LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING: ARE LEARNERS REALLY ENGAGED?
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study analyzed the students’ engagement in emergency remote teaching (ERT) environment as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The subjects were 49 business-majored students at a university in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. The research was drawn upon Moore’s interaction framework with the adoption of a 5-Likert scale questionnaire to examine learner-content, learner-learner and learner-instructor engagement. Open-ended questions at the end of the survey and videos synchronous classroom observations from four lessons provided insights into students’ perceptions and behaviors. The quantitative result reveals learner-instructor engagement to be the strongest among the three categories, and the lack of interaction with their peers was the most frequently observed and reported. The fundamental cause lies in the loss and lack of human interactions. The engagement of both learnerlearner and learner-instructor were dwarfed by superficial interaction in synchronous learning platforms. The paper ends with some recommendations to increase students’ learning engagement in the uncertain times of ERT.
Article Details
Keywords
emergency remote teaching, engagement, synchronous teaching
References
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Nguyen, V. L., & Pham, A. T. D. (2021). Using synchronous online discussion to develop EFL learners’ productive skills: A case study. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 18(1), 179-207.
Oraif, I., & Elyas, T. (2021). The impact of Covid-19 on learning: Investigating EFL learners’ engagement in online courses in Saudi Arabia. Education Sciences, 11(3), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11030099
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Rubie-Davies, C., Asil, M., & Teo, T. (2016). Assessing measurement invariance of the student personal perception of classroom climate across different ethnic groups. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(5), 442-460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282915612689
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
Sher, A. (2009). Assessing the relationship of student-instructor and student-student interaction to student learning and satisfaction in web-based online learning environment. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8, 102-120.
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Skinner, E. A., Kindermann, T. A., Connell, J. P., & Wellborn, J. G. (2009). Engagement and disaffection as organizational constructs in the dynamics of motivational development. In K. R. Wenzel & A. Wigfield (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 223-245). Routledge.
Thach, P., Lai, P., Nguyen, V., & Nguyen, H. (2021). Online learning amid Covid-19 pandemic: Students' experience and satisfaction. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 17(1), 39-48.
Topçu, M. S., Foulk, J. A., Sadler, T. D., Pitiporntapin, S., & Atabey, N. (2018). The classroom observation protocol for socioscientific issue-based instruction: Development and implementation of a new research tool. Research in Science & Technological Education, 36(3), 302-323.
Van Lier, L. (2008). Agency in the classroom. In J. P. Lantolf & M. E. Poehner (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (pp. 163-186). Equinox.
Vuopala, E., Hyvönen, P., & Järvelä, S. (2016). Interaction forms in successful collaborative learning in virtual learning environments. Active Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 25-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787415616730
Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. L. (2016). School climate: A review of the construct, measurement, and impact on student outcomes. Educational Psychology Review, 28(2), 315-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9319-1
Wheeler, L. B., Navy, S. L., Maeng, J. L., & Whitworth, B. A. (2019). Development and validation of the classroom observation protocol for engineering design (COPED). Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(9), 1285-1305.
Xiao, M. (2007). An empirical study of using Internet-based desktop video conferencing in an EFL setting [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University].
Zhang, T. (2020, July 10). Learning from the emergency remote teaching-learning in China when primary and secondary schools were disrupted by Covid-19 pandemic. Research Square. https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/education_publications/101
Ali, I., Narayan, A., & Sharma, U. (2020). Adapting to Covid-19 disruptions: Student engagement in online learning of accounting. Accounting Research Journal, 34(3), 261-269. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARJ-09-2020-0293
Banna, J., Grace Lin, M. F., Stewart, M., & Fialkowski, M. K. (2015). Interaction matters: Strategies to promote engaged learning in an online introductory nutrition course. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(2), 249-261.
Bond, M., Buntins, K., Bedenlier, S., Zawacki-Richter, O., & Kerres, M. (2020). Mapping research in student engagement and educational technology in higher education: A systematic evidence map. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0176-8
Branch, R., & Dousay, T. A. (2015). Survey of instructional design models (5th ed.). Association for Educational Communications & Technology.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Deka, P. K. (2021). Factors influencing student engagement in online learning during the COVID–19 pandemic period in India. Journal of Management in Practice, 6(1), 1-16.
Dixson, M. D. (2012). Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging? Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10, 1-13.
Finn, A. N., & Schrodt, P. (2016). Teacher discussion facilitation: A new measure and its associations with students’ perceived understanding, interest, and engagement. Communication Education, 65(4), 445-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2016.1202997
Finn, J. D., & Zimmer, K. S. (2012). Student engagement: What is it? Why does it matter? In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 97-131). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_5
Goldman, Z. W., & Goodboy, A. K. (2014). Making students feel better: Examining the relationships between teacher confirmation and college students' emotional outcomes. Communication Education, 63(3), 259-277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2014.920091
Jones, A. (1999). The Asian learner: An overview of approaches to learning. The University of Melbourne.
