University students’ challenges and coping strategies in emergency remote teaching

Abstract

This qualitative study focused on Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ challenges and their strategies to cope with those challenges in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers employed a phenomenological approach and interviewed twelve EFL MA students at a university in Iran. The researchers analyzed the collected data by following Moustakas’ phenomenological data analysis procedure. This study’s findings revealed that most students dealt with individual, teaching-led, and contextual challenges in emergency remote teaching. Also, many students used some adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies to handle these challenges. The present study’s findings provide an opportunity for authorities and teachers to see the world from students’ viewpoints and better understand the students’ unique challenges and conditions to develop a humanizing culture in the universities, especially during challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic.