Efl students’ perceptions of online english language learning at an giang university during the covid 19 pandemic opportunities and challenges

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITYAN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNDERGRADUATE THESIS EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT AN GIAN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY

AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF

ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING

AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITIES

AND CHALLENGES

PHAN TUYẾT CƯƠNG

AN GIANG, 6-2022

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY

AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF

ONLINE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING

AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITIES

AND CHALLENGES

PHAN TUYẾT CƯƠNG

ID No DAV187020

ADVISOR: BÙI LÊ DIỄM TRANG, PhD.

AN GIANG, 6-2022

Thesis Title: EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE LEARNING AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY DURING COVID-19PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

By: PHAN TUYẾT CƯƠNG

Field of Study: EDUCATION

Advisor: DR BÙI LÊ DIỄM TRANG

Accepted by the Faculty of Foreign Languages, An Giang University on [date].

……… (Dr Tran Thi Thanh Hue) Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Examination Committee

………Advisor

Bui Le Diem Trang

……… Faculty Examiner 1

……… … Faculty Examiner 2

I am about to graduate from An Giang University after a four-year journeypursuing the English Teacher Education major in the Faculty of Foreign Languages

It is fortunate for me to be able to conduct this undergraduate thesis on the topic of

my interest I would like to sincerely express my deepest gratitude to those who havesupported me during this interesting and challenging journey

First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my academicsupervisor, Dr Bùi Lê Diễm Trang, who inspired me from the very first day and hasalways been by my side with wholehearted support and expertise guidance during thetime I conducted this thesis Without her dedicated guidance, valuable advice, andcautious corrections, I would not have finished this thesis

Secondly, I want to send my gratitude to Mr Lê Đỗ Thái who helped me come

up with the research problem from the very first days and has always motivated meduring the whole process I would like to send a special thanks to Mr Jason Lai forhis encouragement, support, and assistance during the completion of my research.Next, my sincere gratitude goes to An Giang University, the Faculty of ForeignLanguages, and my beloved instructors from the faculty for creating a chance for me

to conduct the study Many thanks go to all the volunteer students in class 22AV1,22AV2, 22TA1, 22TA2, 22TA3, 21AV, 21TA1, 21TA2, 20AV, 20TA1, 20TA2,19AV, 19TA1, and 19TA2 who passionately participated in the online survey andsemi-interview to provide the data for this thesis

Last but not least, I want to express my appreciation to my beloved family foralways believing in me and raising me up whenever I felt depressed In addition, Iwould also like to thank my close friends, Huỳnh Thị Thanh Nhi, Đổ Thị Mỹ Tiên,

Võ Lê Duyên, La Thu Trang, Lại Phạm Thu Ngân, Phan Thị Tuyết Kiều, Diệp MinhNhi, Huỳnh Mỹ Linh, Thái Hoàng Khang, Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc and my schoolmatesfor their support and assistance during the research

I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “EFL students’ perception of onlineEnglish language learning at An Giang University during COVID-19 pandemic:Opportunities and challenges” represent my own work and that has not beenpreviously submitted to any other university or institute in application for admission

to degrees or other qualifications

June, 2022

Phan Tuyết Cương

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled educationinstitutions to enact numerous adaptations As a result, An Giang University(AGU), like other tertiary institutions, shifted entirely to online education,including English language education This rapid transformation continues tohave a profound impact on English teaching and learning, even after thepandemic can be contained However, little research has been conducted todetermine how far English as a foreign language (EFL) students experiencedthe opportunities and challenges of online English language learning Toaddress this gap, the study attempted to investigate the opportunities andchallenges of online English language learning from the perceptions of EFLstudents at AGU during the COVID-19 pandemic Data was collected via anonline questionnaire with a total of 165 English-majored students and semi-structured interviews with eight students The results indicated that onlineeducation afforded AGU EFL students a wide range of opportunities,including the flexibility of online learning mode, the improvement of Englishskills and IT skills, and an increase in confidence The students, on the otherhand, encountered a number of challenges, including issues with their physicalhealth, mental and psychological health, distractions from the learningenvironment, lack of interaction, technological challenges, and issues intesting and assessment The findings had important implications for bothstudents who want to succeed at online English language learning as well asinstructors and educators who create and conduct online courses The findingsalso provided some insights into how online English language education isimplemented

Key words: online English language learning, opportunities, challenges,

COVID-19 pandemic, EFL students

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT II DECLARATION III ABSTRACT IV CONTENTS V LIST OF TABLES VII ABBREVIATION USED IN THE THESIS VIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research context 1

1.2 The rationale of the research 2

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 The significance of the research 4

1.5 Organization of the thesis 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Online learning 6

2.2 Online English language learning 7

2.3 Students’ perceptions 8

2.4 The opportunities and challenges of online English learning during the COVID-19 pandemic 10

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 13

3.1 Research design 13

3.2 Participants 14

3.2.1 Questionnaire participants 14

3.2.2 Interview participants 15

3.3 Data collection instruments 16

3.3.1 Questionnaire 16

3.3.2 Semi-structured interview 18

3.4 Data collection procedures 18

3.4.1 Questionnaire 18

3.4.2 Semi- structured interview 19

3.5 Data analysis 19

3.6 Validity and reliability of the study 20

3.7 Ethical considerations 21

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 22

4.1 EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities of online English language learning 22

4.1.1 Results of the questionnaire 22

4.1.2 Results of interviews 24

4.2 EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges of online English language learning 28

4.2.1 Results of the questionnaire 28

4.2.2 Results of interviews 33

4.3 Students’ suggestions for online English language learning 39

4.3.1 For teachers 39

4.3.2 For students 40

4 3.3 Willingness for further online English language learning 40

4.4 Discussion 41

4.4.1 EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities of online English language learning 41

4.4.2 EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges of online English language learning 43

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 48

5.1 Summary of the results 48

5.2 Implications of the research 48

5.3 Limitations and recommendations 50

REFERENCES 52

APPENDICES 60

APPENDIX 1 - Questionnaire 60

APPENDIX 1.1 - Questionnaire (English version) 60

APPENDIX 1.2 – Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 65

APPENDIX 2 - Ethics for interview 70

Appendix 2.1 - Information sheets for student participants (English version)70 Appendix 2.2 - Information sheets for student participants (Vietnamese version) 71

Appendix 2.3 - Consent forms for students participants (English version) 72

Appendix 2.4 - Consent forms for students participants (Vietnamese version)73 APPENDIX 4 – Interview questions 74

APPENDIX 5 –A sample of one interview - Audio transcript 75

APPENDIX 5.1 – A sample of one interview - Audio transcript (English version) 75

APPENDIX 5.2 – A sample of one interview - audio transcript (Vietnamese version) 84

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Description of the participants 14

Table 2 Students' information related to online English language learning 15

Table 3 Description of the participants for the interviews 16

Table 4 Questionnaire structure 17

Table 5 Reliability Statistics of the pilot study about EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities 17

Table 6 Reliability Statistics of the pilot study about EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges 18

Table 7 Summary of the data collection and analysis 19

Table 8 Reliability values of Items related to EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities 20

Table 9 Reliability values of Items related to EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges 20

Table 10 EFL students’ perceptions on online English language learning 22

Table 11 Independent samples t-test for gender difference in terms of students’ perceptions on online English language learning 24

Table 12 Relationship between the students’ majors and their perceptions of online English language learning 24

Table 13 Challenges of online English language learning 28

Table 14 One-Sample Test with mean of challenges 28

Table 15 Physical health issues during online English language 29

Table 16 The relationship between time spent on online English language learning and physical health issues 29

Table 17 Mental health issues during online English language learning 30

Table 18 One-sample test with mean of mental health issues 30

Table 19 Learning environment of online English language learning 31

Table 20 One-sample test with mean of environmental challenges 31

Table 21 Lack of interaction in online English language learning 32

Table 22 One- sample test with mean of interaction challenges 32

Table 23 Technological challenges of online English language learning 33

Table 24 The relationship between students’ residence and technological challenges of online English language learning 33

English Language Teacher EducationInformation Communication and TechnologyInformation Technology

Learning Management SystemStatistical Package for Social Sciences

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

There are six sections in this chapter: (1) research context, (2) rationale of the research, (3) research questions, (4) significance of the research, (5) organization of the thesis.