Kaufmann, R., Sellnow, D. D., & Frisby, B. N. (2016). The development and validation of the online learning climate scale (OLCS). Communication Education, 65(3), 307-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2015.1101778
Kayode, E. O., & Teng, T.-L., (2014). The impact of transactional distance dialogic interactions on student learning outcomes in online and blended environments. Computer Education, 78, 414–427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.06.011
King, J. (2013). Silence in the second language classrooms of Japanese universities. Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 325-343.
King, S. (2014). Graduate student perceptions of the use of online course tools to support engagement. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(1), 1-18.
La, V.-P., Pham, T.-H., Ho, M.-T., Nguyen, M.-H., Nguyen, P. K.-L., Vuong, T.-T., Nguyen, T. H.-K., Tran, T., Khuc., Q., Ho, M.-T., & Vuong, Q.-H. (2020). Policy response, social media and science journalism for the sustainability of the public health system amid the Covid-19 outbreak: The Vietnam lessons. Sustainability, 12(7), Article 2931. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072931
Lie, A., Tamah, S. M., Gozali, I., Triwidayati, K. R., Utami, T. S. D., & Jemadi, F. (2020). Secondary school language teachers’ online learning engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 19, 803-832.
Martin, F., & Bolliger, D. (2018). Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Online Learning Journal, 22, 205-222.
McBrien, J. L., Cheng, R., & Jones, P. (2009). Virtual spaces: Employing a synchronous online classroom to facilitate student engagement in online learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v10i3.605
Liu, H. (2021). Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms. ELT Journal, 75(2), 232-234. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab004
Moore, M. G. (1989). Editorial: Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1-7.
Moore, M. G. (1993). Theory of transactional distance. In K. Harry, M. John & D. Keegan (Eds.), Theoretical principles of distance education (pp. 19-24). Routledge.
Nguyen, N. T. U., & Nguyen, V. L. (2021). Resilience to withstand Covid-19 crisis: Lessons from a foreign language institution in Vietnam. Computer Assisted Language Learning Electronic Journal, 22(2), 40-55.
Nguyen, V. L. (2011). Learners' reflections on and perceptions of computer-mediated communication in a language classroom: A Vietnamese perspective. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27(8), 1413-1436.
Nguyen, V. L., & Pham, A. T. D. (2021). Using synchronous online discussion to develop EFL learners’ productive skills: A case study. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 18(1), 179-207.
Oraif, I., & Elyas, T. (2021). The impact of Covid-19 on learning: Investigating EFL learners’ engagement in online courses in Saudi Arabia. Education Sciences, 11(3), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11030099
Revere, L., & Kovach, J. V. (2011). Online technologies for engaged learning: A meaningful synthesis for educators. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 12(2), 113-124.
Rivers, S. E., Brackett, M. A., Reyes, M. R., Elbertson, N. A., & Salovey, P. (2013). Improving the social and emotional climate of classrooms: A clustered randomized controlled trial testing the RULER approach. Prevention Science, 14(1), 77-87.
Rubie-Davies, C., Asil, M., & Teo, T. (2016). Assessing measurement invariance of the student personal perception of classroom climate across different ethnic groups. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(5), 442-460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282915612689
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
Sher, A. (2009). Assessing the relationship of student-instructor and student-student interaction to student learning and satisfaction in web-based online learning environment. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8, 102-120.
Shisley, S. (2020, May 20). Emergency remote learning compared to online learning. Learning Solutions. https://learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/emergency-remote-learning-compared-to-online-learning
Skinner, E. A., Kindermann, T. A., Connell, J. P., & Wellborn, J. G. (2009). Engagement and disaffection as organizational constructs in the dynamics of motivational development. In K. R. Wenzel & A. Wigfield (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 223-245). Routledge.
Thach, P., Lai, P., Nguyen, V., & Nguyen, H. (2021). Online learning amid Covid-19 pandemic: Students' experience and satisfaction. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 17(1), 39-48.
Topçu, M. S., Foulk, J. A., Sadler, T. D., Pitiporntapin, S., & Atabey, N. (2018). The classroom observation protocol for socioscientific issue-based instruction: Development and implementation of a new research tool. Research in Science & Technological Education, 36(3), 302-323.
Van Lier, L. (2008). Agency in the classroom. In J. P. Lantolf & M. E. Poehner (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (pp. 163-186). Equinox.
Vuopala, E., Hyvönen, P., & Järvelä, S. (2016). Interaction forms in successful collaborative learning in virtual learning environments. Active Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 25-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787415616730
Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. L. (2016). School climate: A review of the construct, measurement, and impact on student outcomes. Educational Psychology Review, 28(2), 315-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9319-1
Wheeler, L. B., Navy, S. L., Maeng, J. L., & Whitworth, B. A. (2019). Development and validation of the classroom observation protocol for engineering design (COPED). Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(9), 1285-1305.
Xiao, M. (2007). An empirical study of using Internet-based desktop video conferencing in an EFL setting [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University].
Zhang, T. (2020, July 10). Learning from the emergency remote teaching-learning in China when primary and secondary schools were disrupted by Covid-19 pandemic. Research Square. https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/education_publications/101