Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning Business English:

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the effectiveness of face-to-face, online and the combination of both modalities in the teaching and learning of Business English, which is a discipline included in the English for Specific Purposes approach, known by its acronym ESP. In order to determine the differences between these two modalities, I created a questionnaire to gather information from fourth-year undergraduate students of Business Administration and Management from the University of Barcelona, and also from teachers who have taught Business English and other modes of English language teaching. This research analyzes the benefits and pitfalls of traditional and virtual classrooms, and emphasizes that the meeting of these two modalities affects not only student-teacher communication but also the performance of exams, tasks, oral presentations and practical exercises. The results of the questionnaire may elucidate whether the two modalities are compatible and to what extent merging them will enhance teachers’ performance and will strengthen learners’ knowledge of the target language.