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A REVIEW ON CHALLENGES AND STRUGGLES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD ESL TEACHING-LEARNING

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Abstract

There seems to be an increasing interest in acquiring and instructing second language (Dixon et al., 2012). This is partly due because of English's enormous global reach, but it's also due to such a surge in interest in learning second language. As we know already the early years of life are a crucial time for learning and growth. Young kids gain languages and many other cognitive abilities at a high rate throughout their first few years. Young adolescents at this age are also highly open to second - language acquisition. Children who study a second language at a young age are much more willing and able to articulate or pronounce second language vocabulary like a native English speaker and subsequently grasp the foreign language's complicated grammar structure. Young kids might be less self-aware than older children and adults in making mistakes. this aspect makes them to be a quick absorber of a language. (Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Ellis, 1994).
DISCOVERING LEARNERS' AND EDUCATORS'
EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS
EDITED BY
Froilan MOBO
AUTHORS
Dave Bright
Emrah Dolgunsöz
Erkan Demirtaş
Ferdi Bahadır
Listyani
Mohammad Ahsan
Mohammed Feroz Ali
M.Kannan
Philippe Crisp
Prasanna B. K
Raphael Robert
Sameera Sultan Baloch
Süleyman Yurttaş
S. Meenakshi
Wimbo Pambudi Wicaksono
DISCOVERING LEARNERS' AND EDUCATORS'
EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS
EDITED BY
Froilan MOBO
AUTHORS
Dave Bright
Emrah Dolgunsöz
Erkan Demirtaş
Ferdi Bahadır
Listyani
Mohammad Ahsan
Mohammed Feroz Ali
M.Kannan
Philippe Crisp
Prasanna B. K
Raphael Robert
Sameera Sultan Baloch
Süleyman Yurttaş
S. Meenakshi
Wimbo Pambudi Wicaksono
Copyright © 2021 by iksad publishing house
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Iksad Publications 2021©
ISBN: 978-625-8007-14-5
Cover Design: İbrahim KAYA
September / 2021
Ankara / Turkey
Size = 16x24 cm
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Froilan MOBO ………………………………………….…….....…………1
CHAPTER 1
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PERCEPTION OF
SOCIAL PRESENCE AND THE SOCIAL NETWORKS-BASED
LEARNING PERCEPTION
Ferdi Bahadır………………………………………………..………………3
CHAPTER 2
COVID-19, LOCKDOWNS, AND BLENDED LEARNING:
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTİONS, AND ACADEMİCS’
REFLECTIONS, OF MOVING TO ONLINE SPORTS
COACHING CLASSES
Philippe Crisp & Dave Bright……………………………………………19
CHAPTER 3
THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING:
THE İNVOLVEMENT AND THE ROLE OF TEACHERS AND
LEARNERS IN DISTANCE EDUCATION
M. Kannan & S. Meenakshi…………………………….…..….………43
CHAPTER 4
LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER: FOREIGN LANGUAGE
ANXIETY IN ONLINE FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSES
DURING COVID-19 ISOLATION
Emrah Dolgunsöz & Süleyman Yurttaş………. …………….…………65
CHAPTER 5
A REVIEW ON CHALLENGES AND STRUGGLES OF EARLY
CHILDHOOD ESL TEACHING-LEARNİNG
Raphael Robert & S. Meenakshi…………………………………………93
CHAPTER 6
TWO CASES İN SLA: STRUGGLES TO LEARN L2 AND
ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVELIKENESS
Listyani & Wimbo Pambudi Wicaksono ………….…..………………113
CHAPTER 7
BELIEFS OF MUSIC TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICIENCY IN
THE DISTANCE LEARNING PROCESS
Erkan Demirtaş…………………………………………..…………….149
CHAPTER 8
MUSIC STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS E-LEARNING
Erkan Demirtaş………………………………………….………………..165
CHAPTER 9
THE UTILITY OF QR CODES AMIDST THE PANDEMIC
(CORONA VIRUS, COVID -19) IN THE FIELD OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHING
Sameera Sultan Baloch …………………………………………………179
CHAPTER 10
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS
DISEASE PANDEMIC ON PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Mohammed Feroz Ali & Mohammad Ahsan & Prasanna B. K…….193
1
PREFACE
The studies reported in this book aspire to shed light into learners and
educators experiences and perceptions. Various methods of
pedagogical diagnostics allow us to replenish and concretize
knowledge, carry out a deep and detailed analysis of situations that
arise in professional activity. Improving the professional activity of a
teacher has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the educational
process, including the quality of the educational activity of students.
Authors examine the difficulties perceived by students and teachers in
online learning, distance education, struggles of learning and many
other topics. Therefore, this book aims to investigate the kinds of
challenges encountered by the learners and educators and how they
actually cope with arising issues in each sphere of conduct.
Edited by Dr. Froilan D. MOBO
1
1
Assistant Director, Department of Research and Development
Philippine Merchant Marine Academy. froilanmobo@gmail.com
Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and
Education Research.President, Samahan ng mga Manunulat na Pilipino
Ambassador-at-Large / Country Ambassador / Country Director, International
Human Rights Movement. Country Head, IDYM Foundation Philippines
2
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
3
CHAPTER 1
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PERCEPTION OF
SOCIAL PRESENCE AND THE SOCIAL NETWORKS-BASED
LEARNING PERCEPTION
Assist. Prof. Dr. Ferdi Bahadır
1
1
Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Educational Sciences, Erzincan, Turkey,
ferdibahadir@hotmail.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4777-4762
4
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
5
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally conducted education and training activities have become
a necessity in many areas by increasing their effectiveness in distance
education environments with the development and spread of
technology. Distance education is the ability of teachers and students,
who are far from each other and in different environments, to
communicate effectively with each other visually and audibly (İşman,
2011). This communication environment can be provided with special
software for individuals and institutions, as well as with the help of
social networks (youtube, facebook, instagram, etc.). Social networks
are described as web-based environments where all kinds of data can
be shared between users (Alper, 2012). These environments enable
learning environments to spread from schools to all areas of life
(Arkan & Yünter, 2018). Thus, good educators clustered in
educational institutions are enabled to carry their education services to
different points (Tonta, 1999).
One of the most important points in learning from social networks is
to provide interaction. (Anderson and Simpson, 2012; Kaysi and
Aydemir, 2017; Xu and Jaggars, 2013). It is emphasized that in these
environments, there are three types of interactions: student-content,
student-instructor and student-student (Moore, 1989) These
interactions are quite different from face-to-face teaching (Kuo,
Walker, Schroder, & Belland, 2014). Student-content interaction is
expressed as the learners' following the course content, learning the
content and participating in the activities (Moore & Kearsley, 1996;
6
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
Thurmond, 2003). It is thought that this type of interaction, which
individuals mostly enter individually, is extremely important (Tosun,
Özgür & Şahin, 2009) and the higher the level of interaction, the more
positively it can affect learning (Berge 2002). Student-instructor
interaction is expressed as instructors attracting students' attention and
trying to motivate them (Moore, 1989). Student-student interaction is
the interaction between students from the same class or in different
classes (Phillips, Santoro & Kuehn, 1988). With social network
environments that provide distance learning, the control and
management of learning is within the individual, the individual can
create personal learning goals and direct the content and process
(Öztürk & Talas, 2015). It is emphasized that personal interaction is a
basic element that facilitates learning in these environments (Zhao,
Lei, Yan, Lai, & Tan, 2005).
This shows that personal interaction is important in learning with
social networks. Social presence of students is an important factor in
ensuring interaction, which is considered so important in social
networking environments. Social presence is the degree of a student's
perception of an environment in which she interacts with other
students as social, warm, sensitive, personal or sincere (Lombard &
Ditton, 1997). Social presence is the feeling that others are present in
the communication process and in one way determines the quality of
the communication environment (Whiteman, 2002). Yoon (2003)
examined the behaviors of individuals in the virtual learning
environment and stated that 26.3 percent of these behaviors are
7
constituted by the communication established between individuals.
The interactions between students in the environment and the sense of
community that occurs during the interaction affect the participants'
perception of this environment as a social environment
(Gunawardena, 1995). It is stated that the lack of social presence will
cause the person to criticize the trainer and decrease the level of
learning (Rifkind, 1992). At this point, it is necessary to exist socially
while interacting with other people. In other words, there must be a
sense of closeness, which is expressed as psychological closeness,
between people during interaction (McLellan, 1999).
One of the most important dimensions of social presence is interaction
(Tu & McIsaac, 2002). It can be said that social presence is very
important in ensuring interaction in social network environments. The
purpose of social presence is to create a feeling of comfort between
the instructor and the students, and to transform the learning
environment into a satisfactory and successful environment for
instructors and students (Aragon, 2003). Gunawardena (1995) argues
that social presence is necessary to increase and improve the
effectiveness of teaching in technology-based classrooms.
Gunawardena and Zittle (1997) stated that the perception of social
presence is a strong predictor of student satisfaction in virtual learning
environments. In this context, it is thought that students' social
presence may affect their social networks-based learning perception.
This study is considered important in terms of determining the effect
of students' perceptions of social presence on their social networks-
8
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
based learning perception. Thus, it is aimed to contribute to the
learning success of the students. In this context, the aim of the study is
to determine whether the perception of social presence subscale scores
are a significant predictor of social networks-based learning
perception and to determine the predictive level of significant
predictors.
METHOD
In this study, the relationship between the perception of social
presence and the social networks-based learning perception was
examined. In the study, the relational research model, which
determines the existence or degree of the relationship between two or
more variables, was used (Creswell, 2012; Fraenkel, Wallen, Hyun,
2011).
Study Group
The participants of the study consisted of 260 students from a
university located in the eastern part of Turkey. Since the data were
collected during the pandemic period when the courses were taught by
distance education, the convenience sampling method was used in the
selection of the sample. Convenience sampling provides the
researcher with the opportunity to reach the desired data more quickly
and economically (Cohen et al., 2007). It is observed that 79.2% (206
persons) of the participants are female and 20.8% (54 persons) are
male. The distribution of the research group in terms of gender is
given in Table 1.
9
Tablo 1: Demographic Information about the Participants
Variable
N
%
Gender
206
79,2
54
20,8
Total
260
100
Data Collection Process
Personal information form: With the personal information form
prepared by the researcher, the personal information of the study
group was collected on the basis of confidentiality.
Social presence scale for e-learning environments: In the study, the
"Social Presence Scale for E-learning Environments" developed by
Kılıç Çakmak, Çebi and Kan (2014) was used to determine students'
perceptions of social presence. The scale is a 7 likert type form and
has a structure consisting of 17 items and 3 dimensions (Interactive,
Cohesive and Affective). Two of the statements in the scale are
negative statements. The scale was scored as 1 (Entirely Disagree), 2
(Mostly Disagree), 3 (Somewhat Disagree), 4 (Neutral), 5 (Somewhat
Agree), 6 (Mostly Agree), 7 (Entirely Agree). The highest score
obtained from the scale was calculated as 119 and the lowest score as
17. An increase in the score obtained from the scale means that the
perceptions of social presence increase positively. In this study, the
reliability coefficients of the scale were found .72 for the interactive
sub-dimension, .81 for the cohesive sub-dimension, and .73 for the
affective sub-dimension.
Social networks-based learning perception scale: In the study, the
Social Network-Based Learning Perception Scale, developed by
10
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
Yokuş and Yanpar Yelken (2019), was used to determine students'
social networks-based learning perception. The scale, which is a 5
Likert type, has a structure consisting of 20 items and 4 dimensions
(Interactive learning, Usage, Sharing and Personalization). The scale
was scored as 1 (Strongly Disagree), 2 (Disagree), 3 (Neutral), 4
(Agree), 5 (Strongly Agree). The highest score obtained from the scale
was calculated as 100 and the lowest score as 20. An increase in the
score obtained from the scale means that social networks-based
learning perception increase positively. In this study, the reliability
coefficient of the scale was found to be .95 for the whole.
Ethic text: In this section, the rules specified in the publication guide
were followed. In addition, this research was found ethically
appropriate with the decision numbered 02-02 taken at the session
numbered 03, dated 27/01/2021, of the Human Research Ethics
Committee of Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University.
Data Analysis
Before starting the data analysis, 20 invalid and missing data were
identified and removed from the data set. In the analysis of the data,
descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) were used to examine
students' perceptions of social presence and Social networks-based
learning perception. Simple correlation analysis was performed to
determine the level of relationship between the variables. In addition,
multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine to
what extent the perception of social presence predicted the social
networks-based learning perception. In order to test whether the data
11
are suitable for multiple linear regression analysis, first of all, the
basic assumptions were examined. It was observed that there was no
multicollinearity problem among the predictor variables. At this point,
it was observed that the correlations between the independent
variables were below .80, the VIF value was less than 10, and the CI
value was less than 30. The obtained values showed that the multiple
linear regression analysis assumptions were met. As a result of the
evaluations, multiple linear regression analysis method was applied
for the data obtained in the research.
FINDINGS
In the findings part of the research; First, the arithmetic mean and
standard deviation values of the scores obtained from the variables
were calculated. Values for this analysis are given in Table 2.
Tablo 2. Arithmetic Mean and Standard Deviation Values
Variable
N
XX
SS
Interactive
260
38.88
6.56
Cohesive
260
27.21
6.02
Affective
260
23.11
6.33
Social networks-based learning perception
260
73.73
17.44
As represented in the table 2, the arithmetic mean and standard
deviation values of the research group; Interactive (𝑋=38.85; SD=
.93), Cohesive (𝑋=38.08; SD=1.20), Affective (𝑋=32.55; SD=1.26),
and Social networks-based learning perception (𝑋=18.55; SD=.87) has
been determined. The relationships between the research variables of
interactive, cohesive, affective and social networks-based learning
12
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
perception were examined with a simple correlation analysis and the
results are given in Table 3.
Tablo 3. Simple Correlation Analysis Coefficients for Variables
Variable
IN
CO
AF
SNBLP
Interactive
1
Cohesive
.614**
1
Affective
.345**
.481**
1
Social networks-based learning perception
.141*
.274**
.193**
1
**p < .01; *p < .05
As represented in the table 3, there are positive and significant
relationships between social networks-based learning perception and
interactive (r=.141, p<.05), cohesive (r=.274, p<.01) and affective
(r=.193, p<.01). This finding shows that the social networks-based
learning perceptions increases as individuals' interactive, cohesive and
affective increase in social networking environments. In addition, it
was observed that there was no correlation value above .80, which can
be defined as multi-collinearity between the predictive variables of
interaction, cohesive and affective. In another step, it was examined
whether the perception of social presence predicts the social networks-
based learning perception. Multivariate linear regression analysis was
performed to predict the social networks-based learning perception by
using the variables of Interaction, cohesive and affective, which are
the sub-dimensions of the social presence scale. The results of this
analysis are given in Table 4.
13
Table 4: Multiple Linear Regression Analysis Results Regarding the Prediction of
Social Presence on Social Networks-Based Learning Perception
Variable
B
S. Error
Beta
t
p
Constant
2,669
,328
8,144
,000*
Interactive
-,047
,071
-,051
-,664
,507
Cohesive
,192
,059
,265
3,256
,001*
Affective
,057
,047
,083
1,209
,228
R=.286
R2=,071
F=7,578
P=,000*
**p < .01
As represented in the table 4, it was found that a significant regression
model F(df1, df2)= 7.57, p<.001, and approximately 7% of the
variance in the dependent variable (R2adjusted=.07) was explained by the
independent variables. Accordingly, Interactive does not significantly
predict the social networks-based learning perception. B=-.05,
t(256)=-.66, p=.507, pr2=.00. Cohesive positively and significantly
predicts the social networks-based learning perception. B=.26,
t(256)=3.26, p<.001, pr2=.03. Affective do not significantly predict
the social networks-based learning perception. B=.08, t(256)=1.20,
p=.228, pr2=.00. Accordingly, the regression equation; Social
networks-based learning perception= 2.66+.19*Cohesive.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
In this study, the relationship between the perception of social
presence and the social networks-based learning perception was
examined. As a result of the research, it was observed that there was a
positive and significant relationship between the social networks-
based learning perception and interactive, cohesive and affective. In
addition, it was observed that cohesive significantly predicted the
social networks-based learning perception. Cohesive explained about
14
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
7% of the social networks-based learning perception. It is seen that
cohesive is important in increasing students' social networks-based
learning perception. This can be interpreted as the more students feel
belonging to learning groups in e-learning environments, the more
their social networks-based learning perception will increase. In other
words, it is seen that the social networks-based learning perception
increase as students feel close to other students, act as a group with
them, and share in common in e-learning environments. It is stated
that the sense of cohesive is a basic need in human life (Ersanlı &
Koçyiğit, 2013). It can be said that this feeling increases both social
presence and social networks-based learning perception in distance
education environments. As a matter of fact, Ege and Koullapis (2009)
stated that the sense of cohesive creates a social environment among
team members by creating a team spirit. Karaağaçlı (2008)
emphasizes that in e-learning environments, students' sense of
belonging to the group should be developed and joint learning groups
should be formed. So and Brush (2008) stated that as students'
cooperative learning tendencies increase, their social presence
increases and they tend to be more satisfied with distance learning.
Richardson and Swan (2003) stated that students with a high
perception of social presence have a high perception of learning.
McLellan (1999) emphasized that learning environments should be
designed that would encourage social presence and sense of
community.
15
The results of the research showed that there is a relationship between
the perception of social presence and the social networks-based
learning perception. Therefore, as individuals' social presence in e-
learning environments increases, their perception of learning from
social networks will increase. In line with the results obtained from
this study, some suggestions were made below:
It should be made arrangements to increase students' sense of
cohesive in e-learning environments.
It can be conducted qualitative studies investigating the
variables that affect students' social networks-based learning
perception.
This research is limited to the effect of social presence on the
social networks-based learning perception. In this context, it can
be conducted studies investigating the effect of different
variables on the social networks-based learning perception.
16
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
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19
CHAPTER 2
COVID-19, LOCKDOWNS, AND BLENDED LEARNING:
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS, AND ACADEMICS’
REFLECTIONS, OF MOVING TO ONLINE SPORTS
COACHING CLASSES
Philippe Crisp
1
& Dave Bright
2
1
University of Chichester . Phil.Crisp@chi.ac.uk. ORCID ID 0000-0002-3689-3598
2
University of Chichester. ORCID ID 0000-0003-1244-877X
20
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
21
INTRODUCTION
It is probably fair to say that the role of university education, whilst
contested, is primarily based upon the premise that students
(irrespective of background, i.e. young people or old people,
advantaged or disadvantaged, traditional or non-traditional) will learn
through various mechanisms for learning yet it is the ‘teacher’ who
will more often than not be placed as the prime instrument to
disseminate information and oversee learning. For instance, classic
approaches to education, learning, and tutoring can be seen in Petty’s
(2004) outline of three main modes of delivering educational sessions
and teaching: Class teaching whereby students learning the same
thing at the same time (classical assumptions of teaching usually fall
within this bracket); Resource based learning where ‘teachers’
facilitate and support students to work at their own (assisted) rate; and
self-directed learning where students set their own framework for
learning through negotiation with the teacher.
Counter to the classical assumptions, many educators challenge what
are often seen as didactic, instructive approaches to teaching and look
to embed other strategies that seek to maximise learning through co-
production of knowledge, and methods that emphasise relational
rather than top down practice. Oftentimes as educators we move and
shift from what we understand education to be (something that might
be more aligned to outcomes, assessment, or demonstrations of
learning) and strive to understand and develop modalities in relation to
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
personal experiences, biases, and how these, in turn, are aligned with
wider governmental objectives and policies.
The skill of teaching and effective pedagogy seeks to understand this,
in that it is significantly based upon the premise that teaching is an art,
that learning is underpinned by theory and practice, and that these
practices influence the way in which learning itself is undertaken,
assimilated and understood by others. At university level
(undergraduate and beyond) education has traditionally been centred
upon a didactic relationship between researchers (and experts) and
students themselves. Effectively then, it is the lecturers that ultimately
decide what is taught, what is needed, as well as deciding how and
when students are taught.
While this learning and teaching relationship continues to take
precedence there are other ways and means of learning that have an
established position and continue to develop. Some of these are
perennial, for instance, distance learning has taken part in the U.K.
(see the open university) for a considerable amount of time. In
addition to this mode of teaching and learning, there is a rising
understanding and increasing use of different virtual learning
environments. Patterns of participation, the use of online communities
of learning, online learning within institutions, and massive open
online courses (MOOCs), are all examples of what are essentially,
physically off campus learning structures.
Despite the progress of traditional teaching methods and their
expansion into online territories, experiential learning outside of a
23
classroom setting is still frequently used. Commonly centred on the
development of work-based skill, the supporting principle is that
learners must develop and accrue competencies, knowledge, skills,
and expertise through in-situ, oftentimes collaborative, first-hand
experience (Crisp, 2018/20).
These methods of acquiring skill and competencies that fall under the
umbrella of experiential learning are often seen in fields where
physical training is essential but must be carefully monitored (e.g.
nursing, surgery), but it also draws parallels with sport coaching. In
this context sport coach education, there are traditional approaches
that perhaps belie the way in which many people will learn formal
qualifications, or non-formal types of workshops and the like, yet the
general consensus is that coaches (of all levels) profit most effectively
through on-site, experiential learning and informal opportunities or
happenstance that enhance working knowledge and practice (Cushion
et al. 2010). All told, the accumulation, extension, and sedimentation
of work-like skills, competencies, and expertise, in many practical
type contexts seem best suited (and profit most effectively) from
immersive experiences and deliberate reflective practice.
Historically, the context of both university learning and that of sports
coaches (and sport coaching as a whole) rely on face to face contact,
and delivery of practical sessions. Indeed, sport coaching itself is
oftentimes defined as a process by which a coach will determine,
support, aid, and articulate a journey between a coach and an athlete
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
or team (Martens, 2004; Robinson, 2010), and this commonly operates
in a tight knit environment by necessity, or takes part face to face.