1.1 Research context

The appearance of the coronavirus known as COVID-19, and the World HealthOrganization's (WHO, 2020) declaration of a pandemic following the fatal virus'srapid spread across borders, triggered an unanticipated lockdown in practically everycorner of the globe The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the world to makenumerous reforms, one of which is in the educational sector Because teaching andlearning involves a large number of people in a room and with a face-to-face meetingbetween a teacher and students at school or college, the education sector is aparticularly risky sector when conducted during the coronavirus pandemic(Pangestus, 2020) In this situation, schools and higher education institutions aroundthe world were forced to discontinue face-to-face instruction in favor of onlinecourses, causing confusion among all stakeholders, including students, teachers,families, and administrators

In Vietnam, the most damaging wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was fromApril 27, 2021 (UNICEF Viet Nam, 2021) At that time, all 63 provinces and cities

in Vietnam allowed students to stay home To reach out to students and ensure thecontinuity of education, An Giang Universities (AGU) switched to online learningand using platforms such as Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, and otherlearning management systems (LMS) This type of education that does not have anyphysical limitations allowed students to attend classes during the pandemic

Due to its status as an international language, English is taught in practicallyevery level of schools, from kindergarten to higher education, all over the world(Baird & Baird, 2018; Deniz., Özkan, Bayyuret, 2016; Nunan, 2003) In Vietnam,learning English as a foreign language has become a national educational priority(Nguyen, 2017) Given the long-established value of English among other worldlanguages (Li, Xie & Ai, 2020), English learning was proportionally confronted withthe pandemic's concerns However, throughout this period of uncertainty, mostlanguage teachers and students benefited from the fact that online English teachingwas already in use prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, and some English languageinstructors and students have become acclimated to online English lessons in Englishcourses (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020) Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)has been utilized for language teaching and learning for more than 40 years,according to Bailey and Lee (2020) English language learning has grownsignificantly as a result of technological advancements, paving the path for online

language study While online or distant learning of English is not a new phenomenon,the rapid transition to emergency online language learning may present teachers andstudents with unique opportunities and obstacles.

1.2 The rationale of the research

When the first virus case was reported in Vietnam, students were on the annualTet holiday (UNICEF & UNESCO, 2021) As part of wider measures to curb thespread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education and Training opted to keep schoolsclosed by extending the holiday period until the end of March 2020, which had to beprolonged again due to the nationwide lockdown from April 1 to April 15 Thenation’s schools had to close conventional education for 11 weeks from February 12

to May 4 As a response, AGU actively tried to transform its pedagogical teachingand learning activities into a virtual model However, the pandemic spread wastoo sudden to respond AGU, without preparation, failed to implement onlinelearning and had to interrupt the learning and teaching process at that time

From the point of view of a student, I recognize two major causes of thissituation Firstly, students lacked the necessary facilities and amenities Due tounpreparedness for unexpected and emergency situations, it was hard for all students

to meet the digital requirements, including Internet networks and electronic devicessuch as smartphones, laptops, or computers, especially those in rural and remoteareas I also faced the problem of internet network connectivity without installingWI-FI at home Secondly, students seemed to be unwilling to learn online at thattime Online learning was quite strange and hasn’t been widely applied inVietnamese institutions Thus, students were worried about the quality of this settingand still preferred traditional learning as the years they spent being immersed in thisapproach spanned longer during their primary, secondary, and high schooling years.After the risk of COVID-19 was low, the university reopened and finished thehalf-done semester in the 2020–2021 school year The academic year break wasshortened by one month to compensate for the three-month school closure, and AGUremained open until July The following academic school year at AGU began onSeptember 1st

In April 2021, the fourth wave of COVID-19 led to the closure of education Likeall other universities in Vietnam, AGU had to switch completely to online learningfor all fields, including English language instruction As mentioned above, allstudents at AGU need to learn English as a foreign language, so online Englishlanguage learning plays a pivotal role at AGU institutions While non- Englishmajored students took English as an optional subject among many other non-Englishsubjects, English-majored students spent all of their school time online Englishlearning and were affected the most by the quality of online English learning This is

also the reason why the sample participants in this study merely involved majored students.

English-As a student of the English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) program atAGU, I took the online English course at AGU during the COVID-19 pandemic andexperienced directly its opportunities and challenges from the perspective of both astudent and an English teacher-to-be As an EFL student, I identify that, in addition

to a number of challenges for the first-time implementation, online English languagelearning brings out a wide range of opportunities In other words, online Englishlanguage learning contains both opportunities and challenges, which affect students’learning processes significantly From the view of an English teacher-to-be, onlineEnglish learning will likely remain integral to many educational models while thepandemic still poses an unforeseeable situation or even once the pandemic subsides

Vu Duc Dam, the Deputy Prime Minister, has signed Decision No 2239/QD-TTG,authorizing the Vocational Education Development Strategy for the period 2021-

2030, with a view to 2030 By 2025, the program hopes to establish a nationalvocational education digital foundation as well as a shared repository of digitalresources and materials for teaching and learning By 2030, all colleges andvocational training institutions will have the necessary digital infrastructure andplatforms to connect to the national vocational education digital platform and utilize

it It shows that online learning can become a future education and can impact theresearcher’s teaching career in the future

As a result, the researcher's goal is to explore the opportunities and challenges ofonline English language learning from the perspective of students, following the firstadaptation of online learning at AGU in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, whichhas impacted the educational sector around the world, as well as to ensure the safety

of students and staff, as well as the continuity of the educational process in alleducational institutions, and to ensure that all students receive an equal education.The findings offered certain insights into the implementation of online Englishlanguage instruction and have important implications for instructors and educatorswho design and facilitate online courses, as well as students who wish to achievetheir online English language learning success

1.3 Research questions

This study aimed to discover English Foreign Language (EFL) students’perceptions of online English language learning at An Giang University during theCOVID-19 pandemic Specifically, the goal of the research is to analyze theopportunities and challenges based on EFL students' experiences In order to getconcrete results, this study is guided by the following questions:

1 What opportunities did EFL students at An Giang University have whenlearning English online during the COVID-19 pandemic?

