Abstract
COVID-19 has changed the process of teaching considerably, as educational institutions around the world moved to adopt blended learning initiatives to ensure continuity, while managing the spread of this infectious disease. All Saudi Arabia’s universities have continued to deliver courses via digital platforms. This study draws on traditional views about blended learning (Sharma, 2010) and examines the pedagogical changes to English courses implemented at King Saud University following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to explore the benefits and challenges of blended learning during the spread of COVID-19 from the perspective of English as a foreign language (EFL) student. Qualitative data were collected from two focus group sessions, and one-to-one interviews with twelve students taking a general intensive English course at King Saud University over a six-week period. The results reveal that blended learning benefited the EFL students by supporting their writing skills and encouraging them to search online, as well as by matching their circumstances and being economical. It also identifies that the challenges EFL students faced included technological problems, flaws in the instructor’s performance, difficulties with online tests, attitudes to online learning and limited resources, and the university council’s decisions. The paper concludes with recommendations to exploit the benefits identified, and overcome the challenges of blended learning when teaching English in an EFL context.
Highlights
COVID-19 is a contagious disease that has spread around the world and affected various aspects of daily life
The data analysis suggests that implementing blended learning in English courses benefited English as a foreign language (EFL) students by: 1) supporting their writing skills, 2) encouraging them to search online, 3) matching their circumstances, and 4) being economic financially
This study explored the benefits and challenges that EFL students encountered when blended learning was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the students’ perspective
Summary
COVID-19 is a contagious disease that has spread around the world and affected various aspects of daily life. This disease, known as coronavirus, was classified as a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (2020). The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia suspended face-to-face teaching and ordered educational institutions to continue educating students via digital platforms (Al Thaqafi, 2020). Universities and schools in Saudi Arabia rapidly adopted virtual classroom teaching, and have been delivering education online since 9th March 2020. Many university students have complained about poor Internet connection in their area, problems logging on to the platform and accessing lectures, and the lack of ability to upload assignments or even understand their instructors
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