COVID-19 and the UK Higher Education response
COVID-19 brought about a number of significant changes across the
world in terms of mitigating the subsequent health implications that
the disease brings (i.e. social distancing, and regional or national
lockdowns to avoid exceeding hospital capacities and possible
subsequent triage until suitable vaccination levels are reached). In the
U.K. context, and mindful of the fact that the different home nations
had different approaches, there were several lockdowns in 2020 and
many universities decided to move to online only modes of teaching
for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.
At the University of Chichester, however, the decision was taken to
oversee a blended approach to learning (aiming for 50% online and
50% face to face teaching) whereby mitigation for the spread of the
disease, whilst paramount as a philosophy, also allowed for outdoor
activities and socially distanced smaller cohorts on-site.
As part of this, sport coaching modules continued to run in the first
semester of the 2020-21 academic year in terms of practical delivery.
Given this, the two second year sport coaching modules that the
authors oversaw, and that we will refer to throughout this case study,
continued to take place on site. What couldn't take place, however,
was our normal practice of bringing in other external groups (we have
an eight-year history of inviting other educational institutions, such as
25
primary school, further education colleges, and community groups to
take part in sessions run by our students) to be coached on site.
In view of this, we brought in small groups of peers (first year
students) to be coached and a systematic provision of different types
of coaching sessions focusing on skills and competencies were
overseen. In the new year, however, the third national lockdown from
January 6th was expected to extend to (likely) March or April. Whilst
we had avoided missing any substantial time off practical sessions
within the first semester (including the partial November lockdown),
we now understood that at least five weeks of the new semester was
going to have to take place online only. Given that we could not
actually practice coaching in the flesh, so to speak, and given that we
wanted to maximise student learning, we developed and then
undertook a five-week online programme with capacity to extend it if
necessary.
Whilst we were not entirely sure of when we would be able to return
to face to face coaching when the online sessions began, in late
February 2021 the government lifted restrictions so that practical
courses could recommence in early March 2021, which meant that the
five-week course we designed took place in its entirety.
The course we designed was underpinned by an approach that whilst
directly facilitating online learning, was fundamentally skewed and
shifted toward a student led pedagogy. We first ensured that the
students were competent and familiar with the Microsoft Teams
system through an “ice breaker” induction and supported tasks in the
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
first week, and then allocated group tasks for the next four following
weeks. These included running a fitness based session, running a
martial arts based session, and to encourage the use of skills that
might be easier to work with in an online environment they were also
required to run a session on magic tricks/skills, and another on
origami. This ensured that there were skills that were familiar and
some that were novel, meaning that research and planning was
necessary. Each group had a 20 minute session to coach the rest of the
cohort each week, and the session topics were run on a rotation
meaning that each group had to coach each of the four topics across
the four weeks. This method also meant repetition was avoided as the
cohort was always aware of the particular skills that had already been
coached.
Our role as module tutors was to make sure that we could facilitate an
engagement to ensure that learners were capable of learning from each
other, to ensure that feedback continued throughout, and additionally
to embed coaching skills throughout the initial five-week online
programme
The results of this, the reflections both from ourselves and from our
students at different checkpoints and signposts of a five-week period
(accounting for, effectively, the beginning and the initial reflections,
the midway process and final thoughts and considerations of the five-
week programme), will be presented next. We will then offer
recommendations and suggestions for future use.
27
Student perceptions, tutor reflections
The three general checkpoints that relate to the individual reflections
and shared experiences of the students, are now be presented. There
are no numbers or pseudonyms to differentiate between them, rather
we present their thoughts in an unmarked, yet still anonymised
fashion, and also offer our thoughts on the general feelings and key
points that arose at each checkpoint.
The first week…
As mentioned, the first session was used to familiarise the students
with the Microsoft Teams app , but also outlined what students had to
do, and how they needed to work in allocated groups. At the end, the
consensus was that they were somewhat relieved, and felt they were
acclimating to the new format and idea well. For instance, one student
stated that:
It's not as bad as I thought. Ice breaker task was fun apart from
the fact my hand up signals register about 50 years late. All in
all, it has worked well
Similarly, some students were quite philosophical about the situation:
It's obviously not the ideal situation, but thinking positively I
think it's the best possible option at this time, it's also easier
having quite a small friendly cohort, to express ideas and bounce
off each other relatively easily.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
It worked well. The ice breaker task at the beginning made it
feel a lot more natural to get back into it and see how it is going
to work. The slides (online) are a lot more visible than if it was
in a normal lecture and so there's not worrying about not being
able to see.
Worked well. The interactive tasks make it easier to pay
attention than just watching a lecture.
I don’t mind learning online. I really enjoy the live lessons as it
as the closest thing to a one on one session with the hands up
tool which I really like.
Teams is decent, I think its fine for basic learning, the
interaction is more engaging than normal lectures, icebreaker
task was good. I like the idea of these coaching sessions so far
as they are simple enough to coach with a webcam but it's not
going to be as enjoyable as normal Exercise/Sports coaching
sessions.
Today has gone well as everyone was able to chat and helped
with the ice breaker. The hand raising thing seems to work well
and the online lessons are better because you can ask questions
as you go along.
It has been very challenging working via teams. However, I like
how Phil and Dave are adapting to the situation. It's a lecture
29
you can't afford to fall asleep in because its interactive and
enjoyable.
Initially though, some of the students still felt somewhat frustrated
about having to coach online, in particular given the absence of any
‘live’ coaching whatsoever:
I think today has worked quite well as a substitute for our
normal Fridays. I’d prefer to do it in real life but this works well
and the ice breaker was good.
Cool, but could never replace face to face. Lectures etc are okay
online, but practicals are frustrating because I feel like we miss
out on really valuable experience and learning, especially as it's
how I learn best.
Found it awkward to unmute and not be able to speak directly to
people. Hand raising is fine for me, I don't feel that comfortable
having a camera on at the moment. Obviously still very
frustrating that we can't coach the sports and everything like
that.
Moreover, some of the students were reticent about what they had
been tasked to do over the five-week period:
Being able to plan something with other people. I think actually
coaching will be okay, but communicating and collaborating
ideas without being able to meet will be difficult. And Wi-Fi!!
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
I feel like it just doesn't feel the same and so the sessions coming
up may feel either awkward or they just aren’t taught as well as
they could be.
Not being able to coach most sports- demonstrations are much
harder, watching skills and getting different perspectives is
harder, harder to give feedback. Wifi cutting out. Not much
space.
Can’t trial and test coaching ideas in an actual sporting scenario.
Physical cues is a huge part in coaching IMO, so being unable to
do this as effectively over call will be challenging
I think the worry is, it's a lot harder to gauge people, how they
are doing with an activity, it's going to be a case of trying to run
the session whilst also looking out for hands up and cues over
teams that suggest maybe a person needs help, but to keep track
of that may be a bit difficult at least to begin with. Also pauses
may feel awkward but sometimes it's trying to be polite not to
talk over
What we can see from these kinds of results are that the students,
whilst appreciative of how they needed to do this and how we as
lecturers were trying, had some reticence. Overall, they weren't
entirely sure with how this would go, but they were happy enough and
felt that they had benefited from the first online session and were
looking forward to continuing.
31
Halfway there…
These kind of thoughts and recollections were repeated midway
through the five-week programme, although there were also
increasingly positive comments. Asked how they were feeling about
online coaching ‘now’, particularly in comparison to the last several
weeks, the students felt that patience was a key factor, and that they
were noticeably more comfortable and proficient with online
coaching:
Today was a subject area I am more familiar with so I was
happier coaching than I was with the magic and martial arts. It's
definitely becoming more natural to do it online but it is still a
lot nicer to do in person.
This week certainly felt more interactive with everyone. I think
the breakout rooms definitely seemed to lift the mood and get
everyone performing without any awkwardness. Teams seems to
get more and more easier to use.
I feel better about online coaching now that we have had a few
weeks to figure out how it works.
Feels completely natural coaching online. Perhaps struggled to
think of and include any contextual interference in origami but
at the end of the session, everyone was able to complete it
successfully without any struggle. Now need to see if they are
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
able to produce the skill correctly with all of the information and
key points they retained through my coaching without any help.
Think it’s getting better each week, we’re used to using teams
now and it’s getting easier to engage. Still can’t wait to be back
in real life though!
I'm starting to enjoy it a bit more, it is less awkward and
everyone is starting to utilise the features on teams more. The
magic session was especially good today in my opinion.
I think it's really taken us out of our comfort zone, we thought
just doing different sports we'd never done was a bit foreign in
the Dome, but now to do things that aren't even necessarily
sports related kind of teaches us the mindset of if you prepare
you can break almost anything down, and almost anything can
be fundamentally coached, so probably more open minded now.
Overall then, whilst there were some technical issues the students
were feeling significantly happier and more competent with regards to
these, and we can also see that some of the nervousness and
apprehensiveness of people was starting to dissipate. The last
comment also suggests that they are beginning to see the value in
coaching skills that are novel for both themselves and the learner, and
starting understanding how there are lessons to be learned that can be
applied to a more familiar context. That is not to say, however, that
some of the students did not miss real world coaching:
33
It is frustrating because I feel like others and me would benefit
from face to face coaching rather than online but apart from that
it is pretty simple quick and easy to do from home
I don't like it but I’m feeling better about it compared to when I
started. I still prefer teaching in person.
Maybe there were issues in terms of willingness and communication,
but what we can see here is that for some of the students, it was still
difficult to maintain interaction and motivation given their preferences
for coaching in person.
The final push and final thoughts…
Despite the limitations that were being noted their confidence did start
to build, and these kind of results and positive feelings continued
throughout the next few weeks, to the point where they stated that it
felt completely natural to coach online. Indeed, towards the end we
could see that students were thankful for the adaptions that had been
made and appreciative of the skills that they had learnt. However,
there was still some reticence and overall, still a feeling (that virtually
all of the students identified) that whilst the five-week course online
course had been helpful, they did not feel it quite replicated what they
would do in person. At the end of the five-week programme, they
identified several issues and some areas that they had found difficult.
Examples of this include the following.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
I'm still not won over by it because it's difficult to pick up on
individual feelings and emotions towards a session but I don't
hate it as much as I did at the beginning.
Good to look at engaging people through different platforms,
makes you think about how you explain and teach things.
Pleased to be going back face to face. Drawbacks - some things
are very difficult to coach over teams etc, partner work etc, very
dependent on space and equipment.
I am glad to be going back to in person sessions though as
online isn’t my favourite but it wasn’t as bad as I originally
thought. Drawbacks is it’s hard to see everyone at times and see
if they understand or are doing it correctly.
Felt more confident and able to teach a lot better as the weeks
went on. I think it will be beneficial for the future if I can’t do
face to face coaching. Drawback is it’s hard to track peoples
progress or show certain things if the camera isn’t big enough or
quality.
Like others have said it’s about the feedback not being as vivid
as it would be when face-to-face although it’s been easier to
pick up on others' actions for instance if no one is responding I
feel more inclined to explain it again.
Drawbacks- difficult to identify if participants are picking up the
cues or are just being shy/quiet.
35
Encouragingly though, the students found the programme very
meaningful overall. Several students felt that they had reinforced their
coaching skills, and looked forward to applying them in face to face
coaching.
It's allowed me to improve in my delivery and I’ve gotten better
at receiving feedback.
It has taught me how to coach using a different platform instead
of just face to face because that won't always be an option. I feel
I have improved by the week and maybe learnt a new technique
each time.