2 What challenges did EFL students at An Giang University face when learningEnglish online during the COVID-19 pandemic?

1.4 The significance of the research

This study’s findings can benefit all stakeholders, including students, teachers,local education authorities, and other researchers

Firstly, the findings have significant implications for both EFL students’learning processes and their future careers As discussed above, EFL students have totake online English language learning for the majority of subjects at AGU In otherwords, they were affected the most by online English language learning at AGU.Hence, understanding the opportunities and challenges of this setting can aidstudents’ online English language learning process When comprehending theopportunities and challenges of online English language learning, students can learnsuitable strategies in order to take advantage of the opportunities and overcome thechallenges These strategies are able to be applied in online English courses at AGUduring the pandemic and other unpredicted situations Even once the pandemicsubsides, online English learning can also be implemented as a part of blendedprograms at schools to support face-to-face learning or used as self-study learning forstudents to improve their English skills Regarding their future careers, both EnglishLanguage Teacher Education (ELTE) and English Language (EL) students canbecome English teachers, so they can apply the findings in their teaching careers.Besides, English Language Teacher Education students also need to understand thestudents’ perceptions of online English learning, as they practice teaching online inseveral online classes

Secondly, it is intended that this study would provide teachers with inspiration orideas for teaching English online, English teachers can use online learning as analternative to face-to-face instruction in the classroom Teachers can then determinethe extent of the student's knowledge of the subject supplied through online learningbased on the student's perceptions

In addition, the results of the current study may provide the local educationauthorities with information on how best to support online education in all schoolsand institutions by considering the opportunities and challenges experienced by thestudents Besides, the results help answer this big question of whether online Englishlanguage learning should be continued and developed for the benefit of Englishlanguage education Finally, the results serve as a foundation for other studies tocollect more empirical data in order to assist instructors, educational institutions,instructional designers, and educators in preparing for an effective online-basedinstructional program

1.5 Organization of the thesis

This undergraduate thesis is comprised of five chapters

Chapter 1 provides information about the background of the study, including thecontext, rationale, research aims and questions, and the significance of the study.Chapter 2 introduces theoretical and empirical studies related to the research byreviewing some previous literature on the same topic.

Chapter 3 explains the methodology employed in this study The research design,participant descriptions, research instruments, data collection procedures, and dataanalysis are all included

Chapter 4 presents the findings of the study along with several discussions.Chapter 5 summarizes the findings with some limitations and recommendationsfor future research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter includes four main parts The first part presents the definitions and implementation of online learning The second part focuses on online English language learning in terms of definition, the application in Vietnam during the pandemic, and the limitations and opportunities The third part displays the definition and process of students’ perceptions The fourth part discusses helpful ways for improving oral presentations The final part reviews the results of previous studies related to the opportunities and challenges of online English language learning.

2.1 Online learning

The term "E-learning" was devised in 1998 by Jay Cross; the letter "e" in learning means "electronic" Electronic learning or e-learning is a popular way todevelop education through technological breakthroughs There are various kinds ofE-Learning: Distance Learning, Web-based Teaching, Computer Assisted Teaching,Technology-Based Learning, and Online Learning Each sort of learning has its ownpattern that distinguishes it from the others All of this learning makes use oftechnological means to transmit information There are also others that require access

e-to the internet in order e-to access information

According to Gomez-Rey (2016), online education is an example of e-learning.Online education has been universally discussed (Hoang & Le, 2021; Prinsloo, 2016;Zawacki-Richter & Naidu, 2016), but its definition is dissimilar due to the existence

of different perceptions of this concept based on authors’ professional and academicprofiles (Tanner, Noser, & Totaro, 2009) Regarding the aspects of technology, Guri-Rosenblit (2005) portrays online education as the use of digital tools for a wide range

of learning purposes that range from supplementary functions in conventionalcourses to full replacement of face-to-face consultation by virtual encounters.Regarding the aspects of communication and interaction, online learning is known toemphasize Internet-based courses provided synchronously or asynchronously withthe use of various devices such as mobile phones and laptops That offers studentsthe possibility to learn and interact with instructors and other students anywhere,anytime (Singh & Thurman, 2019) While a synchronous learning environment isstructured for real-time social interactions between educators and learners (McBrien,Cheng & Jones, 2009) and instant responses (Littlefield, 2018), asynchronouslearning is established to utilize the independent learning approach Regarding theaspects of the educational paradigm, Ellis, Ginns and Piggott (2009) defined onlineeducation as information and communication technologies used to improve thequality of learning by facilitating access to resources and services, as well as distanceexchange and collaboration It is noted that the perception of online education issubstantially influenced by particular approaches and interests, but the primary

feature is the use of technology to enable online access to learning materials for thepurpose of improving learning.

In this study, online education is indicated as a teaching and learningenvironment in which (1) lectures are accessible on some technology devices, (2) thelearner is not in-person with the teacher, (3) the interactions between teachers andstudents via some applications and platforms, and (4) the learner obtains the supportduring the courses (Anderson,Imdieke & Standerford, 2011) That definition will beused to apply to this study for the purpose of finding answers to the researchquestions

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as apandemic on March 11, 2020 Social interaction has to be limited to break the chain

of its spread, including the teaching and learning process in classrooms However,education must continue, and one way to do so is through the use of an onlinelearning system As a result, in most countries worldwide, including Vietnam, highereducation institutions must move from traditional face-to-face teaching with aphysical presence to online teaching Learning and teaching is carried out onlineusing personal computers, laptops, or smartphones with internet connectivity andaccess to numerous platforms, namely the Zoom application, Google Meet, theGoogle Classroom and LMS The applications are chosen since they can becustomized to meet the demands of the users The Google Classroom and LMS arecommonly used for discussion and sending assignments, while the Zoom and GoogleMeet applications are used for face-to-face online meetings These platforms enableteachers to see the faces of their students who are paying attention to the teacherwhen providing material explanations

2.2 Online English language learning

Hockly (2015) uses the phrase "online English language learning" to describeEnglish language learning that takes place entirely online, over the Internet, with noface-to-face component, in both formal and informal learning contexts Learners canuse e-learning resources to improve their reading, listening, writing, and speakingskills, in particular

In January 2020, the Vietnamese government made an affirmative decision totemporarily close educational institutions when the first cases of the new coronaviruswere discovered As a response, online learning was widely utilized for officialcourses and curricula at the majority of schools and universities in Vietnam Due to avast array of limitations and unpreparedness, AGU could not implement onlinelearning and the teaching and learning process had to be interrupted at that time.However, in the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (from April 27, 2021, tonow), AGU completely shifted to online learning in all fields, including onlineEnglish education Due to English being compulsory subject, both English-major and

non-English-major students at AGU took online English courses It was clear that theonline English environment had the greatest impact on English major students.One of the fundamental constraints of traditional EFL is that it cannot providestudents with a true English learning environment because public life is dominated

by the local language (Chiu, Liou & Yeh, 2007) Furthermore, the classrooms arequite huge, limiting individual pupils' opportunities to connect with or converse withprofessors As a result, online learning provides a platform for students to improvetheir English communication (speaking) skills while connecting with other students

in a virtual environment Lee (2002) conducted a pilot project to improve students'communication skills using synchronous electronic chats and task-based training.The study's findings suggest that combining interactive interactions with task-basedlearning improves students' communication abilities by creating a learningenvironment in which they may engage in real-time dialogue about topics that arerelevant to their lives Moreover, Chiu, Liou, and Yeh (2007) noted one of thebenefits of online learning for the development of conversational skills is the ability

to participate more fairly than in face-to-face contact Furthermore, this interchangeshould not be limited to the local level, but should be successfully and astoundinglyexpanded to the global level, allowing students to broaden their cross-culturalscience knowledge According to Brandl (2002), E-learning provides students with

an unrivaled opportunity to acquire unrestricted access to online course materialswhile also improving their reading and writing skills Because online data makes itpossible to access knowledge at any time and from any location, students can gobeyond textbook-based learning There are numerous ways to listen to authenticlanguage on the internet Furthermore, Brandl (2002) emphasized the need forlistening practice in comprehending audio prompts and important sentences offered

by an online program When more syntactically complicated clauses are utilized, hepresents evidence that learners shift their approach to learning and comprehending

