Pandemi döneminde yapılan uzaktan eğitim çalışmalarıyla ilgili İngilizce öğretmenlerinin görüşleri (bir odak grup tartışması)

Öz

Covid-19 küresel salgını eğitim de dâhil olmak üzere yaşamın her alanını etkilemiştir. Bu bağlamda okullar virüsün daha hızlı yayılmasını önlemek için kapatılmış ve uzaktan eğitim sistemine geçiş yapılmıştır. Acil durum çözümlerinde ilk etapta uygulama sorunları yaşanması kaçınılmazdır. Uzaktan eğitim döneminde yabancı dil öğretiminde de uygulama kaynaklı bazı sorunlar tespit edilmiştir. Bu süreçte öğretmenlerin sorumluluğu oldukça fazladır. Bu noktadan hareketle mevcut araştırma pandemi sürecinde İngilizce öğretmenlerinin uzaktan eğitim uygulamalarını, süreçteki problemlerini ve de gelecek uygulamaları için çözüm önerilerini ortaya koymayı amaçlamıştır. Nitel bir araştırma olarak tasarlanan araştırma odak grup tartışması tekniğiyle yürütülmüştür. Araştırmanın katılımcıları pandemi süresince Elazığ ilinde ortaokul düzeyinde çalışan altı İngilizce öğretmenidir. Araştırmanın bulguları pandemi sürecinde yabancı dil öğretiminde öğrenci, öğretmen, teknoloji ve veli kaynaklı birtakım problemler yaşandığını göstermektedir. Katılımcıların gelecek uygulamaları iyileştirecek ve onlara yol gösterecek nitelikte olan önerilerinden bazıları şu şekildedir: Öğretmenler uzaktan eğitim ve teknoloji kullanımı bazında eğitimlerle desteklenmeli; iletişimsel yaklaşım ve etkileşim içeren yabancı dil öğretim yöntemleri uzaktan eğitime uyarlanmalı ve ders saatleri artırılmalı; öğrencilere teknolojiyi öğrenme için kullanmaları doğrultusunda yol gösterilmeli; öğrencilere motivasyon desteği sağlanmalı; öğrencilerin bireysel öğrenme yetenekleri desteklenmeli; veliler süreçle ilgili bilinçlendirilmeli ve de sosyal eşitliği sağlamak için ihtiyacı olan öğretmen ve öğrencilere teknolojik destek sağlanmalıdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Covid-19 küresel salgını
• uzaktan eğitim
• yabancı dil öğretimi

EFL teachers’ views on the pandemic distance education (a focus group discussion)

Abstract

The Covid-19 is a deadly pandemic that has affected every aspect of life including education. The schools have been closed to prevent the spread of the virus, and they have converted their system into distance education. As a part of emergency solutions, it is inevitable to have implementation problems at the first stage. During the distance education period, some practical problems have been identified in foreign language teaching as well. The responsibility of teachers in this pandemic process is far too much. Thus the current research aimed to reveal the distance education practices of English as foreign language (EFL) teachers; the problems they met during the process and their suggestions for future implementations. The study, designed as qualitative research, was carried out by the focus group discussion technique. The participants of the study were six EFL teachers who worked at the secondary school level in Elazig during the pandemic period. The findings have revealed that some problems in the EFL teaching process were caused by students, teachers, technology and parents. Some of the suggestions of the participants that will guide and improve the future practices are as follows: Teachers should be trained on distance education and technology use; EFL teaching methods including an adaptation of communicative approach and interaction to distance education; course hours should be increased; students should be guided in using technology for their learning; students should be provided with motivational support; their individual learning abilities should be supported; parental awareness about distance education should be raised to ensure social equality, and technical support should be offered to teachers and students who need it.

Keywords

• Covid-19 pandemic
• distance education
• EFL teaching

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