Good learning opportunity especially if this is going to become
into coaching in the future. It feels easier to do now compared to
at the beginning.
It was a good challenge doing it online and having to find ways
to make it engaging and work. Also having to do different topics
that aren’t necessarily sports based made it challenging as well.
I think we've made the most of the Covid situation, and added a
tool to our coaching we would have otherwise maybe have had
to jump in at the deep end later on in our coaching journeys. So,
I'd feel better prepared to offer online as an option e.g. if normal
coaching couldn't take place because of factors like weather etc.
It definitely has its drawbacks and will never feel as natural as
face to face, but it's useful to have as a backup option.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
Feelings Started off as feeling unsure with the process of
coaching online and how the participants would receive my
coaching pointers. I feel as though I have improved as a coach
on general as I can identify what participants have reached my
curriculum of learning that skill.
I feel like I’m more used to online coaching now but my
feelings remain the same that it is definitely beneficial to do
online coaching if face-to-face isn't an option but I’d prefer face
to face coaching especially for any form of physical exertion
exercise or sport.
Overall, we can see from these comments that it had been a
worthwhile experience from the student perspective, although one that
had, however, been imposed upon both staff and students through the
lockdown. From our point of view as observers, they had also become
more flexible and creative in how they approached their sessions, and
a shift across the weeks from very few cameras on in the first session
to everybody having cameras on in the last seemed to indicate that
they rapidly became more comfortable with the different coaching
environment.
Final student suggestions for future student cohorts
In assessing the challenges that they had faced, and questioning how
future modular provision for online learning in a post-pandemic
context, the students felt that there were several positive implications
that could be taken from their experiences.
37
Having this class online has definitely brought us all closer.
From finding coaching over teams with various restrictions on
week one to now in week five feeling confident and comfortable
is great. If anything happens in the future like these we have the
skill set to handle it well. Everyone should be proud of their
efforts.
I think it’s great to get used to whilst at University in this
supportive environment so if we ever need to coach online in the
future it won't be as frustrating or awkward.
Benefits I feel more comfortable in teaching skills/areas which
I am not too familiar with. This will help me going into the “real
world”. I can also understand first-hand how a competitive
nature/ section within a coaching plan can help push the
participants and aid learning.
While the students themselves unequivocally felt that this online
coaching was a skill that all students, and future students, should learn
(in particular because of the possibility of another pandemic), they
also felt that sports coaching education needed to be grounded in real
world contexts. Indeed, whilst we believe that the choices that people
will make with regards to learning online will be increased in the near
future, virtually all of our students felt that that any of our future
iterations of coaching modules should keep online coaching to a
minimum. If possible, perhaps only for two weeks or so. This aligns
with many of the kind of theories that relate to sport coaching as an
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
activity that is essentially an intrinsically human interaction, or series
of human interactions (Nash & Collins, 2006; Day, 2011). It also
reflects the fact that many students coach and participate in sport for
fun, for enjoyment, and for the ancillary benefits that it can bring such
as fitness and increases in self-esteem (Lucardie, 2014; Bum & Jeon,
2016; Crisp, 2019).
Whilst in many respects our recollections and findings are evaluative,
and act primarily a reflective paper, we have considered the online
sport coaching programme as a whole. We believe that the programme
was successful, and that future iterations can benefit from our
reflections and the deliberate questioning of our practice that we
undertook. As educational professionals with responsibility for
ensuring our students’ success, we are also mindful of the wider
learning community we operate in and as such, offer the following
steps and suggestions to strengthen or underpin any planning for
similar programmes that fellow educational professionals may
consider in supporting students through online coaching.
Start with focusing on how you can enable students to be:
Inclusive, Supportive, Effective Communicators.
Establish and set boundaries alongside a sufficient level of
competency in using the technology at the very beginning.
Reinforce the fact that the training is only a short period (and
necessary) in order to maintain the necessary motivation for
learning and practice in online coaching.
Facilitate and offer choice, and encourage autonomy.
39
Ensure that work and task allocation is fairly available to all
students, and reinforce how necessary it is in order to initiate
conversations and learning between them.
Provide a range of ways for the students to be able to be heard
and to give feedback throughout the process itself (i.e. for each
session allow a plenary at the end).
FINAL THOUGHTS/CONCLUSION
Our initial thoughts as lecturers were that the imposition of online
learning through lockdown would be a helpful process. As a
philosophy, we were led by the necessity of providing student support,
but we were also mindful that we had an opportunity to develop
additional critical skills and perhaps support the students’ responses to
potential lockdowns in future, and/or meet new employer and sector
demands for modes of working. In effect then, we saw this as an
opportunity to future proof some of the skills, competencies and
indeed even reflections and CV building that our students may well
need in the future.
From a student perspective, we think it is fair to say that the
programme was effective, efficient and helpful, but this has to be
placed in the context of what they still believe was a preference for
learning in person.
The results of our online coaching have been presented as a case
study, one that incorporates detailed student perceptions, and many of
the authors’ reflections. Whilst we have sought to incorporate and
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
present selected guidelines that other educators may consider as tools,
we acknowledge that this chapter is more rooted in a more practical,
reflective style of content and presentation. We do, however, also
believe that we can place our reflections in a wider theoretical
framework that follows.
With regard to the learning environment, Moon (2005) equates the
construction and maintenance of a positive environment to that of an
ecosystem. This concept is analogised through explaining how a
variety of factors influence the balance, establishment and
continuation of a (hopefully) productive learning environment. On a
more prosaic level, the management of the learning environment in
this case study sought to reconfigure practice and delivery through
novel activities, shared responsibility, and the development of a
productive student and lecturer community. All told, as lecturers we
sought to empower the student cohort, and enable them to make
decisions and try activities and ideas that would be supported. All
told, we looked to shape our policy and our ecosystem of learning
through including creativity and personal investment and ownership.
In conclusion, we intend to continue to run short programmes of
online coaching in the future. This decision is based upon our
reflections of the current year, and the thoughts, feelings, and recorded
experiences that have shaped both ours and the students’ perspectives
and understanding of online culture. However, we are also mindful of
this is essentially a new form of pedagogy and learning for many
incoming beginner-sports coaches, and even experienced coaches, that
41
have primarily operated within traditional sport coaching
environments.
Given this, we intend to continue to revisit and reshape the manner in
which we present what we do. Key to our understanding and any
future iterations of online sport coaching within our modules will be
that knowledge and competency in the field of online sport are
attributes that we intend to develop and encourage. We are grateful
that we had students who considered the course this year to be
valuable, effective and empowering, and who were willing to place
trust in us as facilitators. We will base many of our ideas for future
teaching around this trust, understanding and mutual respect.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
REFERENCES
Bum, C-H., & Jeon, I K. (2016). Relationships among fun, self-esteem, and
happiness of tennis players. Social Behavior and Personality, 44(10), 1619-
1636.
Crisp, P. (2018). Coaching placements and incidental learning how reflection and
experiential learning can help bridge the industry skills gap, Journal of
Learning Development in Higher Education, 13, 1-28.
Crisp, P. (2019). Deep learning and self-sufficiency - rediscovering the joy of
learning through doing: A case study of an HE disability-sport programme.
Choregia, Sport Management International Journal. 15(1), 1-15.
Crisp, P. (2020). Real-World Coaching. Student Reflections on Work Based
Placements and being in the ‘flow’. Research in Post-Compulsory
Education, 25(3), 1-18.
Cushion, C., L. Nelson., K. Armour., J. Lyle., R. Jones., R. Sandford, & C.
O’Callaghan. (2010). Coach Learning and Development: A Review of
Literature. SportsCoach UK.
Day, D. (2011). "Craft Coaching and the ‘Discerning Eye’ of the Coach.”
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 6,179195.
Lucardie, D. (2014). The impact of fun and enjoyment on adult’s learning. Procedia
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 142, 439-446.
Martens, R. (2004). Successful Coaching. Human Kinetics.
Moon, J. (2005). Refection in Learning and Professional Development. Routledge.
Nash, C., and D. Collins. (2006). Tacit Knowledge in Expert Coaching: Science or
Art? Quest, 58, 464476.
Petty, G. (2004). Teaching Today: A practical guide. Nelson Thornes.
Robinson, P. E. (2010). Foundations of Sport Coaching. Routledge.
43
CHAPTER 3
THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING:
THE INVOLVEMENT AND THE ROLE OF TEACHERS AND
LEARNERS IN DISTANCE EDUCATION
M. Kannan
1
& Dr. S. Meenakshi
2
1
School of Social Science and Language, Vellore Institute of Technology,
Vellore.Email: krishnakannan342@gmail.com / 8682948241, kannan.m@vit.ac.in
2
School of Social Science and Language, Vellore Institute of Technology,
Vellore.Email: meenakshi.s@vit.ac.in / 9566661557
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
45
INTRODUCTION
Every way of life and human conduct is changing as a result of
technological advancements. Time has become significant because it
is fast, global, and extraordinary. Through the computer-based system,
people can get quick access to useful information. The impact of
technology has altered social, global, cultural, and educational
competitiveness. As a result, these alterations have an impact on
people's learning styles, length, and methods. “People are looking for
rapid, accountable, home-based knowledge development rather than
traditional classroom learning” (Clark, 2001). In distance education
both the teachers and learners maintain a distance physically, but their
educational, interactive and learning process goes well. It demands an
attention in the individual variations of pupils as well as how they
react to media. As a result, personality traits, intellectual capacities,
cognitive abilities, styles of learning are all relevant considerations in
distant education.
The following is a summary of the function of distance education in
the twenty-first century: Due to their potential to have and promote
controversial viewpoints, remote education programmes have
achieved great popularity in the educational industry. As a result, we
have real questions about what distant education is Students can apply
for courses immediately on the internet from a teacher-centered
campus, despite the fact that distant education might create a
significant gap between students and instructor engagement. In today's
world, the essential principles are science and technology, which lead
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
to rapid, global deployment in all areas. With the availability of
distance education, educational disciplines should seize the new
efficient tool of the world.
Education should be the primary ingredient in societal progress, with
easy, immediate resources, potential qualified people, and a fresh
approach to the educational environment in order to catch up with
contemporary norms. The type of estimation in the duties of the
communicators can be seen in reviews of relevant articles and studies
when we look at the properties of remote education. The development
of learning through distance learning-education based on the
individualised learning process, which implies that rather than
lecturing, learners gain knowledge through study on computer assisted
programmes in rapid, comfortable settings individually for catching
steady learning. Distance education is closely linked to the search of
truth in order to gather opposing points of view in order to obtain
precise knowledge .Three distinct applications of the computer to the
home study setting are referred to by distance educators. Computer
Managed Instruction, Computer Aided Learning, and Computer
Conferencing are three of these applications. Computer Managed
Instruction is a type of management that makes the learning process
easier to handle. It can give students with electronic counselling, on-
line registration, institutional record keeping, and student progress
tracking.