2.3 Students’ perceptions

There are some definitions of perceptions proposed by experts To start with,Rahmat (2006) stated that perception is the experience of an object, event, orrelationship acquired by resuming information and interpreting messages It givesmeaning to stimulus-response in resuming information and predicting messages,which involves attention, hope, motivation, and memory According to Slameto(2003), perception is a process that involves the entry of messages or informationfrom the human brain through the senses Perception is thus related to a person’streatment of information about the object entering itself (received) throughobservation using one’s senses According to Walgito (2010), perception is preceded

by the sensing process, which is the process of people receiving stimuli throughsensory devices, also known as sensory processes The process does not end there;the stimulus continues to exist, and the next step is perception From the definition

above, it can be concluded that perception arises as a result of each individual'sexperiences and feelings Perception is a response that each individual owns as aresult of the sensing process.

Based on the definitions of perception provided above, the writer can concludethat students' perception is the way in which students respond to what they have done

or what they have learned This process is divided into steps that begin with thecollection, recognition, and interpretation of sensory data Furthermore, according toQiong (2017), the perception process is divided into three stages:

* Interpretation

The third stage in perception is interpretation, which is the process of givingmeaning to the stimulus's choice Despite receiving identical input, however, eachindividual will interpret it differently

According to Fraser (2013), the quality of the learning environment in theclassroom is a crucial driver of student achievement That is, when students have apositive perception of the classroom setting, they perform better and have morepositive views toward the subject being taught Students' attitudes and behaviors areinfluenced by their perceptions of school events, the nature of teachers' expectations,and the patterns of interaction between students and teachers

Cenoz and Lecumberri (1999) cited that it is important for teachers to have abetter understanding of their students' views and needs In an EFL setting, teachersneed to be aware of their students' motivation and learning goals This is especiallytrue for adult learners who have come to study in an English-speaking country andare likely to have important motivations for doing so Adult learners havepreconceived notions and expectations based on prior learning In order to informclassroom practice, teachers should have a deeper understanding of their students'previous learning, motivation, and objectives, as well as attitudes toward and views

of language and language acquisition Furthermore, there is evidence that learners'own beliefs may influence their language acquisition success.

2.4 The opportunities and challenges of online English learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

An increasing number of researchers have conducted the studies to investigateonline learning during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g Agung, Surtikanti and Quinones,2020; Biagi, 2020; Hijazi & AlNatour, 2021; Mporananayo & Mbonyuburyo, 2020;Mukhtar, Javed, Arooj & Sethi, 2020; Tareen & Haand, 2020), but the number ofstudies exploring the opportunities and challenges of online English languagelearning during the COVID-19 pandemic was limited

In Indonesia, Agung, Surtikanti and Quinones (2020) carried out a researchpaper that aimed to collect students’ perceptions of their online learning during thepandemic Sixty-six students from Pamane Talino College of Education's EnglishLanguage Education Study Program participated in the research Their opinions onstudent participation, accessibility, material and assignment delivery, and theutilization of e-learning platforms were gathered through a survey According to thefindings, accessibility is still the most important element impacting the success ofonline learning Even though most of the students had an inconsistent internetconnection and sufficient internet data/quota at home, they were committed toenrolling in the online course In online learning, the information and assignmentswere delivered in a reasonable amount of time The majority of students believed thesupplied material and assignment were appropriate for the course

In Malaysia, Tareen and Haand (2020) examined a study of University of Marapostgraduate students’ view of the advantages of online studying and investigate thechallenges of online teaching and learning The study employed a quantitativeapproach in which a survey questionnaire was distributed to Master of Educationstudents at the University of Mara The study included 30 individuals, with 22 full-time students and 8 part-time students making up the sample This study found thatonline learning is convenient, encourages student participation, and meets the needs

of students In the meanwhile, this revealed a lack of student contact, an impreciseevaluation method, a lack of precise feedback and support from lecturers, and a lack

of interest in learning

In Saudi Arabia, Mahyoob (2020) conducted a study to determine the challengesand obstacles confronted by English language learners during the switch to onlinelearning in the second semester of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic The goal ofthis study is to investigate the viability of virtual learning methods by evaluating thelearners' new experiences in online education This is performed by looking at 184students' replies to a survey-based questionnaire A descriptive statistical method wasused to assess the study's validity According to the findings, the primary difficulties

that influence and affect online EFL learning during COVID-19 are technological,intellectual, and communication concerns The survey's findings show that themajority of EFL students are unsatisfied with their online learning since they havenot made the expected language learning progress.

In Jordan, Elayan (2021) explored the perceptions of teachers and studentsregarding the opportunities, challenges and recommendations for online Englishlearning during the COVID-19 pandemic era This quantitative case study wasconducted with 86 students and 29 university teachers from Middle East University'sEnglish Department The findings revealed that the advantages of university onlinelearning from the perspective of students are that using the internet for Englishlearning is more interesting than the traditional method and that handing overassignments is easier, while the disadvantages of university online learning from theperspective of students are high internet service costs, not suitable for every topic,and online learning requires the submission of a large number of duties and activities.The advantages of university online learning from the perspective of instructors are:easy to access to online learning platforms, online lectures can be recorded, archived,and shared for future reference, and exams correspond to the materials presentedduring the lectures, whereas the disadvantages of university online learning from theperspective of instructors are that online learning requires the instructors to have abasic understanding of using digital forms of learning

While studies have investigated the opportunities and challenges of onlineEnglish language learning in different Asian countries, Vietnam conducted very fewresearch papers have explored the opportunities and challenges of online Englishlanguage learning Pham, Luu, Mai, Thai and Ngo (2021) organized a study which isone of the few research papers in Vietnam investigating the concentration challengesthe EFL students were encountering while studying online The study used mixedtechniques to conduct questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews with 100second-, third-, and fourth-year students at Van Lang University's Faculty of ForeignLanguages The findings have demonstrated that most EFL students faced a largenumber of challenges in online courses: external noises, unstable internetconnections, the harmful effects of too much screen time, and so on

To conclude, online English language learning has drawn the attention ofeducators and researchers on a global scale for a long time, especially during theCOVID-19 pandemic, which transformed education into online learning completely.These studies identified a number of opportunities such as the delivery of relevantmaterial and assignments, flexibility, student participation encouragement, andsatisfaction of students' requirements In addition to the opportunities, severalchallenges of online English language learning were explored, such as unstableinternet connection, a lack of student contact, an imprecise evaluation method, a lack

of precise feedback and support from lecturers, and a lack of motivation However,

very few studies have been found in Vietnam In spite of being one of the fewresearchers conducting studies about online English learning in Vietnam, Pham, Luu,Mai, Thai, and Ngo (2021) merely focused on the challenges of online Englishlearning and did not find the opportunities of online English courses In addition, noresearch has investigatedthe opportunities and challenges of online English languagelearning at AGU Recognizing this gap, the researcher aimed to explore theopportunities and challenges faced by EFL students in online English courses atAGU and suggest certain possible solutions to address the challenges.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

Chapter 3 describes the methodology of this research This chapter first presents the overall design of the study and then describes the participants, data collection instruments, the data collection procedures, and data analysis Finally, this chapter proves the validity and reliability of the research.

