English students’ perceptions about their motivation having online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The transition from face-to-face classes to online classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic had a great impact on English Language Teaching students which shaped their opinions about their motivation. For this reason, this qualitative research aims to describe how online classes influenced English students’ motivation during Covid-19 pandemic in a public university in Mexico. Seven students were interviewed. Results showed that students experienced low motivation during the pandemic due to three main reasons: distractions that they had at home, lack of social interaction and lack of feedback. Nevertheless, what kept them motivated was their intrinsic motivation. In contrast, their motivation when having face-to-face classes was higher by far.