Computer Aided Learning refers to software applications that use
prestructured and programmed content to teach pupils about various
47
courses and concepts. This course materials either replaces or
supplements the material that students are required to learn from other
sources like print, television, audio cassettes. This can be divided into
two types: tutorials and simulations. Computer conferencing refers to
an electronic network that allows people to communicate via
computers in delayed synchronic time as a group, between two people,
or with a database. Distance educators have employed electronic mail
in its most basic form to allow for quick and effective two-way
communication between instructor and student. This creates a
conducive environment for problem-solving discussions. The distance
education form was established on the foundation of these three
formations. “Distance education necessitates a different learning
approach, as well as different teacher and student
responsibilities”(Clark,2001).
People who play a role in distance education can be divided into four
categories:
a)Students:
Students play a role in distance education by learning. According to
the traditional learning method, students have tough and various duties
to play in that process.
b) Teacher:
The teacher's primary responsibility is to develop the course and
determine the students' needs. The duty of the teacher is to guide the
students.
48
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
c) Designer Groups:
These duties, whatever they are not in the visual depiction of distance
education, are the real establishers of process in distant education.
They are in charge of creating material, a cyber and digital
environment, and a teaching-learning environment that is effective.
d) Directors:
There are persons who organise and implement this type of education
in all institutes. When the education process begins, directors delegate
their responsibilities to technique people.
“Within distant education, there are three different sorts of interactions
between students and teachers. In the process, the terms of
interdependence, distance, and interaction should interact with each
other. Learner-content interaction, learner-instructor interaction, and
learner-learner interaction were the three types of interactions
identified.
A-Interaction between the learner and the content
B-Interaction between the learner and the instructor
C-Interaction between the learner and the learner
According to the above mentioned ideas, distant education
applications for member interaction represent effective idea sharing
when compared to face-to-face contact. Email and chatting can be
used to carry out these interactions” (Harry et al., 1993). In the distant
education system, these three sorts of interactions are crucial.
49
In conclusion, we can say that distance education evolved and became
well-known as a result of some specific developments, such as: the
economic and social contexts have changed; the number of
unemployed workers is increasing, and they all need to be retrained;
knowledge has become one of the most important economic forces;
knowledge is rapidly expanding, and its life span is becoming
increasingly shorter; These types of advancements in educational
sectors open up new avenues for quick, efficient learning through
distance education.
THE PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
Distance education is a type of education in which course materials
and interactions are supplied using the Internet's technology and
methodology. It is an online environment that enables users to
communicate with others in collaborative spaces asynchronously or
synchronously, obtain access to distant multimedia resources for
active, resource-based learning, and manage self-paced, individual
learning in a flexible manner. Furthermore, the Internet allows
students to enroll in a course at anytime from anywhere in the world.
A new worldview has emerged in the last twenty years, influenced
heavily by social and cognitive sciences. “Learning is now prioritised
over teaching in the educational system. The innovations of learning
theory have changed the nature of learning styles and the perspective
of the learner. As learners are involved, knowledge is thought to be
socially created through action, communication, and
reflection”(Huebner and Wiener, 2001).
50
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
To build effective remote education programmes, it is vital to
understand how\slearning occurs and the factors that influence
learning process. How people learn is the major focus on learning
process. There are three key influences on learning:
1) Cognitive learning strategies
2) Planning and self-regulation metacognitive tasks
3) The learner's motivation and aims. The aim of adopting cognitive
methods cannot be separated from the learner's motivation for doing
so.
As a result, the learner's objective and motivation have a significant
impact on cognitive methods. “The distant education requires intrinsic
motivation that gives skill development, intellectual interests,
challenge or personal improvement that was approved by the
relevance research results” (Gibson, 1997). (Gibson, 1997).
“In distance education, there are also different design considerations.
Some broad principles may be identified that apply to all of them;
1-Well-built structure
2-Specific goals
3-Miniature units:
4-Participation that has been planned
5-Completion
6-Consistency
51
7-Stimulation
8-Synthesis
9-Variety
10-Open-ended
11-Provide feedback
12-Steady Observation”.(Moore, Kearsley, 1996, p.122).
“In distant education, it is critical to foster reflection, which entails
encouraging individuals to evaluate their experiences in order to foster
new understanding and appreciation among students. The guided
didactic conversation between teacher and student, according to
Holmberg (1995), is a universal feature of distance education;
1- Those sentiments of personal link between the teaching and
learning parties boost study pleasure and motivation.
2- That well-developed self-instructional material and two-way
remote contact can generate such feelings.
3- That intellectual enjoyment and study drive are conducive to
achieving study objectives and employing appropriate study processes
and approaches.
4- That the atmosphere, language, and friendly conversation
conventions encourage sentiments of personal connection.
5- Conversational messages are easier to understand and recall than
non-conversational messages.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
6- That the dialogue approach may be successfully adapted to distant
education for usage with accessible media.
7- That planning and leading effort, whether done by the teaching
organisation or the student, is required for organised study, which is
marked by explicit or implicit goal conceptions” (Holmberg, 1995,
p.47).
The goal of online education should be learner autonomy. It is
beneficial for pupils to be self-directed, motivated, and evaluative, and
teachers can help them do so.
“Learner autonomy refers to the ability of a potential distance learner
to participate in their learning objectives, programme implementation,
and evaluation. This viewpoint represents the primary distinctions
between distance education and regular education. Teleconferencing
and local groups are significant technology devices for learner
autonomy.”
The duty of distance educators is to create and support an atmosphere
that allows for productive activities, but it is up to students to make
the environment work for them. For audio conferencing, there should
be four primary techniques for teachers:
A-Empowering the atmosphere,
B-Assuring participation,
C-Message style providing information, and
D-Feedback obtaining information on learning and teaching efficacy.
53
Educators can also use television and computers to oversee lessons.
What is critical in all approaches that instructors can employ is that
communication tactics and impediments be well understood in order
to effectively communicate knowledge to students.
Furthermore, in the sense of a good distance education coordinator,
competence, continuity, control, and confidence should be established.
“Tutoring is another responsibility of the educator. In this sense,
teleconferencing and real-time interaction between students and
teachers are rare, if at all. Students may be allocated to a personal
tutor who is not usually the person who created the course or presents
the content. Tutors can talk about course topic, give feedback on
progress, assist students in planning their work, motivate students,
supervise projects and conduct face-to-face seminars, monitor student
records, and evaluate course effectiveness. Tutors should be familiar
with the media used in the programme. Student expectations were at
the centre of the assignment and grading in tests and assignments.
Students also want fair and objective assessment, encouragement and
reinforcement in their abilities, constructive critique and advice, and
prompt feedback on their task grade.” (Gibson, 1997). (Gibson, 1997).
In conclusion, teachers as educators reflect certain duties such as
audio conferencing, tutoring, coordinator, tests, and assignments.
When we look at remote education students, we see that they are adult
learners. They must set goals, be self-directed, take personal
responsibility, have personal experiences, make decisions, learn as
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
needed to address challenges, and be intrinsically motivated” (Moore,
Kearsley, 1996).
The research's goal is to use Distance Education to manage the
specific roles of teachers and students in the learning process. As
previously said, a distance learning programme gives quick, in-depth
knowledge while also limiting time and distance for learning.
Everyone has the opportunity to inquire about the benefits of this type
of education. Students become more interested in learning. “Self-
aware and in charge of their education and training. Aside from that,
there's another research. Students' impressions of Ohio's microwave
distance education courses were investigated. Compared their
perspectives based on a variety of demographic factors” (Isman). The
degree to which the level of student satisfaction in the class was low.
Isman discovered that “more than half of the observational data
showed that students did not agree that they learned as much in the
interactive television class. The test results demonstrated no link
between gender and students' impressions of interactive television
courses, however age and college classification were found to be
substantially associated. There were weaker correlations between
major and graduate / undergraduate status” (Isman). Teachers, on the
other hand, should share their vast expertise with pupils by consulting,
assisting, and directing them as advisors. Distance Education is an
activity that encompasses all aspects of a student's activity,
responsibility, and readiness to obtain, ask for, and receive responses
to connected questions and answers. As we all know, these
programmes operate on the basis of conversation, questions-and-
55
answers, and media by presenting alternatives based on deepening
knowledge. “The main consideration here is to define and measure the
role effectiveness of communicators (teacher-student) in learning
whatever they are apart from one another with living the sense of
Distance Education. Distance education is a new technical power for
students to construct a dynamic self-concept. When we consider the
new constructivist approach to education, we can see how the roles of
educators have shifted as a result of new educational trends. Distance
education is a new trend in which students (learners) establish their
own tactics, objectives, evaluation, and implementation with just the
direction of teachers” (Gibson, 1997).
IMPORTANCE OF STUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES
Earning a degree online, often known as distance education, is a
rapidly rising industry that is expected to be worth billions of dollars
by 2020. While many individuals waste countless hours on the
internet looking at nothing but rubbish, others use their time in novel
ways to further their education. This new revolution is being
embraced by many people and institutions of higher education. When
the research's goal is addressed, it's clear that the roles of instructor
and student are clearly defined, and their success in distance education
is assessed by the necessary research. The question of what are the
roles of teachers and students in distant education allows us to assess
the role and efficacy of learning and training. Professionalism in any
topic training to individuals is also required in distance education. As
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
a result, it promotes individual learning by dealing with various
subjects, fields, and qualified individuals or do qualified people.
“Distance Education is a new educational revolution that eliminates
the barriers of distance, time, and money in education. To achieve
consistent learning, this subject necessitates thinking about
communicating knowledge, debating, commending, and increasing
data between student and teacher. What this means is that, similar to
discovery and research-based education, distant learning empowers
individuals to be credible, valuable to themselves, and to advance their
careers.” In other words, teachers should function as consultants and
advisors, sharing a wide range of knowledge and directing students
appropriately and quickly. On the other hand, students feel self-
responsibility, having the convenience of home study and instant
access to information via the internet. Distance education necessitates
self-awareness and communicators' responsible responsibilities in the
learning process.
OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Distance education necessitates an autonomous learning method in
which students gain knowledge through computer-assisted
programmes. With the advancement of modern technology, people are
looking for quick, easy, no-time, space-extension education options to
keep up with global educational standards. Distance education has
become a viable option in today's educational landscape. The key
considerations in remote education are the roles of students and
teachers, which are similar to those in traditional education. It is
57
assumed that Internet-based technology has a significant impact on
long-term learning; education can be made easier than traditional
learning through distance education by emphasising self-learning
rather than teaching; self-responsibility should be exercised regardless
of distance or lack of face-to-face communication. Distance Education
considers a certain cost, and Distance Education sets defined
regulations and duties for communicators automatically.
Students' duties in remote education, according to research findings,
are:
1. Being self-responsible on task
2. Consulting advisers through required access means
3. Participating in individualised learning
4. Recreating the same productive engagement with counsellors as in
traditional learning
5. Evaluating and appraising one's own performance
6. Overcoming communicative hurdles by not having the
preconceived ideas of disbelieving themselves.
According to research findings, instructors' tasks in distance education
include:
1. being self-responsible for task preparation.
2. Immediately consulting with students on task challenges.
3. Being aware of students' wants and wishes.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
4. Increasing student motivation.
5. Eliminating prejudices about communicative obstacles.
6. Creating an environment conducive to productive student-teacher
interaction.