3.1 Research design

The study employed a mixed-methods design to investigate English-majoredstudents’ perceptions of online English language learning during the COVID-19pandemic According to Johnson and Christensen (2014), mixed-methods researchcombines the elements of quantitative and qualitative research methods to answerresearch questions This type of research allows the researcher to gain breadth anddepth of understanding of the concept while offsetting the weaknesses inherent tousing either approach alone Mixed methods research has a lot of versatility and can

be applied to a variety of study designs, including observational studies andrandomized trials, to uncover more information than can be gathered through purelyquantitative research This research methodology combines paradigms, allowingresearchers to investigate from both an inductive and deductive standpoint, allowingthem to combine hypothesis testing and theory production in a single study (Jogulu

& Pansiri, 2011) Mixed-method research does, however, have significant drawbacks.For example, study design can be quite complex; planning and implementing thisform of research takes a lot more time and resources; and it might be difficult to planand implement one approach using the findings of another

In this research, the quantitative and qualitative parts were conductedsequentially to obtain data from students’ perceptions through a questionnaire andinterviews The questionnaire was utilized to collect quantitative data to discoverEnglish-majored students’ perceptions of online English language learning with aparticular focus on opportunities and challenges The researcher distributedquestionnaires on Google Form for each class through social media, including Zaloand Facebook Here, the researcher did not limit the number of respondents so thatthe total number of respondents was chosen based on incoming responses Thequalitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews to explore widerand deeper perceptions of the opportunities and challenges of online Englishlanguage learning as well as to invite suggestions for addressing the challenges fromthe learners’ perceptions Therefore, the mixed-methods design is believed to be themost suitable approach to answer the research questions in this study

3.2 Participants

3.2.1 Questionnaire participants

The study’s participants were English majors from two university programs: 1)English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) and 2) English Language (EL) Allparticipants were involved in online English language learning institutions in the firstsemester of the 2021–2022 academic year The sample participants in this studymerely included English-majored students because they devoted all of their schooltime to online English learning and were most impacted by the quality of onlineEnglish learning

165 participants from 14 classes volunteered to participate in the study Table 1illustrates the demographics of the study participants, including the total number ofparticipants, the type of study program they were enrolled in, their gender, and theschool year in which they were enrolled

Table 1 Description of the participants

N = 165 Gender and school year Numbers Percent Gender

In addition to the general characteristics described above, the questionnaireinvited the participants to provide four additional pieces of information regardingtheir place of residence: the frequency of learning English per week, the devices, andthe kind of the Internet connection The detailed information is demonstrated inTable 2 below

Table 2 Students' information related to online English language learning

N = 165 Online learning profile Numbers Percent The place of

residence urbanrural 11748 70,929,1

The devices

Smartphone 143 86,7 iPad or tablet 13 7,9 Laptop computer 126 76,4 Desktop computer 12 7,3

Table 2 indicates that 70.9% of participants came from rural areas, while the ones

in urban areas were significantly lower, at only 29% Besides, approximately onethird of the participants learned English online for 9 to 24 hours per week, roughlyfive times the number of those who learned English online for more than 40 hoursper week Furthermore, the two most popular devices used for online Englishlanguage learning included smartphones and laptop computers, accounting for 86.7%and 76.4%, respectively Regarding the kind of Internet connection, Wi-Fi and3G/4G/5G were utilized for online English learning, but the number of participantsusing Wi-Fi was considerably higher (93,3%)

3.2.2 Interview participants

In the next stage, the study used a purposive sampling method to select eightparticipants from the questionnaire for the semi-structured interview In purposivesampling, the researcher specified some target characteristics of participants, namelycriteria, then invited individuals who meet these criteria to take part in the interviews(Johnson & Christensen, 2014)

In this study, an invitation to participate in the interview was enclosed at the end

of the questionnaire 27 participants agreed to participant semi-interview Amongthese students, the researcher used the purposive sampling method to choose eightparticipants based on certain criteria Firstly, the participants all agreed to attend thein-depth interview and provide their contact information, including names, phonenumbers, and emails, at the end of the questionnaire Secondly, the participants camefrom all four academic years, from both EL and ETE majors, and comprised both

male and female students This variety was believed to provide a wide variety ofperceptions on online English language learning Profiles of information about the 8interview participants were presented in Table 3 below.

Table 3 Description of the participants for the interviews

N = 8 Interviewee School year Gender Major

Student 1 Seniors Female ELTE Student 2 Seniors Female EL

Student 5 Sophomores Male ELTE Student 6 Sophomores Female EL

Student 7 Freshmen Male ELTE Student 8 Freshmen Female EL

3.3 Data collection instruments

Data was collected by means of the questionnaire and semi-structured interview.The detailed information on these two instruments is described in the following sub-sections

3.3.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire was a self-reported data collection instrument that can be used

to obtain information about the research participants' thoughts, attitudes, feelings,behaviors, values and perceptions It is the most commonly used research design inrealistic analysis since the researcher may opt for the sample sizes and types ofquestions to ask (Johnson & Christensen, 2014) There are almost no questionnairesthat satisfy the gap in prior studies on this topic As a result, the researcher createdthis questionnaire by customizing existing questionnaires (Ronnie & Baticulon, 2020;Sudusinghe & Kumara, 2020) and based it on previous research findings of certainstudies, including Students' Perception on Learning English through DistanceEducation (Sudusinghe & Kumara, 2020), Investigating the E-learning challengesfaced by students during COVID-19 in Namibia (Kaisar & Bwalya, 2021), Onlinelearning revealing the benefits and challenges (Gilbert, 2015), EFL Students’Challenges towards Home Learning Policy during COVID-19 Outbreak (Ariyanti,2020) The questionnaire adopted close-ended Likert scale statements (StronglyAgree= 5, Agree= 4, Neutral= 3, Disagree= 2, Strongly Disagree= 1)

The questionnaire consists of two sections (see Appendix A) The first section(from I 1 to I 6) requests personal information, including gender, classes, livinglocations, the frequency of learning English online, devices, and kinds of Internetconnections The personal information helped the researcher determine whether he

participants’ perceptions of online English language learning varied across thevariables mentioned above.

