CHALLENGE TASK FOR TEACHERS IN TEACHING ACADEMIC ESSAYS FOR POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS DURING THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

A myriad research has demonstrated the use of internet as an approach to teaching English as foreign language (EFL). The little research on this topic of interest has been undertaken in the Indonesian higher education context. Particularly, the use of digital tool as practicing and examining students’ writing remains under-explored in this educational setting. With these in mind, this research presents an empirical study that looks into to what extent the deployment of a digital tool mediates multimodal learning tasks in the EFL classroom. The study specifically examines challenges and benefits to develop students’ writing and reading competences. The study also looks at the roles of teacher and students in the entire learning process. A total of 80 polytechnic students volunteered to participate the study. Individually, they were assigned to perform a series of tasks, including (1) connecting to website, (2) reading articles and instruction in, and (3) writing essays. Drawing on these data, the present chapter reports on four major findings, that is: (1) drafting and negotiating strategies for writing essay creation, (2) framing the use of language in composing, (3) discussing the result essay creation and improvement, and (4) positioning roles of teachers and students in the entire learning process