We can ignore the efficiency of learning when there is no face-to-face
communication among communicators, and how these roles are
established and modified by the learning process, according to
research. According to the research's findings and comments, students
and instructors' responsibilities as self-responsible, individualistic
communicators and self-evaluators are reflected in their real
performance, which might lead to communicational hurdles.
“Both the instructor and the learner have various duties and
obligations in today's high-tech, global world. Furthermore, there has
been a significant shift in the way course content is constructed and
delivered. Interaction between and among students, teachers, and
content promises to expand opportunities for deep and meaningful
learning” (Gibson, 1997). Because student-teacher roles are so crucial
in distant education, there should be a constructivist transaction
between learning and teaching. According to Isman (1999), a
constructivist approach to learning is required to be interactive within
the teaching learning transaction. “Aside from learning and teaching,
the constructivist approach also considers students' self-development.
Students should search for and build their activities based on their
own personal experiences with the subject, and they should construct
all activities with an eye toward evaluation” (Isman, 1999). The
59
constructivist approach places the student at the centre of the
education, encouraging them to take an active role in their learning
with the use of technology. Technology is the primary focus for
making learning simple and making learning products permanent.
Technology is required to increase students' attention to the studies
and to improve motivating signals, which aid in remembering the
subjects. “For students, a constructivist approach that includes
technology support necessitates a learning by doing philosophy of
learning. Technology, student self-development, and learning through
technological implementation lead us to consider a constructivist
approach as part of remote education.” (Isman, 1999)
The constructivist approach necessitated the representation of teacher
and student roles, which could be applied to the interaction of students
and teachers in the distant education process.
The Constructivist Approach to Teacher Role in Distance
Education;
1. Teachers must be aware of learner autonomy. Teachers must inform
students about their individual differences.
2. To communicate knowledge, the teacher should provide actual and
current facts. In other words, a teacher should be well-educated and a
lifelong learner.so that they can give information and provide tangible
examples and summaries of subjects for students' ongoing learning.
3. Teachers should emphasise the relevance of students' ideas. They
should provide students with a research environment in which they
60
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
can search for and assess their content experiences while maintaining
self-control.
4. Teachers should be aware of their students' individual differences
and provide course materials that reflect this awareness.
5. Teachers should be aware of the students' prerequisite content skills
in order to construct new knowledge. Furthermore, a teacher should be
aware of how a learner might learn using tactics.
6. Teachers are the primary communicators in establishing teacher-
student relationship. To properly execute distance education, teachers
should have technological and communication skills.
7. Courses should be implemented using a student-centered learning
approach. Students should take responsibility for their study and seek
advice from their teachers. As a result, the teacher should provide
specific times, locations, and chances for contact.
8. With their supervision, teachers should assist pupils in their self-
development and responsibility.
9. Teachers should provide a collaborative learning environment with
engaging discussion groups so that students can learn related materials
easily and permanently.
10. Teachers should provide appropriate feedback to students and
assist them in making connections between subjects. Furthermore,
professors should assist pupils in locating their fields.
61
The Constructivist Approach to Student Role in Distance
Education;
1. Students should interact with teachers. So that they will receive
appropriate and the real feedback on their self-directed subjects and
they will be free to consult with teachers for accuracy and evaluation.
Through technology help, students can engage in collaborative
learning with their classmates.
2. Students are in charge of their own education. They should
determine what they wish to learn and conduct independent research
on their chosen topic.
3. Instead of relying on accessible data, students should conduct study
to find answers to data problems. As a result, they should conduct
research and a high intensive study.
4. Students should be able to solve problems. They should use what
they've learned to issues and devise solutions tactics based on relevant
data.
5. Students should be well-informed about technology so that they do
not experience communication hurdles as a result of it. They should
also use technology to construct learning with a variety of materials.
6. “Students should continue to learn throughout their lives. Whatever
instruction was completed, the pupils should know how to access and
use the material. If the information is urgent, they should get it right
away.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
The roles of student and instructor were specified above in the
constructivist method. To construct an efficient distant education
process out of interaction issues, communicators should be aware of
these roles” (Isman, 1999). All kinds of approximations show that
instructors and students share the traits of being self-responsible, self-
evaluators, and individualistic communicators as active positions in
their respective jobs. Distance Education reflects their positions as
instructors of computer-assisted programmes that cause
communicational issues in terms of comprehending and accessing
information. Therefore we can understand that Distance education
creates a home-atmosphere learning, lecturing, eliminates time and
distance, increases self-responsibility and evaluation for self-
development, and reflects worldwide high technical benefits to all
mankind and educational areas, regardless of communicational
boundaries.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we can say that distance education evolved and became
well-known as a result of some specific developments, such as: the
economic and social contexts have changed; the number of
unemployed workers is increasing, and they all need to be retrained;
knowledge has become one of the most important economic forces;
knowledge is rapidly expanding, and its life span is becoming
increasingly shorter; These types of advancements in educational
sectors open up new avenues for quick, efficient learning through
distance education.
63
REFERENCES
Abrioux, Dominique AMX. "Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Distance
Education." Journal of Distance Education 4.1 (1989): 20-35.
Clark, Melody. "The soft technology of distance education." Retrieved on August 12
(2001): 2012.
DeMario, Norma C., and Toni Heinze. "The status of distance education in
personnel preparation programs in visual impairment." Journal of Visual
Impairment & Blindness 95.9 (2001): 525-532.
Dominguez, Paula Szule, and Dennis R. Ridley. "Assessing distance education
courses and discipline differences in their effectiveness." Journal of
instructional psychology 28.1 (2001): 15.
Jones, D. R., and A. L. Pritchard. "The distance education debate: An Australian
view." Change 32.6 (2000): 32.
Harry, Keith, Magnus John, and Desmond Keegan. Distance education: New
perspectives. Routledge, 2013.
Holmberg, Borje. Theory and practice of distance education. Routledge, 2005.
Huebner, Kathleen Mary, and William R. Wiener. "Distance education in 2001."
Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 95.9 (2001): 517-524.
Isman, Aytekin. Students' perception of a class offered through distance education.
Ohio University, 1997.
Isman, Aytekin. "The Conceptual Sides of Educational Technology: The Effects of
Constructivism in Education, Instruction Environment." Symposium of
Contemporary Approaches in Teacher Education. Dokuz Eylül University
Buca Education Faculty, Izmir. 1999.
Isman, Aytekin, and Fahme Dabaj. "Roles of the students and teachers in distance
education." Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education
International Conference. Association for the Advancement of Computing
in Education (AACE), 2004.
Jones, Edmund T., et al. "Faculty Philosophical Position Towards Distance
Education." Competency, Value, and Educational Technology Support.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, V (I), Spring 2002.
Retrieved September. 2002.
Levin, John S. "Is the Management of Distance Education Transforming Instruction
in Colleges?." Quarterly Review of Distance Education 2.2 (2001): 105-17.
Merisotis, James, and R. A. Phipps. "What is the difference?." College-level
distance and classroom-based education. Retrieved on November 2 (1999):
2004.
Moore, Michael G., and G. G. Kearsley. Distance education: A system view. No.
C10 20. Wadsworth, 1996.
Notar, Charles E., et al. "Going the distance: Active learning." (2002).
Perraton, Hilary D., ed. Distance education for teacher training. Psychology Press,
1993.
Rockwell, Kay, Jack Furgason, and David B. Marx. "Research and evaluation needs
for distance education: A Delphi study." Online Journal of Distance
Learning Administration 3.3 (2000).
Willis, Barry Donald. Distance education: Strategies and tools. Educational
Technology, 1994.
Wilson, Chuck. "Trends in Distance Education: A Viable Alternative for Higher
Education." (1991).
65
CHAPTER 4
LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER: FOREIGN LANGUAGE
ANXIETY IN ONLINE FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSES
DURING COVID-19 ISOLATION
Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah DOLGUNSÖZ
1
&
Asst. Prof. Dr. Süleyman YURTTAŞ
2
1
Bayburt University, Dept. of ELT, Bayburt/TURKEY, edolgunsoz@gmail.com,
ORCID ID 0000-0002-1277-2177
2
Bayburt University, Dept. of Sociology, Bayburt/TURKEY,
syurttas@bayburt.edu.tr, ORCID ID 0000-0002-0631-5252
66
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
67
INTRODUCTION
Nearly a year ago, the Covid-19 epidemy has not only turned into an
unexpected pandemic but also has caused an obligatory transformation
in education systems. In several countries, educational institutions
including universities had to cancel F2Fformal education for public
health and adopted a new distant online education system called
“emergency remote education” (Hodges et. al., 2020) without
compromising curricula, syllabi, and weekly class hours. Online
education is not a new practice, yet remote education is a different
form that is adopted in emergencies. While online education is more
specific, organized, and well designed, remote education does not
exactly inhabit such pedagogical perquisites due to its “urgent” nature
(Russell, 2020). Emergency remote education (ERE) is persisting and
a specific deadline cannot be predicted. During ERE, one of the most
affected fields of education was foreign language (FL) learning which
requires a communicative and a social classroom environment by its
nature. The advantages of F2Fclassroom communication such as eye
contact, kinesics or body language faded away in emergency remote
education. Instead, new educational anxieties emerged such as internet
shortage, lack of opportunity to reach better hardware and software,
online tests, isolation and discomfort caused by the lack of physical
existence of peers and instructors. When the social and
communicative nature of foreign language education is considered,
problems in ERE are observable. This study aimed to examine foreign
language anxiety (FLA) levels in the ERE context and to compare it to
F2Fclassroom anxiety. Since the current obligatory condition has
68
Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
continued for several months without any predictable deadline, the
current study is significant as our results might provide insights to
benefit best from this online system.
1. FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY (FLA) AND ERE
In general, anxiety is a common subjective feeling of uneasiness,
discomfort and worry often accompanied by some physiological
symptoms such as fatigue, muscular tension, restlessness and
headache causing individuals to get disoriented by arousing the
autonomic nervous system (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
FLA is a special type of anxiety that manifests itself in a foreign
language learning context (Brown, 2007, p.162). For a few decades,
several researchers paid considerable attention to FLA and its relation
to learning and L2 communication. Although some researchers
considered FLA as a result of poor foreign language achievement but
not the cause of it (Sparks and Ganschow, 2000), it has long been
accepted as both the result and cause of low foreign language learning
performance (MacIntyre, 1999; Horwitz, 2001). The FLA concept is
considered to be a part of the affective filter along with some other
concepts such as motivation, attitudes, risk-taking, and self-confidence
(Krashen, 1982). In case of anxiety, simply a filter is raised in
learner’s minds that blocks linguistic input from entering which is also
known as the affective filter hypothesis (Krashen, 1982). The filter has
a significant psychological function that can facilitate or inhibit the
processing and reception of FL input throughout the FL learning
process (Krashen, 1985). Although minimal amounts of FLA have
69
been considered facilitative, it has been mostly associated with poor
FL learning performance. Some common FLA symptoms among FL
learners are characterized by an unwillingness to communicate in FL,
shyness, lack of self-confidence in FL context, fear of failure, the
reluctance of cooperation, and fear of being criticized.
30 years of FLA research has proposed abundant evidence on FL
learning and anxiety in F2Fclassroom context but could not present
sufficient findings in online classrooms. Recent Covid-19 based
pedagogical conditions have made online classroom FLA research
necessary since FLA not only emerges in F2Fclassrooms but also may
manifest itself in online learning platforms (Russell, 2018; Pichette,
2009). In this respect, a few studies on FLA in online classrooms
worth noting.