The second section was divided into two main parts The first part (from II A 1

to II A 10) invited the participants to provide their perceptions of online Englishlanguage learning in general The second part (from II.A 1 to II B 20) composed of

20 Items and five challenges, namely technological challenges, lack of interaction,distractions from learning environment, mental and psychological health issues, andphysical health issues These challenges were drawn from an abundance of priorstudies conducted by Ariyanti (2020), Gilbert(2015), Kaisar and Bwalya (2021),Sudusinghe and Kumara, (2020), Ronnie and Baticulon (2020)

Table 4 Questionnaire structure Section Content Number of Items

Section I Background information 6 Items

Section

II

Part A: Students’ perceptions 10 Items

Part B: The challenges

Technological challenges 4 Items Lack of interaction 4 Items Learning environment 4 Items Mental health issues 4 Items Physical health issues 4 Items

The initial version of the questionnaire was in English The researcher translatedthe whole questionnaire into Vietnamese before sending it to the participants so as toavoid misunderstanding The Vietnamese translation was checked by the researchers’adviser and then was piloted with 22 EFL students at AGU to ensure that thequestions are well-articulated and that the response possibilities are relevant,thorough, and mutually exclusive (Leon, Davis, & Kraemer, 2011) The pilot resultswere also used to examine the reliability of the questionnaire The Cronbach’s alphavalues of the items related to opportunities and challenges were 0.896 and 0.836,respectively, while the accepted value was 0.6 (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016) Therefore,the questionnaire had high reliability values

Table 5 Reliability Statistics of the pilot study about EFL students’ perceptions of the

opportunities Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha Alpha BasedCronbach's

on Standardized Items

N of Items

Table 6 Reliability Statistics of the pilot study about EFL students’ perceptions of the

challenges Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha Alpha BasedCronbach's

on Standardized Items

The interviews were conducted face-to-face and in Vietnamese in order to helpthe participants express their ideas more easily The researcher and the interviewparticipants decided on the most convenient and appropriate places for the interviews.Six interviews were conducted in the library and two interviews were conducted inthe meeting-hall at AGU

The interviews were recorded with the agreement of the participants.Subsequently, the researcher transcribed all the interview recordings To ensure thereliability of the data, the researcher sent the transcriptions to the interviewees torecheck the data The relevant quotes were later translated into English to be quoted

in the finding chapter

3.4 Data collection procedures

3.4.2 Semi- structured interview

After an initial analysis of the questionnaire, interviews with eight participantswere conducted by the researcher As mentioned above, the interviews were carriedout at specified times and suitable places according to the participants' convenienceand availability Before interviewing, the participants also received the interviewquestions so that they could prepare well for the interviews All the interviews wereconducted in Vietnamese, were tape-recorded, and the researcher managed to takenotes simultaneously to ensure that all participants’ perceptions were collectedcompletely Each interview took around 30 minutes

3.5 Data analysis

The quantitative data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for SocialSciences (SPSS) software version 20.0 using descriptive statistics (mean, standarddeviations, cross-tabulation) and inferential statistics (independent sample t-test) toidentify the opportunities and challenges of online English language learning, as well

as differences (if any) in the participants' perceptions due to variation in terms ofgenders, majors and residence

The researcher used an inductive approach to analyse the data from theinterviews This approach enables the researcher to reduce a large amount ofdissecting raw text into a few key, dominant, or noteworthy themes (Thomas, 2003).The researcher became familiar with the data by reading the transcriptions severaltimes, searching for themes, assessing themes, labeling themes, and producing thereport This reiterative process helped the researcher look for similarities as well asdifferences across the interview transcripts and compare the interview results

A summary of the data collection procedure is provided in Table 7

Table 7 Summary of the data collection and analysis Research Questions participants Research instrument Research collection Data Data analysis

1 What opportunities

did EFL students at

An Giang University

have when learning

English online during

the COVID-19

pandemic?

165 majored students

English-Questionnaire (Google Form) 2 weeks

SPSS version 20.0

8 majored students

English-Semi-structured interview

Around 30 minutes for each interview

Theme-based analysis

2 What challenges

did EFL students at

An Giang University

face when learning

English online during

the COVID-19

pandemic?

165 majored students

English-Questionnaire (Google Form) 2 weeks

SPSS version 20.0

8 majored students

English-Semi-structured interview

Around 30 minutes for each interview

Theme-based analysis

3.6 Validity and reliability of the study

The research validity and reliability were strengthened in a vast array offollowing ways

First of all, this study used a mixed-methods research approach to collect bothqualitative and quantitative data Quantitative approaches provide objectivity,whereas qualitative methods explain a specific study phenomenon (Eyisi, 2016).Hence, mixing data sets can give both a deep and a broad understanding of thephenomenon Furthermore, findings from qualitative and quantitative data sourcescan be compared after gathering both types of data simultaneously The data can beevaluated, and findings can be compared using side-by-side comparisons As a result,quantitative and qualitative data can validate each other and create a solid foundationfor drawing conclusions on evaluations (Sharique, Saeeda, Sumaiya, Sudarshana,Anshika & Zarina, 2019)

Secondly, the questionnaire of this study was adapted from the questionnairesand findings of many previous studies related to this topic Therefore, the items ofthe questionnaire in this study were valid Validity of instrument expressed thevalidity of the study (Arikunto & Suharsimi, 2013)

The reliability of the questionnaire was examined by SPSS version 20.0 TheCronbach’s alpha values for the scale of perceptions toward the opportunities andchallenges of online English language learning were 0.910 and 0.929, respectively(Table 8 & 9) whereas the accepted value is 0.6 (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016) Theresults confirmed the reliability of the questionnaire

Table 8 Reliability values of Items related to EFL students’ perceptions of the

opportunities Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha Alpha Based onCronbach's

Standardized Items

N of Items

.910 910 10

Table 9 Reliability values of Items related to EFL students’ perceptions of the

challenges Reliability Statistics

Cronbach'sAlpha Alpha BasedCronbach's

onStandardized

N of Items

First and foremost, informed permission is required to ensure that participants arefreely engaging in the research and are comfortable doing so (Johnson & Christensen,2014) The students of the participants in this study were given extensive informationabout the research (see Appendices 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 & 2.4) The study's purpose,procedures, prospective outcomes, and how the findings might be used are allincluded in the document (Hess-Biber, 2017) All student participants were awarethat their participation in the study was entirely voluntary and that they had thefreedom to withdraw from the research at any time without giving any reason.

In addition, the study took great care to conceal the identities of the students whotook part in the study The use of pseudonyms in the reporting of the findingsprotected identifiers of the participants' names from being identified The studentswere well aware that any information on their attitudes toward online Englishlanguage study would be handled between the researcher and her superior in strictconfidence The researcher urged the pupils to openly voice their opinions during theinterview after assuring them that their identities would not be revealed The data andthe participants' identities were kept anonymous, lowering the risk of negative effectsfor the participants (Dörnyei, 2007)

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter reports on findings from the questionnaire and semi-structured interviews The result section is guided by the research questions, including EFL students’ perceptions of opportunities for online English language learning and challenges for online English language learning The chapter ends with suggested solutions to improve the quality of online English language learning.

