Zoom-based distance learning of English as a foreign language

Abstract

The focus of the present study is Zoom-based distance learning of English as a foreign language. The relevance of the issue is caused by a tendency to implement distance learning into the educational process. The objective of this paper is to investigate students’ and teachers’ attitudes to Zoom-based distance learning, to examine its main advantages and disadvantages, to formulate didactic principles for its organization. The present research is based on the theoretical and empirical methods: analysis of studies on distance learning, observation, interviewing, and survey methods. The participants for this study were 72 students of the Kazan Federal University and 20 teachers of EFL. According to the conducted research, the students indicated such benefits of the Zoom platform as simplicity of installation, high quality of audio and video, the absence of connection drop-out. The results of a sociological study also show that the students’ attendance percentage of Zoom-based lessons is higher than the attendance of the traditional lessons.