the Chinese SFL Context

“…Interaction and feedback are essential components of a successful online course. Change in interaction patterns is one of the most significant obstacles Chinese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students face in online courses (K. Zhang & Wu, 2022).…”

“…Interaction and feedback are essential components of a successful online course. Change in interaction patterns is one of the most significant obstacles Chinese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students face in online courses (K. Zhang & Wu, 2022). Similarly, Gaytan (2015) found that two factors favoring faculty and students' perceptions of online education are more teacher instructions and more immediate and thorough feedback.…”

“…While many advantages of online learning can be noted, some drawbacks are also pointed out by previous studies, especially amid COVID-19. In addition to technological issues (Arnett, 2020), anxiety (Cao et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021;Odriozola-Gonza´lez et al, 2020;Saputri et al, 2020), lack of verbal and non-verbal communication (Al-Jarf, 2004), low motivation and efficacy (Day et al, 2021;Ng et al, 2020), lack of self-discipline, poor time management, less participation and interaction (Adarkwah, 2021;Di Pietro et al, 2020;Usher & Barak, 2018;K. Zhang & Wu, 2022) are impediments that prevent students from attaining a satisfactory academic achievement.…”

Online Education vs Traditional Education: Analysis of Student Performance in Computer Science using Shapley Additive Explanations

“…For the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 academic years, different action strategies were then adopted: some universities reinstated in-person participation in classes, some remained fully online and others applied hybrid solutions. Online learning is made possible due to harnessing the potential of the Internet and independent technological devices to develop and to allow the use of on-line materials and tutoring for education purposes, instructional delivery and management of programs through networked interactivity (Fry, 2001;Zhang and Wu, 2022). There are two types of online learning now proffered: asynchronous online learning and synchronous online learning (Hrastinski, 2008).…”