The Immediate Reactions of EFL Learners towards Total Digitalization at Higher Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The current study focused on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ immediate reactions towards total digitalization at higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the perceptions of EFL learners on online foreign language learning during the COVID-19 pandemic were investigated. After discussing the advantages and disadvantages of online foreign language classes during the pandemic from the viewpoints of the participants studying at a public university in Turkey, the study questioned whether the participants preferred online foreign language classes or traditional face-to-face foreign language classes. The study adopted the phenomenological method of qualitative design and employed open-ended questions to collect data. The data were analyzed by following a bottom-up strategy, and the categories were formed inductively. The results showed that online foreign language classes had both positive and negative aspects for the learners. Additionally, it was found that more than half of the participants preferred traditional face-to-face foreign language classes to online foreign language classes.

Keywords

• digitalization
• EFL
• higher education
• COVID-19 pandemic

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