The study by Pichette (2009) aimed to compare the FLA levels of
learners in F2Fand online education contexts regarding CA, reading,
and writing anxiety. 186 French university students in Canada
learning either English or Spanish from 3 different proficiency levels
(beginner, intermediate and advanced) participated in his study. Three
instruments were used in the study: For general anxiety and CA, the
FLCAS, for reading anxiety, the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety
Scale (Saito, Garza, & Horwitz, 1999), and for writing anxiety the
DalyMiller Writing Apprehension Test (Daly and Miller, 1975) were
administered. The results showed no difference between anxiety levels
in two contexts when all three types of anxiety levels were combined.
On the other hand, Pichette found out that more experienced learners
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
(2 semesters and above) tended to be less anxious in both contexts
especially regarding writing and reading when compared to their less
experienced counterparts.
In a more recent study, Bárkányi and Melchor-Couto (2017)
investigated learner attitudes, self-efficacy, and FLA in Spanish
Language Massive Online Courses at beginner proficiency level
(LMOOC). LMOOCs encompass web-based partially free online
courses aiming to serve learners who are interested in developing their
skills in a foreign language. Quantitative data was collected from 301
learners of Spanish but pre- and post-course questionnaires (11 items)
data could not be matched due to anonymity. Qualitative data was
obtained through open-ended questions in the related discussion forum
of LMOOC. Their results indicated positive results towards LMOOC
and low anxiety in speaking courses as they were shielded by
computers. However, a majority of learners also reported that they feel
intimidated, uncomfortable and embarrassed as they were required to
record themselves during courses and to post it.
Recently, Russell (2018) examined the effect of a pedagogical
intervention on lowering online course FLA. 33 learners of Spanish
as a foreign language participated in the study and attended a peer
support discussion group in which learners discussed their anxiety and
online conversational experience. Learners’ FLA level was measured
via FLCAS in the beginning and at the end of the study to see any
improvement. Russell assigned learners to four synchronous online
conversations with native speakers using the TalkAbroad
71
(www.talkabroad.com). It is an online conversation platform via
which learners can engage in oral communication with native speakers
of the target language. In every 4 weeks, learners used this platform
and communicate with native speakers for 30 minutes. Native
speakers were allowed to give explicit feedback when needed and to
ask for clarification. The examination of peer support discussion
revealed that a majority of the participants felt anxious in the online
course and showed high levels of online CA. The results of the two
FLCAS administered showed positive results of the intervention;
learners’ anxiety levels were significantly lower at the end of the
course when compared to the beginning of the semester (Russell,
2018, p. 62). Russell’s study yielded positive results but most
importantly presented abundant evidence on online-based FLA which
emerged in online platforms especially in the case of oral
communication.
The consensus is that FLA somehow emerges in online platforms but
we still do not have enough evidence on how it shows itself,
especially in the ERE period. FLA was popularly measured by
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by
Horwitz et al. (1986) and it owed its popularity among researchers to
its reliability shown in several studies (Arnaiz and Guillen, 2012;
Dewaele, 2013; Sparks and Patton, 2013). This 33-item 5-point Likert
scale was designed on three main components of FLA for F2F
classroom contexts. Communication apprehension (CA) refers to
anxiety triggered by FL communication while fear of negative
evaluation can be considered as anxiety caused by high sensitivity
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towards criticism of others. Test anxiety can be described as the type
of FL anxiety that arouses during FL exams. However, FLCAS as a
quantitative instrument has not been optimized for online EFL
learning contexts yet; hence, this study was based on three
components of FLCAS from a qualitative perspective. The current
study aimed to explore FLA primarily with qualitative procedures
based on FLCAS’s three components mentioned above. Answers for
the research questions below were sought:
1. What is the FL classroom participation rate in ERE?
2. What are the triggers of FLA in online EFL courses in terms of CA,
fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety?
2. METHOD
2.1. Design
This study has a qualitative design. We adopted this design since
online classroom FLA in ERE is quite a new and a recent practice
lacking reliable quantitative instruments. Hence, the entire data was
obtained through semi-structured interviews.
2.2. Ethics Statement
The criteria about how to carry out studies involving what could be
considered a vulnerable population was given considerable attention.
The identities of all the participants in addition to the answers
provided in the interviews were kept anonymous. The consent form
explained the purpose of the study, the process of data collection, and
that the participants can withdraw from the study at any time. Also,
73
their consent for audio-recording the sessions and quoting them in the
final manuscript was sought.
2.3. Participants
The random sampling method was adopted in accordance with the
research aims. The participation in the study had a voluntary basis and
all participants filled and signed an online consent form covering
instructions. All participants have been involving in online EFL
courses for 2 semesters since March 2019 when all universities ended
their F2F education with a governmental decision due to the Covid-19
isolation. 60 learners in the same ELT department (25 men and 35
women) at an age range of 18 to 24 were randomly invited for semi-
structured interviews and 54 participants accepted the invitation. All
participants were given extra course credit for their participation.
2.4. The Current Online EFL Course Setting
All participants in the current study have been using the same online
platform provided by the same university for online courses and
exams since March 2019. On average, all participants were attendings
16 hours of EFL courses weekly. The platform is strong enough to
carry on courses; however, the classes are crowded (about 50 to 70
students per class) which does not allow every student to turn on
cameras simultaneously. Additionally, the internet speed that students
have at their homes is not homogenous which causes serious lags and
crashes when all cameras were turned on. Moreover, some learners
from conservative families do not prefer to turn on cameras at home.
Lack of a private room and having a crowded family are some other
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
issues that cause learners to be severely reluctant to turn on their
cameras. It also was not practical for an instructor to observe more
than 50 student cameras on a single screen both during courses and
exams due to technical and privacy issues. Thus, only the instructor
cam is active in all online courses. For online exams, all students start
at the same predetermined hour in the system and are given the same
time limit. When an exam is completed, the students are obliged to
click “send” within the time limit given.
2.5. Instruments
A semi-structured interview containing open-ended questions was
used to collect qualitative data of the study. In the development of the
guide, the dimensions in the FLCAS (CA, Fear of Negative
Evaluation, and Test Anxiety) and the relevant literature were taken
into account. Hence, we determined 3 themes (CA, Fear of Negative
Evaluation, and Test Anxiety) in advance. The interview questions
were subjected to a pilot test before starting the study and the
necessary adjustments and additions were made. The findings
obtained in the preliminary study were not included in the analysis. At
the beginning of the interviews, learners were also asked about their
classroom participation rate and style.
The interviews were conducted online via “Zoom Application” by the
corresponding author who had 9 years of research experience in the
field along with a Ph.D. degree in foreign language education and
research. The interviewer had no personal relationship with the
participants. Each interview lasted about 15 to 20 minutes and was
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audio-recorded. The IDs of the participants were kept anonymous by
giving each participant a label as “Sx” (S1, S2, S3...).
2.6. Data Analysis
Percentages were analyzed for participation rate during online
courses. The recorded audio data was transcribed verbatim by the
researchers. Content analysis was conducted to determine the themes.
The 6-step thematic analysis method was followed in the content
analysis: (1) The interviewer and the coder made repeated readings.
(2) A basic level code list has been created depending on the
predetermined themes. (3) Relationships between codes were
determined. (4) The interviewer and the coder scrutinized the
transcriptions to determine the quotations of the participants. (5) The
relationships between themes and codes were determined. (6) The
findings were presented in the form of a narrative, with the necessary
attention being paid to make the narration short, logical, and
attractive. Braun & Clark (2006) thematic analysis
3. FINDINGS
Finding 1: Rate of Online Classroom Participation
For the first research question, the participants were asked about their
online EFL course participation rate and style as the first question of
the semi-structure interview. Learner participation rate and type in
online classrooms were shown in Table 1.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
Table 1. Participation rate and type in online FL courses
f
Percent
I use written language (chat)
25
46.3%
I write in FL
12
22.2%
I write in my native language
13
24%
I use my microphone and prefer oral
participation
21
38.9%
I speak in FL
14
25.9%
I speak in my native language
7
13%
I never participated neither written nor oral
8
14.8%
Total
54
100
Table 1 showed that oral participation rate in online courses was
around 39% and only 26% of this participation was in EFL while 13%
of the participants persisted using their native language. On the other
hand, around 46% of the participants preferred written communication
either in FL or in their native language. About 15% of the participants
never participated neither written nor oral. In this respect, the online
classroom participation rate is about 85%; however, only 26% of this
rate was with oral communication in EFL.
Findings 2: Underlying Reasons of FLA in Online EFL Courses
The following questions of the semi-structured interview was based
on 3 main constructs of FLCAS (Horwitz et. al., 1986): CA, fear of
negative evaluation and test anxiety. Each construct was regarded as a
theme and related codes were analyzed. Each participant was coded
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with IDs (S1, S2, S3…) to ensure confidentiality. The first construct
was CA which referred to the type of anxiety emerged during oral
communication in EFL.
Table 2. Codes for CA in ERE
Theme
Codes
f
%
CA
Hardware and Software Problems
7
12.9
Social Environment and Family
5
9.2
Introverted Personality
7
12.9
Lack of physical communication
quality and non-verbal language
22
40.7
A small part of learners (12.9%, N=7) reported that they mainly did
not engage in oral communication and felt uncomfortable due to
hardware and software problems.
I feel very anxious about a probable internet outage or slow down
while I speak in the online courses. That’s why I always hesitate to
join the courses with my microphone (S11, translated by the author(s).
The internet connection is very problematic in my district. I only listen
silently during the courses... sometimes I write in the chat box. I
sometimes feel tense with the idea that the instructor would want me
to speak (S17, translated by the author(s).
Only 9.2% (N=5) of learners mentioned that they felt anxious during
the courses and avoided oral communication due to their social
environment and family members at home. They were annoyed about
any sound intervention by family members when they turn on their
mics. Hence, they showed unwillingness to communicate in EFL.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
Our house is crowded. At any moment, one of my family members can
enter my room and say something irrelevant. I don’t want it to
happen; I may feel embarrassed. That’s why I generally use the
chatbox. I do not turn on my mic (S31, translated by the author(s).
My family members still have no idea what online education is. They
really do not want to understand that they may be heard by my peers
during lessons. So, I do not turn on my mic. I do not want my friends
to hear my mom yelling at me! (S37, translated by the author(s).
12.9% (N=7) of the participants explained their reluctance of oral
communication during online courses with their personality traits.
They reported that they had always been shy, introverted and silent in
F2F classrooms and this introversion also showed itself in online
settings.
I am simply shy. I avoid oral participation during online courses. I
feel I need to be more relaxed in online courses as no one sees me, but
I just cannot. It is very hard for me to turn on my mic and speak (S10,
translated by the author(s).
Indeed, there is no reason for me to avoid oral communication. I do
not just because I am very shy. I feel embarrassed to turn on the mic
and speak (S44, translated by the author(s).
