Page 9 - ELG2304 Apr Issue 484

NEWS

Teaching EFL online

due to Covid PHOTO PEXELS FROM PIXABAY

A study in China reflects common
themes teachers faced around the world

By Gillian Ragsdale assess – and were more often short
Chinese EFL teachers describe and/or uninformative.
common challenges faced when The move to the online format,
the Covid pandemic necessitated being new and requiring ongoing
moving from classroom to online training, made teaching more
lessons, and how they were able to tiring, and there were recurring
cope and maintain buoyancy. technical issues, such as lag and
Like many teachers all over poor connectivity. same issues: ‘’In the past, students and they were willing to tell me
the world, the nine teachers in Teachers found themselves were at school all day and parents about their experiences […] I
this study, aged 30-55, had to with a lot of extra work that were actually less involved in the thought the most important point
rapidly train and move to online would normally have been done school activities. However, now was to look forward and seek
teaching, having previously only by school administrative offices, students and parents were under solutions instead of sulking or
taught in traditional classroom such as daily health registrations the same roof every day […] being frustrated without taking
settings. and parent queries, as well as sometimes parents came to me any action.”
Thirty-minute semi-structured new duties such as dealing with when they could not handle their Sounds like a good strategy for
interviews were recorded asking WeChat groups. children.’’ teachers generally – in any context.
about the challenges they faced Work-life balance became a On a positive note, teachers
and how they dealt with them. problem, and the boundary between coped best when they embraced REFERENCE
The interview transcripts then work and home was eroded by the necessary training, talked n Liu H, Duan S, Chu W.
underwent a thematic analysis of teaching online from home: ‘’It was over the challenges with ‘Unraveling EFL Teacher Buoyancy
the content. as if I had to be online 24 h a day, colleagues and got positive in Online Teaching: An Ecological
Challenges included difficulties replying to messages from school feedback from students’ parents: Perspective’, International Journal of
in interacting with students leaders or students.” “I usually communicated with my Environmental Research and Public
online: interactions were slower, This was compounded by colleagues and found out what Health. 2023; 20(1):613. https://doi.
responses were harder to fully students and parents facing the stressful events they encountered, org/10.3390/ijerph20010613

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