4.1 EFL students’ perceptions of the opportunities of online English language learning

Answers to the first research question, namely "What opportunities did EFL

students at An Giang University have when learning English online during the COVID-19 pandemic?" were obtained from the responses from the questionnaire and

semi-structured interviews The results from the questionnaires revealed theperceptions of the opportunities, while the interview results provided furtherexplanations and deeper insights into the opportunities

4.1.1 Results of the questionnaire

Table 10 shows the arithmetic mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) forthe students’ overall perceptions regarding the opportunities The results indicatedthat the overall mean score was quite high (M = 3.6), suggesting that the participants

in the current study held generally positive perceptions of the opportunities of onlineEnglish language learning The following in-depth analysis of the results, however,reveals certain variations of agreement for each individual item in the questionnaire

Table 10 EFL students’ perceptions on online English language learning

3 Online learning allows me to learn English at my own pace 165 3.88 1.005

4 Online learning provides the opportunity to do various

activities to learn English. 165 3.63 1.117

5 English learning through online learning is effective during

the COVID-19 pandemic. 165 3.51 1.016

6 Online learning makes me more active in terms of learning

7 Learning English online is suitable for my lifestyle 165 3.42 1.148

8 Online learning is a suitable alternative to obtain the English

education level I need. 165 3.30 1.133

9 My English skills increase during learning through online

10 Online English language learning provides the academic

quality of assessment which reflects my true ability. 165 3.18 1.100

Overall 165 3.60 789

N: total of participants M: mean SD: standard deviation

Table 10 indicated that the highest mean score (M = 4.30) belongs to Item 1,

"Online learning allows me to learn English without place constraints", suggesting

that the participants strongly agreed with the flexibility of online English language

learning In addition, Item 2 "Online English language learning allows flexibility of

method of learning" (M = 3.99) and Item 3 "Online learning allows me to learn English at my own pace" (M = 3.88, SD = 1.005) received the next highest mean

scores, followed by the mean scores of Item 4 "Online learning provides the

opportunity to do various activities to learn English" and Item 5 "English learning through online learning is effective during the COVID-19 pandemic", 3.63 and 3.51,

respectively Like Item 1, the results for Items 2–5 suggest a strong agreement withthe degree of flexibility for learning that online English learning could offer

There was, however, an overall moderate mean score for Item 6 "Online learning

makes me more active in terms of learning English" (M = 3.49, SD = 1.097) and Item

7 "My English skills increase during learning through online learning" (M = 3.42,

SD = 1.148) Interestingly, the same moderate mean score of 3.30 was identified

from both Item 8 "Online learning is a suitable alternative to obtain the English

education level I need" and Item 9 "My English skills increase during learning through online learning" This result suggested a moderate agreement with the

academic outcomes resulting from online English language learning The last Item,

"Online English language learning provides the academic quality of assessment which reflects my true ability", was ranked the lowest among the other Items (3.18),

suggesting that testing and assessment of online English language learning might not

be seen as an opportunity

One of the important goals of education is to ensure all students have equaleducational opportunities to achieve their learning goals (OECD, 2012) This aimencourages the researcher to examine the equality to take advantage of theaforementioned opportunities among EFL students at AGU in terms of gender andmajors The sample t-test was utilized and here are the results

 Gender difference in terms of opportunities for online English language learning:

Annette, Valerie, Helene, and Susan (2017) noticed that there were differencesbetween how men and women engaged with their online course Similarly, theresearch of both Anderson and Haddad (2005) and McKnight-Tutein andThackaberry (2011) suggested that female students in online courses had a greateropportunity to learn online Findings from these studies motivated the researcher toexamine whether a significantly different perspective on the opportunities of online

English language learning existed between two genders, using an independentsamples t-test.

Table 11 Independent samples t-test for gender difference in terms of students’

perceptions on online English language learning

Gender N Mean SD valueP

-Students’ perceptions on online English language

learning

Female 127 3.5717 78375

.453 Male 34 3.6382 80228

P-value: probability value or significance

Table 11 shows that there was no evidence of a statistically significantdifference between the two genders in terms of students’ perceptions of the

opportunities of online English language learning because of P=0.453 > �=0.05 It

can be concluded that gender differences did not affect the students’ perceptions ofonline English language learning

 Major differences and perceptions of opportunities of online English

language learning of online English language learning:

Since the participants were from two majors, including ELTE and EL, it wasimportant to examine the relationship between the students’ majors and theirperceptions of online English language learning To determine this, the researchercarried out an independent sample t-test Table 12 shows the result of the t-test with

the P-value for the opportunities in online teaching being greater than the alpha level,

P = 0.914 > 0.05 Hence, there was no significant difference regarding the

perceptions of the opportunities that online English learning offered between ELTEstudents and EL students

Table 12 Relationship between the students’ majors and their perceptions of online

English language learning

Students’

major N Mean SD valueP

-Students’ perceptions of online English

language learning ELTEEL 94 3.53 77571 3.70 802 .914

4.1.2 Results of interviews

To gain deeper insights into students’ perceptions of the opportunities of onlineEnglish language learning, the researcher conducted eight semi-structured interviewswith eight EFL students The overall results confirmed the results from thequestionnaire The majority of the participants emphasized the opportunities thatonline English language learning offers A typical comment from student 5 illustratesthis point:

The implementation of online English language learning during the COVID-19

pandemic was effective Firstly, it protected teachers and students from the

spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus because of the fact that people did not

need to gather in the same places and could learn English online anytime and

anywhere with an Internet connection Secondly, online English language

learning maintained the English learning process during the COVID-19

pandemic It’s really terrible if education was interrupted by this COVID-19

wave, which has lasted more than nine months.

Next, a thematic analysis of the interview data revealed four major themes,including the flexibility of online English language learning, the improvement ofEnglish skills, the improvement of information technology (IT) skills, and theincrease in confidence

 The flexibility of online English language learning

All eight participants agreed that the online mode for English learning offered acertain flexibility in terms of time and place for learning For example, the studentsreported that they could save time and money by travelling to the university campusand attending online classes from home They could also access the online courseswhenever and wherever they were available Some typical comments are:

I could learn at home, which helps me save time spent for moving from home to

school (Student 1)

Because it was a long distance from my house to school, learning English online

at home saved me a lot of time and money on moving (Students 6)

Because of the flexibility of time and location, most of the participants continued

to attend online meetings to do group work or chat with their friends even after the

pandemic was temporarily controlled For instance, Student 3 reported that "My

groups still prefer online meetings and use them to do our group’s tasks Instead of going to the library or coffee shops, we can stay at home to discuss with others whatever we’re available for, even at midnight" Student 3 also believed that

presenting in an online meeting would be more effective because he could use histravel time to relax and feel more at ease at home:

I think working in groups through online meetings is more productive For

example, I was tired of doing group exercises with my friend after hectic lessons

in classes Now, I can come home to take a rest and then participate in an online

meeting At home, I also feel more comfortable speaking because, perhaps, I feel

more familiar with the environment at home (Student 3)

 The improvement of English skills

The majority of participants reported that their English skills were enhanced as a

result of online learning “In generally, online English language learning helped me

learn much more effectively.” (Student 4) The improvements were found in all four

English language skills

In terms of speaking skills, these students who used to be shy said that theybecame more confident and comfortable speaking English in an online speakingsetting A common reason is, as Student 3 explained:

My speaking skills were not good, so I was shy about speaking English in front

of many people In online classes, I can speak English more confidently since no

one stares or looks at me and I also don’t worry whether they will laugh at my

mistakes If they laughed, I couldn’t see it since we studied in different places

(Student 3)

In addition to the reduction of public speaking anxiety, the opportunities to join

an abundance of online English programs were revealed as another factor to improvespeaking skills

It’s easier to participate in online English programs than offline ones because more programs are organized and more slots are available for the participants.

When taking part in these oral activities, I can practice English speaking more

regularly (Student 2)

In terms of writing skills, free material resources on the Internet help studentsgain ideas and knowledge of vocabulary and grammar which they can apply in

writing "I can search and learn more vocabulary, grammar, and information on the

Internet and then utilize them in my writing essays" (Student 3) Furthermore,

students can correct their grammar mistakes by themselves through certain grammar

checking tools "I usually use Quillbot to correct my writing mistakes I can recognize

mistakes and the ways to correct them I can avoid these mistakes and improve my writing skills" (Student 4).