A considerable part of learners (40.7%, N=22) stated that they found
online classrooms “unreal”. They reported that online classrooms
were far from being real since they could not see the faces and mimics
of their peers and instructors. Additionally, they mentioned that lack
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of non-verbal language such as eye contact, kinesics, and body
language caused reluctance to speak. They also reported that they
could not perceive the emotional reactions of their peers and the
instructor in online classrooms which created an stressful and
uncomfortable communicative environment.
Speaking in online courses feels just like talking to a blank
space…just feels nothing. I cannot see the mimics of my peers and the
instructor clearly. I feel strange and I feel nervous. Do I speak
properly, what do they think, what my instructor thinks…I just cannot
see it? This is a real problem (S36, translated by the author(s).
I feel as if I talk to a machine. It is annoying not being able to see
reactions…mimics. I cannot perceive how they feel while I am
speaking. I feel tense because of it. I do not understand clearly what
others think, feel. I simply do not see them...feel them. (S25, translated
by the author(s).
In a F2F classroom, you see people around, you feel their physical
existence. You can easily perceive what they think about your speech.
Their reactions… also instructor’s…I understand that it is such a
comfort…but in online classrooms…it is hard to perceive,
predict…what others are thinking…are they laughing…angry? Or am
I misunderstood? It feels very annoying (S49, translated by the
author(s).
Firstly, online classrooms are unpredictable. In F2Fclassrooms, I was
able to predict when my instructor wanted me to participate. I did not
have to interfere while another friend of mine was speaking. But in an
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
online classroom, anything may happen. I may interrupt my friend or
we may start talking at the same time. I cannot predict what will
happen after a minute. It is very annoying (S22, translated by the
author(s).
The next construct from FLCAS was fear of negative evaluation
which referred to the type of FLA characterized by reluctance to
engage oral communication to avoid criticisms by the peers of the
instructor.
Table 3. Codes for fear of negative evaluation in Online EFL Courses
Theme
Codes
f
%
Fear of negative
evaluation
Lack of linguistic competence
32
59.1
Fear of giving wrong answers
5
9.2
59.1% (N=32) of the participants reported that they feel reluctant to
engage in oral communication due to their lack of linguistic
competence including grammar and syntax errors along with
pronunciation problems. These learners mainly avoided oral
communication in online settings since they lack self-esteem and
thought other students were more proficient.
I feel that I am far behind my peers. They have better pronunciation. I
fear that the instructor would criticize me if I pronounce a word
wrong. I do not want to feel humiliated (S18, translated by the
author(s).
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I couldn’t develop a good pronunciation yet. I even cannot pronounce
some simple words properly. So, I do not take risks. If I have to
participate, I use the chatbox (S7, translated by the author(s).
Sometimes I have no idea about the topic and the course progresses
spontaneously. It annoys me. If I knew the topic and were prepared, I
would design and memorize some sentences. But I fear that I could not
immediately form a proper sentence when asked suddenly. So, I fear
that my hardworking friends would laugh at me. I do not want to feel
silly… (S5, translated by the author(s).
Actually, I know everybody in the class. Everyone knows each other. I
am sure there is no problem with being laughed at or mocked in the
classroom. But in reality, it does not feel like that. Some of my friends
are good at pronunciation. I am sure they will make fun of me. If a
silly situation comes up, we also continue it in our class WhatsApp
groups. They also write there…me also…sometimes. The mockery
goes on in WhatsApp. I do not want to be a topic of such mockery
(S41, translated by the author (s).
9.2% (N=5) of the participants stated that they fear giving a wrong
answer to a simple question and being mocked by other learners.
I fear giving a wrong answer to a simple question that everyone can
answer. I am sure that our instructors are sympathetic in case of
wrong answers but I cannot think the same for my friends (S26,
translated by the author(s). I do not want to feel awkward.
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
I feel ashamed when I give a wrong answer. It feels as if I didn’t listen
to the lesson and I do not want to feel embarrassed in front of my
instructors. It is normal to make mistakes but I still feel that everyone
will laugh at me (S9, translated by the author(s).
The final component to be held was test anxiety which emerges during
EFL tests causing nervousness and discomfort.
Table 4. Codes for Test Anxiety in ERE
Theme
Codes
f
%
Test Anxiety
Internet connection problems
51
94.4
Power cut
49
90.7
Inability to deliver online exam
properly
35
64.8
Online test equality and justice
42
77.7
The test anxiety theme revealed intense concerns when compared to
other two components. The majority of learners were found to have
experienced test anxiety during online EFL exams. A dominant
majority of the participants experienced test anxiety due to technical
problems during online tests. 94.24% (N=51) of the learners reported
that they felt anxious during exams due to any possible internet
connection problem. Similarly, 90.7% (N=49) stated that they fear any
possible electricity failure or power cut during exams.
During the online exams, I fear internet disconnection most.
Thankfully, I haven’t had such a problem yet. I may also connect my
mobile internet in my mobile phone. But I still feel anxious about it all
the time during online exams (S29, translated by the author(s).
83
It is as if I will experience internet connection issues during online
exams every time. It makes me nervous. I always control the internet
connection before exams and take some precautions. But the
possibility of internet disconnection still annoys me (S33, translated
by the author(s).
I have never experienced a power cut in my district. Maybe it
happened only a few times. But still, it is as if a power cut would
happen when I sit for an exam. I do not even want to think about it
(S4, translated by the author(s).
64.8% (N=35) of the participants stated that they feel nervous about
not being able to use given time efficiently during online exams. They
also reported that they were annoyed by possible delivery problems.
Even though I complete my online exam without any problems, I feel
anxious because I am not sure if my answers have been successfully
delivered to my instructor…face to face exams were much better. At
least, I was able to submit my exam to the instructor’s hands. (S20,
translated by the author(s).
In the online tests, we need to submit the exam in the given limited
time. Otherwise, the system rejects it. Indeed, the system is not
human…it is just a software. During the exam, I cannot stop looking
at the watch every time. It annoys me so much...I feel tense. I think
about time more than the exam itself (S2, translated by the author(s).
Most of the participants (77.7%; N=42) feel suspicious about their
peers and the fairness of the online tests. They reported that they were
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
highly annoyed with the possibility of cheating as the students could
not be observed efficiently during online tests.
I study hard for exams for several days. I knew some of my friends do
not study much. During the exam, they secretly cooperate and answer
questions together. They mostly use WhatsApp…The instructor cannot
see them. Sometimes they search for an answer quickly on the
internet. Our classroom is very crowded and I know it is hard to
establish a reliable observation system…then here you go…they get
the same score as me…sometimes higher. This is not fair; I do not
trust online exams…not a bit! (S21, translated by the author(s).
Online tests seem more comfortable but there are serious problems. I
feel anxious about the thought that my friends would obtain a higher
mark by cheating than me. Maybe I am overthinking but I am sure
someone is cheating and getting high marks without study. I do not
think it is fair. (S23, translated by the author(s).
In general, results of the semi-structured interviews indicated that the
three components of FLCAS emerged in online EFL courses in
varying degrees.
4. DISCUSSION
Confirming (Russell, 2018; Pichette, 2009), our findings revealed
symptoms of FLA in online EFL settings during Covid-19 isolation.
In general, lack of non-verbal language, academic worries, and
technical issues were found to be the main triggers of FLA in online
classrooms.
85
In our study, although the learner participation rate seemed at around
85%, the oral participation rate in EFL was found to have been quite
low (around 25%). We inferred that learners suffered from CA and
showed reluctance to engage in oral communication primarily due to
the lack of physical contact and non-verbal language in online
settings. CA in FL is characterized by severe reluctancy of oral
communication in FL; thus, such learners could not efficiently
comprehend oral messages and produce little L2 output (Cheng,
Horwitz and Schallert, 1999). According to McCroskey (1977), the
causes of CA may never be fully known. But commonly, it has been
thought that it has hereditary and environmental roots (McCroskey
and Richmond, 1982) which usually manifested itself in FL contexts
and could be simplified under the term “shyness”. But in our
research, only a small part of learners linked their CA to their shy
personality (12%) while a majority of them emphasized the lack of
non-verbal language and physical quality. Hence, we inferred that
while shyness might be a dominant cause of CA in F2F classrooms, it
was not the primary trigger of CA in online settings.
These inferences showed that CA in the online classrooms was not
personality-based but related to the quality of online communication.
Non-verbal language was considered to have an important role in
maintaining communication in FL. According to Cosnier (2008),
during verbal interaction, ‘‘gestures that accompany discourse’ (non-
verbal units we use during communication) and the ‘‘gestures that
monitor interaction’’ (non-verbal units we demonstrate while
listening) are vital parts of a healthy communication. In this respect,
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Discovering Learners' and Educators' Experiences and Perceptions
facial expressions or gestures inhabit several empathic and
interactional functions such as organizing speech exchange, turn-
taking behavior, guiding discourse, and encouraging speech with nods
or smiles which are also strong socio-affective indicators. These
blending non-verbal behaviors greatly contribute to the interpersonal
relationship between teachers and learners. The results of the study by
Develotte, Guichon, and Vincent (2010) confirmed this by
investigating webcam behaviors of foreign language teacher-trainees
and non-verbal language effect on communication in an online
platform. Their results showed that when teacher-trainees utilize and
use their webcam effectively, it contributed to the socio-affective
dimension of pedagogical communication and provided better
progress in interpersonal relationships during online courses. Efficient
utilization of webcam created a feeling of presence as it conveyed
non-verbal language to students in online platforms and developed the
quality of the pedagogical interaction. In this regard, our primary
finding was that lack of non-verbal language triggered CA in ERE
classrooms. Although instructors turned on their cameras in most ERE
courses, we inferred that it was not sufficient to suppress CA. Most
likely, learners in the ERE classroom should have also turned on their
cameras which was not applicable due to technical, sociological, and
personal reasons explained before.
Secondly, FL learners in ERE classrooms showed an acute sensitivity
of being criticized by their peers or the instructor mainly due to
pronunciation and grammatical worries. In F2F context, fear of
negative evaluation derives from possible criticisms which causes
87
communication reluctancy in FL (Horwitz, 1986; Gregersen and
Horwitz, 2002). We found out that the same sensitivity to criticism
persisted in online settings. Hence, our findings related to this
construct did not demonstrate a difference; it could be inferred that
reasons of fear of negative evaluation also emerged in online EFL
settings.
And finally, our findings related to test anxiety demonstrated some
interesting differences when compared to the related literature on F2F
classroom tests. Previous FLA research in F2F classroom context
showed that FL test anxiety primarily derived from fear of failure,
(Horwitz and Young, 1991), test validity (Young, 1999), task
difficulty, self-efficacy and lack of preparation for a test (Aydın,
Yavuz & Yesilyurt, 2006). These factors seemed to have shifted form
moderately in our study. Our findings indicated that FL learners
became test anxious due to various technical issues. They mainly fear
internet connection problems, power cut during the online exam, and
the inability to deliver online exams due to system error. Beside
technical issues, learners in the ERE context were also annoyed by the
probability of cheating which would spoil fair play in online exams.
Cheating in online tests which undermines online test validity is a
common problem (Tippins, 2009). An online test taker may exploit
tests in several different ways and engage in cheating due to security
flaws and even share the online test or answers with other test takers
(Lievens & Burke, 2011). Hence, our findings revealed that learners
were highly anxious about test validity and fair play issues in online
tests.