VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNDERGRADUATE THESIS EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES PHAN TUYẾT CƯƠNG AN GIANG, 6-2022 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNDERGRADUATE THESIS EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES PHAN TUYẾT CƯƠNG ID. DAV187020 ADVISOR: BÙI LÊ DIỄM TRANG, PhD. AN GIANG, 6-2022 Thesis Title: EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES By: PHAN TUYẾT CƯƠNG Field of Study: EDUCATION Advisor: DR. BÙI LÊ DIỄM TRANG Accepted by the Faculty of Foreign Languages, An Giang University on [date].
Tran Thi Thanh Hue) Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Examination Committee ………………………………………………Advisor Bui Le Diem Trang ………………………………………… Faculty Examiner 1 ……………………………………. Faculty Examiner 2 I ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am about to graduate from An Giang University after a four-year journey pursuing the English Teacher Education major in the Faculty of Foreign Languages. It is fortunate for me to be able to conduct this undergraduate thesis on the topic of my interest. I would like to sincerely express my deepest gratitude to those who have supported me during this interesting and challenging journey.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my academic supervisor, Dr. Bùi Lê Diễm Trang, who inspired me from the very first day and has always been by my side with wholehearted support and expertise guidance during the time I conducted this thesis. Without her dedicated guidance, valuable advice, and cautious corrections, I would not have finished this thesis. Secondly, I want to send my gratitude to Mr.
Lê Đỗ Thái who helped me come up with the research problem from the very first days and has always motivated me during the whole process. I would like to send a special thanks to Mr. Jason Lai for his encouragement, support, and assistance during the completion of my research. Next, my sincere gratitude goes to An Giang University, the Faculty of Foreign Languages, and my beloved instructors from the faculty for creating a chance for me to conduct the study.
Many thanks go to all the volunteer students in class 22AV1, 22AV2, 22TA1, 22TA2, 22TA3, 21AV, 21TA1, 21TA2, 20AV, 20TA1, 20TA2, 19AV, 19TA1, and 19TA2 who passionately participated in the online survey and semi-interview to provide the data for this thesis. Last but not least, I want to express my appreciation to my beloved family for always believing in me and raising me up whenever I felt depressed. In addition, I would also like to thank my close friends, Huỳnh Thị Thanh Nhi, Đổ Thị Mỹ Tiên, Võ Lê Duyên, La Thu Trang, Lại Phạm Thu Ngân, Phan Thị Tuyết Kiều, Diệp Minh Nhi, Huỳnh Mỹ Linh, Thái Hoàng Khang, Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc and my schoolmates for their support and assistance during the research. II DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “EFL students’ perception of online English language learning at An Giang University during COVID-19 pandemic: Opportunities and challenges” represent my own work and that has not been previously submitted to any other university or institute in application for admission to degrees or other qualifications.
June, 2022 Phan Tuyết Cương III ABSTRACT The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled education institutions to enact numerous adaptations. As a result, An Giang University (AGU), like other tertiary institutions, shifted entirely to online education, including English language education. This rapid transformation continues to have a profound impact on English teaching and learning, even after the pandemic can be contained. However, little research has been conducted to determine how far English as a foreign language (EFL) students experienced the opportunities and challenges of online English language learning.
To address this gap, the study attempted to investigate the opportunities and challenges of online English language learning from the perceptions of EFL students at AGU during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected via an online questionnaire with a total of 165 English-majored students and semi- structured interviews with eight students. The results indicated that online education afforded AGU EFL students a wide range of opportunities, including the flexibility of online learning mode, the improvement of English skills and IT skills, and an increase in confidence. The students, on the other hand, encountered a number of challenges, including issues with their physical health, mental and psychological health, distractions from the learning environment, lack of interaction, technological challenges, and issues in testing and assessment.
The findings had important implications for both students who want to succeed at online English language learning as well as instructors and educators who create and conduct online courses. The findings also provided some insights into how online English language education is implemented. Key words: online English language learning, opportunities, challenges, COVID-19 pandemic, EFL students. IV CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
V LIST OF TABLES .VII ABBREVIATION USED IN THE THESIS .VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. The rationale of the research. The significance of the research. Organization of the thesis .4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Online English language learning. The opportunities and challenges of online English learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection instruments. Semi-structured interview.
Data collection procedures. Semi- structured interview. Validity and reliability of the study. 21 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.
EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities of online English language learning. Results of the questionnaire .2 Results of interviews. EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges of online English language learning. Results of the questionnaire.
Results of interviews. Students’ suggestions for online English language learning. Willingness for further online English language learning. EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities of online English language learning.
EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges of online English language learning. Summary of the results. Implications of the research. Limitations and recommendations .65 APPENDIX 2 - Ethics for interview .1 - Information sheets for student participants (English version)70 Appendix 2.2 - Information sheets for student participants (Vietnamese version) .3 - Consent forms for students participants (English version) .4 - Consent forms for students participants (Vietnamese version)73 APPENDIX 4 – Interview questions .74 APPENDIX 5 –A sample of one interview - Audio transcript .1 – A sample of one interview - Audio transcript (English version) .2 – A sample of one interview - audio transcript (Vietnamese version) .84 VI LIST OF TABLES Table 1.
Description of the participants. Students' information related to online English language learning. Description of the participants for the interviews. Reliability Statistics of the pilot study about EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities.
Reliability Statistics of the pilot study about EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges. Summary of the data collection and analysis. Reliability values of Items related to EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities. Reliability values of Items related to EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges.
EFL students’ perceptions on online English language learning. Independent samples t-test for gender difference in terms of students’ perceptions on online English language learning. Relationship between the students’ majors and their perceptions of online English language learning. Challenges of online English language learning.
One-Sample Test with mean of challenges. Physical health issues during online English language. The relationship between time spent on online English language learning and physical health issues. Mental health issues during online English language learning.
One-sample test with mean of mental health issues. Learning environment of online English language learning. One-sample test with mean of environmental challenges. Lack of interaction in online English language learning.
One- sample test with mean of interaction challenges. Technological challenges of online English language learning. The relationship between students’ residence and technological challenges of online English language learning .33 VII ABBREVIATION USED IN THE THESIS AGU An Giang University COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease of 2019 EFL English Foreign Language EL English Language ELTE English Language Teacher Education ICT Information Communication and Technology IT Information Technology LMS Learning Management System SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION There are six sections in this chapter: (1) research context, (2) rationale of the research, (3) research questions, (4) significance of the research, (5) organization of the thesis. Research context The appearance of the coronavirus known as COVID-19, and the World Health Organization's (WHO, 2020) declaration of a pandemic following the fatal virus's rapid spread across borders, triggered an unanticipated lockdown in practically every corner of the globe.
The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the world to make numerous reforms, one of which is in the educational sector. Because teaching and learning involves a large number of people in a room and with a face-to-face meeting between a teacher and students at school or college, the education sector is a particularly risky sector when conducted during the coronavirus pandemic (Pangestus, 2020). In this situation, schools and higher education institutions around the world were forced to discontinue face-to-face instruction in favor of online courses, causing confusion among all stakeholders, including students, teachers, families, and administrators. In Vietnam, the most damaging wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was from April 27, 2021 (UNICEF Viet Nam, 2021).
At that time, all 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam allowed students to stay home. To reach out to students and ensure the continuity of education, An Giang Universities (AGU) switched to online learning and using platforms such as Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, and other learning management systems (LMS). This type of education that does not have any physical limitations allowed students to attend classes during the pandemic. Due to its status as an international language, English is taught in practically every level of schools, from kindergarten to higher education, all over the world (Baird & Baird, 2018; Deniz., Özkan, Bayyuret, 2016; Nunan, 2003).
In Vietnam, learning English as a foreign language has become a national educational priority (Nguyen, 2017). Given the long-established value of English among other world languages (Li, Xie & Ai, 2020), English learning was proportionally confronted with the pandemic's concerns. However, throughout this period of uncertainty, most language teachers and students benefited from the fact that online English teaching was already in use prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, and some English language instructors and students have become acclimated to online English lessons in English courses (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020). Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has been utilized for language teaching and learning for more than 40 years, according to Bailey and Lee (2020).
English language learning has grown significantly as a result of technological advancements, paving the path for online 1 language study. While online or distant learning of English is not a new phenomenon, the rapid transition to emergency online language learning may present teachers and students with unique opportunities and obstacles. The rationale of the research When the first virus case was reported in Vietnam, students were on the annual Tet holiday (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021). As part of wider measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education and Training opted to keep schools closed by extending the holiday period until the end of March 2020, which had to be prolonged again due to the nationwide lockdown from April 1 to April 15.
The nation’s schools had to close conventional education for 11 weeks from February 12 to May 4. As a response, AGU actively tried to transform its pedagogical teaching and learning activities into a virtual model. However, the pandemic spread was too sudden to respond. AGU, without preparation, failed to implement online learning and had to interrupt the learning and teaching process at that time.
From the point of view of a student, I recognize two major causes of this situation. Firstly, students lacked the necessary facilities and amenities.