In terms of listening skills, the quality of the recording in online learning wasbetter than that of offline learning Student 6 explained that online English learningallowed her to study in her own space, so the quality of the recording was notaffected by other classmates

In my own space, I can listen more clearly When I listen to the exercises or

assessments in offline listening lessons, the noise from others causes me to miss

information (Student 6)

In terms of reading skills, the various free learning resources allow students to

practice and improve their reading skills For instance, Student 1 said that "There

are millions of reading materials available for practicing and improving reading skills."

 The improvement of information technology (IT) skills

Learning English with modern technology in online settings gives students morechances and time to improve their IT skills Students become more familiar withonline platforms like Google Meet or Zoom, and are able to use them for presentationsand recording lessons To illustrate, Student 4 reported that:

Studying English online required us (students) to learn with Zoom and Google

Meet, so we could take advantage of more functions of these websites for

learning, such as presentations and recording the important parts, which I can

review later (Student 4)

As an English teacher-to-be, Student 1 said that she needed to get to know moreabout game websites and online teaching methods so that she could use them in thefuture

I’ve learned how to utilize several online websites to organize games and

activities while presenting or practicing teaching (Student 1)

Besides, new skills such as editing videos and designing posters were learned

during online learning ”My group decided to add some videos to make the

presentations in online classes more appealing Thanks to that, I learned and know how to edit video.” (Student 3) and “I learn designing skills on graphic design websites like Canva for support for presentations and group work.” (Student 4).

 The increase in confidence level

One interesting phenomenon found in this study was the higher level ofconfidence in speaking English as a result of taking online English courses.According to the interview results, many participants felt more confident whenlearning English online For example, Student 6 claimed that he was shy in in-personclasses, especially when expressing their ideas or answering teachers’ questions.However, he could avoid shyness and become more confident during onlineclasses He said:

In conventional classes, I was shy about volunteering to answer my teachers’ questions, but I became more confident and active in online English language

classes (Student 6)

To explain the factors contributing to higher levels of confidence in onlineEnglish language, the researchers asked the interviewees why they felt moreconfident in online English classes Student 5 and student 6 said that the reduction ofpublic speaking anxiety was the reason

My public speaking anxiety reduced since I didn’t meet many people looking at

me when I spoke or presented (Student 5)

The reason I became more confident in online classes was that I didn’t need to

stand and speak in public (Student 6)

During online English classes, we (students) could express the ideas comfortably

and confidently, since no one looked at us and we can search more supporting

information on the Internet (Student 7)

In addition to the reduction of speaking anxiety, the ease of accessing learningresources on the Internet was another factor contributing to increasing the confidencelevels of students

Because of the Internet's assistance in having more ideas and accessing online

materials, I had more ideas and became more confident during online English

language learning (Student 4)

During online English classes, we (students) could express ideas comfortably and confidently since no one looked at us and we could search for more supporting information on the Internet (Student 7)

4.2 EFL students’ perceptions of the challenges of online English language learning

This section reported the findings from the questionnaire and semi-structuredinterview about EFL students’ perceptions on the challenges of online Englishlanguage learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

4.2.1 Results of the questionnaire

Table 13 displays the arithmetic mean and standard deviations for the challenges

of online English language learning As can be seen from the table, the overall meanscore is 3.35 To determine whether this mean score shows a neutral or positiveperception, the one-sample t-test was employed The result off Table 14 indicatedthat the participants tended to agree with the Items related to the challenges of onlineEnglish language learning

Table 13 Challenges of online English language learning Challenges of online English language learning Mean SD

Physical health issues 3.94 1.019

Mental health issues 3.33 1.023

Distractions from learning environment 3.29 972

Challenges 5.599 164 .000 .34758 .2250 .4702

Table 13 shows five main types of challenges regarding online English languagelearning, including technological challenges; lack of interaction; distractions fromthe learning environment; mental and psychological health issues; and physicalhealth issues Among these challenges, physical health issues were the most commonamong EFL students at AGU (M = 3.94, SD = 1.01), while the mean scores of otherissues, including mental health issues, distractions from the learning environment,lack of interaction, and technological challenges, were much lower Furthermore,

technological challenges witnessed the least agreement, with a quite low mean score(M = 2.91, SD = 0.94).

 Physical health issues

The participants strongly agreed that physical health issues were the challenges

of online English language learning, as this aspect had a quite high overall meanscore (M = 3.94) and all of the statements had mean scores higher than 3.5

Table 15 Physical health issues during online English language

Statements Mean SD

1 Sitting in front of the computer to learn English online in a long time

makes my back and neck pain. 4.14 1.131

2 I experience fatigue and burnout when staring at our smartphone or

laptop screens for a long time 4.04 1.120

3 I usually have sore eyes due to the excessive use of smartphones and

4 Numerous assignments and the implementation of a lecture unscheduled

influenced my health. 3.63 1.159

In particular, the highest mean score (4.14) belongs to Item 1, "Sitting in front of

the computer to learn English online for a long time makes my back and neck hurt."

Besides, Item 2 “I experience fatigue and burnout when staring at our smartphone

or laptop screens for a long time” and Item 3 “I usually have sore eyes due to the excessive use of smartphones and laptops to study” had similar mean score around 4.

Finally, Item 4 "Numerous assignments and the implementation of a lecture

unscheduled influenced my health" had the lowest mean score (3.63) in this aspect,

but it still revealed a high agreement among the participants with this statement.The researcher utilized an independent sample t-test to compare the mean scores

of perceptions of students who spent less than 4 hours/week with those of studentswho spent more than 40 hours/week learning English online Thanks to that, it could

be examined if there was a significant difference between students spending littletime and a lot of time on online English language learning when they thought aboutphysical and mental health issues

Table 16 The relationship between time spent on online English language

learning and physical health issues.

Time spent for learning English Language online

Deviation

Std.

Error Mean

P value

As shown in Table 16, there was a significant difference in perceptions ofphysical health issues during online English language learning between students who

took little time and those who took a long time, as the P-value was 0.012, which was

less than 0.05 Furthermore, it was easy to see the considerable difference throughthe mean scores of their perceptions Whereas the perceptions of the studentsspending much time were highlighted with a super high mean score of 4.58, themean score of the perceptions of students who spent little time was much lower, atonly 3.68 This finding reveals that the amount of time spent learning English online

on a regular basis can have a negative impact on students' health

 Mental and psychological issues

Regarding mental health issues, the overall mean score was 3.33, which saw a

significant difference with 3 (neutral) due to P = 0.000 (Table 17 & 18) Hence, it

can be concluded that the participants tended to agree with the mental issues ofonline English language learning

Table 17 Mental health issues during online English language learning

Mean SD

1 I feel exhausted after long online English language classes 3.67 1.191

2 Constantly working with a computer makes me demotivated to learn

3 I feel stressed if I make mistakes in the online English language classes 3.18 1.270

4 I get bored to learn English language online 3.15 1.270

While items related to stress and boredom had quite a low mean score of around

3.1, a significantly higher mean score (M = 3.67) was seen in Item 1, "I feel

exhausted after long online English language classes." Also, demotivation issues